by Leanne Davis
Her face was chalk white as her mouth twisted in agony. “What is it?”
He sucked in a breath as if it could breathe courage into him. “My name… my name is Tristan Aderly…” He lifted his head to stare right at her. The rims of his eyes were turning red and tears brimmed there. “Tamasy.” He closed his eyes, flinching as if something was socking him in the gut. “My name is Tristan Tamasy.”
Chapter Eighteen
HER JAW OPENED AND went slack in her face. Stuck. Her entire body was suddenly frozen and stuck in positon. Her eyes opened wide, and her arms wrapped around her middle. She huddled under her sweatshirt as she pulled at it suddenly almost compulsively.
Tamasy. My name is Tristan Tamasy. The scenery wavered before her gaze. She wobbled on her feet. He wasn’t serious. He was… no, what? Why would he lie? About that name? That name. That insidious, hideous name? Why would Tristan say such a thing?
How did he even know that name would mean anything to her? Dazed, totally blindsided, and confused, all she could do was stand there, unseeing of everything around her with her head bent down. No one knew who raped her. Not one soul knew what happened to her. Well, now that wasn’t true… two souls knew. The person who did it. And the person lying sick in the hospital.
Oh… and Tristan Tamasy.
She recoiled back. They set her up.
The entire world wavered and she thought she might pass out. Or be sick.
Tristan came forward, near her. “Kylie… Please, let me explain.”
“He’s…”
Tristan nodded, his gaze searching hers. “My little brother. Tommy’s my brother. But I can explain it.”
Explain what? What were they doing? What kind of sick plan did they have for her? Fear sliced through her and she tried to shy away from his body. What were they going to do her?
He caught her hands in his. She stared at their joined flesh with huge, horror-filled eyes. He cursed softly. “Why do you look afraid of me? Oh my God! Do you think I’m going to hurt you? Kylie, I would never physically hurt you.”
She pushed at him and he let go. She took a step back and then another. And another. Her back hit the wall because she wasn’t watching where she stepped. She swallowed, staring at him. Unsure what to think or believe or even do. Her heart flapped in her chest. Her breath came in swift, shallow pants and her brain felt like it began to spin from the magnitude of what this meant.
Tamasy.
What did they want with her? What did they plan to do with her? But dear God, it had been over four months she’d been dating Tristan and only Tristan. Who could carry on such a travesty for so long? It was beyond comprehensible.
He put his hands up like he was under arrest. His tone was then gentle, coaxing, as if he was talking to a scared child he needed to gain the trust of. “Kylie, I’m not going to physically hurt you.”
“How did you know? How did you know who I was? No one knows what he did to me. Not a soul. I never told anyone. How do you know?” Then her head dipped down as if the weight of her realization crushed her neck. “Tommy told you. Oh my God. He told you what he did and you decided to pretend to be in love with me? I don’t understand. It’s sicker than what he did. It’s—”
His head bobbed down onto his chest for a moment as if the weight of her words were too heavy. Finally he shook his body, as if he were shaking off water from a shower. “The website. You commented on Cadence Sommelier’s accusation of Tommy.”
It only made her push harder into the wall. “I didn’t use my name.”
“My tech guy found your name off that.”
“Your tech guy?”
He shook his head. “Yes. Let me explain it all. I know how evil it sounds. I can’t imagine what you must be thinking. But please let me start from the beginning. It’s why I was trying to tell you. Will you listen to me? Just a few more minutes of your life. Then you never have to see me again if you choose.”
His lies. His name. His what? She still couldn’t process what it all was. She took her pack of cigarettes and lit one. She ran her fingers through her hair. It was tangled down her back. As if there had ever been any real chance Tristan didn’t have an agenda with her.
She finally sucked off the last of the cigarette before she tucked her arms over her chest.
“You came after me?”
“I—I don’t think that’s what I was doing. I mean, we found your name off the website. We knew Cadence Sommelier could make more waves for Tommy.”
“No, she didn’t.”
He licked his lips. “She put up that post on the Rape Matters website. But later, we were able to get her to agree to take money and let the matter die its natural death.”
Cadence had not told her this part. Stung, Kylie immediately realized there was more to Cadence’s story than she understood. But she did know Cadence was raped and the Tamasys had gotten their way out of her. She was still their victim. “You bullied her.”
He held her glare with a neutral face. It made shivers ride up her spine. He was so cold. So calculating. So business-like about this. “Yes. She had family but they had no real power. No lawyers or politicians or business leaders. Little money. We thought she’d disappear. We thought…”
“We?”
“We being my grandfather, father, me, and Tommy. I work for my grandfather at Tamasy Industries. So does my father, but he’s more a figurehead than anything. It’s my grandfather who is the brains and makes the decisions. I carry out a lot of his instructions.”
Her stomach knotted. She had no idea. None. Who he was. Or what he was capable of. She blinked as if his image would waver before her. He wasn’t anything like who she thought. It made her nauseous to realize. And she had no idea Cadence had taken money from Tommy’s family.
“She had this story. Tommy had witnesses that night. She was drunk. She willingly went to his room to have sex. With him. So maybe, yeah, we bullied her. Maybe we play a little dirty because we do have more money and power, but this was a rape accusation. It had the potential to ruin Tommy’s entire reputation and life. He—”
“Yes, rape accusations would do that to one. But then, so does rape.”
“It was her word against his.”
“And then I commented,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he answered finally after the long pause as they stared at each other. She cleared her throat. “So what was Grandfather’s decision to do about me? What are you supposed to do to me?”
