Page 61 of Theirs to Ruin

“Do I?” I walked right up to him until we were practically toe to toe, which meant I had to crank my head back to meet his gaze. “Where were you before you found me that night?” I challenged him. “Because you came from upstream, so you weren’t at the lake.”

I expected him to get offended and angry at the implication he might have had something to do with Ava’s death. Instead, he just shrugged.

“I was checking where you were. I got worried when I saw you were so far away from the party, so I went to find you.”

Confusion whirled through me and I took a couple of steps back. “How could you have known where I was?”

His gaze remained steadily on mine as he answered. “I put a tracker on your phone.”

“What?” My eyes widened as I stared at him, my mind reeling. My knees almost buckled under the surprise I felt. “When?Why?”

“Last year,” he admitted. “At our last counseling session. You forgot it in my room and I later turned it into the office.”

Last year?

He’d been tracking me all this time.

“Why?” I repeated, this time my voice louder, angrier.

“I wanted to look out for you, Camille.”

He said it like it was so simple and not a complete invasion of my privacy.

“By stalking me?”

“Yes,” he said, not an ounce of shame in his voice.

Who was this guy?

Dante sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Remember when we went on our motorcycle ride, and I told you I did things I believed were right even if others didn’t agree with me?”

I shook my head. “No. I mean, yes, I remember. But this…” I laughed. This was beyond anything I ever imagined. “How can I ever trust you again?”

“Maybe you won’t, and I regret that. But I don’t regret keeping watch over you.”

A thought occurred to me. “The racetrack when you appeared out of nowhere. And later, at Devil’s Engine when you showed up…”

He nodded. “I knew you were there. After what happened at The Roost, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.”

I blinked at him. “How do you know what happened at The Roost?”

His blue eyes revealed nothing and everything to me. “Peaches, I know everyone’s secrets. I make it a point to.”

Shit. “Why are you telling me all this now?” I whispered, unsure of what to do with this information. It was alot.

“You asked where I was before I found you. I’d rather you know the truth than continue to wonder if I killed Ava,” he explained. “But I won’t blame you if you still think I’d be capable of that.”

I hadn’t before. Not really. But now I didn’t know what to think.

As if reading my mind, he said, “For whatever it’s worth, I didn’t kill Ava. I saw on the tracker that you were by the river. I was worried, so I went to find you. By the time I did, you and Ava were both lying on the riverbank.”

I had so many questions, yet none of them would form on my tongue. As I tried to process all that he was saying, he reached out and touched my arm. I flinched and pulled away.

His eyes clouded, like a storm over the ocean, before he nodded.

“You should get something to eat before classes start again.”

I backed up several steps before turning and walking away but I couldn’t resist glancing back at him. He just stood there, an imposing figure. Legs apart, arms crossed over his broad chest, eyes unwaveringly locked onto me, like a sentinel guarding a fortress.

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