Page 88 of The Sound of Us

No. Isla wasn’t me. But we’d shared a room two years ago in the freshman dorm. I’d gone away for the weekend a few days after I’d turned Ethan down for the third time that month. He’d been angry. No one had ever turned him down before. I never imagined he’d break into our dorm room intending to sexually assault me and assault my beautiful Isla instead.

“I need to leave.” My eyes watered and I grabbed my phone and the contract off the table. “It’s a lot to think about and I need to get some legal advice.”

I needed more than legal advice. I needed all the advices. What was I going to say to Isla? How was I going to tell her without breaking her all over again? Did I go to the police? Did I tell my friends? Should I call my mom? Where should I go?

I ran out of the building, tears streaming down my face, until I hit something solid and warm. Strong arms wrapped around me, and I breathed in Dante’s familiar scent.

“I’m here, Skye.” He hugged me tight. “I came as fast as I could. Who do I need to kill?”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX“Perfect” by Ed SheeranDANTE

I knew this feeling. It was part of me, written into the fabric of my being with the blood of the people I’d loved and lost. It was in the round scars that marked my skin and the cracked bones that had never healed quite right. It was in the tears that had coursed down my cheeks as I sat beside Noah’s bed and in the ache that had seized my heart in the time Skye and I had been apart.

Helpless.

All I could do was hold her. I couldn’t make her pain go away.

“I’ll kill him,” I said again, tucking her against my side. We’d dropped off dinner for Noah and Bella and then come straight to my place, where I’d been holding Skye on the couch for the better part of an hour. “Or I can arrange for it to happen. I’m pretty sure my father knows a guy.”

“I don’t care about Ethan.” Skye looked up, her lashes still wet with tears. “I care about Isla. I don’t want her to have re-live the nightmare all over again.”

“You can’t take that choice from her.”

“What if I sent an anonymous tip to the police? They’d have to investigate him. They should still have the DNA samples…” She swallowed hard. “He thought it was me, Dante. He wanted to ‘show me what I was missing.’ He must have told Michael he was drunk and played it down, but he had to get through the main door and then find our room, which suggests he knew what he was doing.”

I hugged her tight and tried to process what she was saying. How did a person deal with that kind of revelation? It was big—much bigger than classes or grades or even our fight.

“Why waste money hiring a guy when I can do it myself?” I mused. “I’ll pick a fight with him. Pretend it was an accident. Claim self-defense… At worst, I’ll go down for manslaughter and I’ll be out in five years, maybe less if I get time off for good behavior.”

Skye punched me lightly in the arm, but at least I got the glimmer of a smile. “You’re not going to jail for me.”

“I can’t think of a better cause.”

“There is more at stake here than just one man. The university is willing to cover up a serious sexual assault on campus to save their reputation. They’ve put women at risk. They’ve denied Isla the justice she deserves. They must be called to account.”

“If you turn down the offer and expose them, it will be the true end of your basketball career,” I pointed out. “The end of your dream. You’ll never play here or anywhere else. You might not even be able to stay at Havencrest.”

“It was my father’s dream.” She met my gaze, her eyes still swollen with tears. “And I lived it for him because I was afraid he wouldn’t love me and that he’d send me away. But I have a new dream now, and no one can take it from me. I have never felt more alive than when I was investigating this story. I can make a difference in the world as a journalist. I can give Isla the justice she never had and hopefully others, too.”

“Are you going to call her tonight?”

“She’s back in two days. I think it’s something I need to do in person.”

“I love you.” I said it not just because I wanted her to hear it, but because it needed to be said. “You are the strongest person I’ve ever met. You are brave, smart, fierce, and loyal, and the only person who has ever truly seen me. You are the person I would always choose to have my back. You are best song in the playlist of my life.”

Silence. For a heartbeat I thought I’d said too much, but thenher eyes softened, and she kissed me gently on the lips. “I love you, too. You are the most amazing man I’ve ever met.”

I chuckled and pulled her into my arms. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that, but you might not think I’m so amazing when I tell you that I’ve put you at risk. My father found out about the scholarship and threatened to expose us if I don’t give him my inheritance and join his company. He’s moved into waste management and needs money for bribes.”

“Don’t give in to his threats because of me,” she said. “I can take care of myself, and this time you’d better believe it.”

“I’d give it all to keep you safe.” I pulled her into a straddle across my lap and nuzzled her neck, breathing in her scent of lavender and vanilla and crisp winter air. “Are you still angry with me?”

“After those beautiful words? No. Are you angry with me?” She peppered little kisses along my jaw.

“I was never angry with you. I was angry with myself for not putting all the pieces together and realizing Noah was ill.” I pulled her closer. I was so hard, and it had been so long…

“Is this the part where we get to have make-up sex to the apology playlist you told me about when we first met?” She rubbed her palm over my cock, making me groan.

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