10. Tori #2
Gavin shook his head. “You really don’t remember.
” He sighed, and ran his hand through his hair.
“Yeah, so everything was cool, you were dancing, having a few drinks, and then your husband,” he practically spat the word, “shows up out of nowhere. Just barges in, acting like you’re his property.
We had a few words. He was all possessive, very aggro, and then he dragged you out of there.
Like you didn’t deserve to be out having a good time with your friends. ”
“And that’s…that was all?” I asked.
He nodded. “Your husband has some anger management issues. And he obviously thinks he owns you. I know it’s none of my business, but having gone through this same kind of thing with my mom, I gotta say…it’s the kind of behavior that doesn’t get better. I worry about you.”
“Stefan’s…complicated,” I said. “He’s not normally like that.” But he was, wasn’t he?
Something still wasn’t right. I’d been drugged, I was sure of it, yet Gavin hadn’t mentioned it at all.
He shrugged again. “If you say so,” he said. “You know him better than I do.”
I nodded numbly. I was only half listening, still struggling to make sense of it all.
According to my own memory, I hadn’t been having a good time in the least when Stefan had arrived.
I distinctly remembered the nausea, the way the ground had rolled under my feet, the way I’d sunk to the floor as the room went black. How had Gavin not noticed?
“Did I seem…” I paused, not sure how to ask if I had acted like I’d been roofied. “Did I seem a little out of it?”
Gavin paused thoughtfully. “I guess you did seem a little off. I just thought you’d had too much to drink.” He laughed. “I mean, but who hasn’t had a night or two out where they couldn’t remember what happened?”
Me. I’d never had a night like that and I never wanted to have one again.
“I don’t think I was just drunk,” I said slowly. “I think I might have been drugged.”
His entire face changed, instantly stricken. “Jesus,” he said. “Who the hell would…” he stopped, his words cutting off as if he was remembering something.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just…” He paused. “No, that’s crazy.”
“What?” I demanded. “Tell me.”
He took a deep breath. “It’s just—if you think you were drugged…” he shook his head again. “I don’t know. Do you remember seeing a big guy that night? Really tall?”
My stomach dropped. “Yes. I do. He was over six feet, black turtleneck, shaved head. I thought he was one of the bouncers.”
Gavin looked me straight in the eye. “He didn’t work there.
He was the one who led Stefan to you. They left the club together, carrying you.
I can’t help wondering if…if Stefan and this guy had something to do with whatever you drank.
I mean, dude was checking you out all night.
Hovering not ten feet away from you at all times.
I figured he just liked the way you looked, but… it’s a pretty big coincidence.”
My blood went cold.
“You think Stefan had me drugged?” I asked, my voice cracking.
“I don’t know what to think, Tori,” Gavin said. “But if you’d seen the way he was acting, how possessive and angry he was about the fact that we were just talking…I just wouldn’t be surprised if he’d sent the big guy out that night to keep an eye on you. Maybe more than that.”
I couldn’t believe it. Stefan was a lot of things, had done a lot of despicable things, but I had a hard time imagining he’d send some thug to a club just to spy on me and drug me.
But Gavin’s expression was so serious and so concerned that I felt my confidence waver.
I had turned my phone off that night. What if Stefan really did have me followed once he’d realized that he couldn’t track me?
What if this wasn’t even the first time he’d sent someone after me?
Had I been drugged as punishment for flirting with Gavin?
“All I’m saying is, he didn’t seem like the nicest guy,” Gavin said. “And he’s definitely got a jealous streak, and is extremely possessive of you. There’s no way you can deny that.”
“You’re right,” I admitted. Stefan was possessive. And he hadn’t said anything about coming to the club that night or about how I had gotten home. Instead he had just watched me suffering from the aftermath of being drugged, and done nothing but taunt me.
I felt truly sick now.
And confused.
Gavin seemed so sure that Stefan had been the one to drug me, but I still couldn’t help feeling like he was leaving something out.
“I’m sorry, Tori,” Gavin said. “I don’t know what else to say.
Look, I’m not gonna harp on it, because it’s your life and your decision to make.
But if you ever have to get out, run away, I’ll be here.
I’ve seen it all before, I know how it is.
So my couch is yours. In fact, I’ll take the couch myself.
Just…you always have somewhere safe to go, with me. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said. There was too much to process. Too much to wrap my head around.
“It’s too cold out here,” Gavin said, adjusting his scarf. “Do you want to grab lunch?”
I shook my head. “I have office hours with Dhawan. I’ll catch up with you later.”
But what I needed was some time to sort through this new information. Although Gavin had given me answers, I still felt just as much in the dark as I had on Saturday morning.
I had far more questions than answers now.
How had Stefan found me in the first place?
Had he sent that guy to spy on me? Was my husband ultimately responsible for my drugged state?
Was it all part of his plan to get me home, or some kind of punishment for being out with Gavin, who he already had his suspicions about?
Maybe he’d actually rescued me from getting drugged by someone else at the club. But if that was the case, then why hadn’t he said anything Saturday morning? Or any time since then?
Nothing made sense.
And it still felt like Gavin was keeping something from me, being cagey about what really happened. Like he wasn’t telling me the whole truth.
There was no one I could trust.