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Carol made judicious use of the tissue box on the coffee table. I didn’t blame her; I couldn’t imagine what it was like to hear her own son describing the things he’d been through.

Nolan’s dad kept a stoic face, his jaw so tight I was surprised I couldn’t hear his molars grinding, but his eyes gave him away. He was old school—the kind of guy who didn’t let people see him get teary-eyed—but there was only so much someone could keep this kind of pain and horror beneath the surface.

I didn’t let myself look at Andrew or Leann. Just hearing Nolan rehash what she did to him had me so angry I could barely see straight, and if I caught either of them shaking their heads or rolling their eyes, shit might get ugly.

“That’s why the rehearsal got me.” Nolan sounded hoarse, as if his voice were as raw as he was. “The way she kept falling into me, and when she—” He shuddered, swallowing hard like he really thought he might get sick. “When she landed on top of me on the pew, I just…” He shook his head. “I hit my breaking point.” To Matt and Sophia, he said, “I’m sorry. I know it was the worst possible time. But I just couldn’t handle it.”

They both nodded, looking utterly shell-shocked.

Carol dabbed at her eyes. John just stared at his son, obviously struggling to process what he’d heard.

“I didn’t hear Leann’s side of it,” Nolan said evenly. “But… that’s mine. That’s all of it.”

It wasn’t. He’d left out a few details that were probably too close to the bone. Or maybe just things he didn’t want his parents to hear.

The gist was there, though. There was no mistaking what he was accusing Leann of doing, and my stomach twisted at the thought of how she’d try to convince everyone things hadn’t happened that way.

“My God, Nolan,” his mother said shakily after a while. She sniffed sharply and wiped at her eyes.

John let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Leaning hard on her husband, Carol whispered, “I can’t believe…” She trailed off as fresh tears welled up.

“Youshouldn’tbelieve him,” Leann said. “He’s lying.”

I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from lashing out. Everyone else in the room stayed quiet, including Nolan. I could only imagine what was going through their stunned minds; I’d heard his story once before, and Istillstruggled to process it all.

Leann must have taken everyone’s silence as siding with Nolan, because she sat up and demanded, “What is wrongwith you people? Don’t you know you’re supposed tobelievewomen?”

“Oh shut the fuck up with that,” I snapped before I could stop myself. Every head turned toward me, and Nolan’s hand twitched in mine, but I kept going. “Yes, we’re supposed to believe victims—not just women,victims. ‘Believe victims’ doesn’t mean we don’t investigate the accusation and make sure the statement lines up with the facts. And ‘believe women’ doesn’t mean that if a woman accused of sexual assault turns the accusation around on the other person, we automatically take her word over his. Get a fucking grip.”

“You automatically believed him.” She pointed sharply at Nolan, and I hoped to God everyone in the room noticed the way he flinched. “Where’s your facts with him? Huh? Where’s your—”

“You mean besides the part where he does his level best to stay away from you, and you do every fucking thing you can to put your hands on him?”

“Riley,” John warned, as if my language was the problem right now.

I barreled on. “Listen, Leann. I’m a cop. I’ve dealt with sexual assault victims, and people like you are the reason both menandwomen are afraid to report what happened because they won’t be believed.” I stabbed a finger at her. “You’rethe fake accuser everyone uses to shame the real victims into silence,andyou’re a predator and a rapist yourself.” I made zero effort to rein back the disgust as I finished with, “Go fuck yourself, you piece of shit.”

“Hey!” Andrew flew to his feet. “Don’t you talk to my wife like that!”

“I’ll talk to my boyfriend’s rapist however I see fit,” I threw back.

Andrew came at me, but his dad and younger brother stopped him.

I didn’t even realize I’d been posturing up myself until Nolan gently reined me back.

“Don’t,” he whispered. “He’s not worth your career.”

The words“fuck my career, I will fuck his world up”died on my tongue when I met my boyfriend’s eyes. They were on fire with anger, but he was also clearly worried and just miserable being here.

My fury abated in an instant. As much as I would absolutely go to blows for him, he was under enough stress right now. He blamed himself for ruining the wedding. He’d also blame himself if I wound up with so much as a scratch after getting into it with Andrew.

I put my hand over his and nodded. “I’m good.” Speaking more calmly now, I looked right at Leann. “In my line of work, we’re trained to believe people—men and women. That means we take a statement, investigate the case, and figure out what happened. It doesn’t believe the other person is guilty until proven innocent.

She narrowed her eyes. “Unless you’re sucking his dick apparently.”

That prompted a wave of disapproving looks and grumbling. Andrew worked his jaw but didn’t speak.

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