Page 87 of Betrayal

“I didn’t make her happy, so that’s on me.But I wasn’t responsible for her injuries.”

Hunter rose to his feet, energised by what she’d told him and anxious to work out his next steps.He’d need to let Anna go tonight, figure out if Helen’s story helped in any way to neutralise Nick.Despite calling in every marker he had, Hunter still had a few missing pieces to bring Nick down financially.“We can talk more later.”

“You’re dismissing me?”She stared at Hunter as if he’d sprouted a second head.“You’re handing Nick the victory?”

“No.”How to convince her.

Pushing to her feet, she pulled a small envelope from her bag and set it on the table.“I refused to be a victim then.I won’t be a victim now.I guessed Nick sent you photos of me.I’m more than happy to go to the cops.I also came here to tell you about Helen.

“That’s a copy of Helen’s hospital discharge report, her police complaint, and my supporting statement.I’ll also give you her charm bracelet.There would have been DNA testing as part of the initial sexual assault complaint.I’m guessing either there were no matches on the database at the time, or the cops stopped the investigation before identifying the perpetrator.But the cops store things like that for future reference.”

“Why are you giving me this?”

“Nick’s a narcissist.He sees betraying others as self-defence, because he’s the only person who counts.I didn’t fully understand all the marks of the beast when I was eighteen, but over the years, I’ve built an identikit in my head.The fragments I’ve been assembling came from images of Nick I remembered from his birthday bash.”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was his birthday sooner?”

“A mistake.You didn’t need me to confirm Nick preys on vulnerable people.”

“Jesus.There are things I should have told you, warned you about.”

“If you think dumping me will protect me, you’re wrong.I’m a target all by myself.Not because you were dating me.Nick will open another battlefield, and another, until he wins.If you’d told me about Gina then, shared your photos, I’d have told you about Helen, given you what I had.Liam would have taken our case to the police.”

“Did Helen name him?”

“Helen didn’t see the man’s face.I can’t swear to where Nick Richardson was every minute I was in that hell hole.But recognising the bracelet is pretty telling.Either way, he was complicit.I saw him in the hospital carpark.She’d dropped the charges by the time I reached her room.”

“Thank you.”

“What for?”she spat her self-disgust.“I talked her into that night.She died.”

“For coming here, for telling me Helen’s story.”Hunter sounded so bloody formal, even to himself.He was making a hash of it.“I thought Nick would destroy you.”In that moment, he’d been prepared to do anything—to never see Anna again—if it removed her from Nick’s orbit.“You’ve got a family, a new niece.Your reputation’s important.”

“Yes, it is.It brings in work.But in the end, it’s who I am, what I do when no one’s watching that’s more important to me.”She thumped her chest.“You should have asked.I’m not ashamed of my body.I’m not ashamed of being a woman, of making stupid mistakes by using my body to gain attention or affection.

“If Nick broadcasts those photos, I’ll own them.I’ll also make sure a helluva lot of people know that Nick shouldn’t have them, that he exploited women, some of whom were underage, to titillate fifty-year-old men at his birthday party, and now he’s using them to coerce and control my behaviour.”

“Not everyone in your life will look for the explanation.Dirt sticks.”That was the gamble Hunter hadn’t been prepared to take.

“I don’t care about everyone,” she cried passionately.“I hate that I didn’t help Helen enough, and that I wasn’t fast enough to recognise that an obsessive, entitled arsehole was targeting my sister.I should have forgotten rules, niceties, and politeness, and shouted in every forum I could that women are not and never have been possessions.Sexual violence is about power.That’s why you see it in wars.Show as many naked pictures of me as you please.I won’t like it, but I refuse to be silenced.”A tear spilled onto her cheek.“That would be a betrayal of every woman who’s been crushed.”

“I’m going after him.I had a plan before you came tonight.Your evidence gives me more.”Hell, Hunter had totally cocked this up.His silence about Nick had encouraged Anna’s.“I have another story, if you’ll listen.”

She nodded, scrubbing away her tears.

“I told you my parents divorced.”He led her back to the chair.“That Mum found Nick screwing his secretary in their bed.I was with her.He wanted a divorce and wanted her to sell the house, figured he’d make it so the memories were too bad to stay there.”Unable to sit, Hunter paced.

“He got his divorce, but Mum refused to sell.I didn’t know what to think at the time.But I knew my family was stuffed.Mum started sleeping with Nick’s associates, an attempt to make him jealous.I never knew who I’d find at home.Nick toyed with her—came by, he used to say, for a fuck for old times’ sake or because he was at a loose end.She let him in.”He rubbed his face, disgust with them, with himself, making his throat dry.

“What did he do next?”

While she was making spilling his guts easier than Hunter would have believed possible, listening wasn’t forgiving.

“I was fifteen.I woke up to a woman sucking my cock.She was naked.Before I knew what was happening, Marygai was on top of me.I came.”

“Was she your first?”

“Damn it, yes.”He threw his hands in the air.Marygai had taken advantage, but he’d endlessly workshopped the what-ifs if he’d leapt out of the bed screaming assault.“A party at home.Marygai stayed over because she wastired and emotional.”

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