Watch Me (Phoenix 1)

“Hot chick,” Jake said. “Should I know her?”

Something deadly flashed across Rhys’ expression. He arched a very slow and deliberate eyebrow. “Try again.”

Jake averted his gaze.

Scott bowed his head.

Rhys grabbed the photo and tossed it aside like he couldn’t stand to touch it before addressing them again. “Let me explain the situation to you. When we ran our background check on the woman in our show last night, this photograph came up.”

Jake shifted in his seat.

Scott had yet to look up.

Rhys continued, “Of course, we put this photograph through a ruthless investigation after we discovered the woman did not give her consent. I don’t think I need to tell you that, at the end of the investigation, your names were at the forefront. Do you care to explain that?”

Scott finally looked up. His skin ashen. “It’s not how it looks.”

“How it looks?” Rhys growled, his knuckles turning white around his bourbon glass. “It looks like you drugged a young woman, photographed her, then blasted lies on social media.”

“We didn’t rape her,” Jake said.

A vein protruded in the center of Rhys’ forehead as he said in a very controlled voice, “You destroyed her life. How can you possibly believe that is any less of a crime than if you had raped her?”

Something broke inside of Zoey, something raw and unexpected, flooding her with emotions she couldn’t control. Never had anyone spoken up for her like this. Even Ava and Julie had kept quiet, hiding behind her embarrassment and shame. Zoey had never let anyone in, never believed anyone would fight for her, and a bleeding spot in her heart needed this. She began shaking and couldn’t stop, wrapping her arms around herself tightly.

Archer was there, squatting next to her, but never reaching to touch her. “Tell me you want to leave, and we leave. It’s that simple, Zoey. What do you want to do?”

“No, I’m okay,” she said, wiping at the moisture on her face with shaky hands. “I want to stay.”

“Please look at me.”

She turned her head, meeting Archer’s concerned eyes. He gently said, “If that changes, tell me.”

“Okay, yes, thank you.” His kindness and trusting nature, Rhys’ strength and protection, she felt it all wrap around her like a warm blanket. She looked back at the men who’d altered her life is such a dramatic way. The men who were complete opposites of these two strangers. But she knew the control Scott and Jake had over her. She didn’t even know the woman she had been before that night anymore. The one who believed people were kind. The woman who trusted her own judgment. The one who thought bad things couldn’t happen to her.

Jake finally lifted his head and snorted. “Rhys, is this going somewhere?”

Rhys grinned as he gestured at the one-way mirror. There was nothing friendly about it. “I’ve brought Zoey here to watch this.”

Both men glanced at the window, shock on their faces. But Scott didn’t look away.

“And the point?” Jake asked, entitled arrogance dripping off his voice.

“Your time in Phoenix is done,” Rhys stated, matter of fact. “Your memberships revoked. I’ve recorded this conversation, and I’m giving the recording and the casefile to Zoey. The choice if she wants to have you prosecuted is her own.” He leaned in, and Zoey had never seen anyone look so scary and sexy all at once. “Let me be very clear: stay away from her. Not a phone call. Not a house visit. Do not push me where it comes to her.” Rhys lifted his glass to his mouth, and before taking a sip, he dismissed them. “Now get the fuck out.?

?

Both men rose. Jake was out the door in less time it took Zoey to draw in a shaky breath.

Scott took a step out but stopped before exiting. He glanced at the window, heavy regret on his features. “I’m sorry, Zoey. I know that will never make up for my part in what I did to you, but I am. I’m just so sorry.”

The emotion Zoey had been fighting burst wide open as Scott left. Like floodgates she couldn’t keep shut, she dropped her head into her hands and cried. Sobbed for everything that had happened. For all the lies spread. For her squashed dreams. For Scott and Jake finally being held accountable. Most of all, she cried because it had happened in the first place. But when a warm, woodsy musk infused the air, she realized someone else had entered the room. Firm hands gathered her, and she was hoisted into strong arms as Rhys sat down, pulling her to straddle his waist.

He held her.

Truly held her.

Like he had last night.