Chapter 23 #2
“Look,” he levels me with a look, one that says shut the hell up and let him talk, “I only know what I know. Okay. Do you have any idea how hard this shit was to figure out?”
Running a hand over my jaw, I wait.
“Thank you,” he says. “Like I was saying, I don’t think she went to the police. I talked to her old roommate—that girl is a spineless waste of space. Let me tell you.”
Nostrils flaring, I’m seconds away from snapping at him to get to the point.
I don’t give a shit about her roommate or any of her former friends.
None of them stuck around after what happened to her.
I haven’t heard a single word about anyone since we’ve been seeing each other.
She’s always with me and my boys or riding solo.
Whatever their deal is, it’s irrelevant.
“Felix—“ Julio warns, waving for him to speed this up.
“Right. Sorry.” He huffs out a breath. “So, according to the roommate. Cecilia said she was raped. Holt and those two ass wipes of his drugged her and…” His Adam’s apple bobs. “Well, you can figure it out.”
I nod. I don’t need those details right now.
They’re for Cecilia to tell me whenever she’s ready.
What I need to know is why Benson, Chambers, and Holt are still walking around like fucking peacocks on campus after raping a girl.
No way should they have gotten away with this.
How the hell did we never hear about it?
Guys gossip as much, if not more, than women, especially in the locker room.
Something like this shouldn’t have stayed under wraps for this long.
“What else?” Julio asks.
“I guess the roommate convinced her to go to the school first. She said something about Cecilia’s dad being in politics.”
“Yeah. I’ve met him. Nice guy. He’s our mayor.”
“No shit?” Felix asks.
I nod.
“Okay. That makes more sense. He’s up for re-election.
Holt tried blackmailing your girl into staying quiet for the sake of her father’s campaign.
The roommate suggested going to the school board.
It was a smaller risk. The guys wouldn’t serve jail time, but they’d be expelled. She wouldn’t have to see them again.”
Julio snorts. “It’s less than he deserves.”
“And he didn’t even get that,” I remind him. Not even a slap on the fucking wrist. What the hell is wrong with people?
“No. He didn’t.” Felix confirms. “Holt’s mom is on the board, and both parents are criminal defense attorneys.
They came in prepared. Threw their money and status around, threatened both Cecilia and the university with a lawsuit for defamation.
From the sounds of it, it was brutal, and the school didn’t want the trouble. ”
“So they gave up. Just like that?”
He nods. “They slapped her with a cease and desist after trying to bully her into signing an NDA. She refused.”
Good for her. Those pretentious pricks don’t deserve her silence. “After that, they withdrew their support from her dad’s campaign. I think that’s when shit fell apart for her. It’s also the same time Holt started hooking up with her friend.”
“The redhead?” I’ve seen her with him and recognize her from some of Cecilia’s old social media posts.
“Yeah. Kim something. I didn’t bother to get a last name.
” He shrugs. “I guess the roommate, Cecilia, and this Kim chick were best friends before, but Kim had a thing for Austin and he used that. Convinced her Cecilia was jealous and wanted to get back at him for choosing Kim over her. He fed her ego. Told her everything she wanted to hear.”
“And she believed that garbage?” What the hell kind of friend is that?
“I doubt it. But she wants to, and that’s enough. Getting the guy is more important to her than having her friend’s back.”
“The roommate too?”
“Joelle? No. She believes Cecilia. She’s just too weak to do anything about it. She comes across as a decent person. Smart. Funny.”
“You flirted with her, I take it?”
“How else did you expect me to get the scoop?” He rolls his eyes. “She’s not all bad. But she’s a follower and for too many years, she’s been in the habit of following Kim. She tells her to jump, Joelle asks how high. It’s sad. I’m pretty sure she regrets it.”
“Did you fuck her?” Julio asks.
Felix’s face fills with indignation. “Sleep with the enemy?” He makes a fist and pounds it where his heart sits in his chest. “Hell no. I’d never do Cecilia dirty like that.”
Julio nods, but I don’t miss the sudden gleam in Felix’s eyes. “Hooking up with the wrong female falls into your department Remember, Julio? Not mine.”
Releasing a groan, I shake my head. He just had to go there.
Julio clenches his fists. “It was one kiss.” We’ve heard it before. Doesn’t change what he did.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Felix gives him a mocking grin.
“Fuck you,” he says. There’s no heat in his words.
