Page 62 of Emperor of Lust

My jaw grinds.

“I…” She looks away, her throat bobbing. “We went out for a little while. But he was pushing for us to sleep together. I hadn’t done that yet, but he was…insistent.” Her face is blank as she nods her chin at the screen. “That night, we’d gone to a party. He kept trying to get me to drink, but I refused. Eventually he got me into that room and got pushy. I said no and then…”

She looks away again. Her voice is flat, her gaze distant.

“I didn’t really know what was happening until he had one of my wrists tied. I thought it was a shitty joke until his two fucking friends jumped into the room, and I realized what it really was.” Hana’s mouth twists. “I wasn’t his girlfriend. I was a bet. They’dbetto see if he could fuck me before graduation.”

The rage inside of me increases to liquid fire. I can feel my hands clench as if around Josh’s fucking windpipe, ready to crush it.

“For whatever reason—maybe he was drunk, or it was the audience—he couldn’t get it up,” Hana says tightly. “He tried, but he couldn’t even…you know. Get it to go in. So he left me there, tied up, and they went to get more drinks.”

Every muscle in my body tenses with the burning need to rip someone apart.

“And then?” I growl quietly, my voice barely controlled.

She shakes her head. “It’s done, Damian. Leave it.”

I stand and take a step toward her. “No. I want to know if that little prick got any taste of justice.”

She hesitates, her jaw working. “He’s dead,” she finally says. “He died.”

I catch the shadow that flickers over her face. “The video,” I say quietly. “It says they know whatyoudid.”

She swallows, looking away. “I didn’t do anything.”

And then it clicks.

“Takeshi,” I growl.

Her head snaps toward me, eyes widening slightly before they dart away again.

“Yourbrotherdid something,” I say quietly.

She nods, shoulders slumping slightly as the truth finally tumbles out.

“He was at home after I got loose and managed to drive myself back. I tried to hide it, but…” She grimaces. “It was pretty obvious. I’ve never been able to hide much of anything from him.” She shrugs, a wry smile on her face. “Twin shit, right?”

“What happened,” I murmur.

“I begged him not to,” she says, her voice cracking. “I was afraid he’d throw his life away trying to ‘avenge me’ or whatever. But he left, and when he came back, it was…done.”

My voice is low, dangerous. “How?”

Her face hardens, anger flashing in her eyes. “He made it look like Josh drunk-drove his Porsche off a cliff,” she murmurs coldly. “The whole school mourned our favorite golden boy shithead…and then life went on.”

I glance at the iPad, rage still pulsing in my veins. “Who else knew what happened?” I ask.

“N-no one,” she says quietly, but there’s a note of uncertainty there, and we both look at the iPad, a silent threat hanging in the air between us.

“That’s why I don’t like being pinned down or tied,” she finally says. “I mean, I don’t even like cramped spaces where I feel immobilized. After that night… I just couldn’t.”

I look up at her, hating that her mind is drifting somewhere I can’t follow.

Her eyes shift to mine, and she shrugs. “When you do it, though, it’s…fine.”

“Fine?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

A hint of a blush rises to her cheeks. “I like it,” she blurts. “When it’s you… I don’t go back to that place. It’s like it actually sets me free from it.”

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