Page 50 of North

I wasn’t expecting that, and my throat bobbed as I considered what to tell him. I hesitated, my hands twisting in my lap, but every time I opened my mouth, the words stalled in my throat until, eventually, Evie answered for me, her voice edged with fury. “North and his friends—your brother included—have been tormenting her for weeks on some bullshit justice crusade.”

“What are you talking about?” Aiden stiffened.

Evie nodded. “They set Quinn up, it sounds like it was all planned.”

His jaw tightened, something dark flickering behind his eyes. “What exactly did they do?”

I forced myself to speak, even though the words felt like razor blades on my tongue. “There was a party at Victor’s,” I whispered. “North and I,” I still didn’t know how to say it, and I stumbled over the words as I admitted what we’d done, “We… um… we were sleeping together. I think he recorded me. And then they played it for everyone.”

Aiden went rigid. His fists clenched at his sides, his knuckles turning white. He didn’t speak right away and didn’t react with the same immediate anger Evie had. Instead, he looked at me—really looked at me—and exhaled sharply.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and it almost broke me. Because he meant it. Because he wasn’t making excuses, wasn’t saying I should’ve known better, wasn’t telling me I was stupid for trusting North in the first place.

Just that he was sorry.

I swallowed hard, blinking against the sting in my eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal.” It was nothing compared to what happened to him.

“It is, and they probably did this because of me.” Aiden swallowed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Even if it was, you weren’t involved.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I don’t want you to say anything.” His voice was firm. “But I’m not going to stand for bullying over something that happened nearly a decade ago. Evie was right to come to me, those three are assholes when they want to be, but I’ll fix this.”

I laughed, but it came out broken. “You can’t.”

He didn’t argue. He just turned to Evie. “What do you need from me?”

Evie met his gaze, her expression unreadable. “Connor listens to you. Talk to him.”

Aiden’s jaw tightened. “You think he’s going to listen to me about this?”

Evie’s voice was steel. “Make him.”

Aiden studied her for a long moment, then looked back at me. “If I do this, I need something from you too.”

I became tense. “What?”

His gaze didn’t waver. “I need you to understand that you’re not at fault for what your father did, Quinn. Don’t let what they did get to you. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”

I didn’t know how to respond. Because wasn’t that exactly what had happened? They’d taken everything from me—my dignity, my trust, my ability to look anyone in the eye without wondering what they were thinking.

Aiden stood up, grabbing his keys. “Let’s go.”

I frowned. “Go where?”

He smirked, but it wasn’t amusing. It was dangerous. “To see my brother.”

I hesitated, my pulse hammering, but Evie stood, already moving toward the door. “Come on, Quinn. You’re not running away until we fix this.”

Chapter 19

North

Connor lounged on the couch, scrolling through his phone like he didn’t have a care in the world. Victor sat beside him, his elbow resting on the armrest, watching something on the TV without really paying attention. I stood by the window, arms crossed, staring outside at the yard, trying to ignore the gnawing sensation in my gut that hadn’t left since last night.

Everything had gone back to normal for them. Like nothing had happened. Like we hadn’t just destroyed someone’s life.

I couldn’t get Quinn’s face out of my head.

---