Page 65 of Lady Killer

I didn’t like it.

I wanted her to scream her truths from the rooftops until everyone on campus heard what a vile monster Aaron Croft had really been.

But what I wanted and what I could ask of her were two different things.

The system wasn’t kind to survivors of sexual assault. It was even worse when those survivors were Black women. It wouldn’t matter that she had a posh accent, or that her parents were well-off back in England. Without any proof, it was her word against a dead man.

I took a deep breath, the weight of Aaron’s crimes sitting heavily on both of us, despite our innocence.

Well, Simone’s.

“I understand.” My smile was weak, as was hers.

Reaching for her now-cold tea, she held it daintily in her hands before looking down into the cup.

Her voice was cold, and there wasn’t so much as a twitch in her hands. “I’m glad he’s dead.” She looked up at me from under creased brows as if anticipating my condemnation.

“So am I,” I said, inclining my head.

Her expression went tight as she debated my sincerity before she must have ultimately decided to in my favor, letting loose a weary sigh and sitting back into her seat.

“You can’t tell Autumn. She adored him,” she said.

I thought the truth was more complicated than that, but I didn’t see the benefit of disclosing that to Simone. “Of course, this stays between us.”

That was when I made a misstep.

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

“And yours is with me.” Simone paused. “What happened to you—with him, I mean. You said he tried but . . . but you got away too?”

There was a note of hope in her voice that made my stomach turn. Simone had been vulnerable and open with me, despite my initial reception of her today, and I was about to use that to manipulate her into dropping the subject.

“Oh,” I said, tucking my chin under, casting my eyes down to my hands, and playing with my nails. I opened my mouth as if to speak, only to close it again. I did this several times while slowly drawing my shoulders in more and more. Finally, I bit down on my lip before looking up at her with watery eyes.

“Sorry,” I whispered, darting my eyes down.

“Luz, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you,” Simone said earnestly, reaching over to wrap her hands around mine.

Her palms were incredibly smooth and soft, and I wondered what hand lotion she used.

“I’m just not ready to talk about it,” I said in a quiet voice, looking up at her again to see her nodding along.

“Yes, of course. Of course, I understand. If you ever change your mind and need to talk, I’m here, but yes, of course I understand.”

I wasn’t a monster.

Not yet anyways.

But I wasn’t so heartless that I felt good about taking advantage of Simone. It also wasn’t as though it would help her to know the truth.

“Was that the reason you wanted to talk to me?”

“I—I needed to know, you weren’t working with him,” I mumbled as I continued to nibble at my lip.

Justice wasn’t just. I wasn’t so reckless in my pursuit of it that I would do anything for it, but lying to and manipulating someone I somewhat liked was absolutely on the list of lines I would cross.

Her hands clenched mine. “You think, he was working with someone else?”

---