Blindsided (Game On 2)

Isabelle burst into a fresh wave of tears but adrenaline began pumping through me. If I knew where to find that son of a bitch, I’d have dragged myself out of bed, injured or not, and made him pay for what he tried to do.

“He admitted it?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because he knows she won’t go to the police.”

I’ve never understood chicks, but this was a whole new level of confusing. How could she not want to call the cops on his ass? Not just for herself, but for Isabelle. He deserved to suffer for everything he’d ever done to them, and for what he did to me.

“That’s not a problem,” I said. “If she won’t, I will.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It’s not? Leon told your sister that he planned to rape her, and you want to keep that quiet?”

Isabelle’s face paled and she shuddered, rubbing her arms. “Don’t say that.”

“I’m sorry. That’s what it comes down to. Why are we discussing this? Let’s get the police back in here.”

I started to get out of bed, but Isabelle said, “No! Just … wait. There’s something you don’t know. Georgia asked me not to tell you, but I can’t … I don’t want to lie to you, Jesse. You need to understand why we can’t go to the police.”

The distress on her face made me stop and sit down again.

“Come here,” I said, reaching for her.

Hesitantly, she walked towards the bed but didn’t sit too close. My stomach twisted into a knot while I waited.

“Leon told Georgia that she can’t go to the police because, if she does, he’ll tell everyone her secret.”

“Which is?”

“I can’t tell you that part.”

I shook my head. “You can’t give me half the story and expect that to be enough.”

“I need you to trust me.”

Her eyes closed. Even though her tears had slowed, she was taking in long breaths as if she was trying to stop herself from crying again. I realised Georgia was the more … outgoing twin, but what could she have done that would make her want to keep something this serious from the police? And why did she even tell Isabelle if she was going to force her to keep it a secret?

“Back in the summer, Georgia and Elliott had a massive argument about Mischa. Mischa always wanted Georgia to go out with her, and she kept trying to hook her up with random boys they met on nights out. She never did anything with any of them, but Elliott was really angry with her because they weren’t spending any time together. Georgia was just as pissed off because she felt like he was trying to control her. Naturally, she went out with Mischa that night, and-”

“Leon found out she hooked up with someone,” I finished.

“He more than found out,” Isabelle said, dryly. “He was the one she hooked up with.”

Everything that had happened since I woke up had been one weird ass thing after another. Hearing Isabelle say that Georgia had slept with Leon really took the cake.

Isabelle took advantage of my bewildered silence to say, “Please don’t think anything bad about her. She got really drunk, and I think he took advantage of that. I mean, he must have, there’s no other way she would have let him near her.”

“When you say ‘took advantage’ do you mean he forced her?”

“No,” Isabelle said, quickly. “She said he didn’t force her, but he must have … I don’t know … tricked her somehow.”

Tricked her? Georgia was just as smart as Isabelle, and even drunk, she was aware enough of what she was doing to say yes.

“Let me make sure I’m understanding this,” I said. “Leon slept with Georgia, and last night, he tried to drug her so he could do it again, this time without her consent. But I took her drink, and now I’m in hospital with no memory of last night, and a knee injury that might end my career. And you don’t want to tell the police because if anyone finds out she screwed Leon, they’ll be mad at her?”