Page 56 of Clubs

And I didn’t care what she had done. Sure, she tried to kill the guy. Probably because this wasn’t the first time he had fucking done this to her, and he deserved it. He deserved to be ripped apart like a piece of meat because that was how he saw the people who paid his bills. Meat. Items for him to capitalize on, to get pleasure from, and I had never been more disgusted in my life.

But that wasn’t my place. It wasn’t my fucking place.

So I just got the blanket Brooke kept in the backseat off the floor and draped it over Ria’s body. Then I got in the driver’s seat, and I drove home.

* * *

Ria was still out of it when we got to the house. Throughout the drive, I turned around to check on her more times than I could count. Each time, she was alive. Barely, but alive.

Emory had been closing up the bar when I’d left. I hadn’t spoken to him, just rushed into the car and peeled out of the driveway. It was almost 5 AM though, so he should have been well on his way by now. Instead, he was sitting on my porch.

Once I shifted the car in park and stepped outside, he stood as well. “Where’d you go?”

I only huffed in response. Opening the back door, I said, “Come on, Ria. We’re here.”

Her eyes fluttered, but she stumbled back when she tried to sit forward. I had to reach inside and cup both hands below her armpits to help her out of the backseat. By the time she was on her feet, Emory was at my side.

“Holy shit,” he said, bearing the other half of her weight. “Are you okay, Ari?”

She did the most she could to muster a smile and murmured, “Emory.”

He shot me a look that was half heartache, half fury.

“Let’s get her inside. I’ll tell you what I know once she’s settled in.”

He accepted that as answer enough, then did for her what I had done for Brooke. He didn’t give her a shower, but he did his best to wipe up her blood. Combed the dried-on muck from her hair and away from her face. Helped her into a pair of sweatpants and a sweater that I had lying around. I didn’t count on getting those back.

The two of us got her into bed beside Brooke, and then I dropped onto the couch. I’d barely gotten a breath in before Emory snapped, “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know.” And that was the truth. I didn’t know much of anything for sure. “That guy. The same guy who killed Alicia. He did it. Think he did more than just beat her, too.”

Emory’s forehead crunched up in confusion.

“I think he… Fuck, I don’t know. I don’t know, man. It was bad. It was really bad, and she wouldn’t let me go back to see what had happened. I didn’t get to confront the son of a bitch. I just got her in the car and brought her here. That was what she wanted, so that was what I did.”

“What the fuck else could they have done?” Emory asked, still confused and furious. “What does that even mean, Declan?”

Rubbing my eyes between my thumb and forefinger, I shook my head. “There’s a smell coming off her, alright? It’s a distinct one. But I wasn’t sure what it really meant until… Jesus, I shouldn’t be telling you this.”

“Tell me or I’m gonna go wake her up and make her tell me,” he snapped.

“I really don’t think she needs a man to make her do anything right now, dude.” I said firmly. It took a moment, but slowly his eyes widened, and he understood. Bile burned up my throat, and I shook my head again. Like if I shook it enough, I could shake the mental image of it away. “It was bad. That’s all I know. Whatever happened to her, it was really bad.”

“This prick beat and raped her?” Emory’s eyes were daggers. “Is that what you’re telling me?”

I fought the shudder that coursed down my spine. “I don’t know.”

“But you think so.”

I didn’t respond to that. It wasn’t my place.

Not another word from him either. He just walked back to my bedroom, where the two of them were sleeping, said something I couldn’t hear over the hum of the fan, then walked back through the living room. “I’ll be back.”

And he disappeared.

* * *

I had just dozed off. Brooke and Ria needed the bed more than I did, so I gave it to them. My couch was hard as a rock. I desperately needed a new one, but I doubted I’d be able to afford one anytime soon with the mounting lawyer bills.

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