I looked at my sister, her expression tight with worry. "I told him everything."
Even though it hurt to have him know all of my most humiliating business, it was for the best. He was family now, and he had my full trust. I knew with my whole heart that he would never betray me.
The day after the ball, I'd called both of my sisters for an emergency meeting, and they'd come over within an hour. That's how strong our bond was. When one of us lit up the bat signal, the others came running. And I'd told them the entire sordid story, going through a box of tissues as I spilled all.
In the days since, I'd tried my best to forget about that horror show of an ending to my big night and get back to my normal life. Any time my thoughts started to spiral, which was often, I'd forced myself to think of work, work, work.
But now, Tristan Hawthorne had found a way to disrupt me while I was here in my sacred space.
"What did he want?" I whispered to my sister's boyfriend.
"You."
That simple word sent a shock of awareness through my body. "Me?"
"Yes, you," Ethan repeated. "He said he'd met a woman at the winter ball and she'd run off without giving her name. And he was hoping I could track her down."
I blinked at him, my mouth hanging open, still stunned. "How do you even know him?"
He shrugged. "Just through business. I've helped him out a few times with cybersecurity concerns. I'm not sure why he contacted me for this particular, uh, issue, but he did. He asked me to look at the security footage for one. He thought you might have taken off your mask as you were leaving."
I thought back to that night, and I hadn't. So good.Take that, asshole.
Not that it mattered now, because, hi, he'd asked someone I know to track me down.
"So what'd you say?" I asked, doubt creeping into my voice, because it was very, very important that Ethan not reveal my identity.
"I told him I'd look into it."
"You did?" His admission felt like a betrayal.
"Hear me out. If I hadn't agreed, he would have gone elsewhere. The man sounded determined. At least this way, we have some control over the situation."
Just as quickly as I'd felt that flare of betrayal, it cooled. Ethan wasn't wrong.
Something I'd been stewing about for days popped into my head. "You don't think... you don't think Tristan knows who I am, do you? Like this whole thing was just his evil way of bullying me again? And he's playing us all?"
"No," Ethan responded unequivocally. "Absolutely not."
"How can you be so sure? I really wouldn't put it past him."
"Nope. That man was desperate to find you. And I'd already done some digging before he even called me. There's no way this was a setup."
"No way," Aria echoed.
That was a relief. Ethan was excellent at what he did, so I believed him. He'd helped our family countless times now, and he'd always been one-hundred percent correct.
Breathing a bit easier, I readjusted my legs, crossing them the other way while my brain latched on to the next thing.
"So what now? What do I do?" I asked.
"You can fuck with him," Aria said immediately, her voice pure glee.
That explained the glow. She'd been waiting to say that all along, dying for the right moment to get those words out.
"Fuck with him..." I repeated slowly, examining the taste of it on my tongue.
"Yes, totally. Make his life hell for what he did to you in high school."