Julio knows he messed up. And we’d be shitty friends if we didn’t take the opportunity to remind him of his royal fuck up from time to time.
It’s what friends do. He’s the one who kissed Allie’s ex-friend drunk at a party.
Just one more reason we all have to avoid that scene.
Adriana used to kick it with us too. We were our own party of five.
But she messed around with Allie’s then boyfriend behind her back and you don’t do that to your familia.
Loyalty is everything. She proved she had none. Much like Cecilia’s former friends.
“Pass, but I’ll give Adriana your new number the next time I see her if you like?”
Julio growls in the back of his throat.
“Fight with each other another time. I need to meet up with Cecilia.” I shoot her a text, telling her I’m going to be a few minutes late to buy myself some time.
“Right.” He turns his attention to me. “Joelle believes her. But she’s been friends with the Kim chick since grade school.
She’s only known Cecilia since freshman year.
She picked the wrong side.” He shrugs. “She made her bed and now she has to lie in it.
Which sucks for Cecilia. Her friends should have been there for her. Parents are great and all but—“
“They don’t know.” If they did, they wouldn’t care about the money or the campaign. They’d want her to get justice for what happened. There’s no way they can know. They seem like good people. Parents who genuinely care about their daughter’s wellbeing.
“The suicide they know about. There was no way to hide it. But I don’t think they know about the rape. That’s why they’re so protective of her.” It makes so much sense. “They don’t know what made her take that path and they don’t know what to do to make sure she doesn’t slide down it again.”
“Fuck. That’s rough. She had to go through all that shit on her own,” Felix whistles. “Your girl is tougher than she looks.”
I know. It didn’t take long to realize Cecilia is one of the strongest people I know, which is why I mean it when I say, “We can’t let him get away with this.”
“We won’t.” Felix agrees. “And I think I know someone who can help with that.”
“Who?” Julio and I ask at the same time.
“Rumor is, Holt’s been poking his nose around Gigi.”
Gigi? I don’t know any Gigi. Then it hits me. “Coach’s kid?”
Felix nods. “Yep.”
“No way is she legal.” Julio adds. “Has she even graduated from high school?”
“Nope. And Holt knows that, but he’s chasing her tail, anyway.”
“So, what are you thinking? Use the girl to get to Holt? What about the others?” I ask.
“We’re not setting her up. We can’t put a kid at risk like that.”
“I’m not suggesting we do,” Felix says. “But if she’s going to be an idiot kid regardless, I say we use it to our advantage.”
“We should warn her. Tell Coach at least,” I suggest. There are unspoken rules in place when you join any team, and at the top of the list is you don’t fuck the Coach’s daughter. They’re always off limits.
“It won’t matter,” Felix tells us. “I tried getting a read on the girl. She spends a lot of time on campus because of her dad.”
“And?”
“She’s an idiot. She thinks Holt hangs the fucking stars. She’s too obsessed with the idea of landing an older guy. I warned her what her dad would think, and she made it clear she doesn’t care.”
“Keep tabs on her. I’ll dig into Benson and Chambers, see if I can find an angle for them,” Julio tells Felix. “And you—“ He turns to me. “Go see your girl and keep your shit together. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t.”
“Good. We’ll handle this for now, like we’ve been doing, and pull you in when one of us has more.”
I grind my molars. I fucking hate this.
“Gabe,” he snaps.
“Yes. Got it.”
Satisfied, he nods. “And watch your backs. Holt knows we’re onto him. Today’s little show didn’t come out of nowhere. We need to be prepared.”
I nod. Holt can throw whatever he wants at me. I’ll be ready.
“And you need to fill Cecilia in.”
What? No way. My eyes snap toward him. “Tell me you’re kidding? She’ll be pissed. It’ll throw these last two weeks right down the drain. I’m not telling her.”
“You have to.”
I bark out a laugh. “I do not.”
Julio gets to his feet. “She’s going to figure it out and what do you think will hurt more, finding out now from you? Or hearing about it later because shit hit the fan and you’re left standing there with egg on your face all because you wanted to keep secrets?”
My jaw clenches, lips pressing into a thin line. “I’ll think about it.”
“You do that.” Julio leaves, and Felix grabs his things to follow. Moving at a slower pace, he pauses in the doorway and gives me a long look.
“You know he’s right.”
I nod. Because yeah, I do.