Page 575 of Rage

“Can you get rid of a body?” she asked meekly.

A wry smile crossed my face. “Well, yes, I have people that can fix that for you. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I said.

“Don’t you need my address?” she asked.

“No. I know where you live.”

I stood up and grabbed my jacket. I started texting the men I used for cleaners and walked out of my condo. I turned to one of my bodyguards at the door. “We’re going on a trip.”

“What sort of trip, boss?” he asked.

“It seems that the woman I’m in love with has a dead body on her hands. We’re going to save the day,” I replied.

He chuckled as we went to the car. He slid into the front seat as I started my car. “Can you drive us back? She might be shaken.”

“What do you think happened?” he asked.

“I didn’t ask. I told her the other day that I would be there if she needed me.”

He grunted and continued to text the other men. It didn’t take us long to get there, and I didn’t even bother to knock. Sure enough, the front door was unlocked. The smell of blood filled the air. “Alice? Are you in here?”

“I’m in the kitchen. You didn’t call the cops, right?”

I followed the blood trail all the way to the kitchen. A stranger with a knife and a knitting needle in his throat lay in a pool of blood on the floor. Alice was covered in his blood as she held her knees to her chest. Drips of his blood splashed onto the tile. Alice could have just called the cops, but she didn’t. She calledme.She shook her head, and I reached out my hand.

“Can you come here and pack a bag? I’ll have my men clean this up. You’ll need to leave for the next little bit,” I said. “Or we don’t have to pack anything. I can get someone to get you more clothes and toiletries.”

“I shouldn’t have called you,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You did the right thing. We’ll take care of everything. Come here.”

She didn’t move. I sighed and picked her up in bridal style carry. On our way out of the door, my cleaners arrived. My bodyguard slid into the front seat and I buckled Alice in the backseat and sat beside her. I tried to wrap my head aroundthe fact she called me. I’m assuming she was defending herself. Why?

“You know what people say,” she whispered, as if she could hear my thoughts.

“What?”

“She was asking for it. It was implied consent. Whatever whatever whatever. I didn’t want it. He was trying to force himself on me,” Alice mumbled.

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” I said as I looked out the window.

“But I do. I’m still trying to figure out what happened.”

“Okay.”

She wrung her hands in her lap. “One of my exes hated it when I did that. Talk about something over and over again as I tried to figure out what happened. Like, was I in the wrong after all? I don’t feel wrong.”

“If he was touching you in a way you didn’t like, then he was in the wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I should have called the cops, but they won’t believe me. The media would call me a whore. They’ll probably say I wanted it. They?—”

I pushed my fingers over her lips and pressed my forehead to hers. “Shh. Don’t explain yourself to me. Don’t work yourself up over it. I trust you, and I’m glad you called me.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“When we get to my condo, you’re going to take a shower and get clean. Okay?”

“Yeah.”

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