Page 101 of Return of the Bad Girl (Rock Canyon, Idaho 4)

Caroline experienced her first zing of triumph as Kyle sat forward, looking nervously toward the door. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, Caroline, but even if something had happened, it would have been consensual.”

“Consensual? Doesn’t a girl usually have to say yes for it to be consensual?”

“Oh, you said yes,” he said mockingly. “Several times.”

Keep your calm. By the time you’re done with him, he’ll be picking up soap in the shower, with ten other men calling him “sweet cheeks.”

“Did I? Funny how I can’t remember that,” she said, hating the way her voice shook with every word. “What I remember is feeling woozy before you carried me upstairs. I remember you taking advantage of me. You hurt me. And then, you threatened my sisters.”

“Whatever story you want to spin to make yourself feel better, that’s on you, but I don’t have to force myself on women to get laid,” Kyle said smugly.

Taking a deep breath, Caroline tried to remain in control. She could hold out long enough to make him hand himself in. Standing up, she continued, “Until recently, I hadn’t told anyone what you did, and it was like living in a hell I couldn’t escape. And the worst part was, I let you put me there. I took what you did and blamed myself for it. But it was never my fault. You’re the damaged one.”

Kyle’s face flushed nearly purple. “Damaged? I work for a prestigious law firm and have my pick of women. You were the one who got drunk and was all over me. I just took what was offered.”

“You can try to play it off however you want, but I finally understand that you are just a weak, disgusting waste of a human being,” she said, her tone mocking as she added, “I mean, it must take a real big man to force himself on a girl half his size.”

“Shut up, bitch,” Kyle snarled.

“What’s the matter, Kyle? Am I not your type anymore? Because I’m not scared of you?” She forced a laugh. “Maybe I just realized that underneath all that smarm you’re just . . . pathetic.”

He jumped to his feet and grabbed her shoulders, squeezing them painfully as he pushed her back onto the table. Caroline smiled like the cat that got the cream. She’d wanted to make him angry, wanted to throw him off.

“You’re the pathetic one. Poor little Caroline; nobody loves her. You were so desperate for my attention,” he said, holding fast when she struggled. He leaned forward until he was nose to nose with her. His nearness made her skin crawl. “It was so easy. I just added a little nip of whatever I could get my hands on and a few of my mother’s sleeping pills. You just kept guzzling that disgusting punch until you were barely conscious.”

She’d known he must have drugged her, but hearing the words come out of his mouth made bile rise up her throat, choking her. Caroline heard the sound of the room’s doorknob turning, but she had locked it. She had wanted to be alone with him, to make him sweat.

God, she was such an idiot.

“I think my favorite part was when you woke up during and started to struggle, pleading with me to stop,” he taunted her.

Bringing her legs up, she planted them into Kyle’s stomach and pushed him back. As he released her, stumbling back, she got her bearings and jumped back onto her feet. Just as he started to stand straight, she slapped him, backing away before he could reach for her. She couldn’t hold it in anymore, not when he was mocking her with that night.

She wasn’t fifteen years old, drugged and helpless. Or walking down a dark alley.

She was ready for him.

“And Gabe? Why did you blackmail my sister into accusing him?”

He rubbed his cheek and tsked at her. “Caroline, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Forget lying, idiot, my sister has you recorded on her cell phone, beating her. Time stamped and everything.”

Kyle paled, and Caroline wanted to laugh that she had finally cracked his cool shell.

“That bastard got right where he belongs, all on his own.”

“Well, congratulations, Kyle, because we’re gonna be saying the same thing about you in a few hours.”

Kyle scoffed, but his eyes weren’t so sure. “Your sister is hardly a credible witness, no matter what she might have on her phone.”

“Oh, you’ll definitely pay for what you did to Ellie, but that’s not what’s going to put you away for half your life, if not more,” Caroline said, crossing her arms. “You know, I was sick every time I thought about what you’d done to me, but I had no idea how many others there were.”

“What are you talking about, others?”

“The other women you raped and paid off to keep quiet.” For the first time in years, Caroline felt in control. That she had some of her power back.

Sweat was starting to trail down the sides of Kyle’s face, and Caroline was enjoying every single second.

---