He winced but finally said, “Neutralize you.”
“How?”
“At first I was going to go after Cadence. Grandfather then decided I needed to handle you and he took on Cadence. He initiated and took care of their negotiations and what they paid her. Besides, Cadence knew who we all were. But—”
“I didn’t. I didn’t know anything about you, actually. How are you neutralizing me?”
He suddenly stepped forward and looked to be about to grab at her. She put her hand out, her finger pointed at him, her voice lethal as she uttered, “Don’t you touch me. You’ll have to drug me first. Or is that a family trick? I just proved to be such a slut, you didn’t have to?”
He shook his head. His eyes were huge and he shut them as he let out a shuddering breath. His fists were clenched. “No. God, no. Never. Nothing like that. I would never do something to anyone, and never you. I would never let anyone either.”
“Your brother did that to me.” Something coursed through her veins. She stood up taller, her shoulders back, her jaw clenched. The anger, the rage that never came on her own behalf, even with Tommy, finally percolated inside her gut.
He kept his hands up as if to make sure she could see them. His breath seemed to stop. Then he shook his head. “I came to meet you. I had your name and I knew that you worked at The Acorn. I didn’t know another thing about you.”
“You knew whatever Tommy told you. What did he tell you?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I came in there, to see who
you were. But then, I met you and nothing fit. Nothing about you fit.”
“What was the plan?”
His shoulders dropped. “To sleep with you. If I’d slept with you, then no one would ever believe you.”
She almost bit her tongue. Finally she said, “No. They won’t. No one will ever believe me.”
“Kylie, it’s not what happened.” His voice started to speed up as he spoke. “It wasn’t like that, not from the moment I met you. The first smile, and I swear to God, I was gone for you. I didn’t understand it, not from the start. I thought I went there to scope you out, but by the time I ran into you in the ally I wasn’t there as Tommy’s brother. I was just… there.” He pushed his hands through his hair. “Fuck. I hear how lame this sounds, even to my own ears. I didn’t do it. None of it. I told my grandfather I had the proof and he could take you off his list of worries. As far as they knew I never contacted you again. But I didn’t do anything. I didn’t take any pictures nor did I tell anyone about us. No one knows about us in my life. That’s why it’s been so odd, I’ve been so secretive. I hid you because I was crazy about you. From the start. You were there, you can’t tell me you think that was all a lie. Or a ploy. I’m not that good of an actor. I’ve never set out to do anything like this before, it’s not like its routine for me. I’m just a business man. Honest to God, Kylie. I’m just a businessman. I don’t usually do things like this. I thought I was being a good brother. But then…”
“Then what? I can’t even comprehend this. What did you think you were doing? This went on for over four months. Who does that?”
“I thought if I was with you long enough, I could find a way to make this all work out. I could figure out what happened. I could tell you in a way that wouldn’t destroy you, and you’d believe me, because you’d know by then, feel by then, what we are. What I feel about you.”
“That’s the lamest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”
He dropped his head in shame. “I know. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“You never even asked. You never got my side of the story out of me. You waited until I came blubbering all over you. Why did you wait so long?”
He was shaking his head. “I don’t know. I think I was pretending that none of it had happened. If I didn’t talk about it, I didn’t have to do anything. Cadence eventually took some money and signed a nondisclosure agreement.”
“Cadence did what? You’re saying she signed an agreement saying she wouldn’t discuss this?”
“Yes. She settled with us. Meaning, she would no longer make public comments or accusations to Tommy or disclose what we all agreed on. If it were criminal accusations, with the police involved it wouldn’t do us any good. But for civil matters? It does. It meant she couldn’t post on the website any longer or keep spreading the rumors. After all the crappy comments on the website and enough people on campus not believing her, she finally wore down enough to settle.”
“No. No, she didn’t settle. She would have told me. She specifically told me the opposite.”
“Yes, she did settle. We have legal paperwork to prove it. She took a substantial amount of money.”
“When?”
“Two months ago. So you see, I just thought… Fuck! I don’t know what I thought. I just didn’t want this to be the case. I thought things were done, except…”
“Except for me. But then, you know I don’t talk to anyone.”
“I know I fell for you.”
She stepped towards him. His eyes grew wide with surprise. She tilted her head as she reached out and adjusted his tie, which he’d yanked at so it was askew. “Look at you, and I lived in some kind of fantasy, you and me… I’m a fool.”
He grabbed her hand in his. “You’re not a fool. I am. I just, I haven’t known what to do… who to believe…. I mean, it’s you. I know you, Kylie… But then, he’s my brother. My little brother. I helped raise him. I can’t believe he’d…”
She yanked her hand back. “You should have never wasted your time. I was never planning to do anything about it. I wasn’t going to seek out Cadence, no matter what she was doing. I never told anyone and I intended to keep it that way. You shouldn’t have come after me. But you did and you started telling me things, like I wasn’t a slut and all that shit about believing in myself and allowing myself to react how I need. Well, you gave me the strength to go talk to Cadence. You made everything worse for Tommy. I hope you realize that. I hope you realize I’m going to do everything I can now to destroy him. I don’t care what it takes or what is said about me. I’ll never put my head around why you did this for so long or the twisted game you were playing, but just go fuck yourself.” She then calmly passed around him and kept going until she was through the hospital doors. She fisted her hand. She’d be damned if she let them… the Tamasy brothers twist her all up again. She knew her truth. She knew what must be done now. Nothing and no one was going to make her feel bad again. Not even Tristan Tamasy.
Chapter Nineteen
TRISTAN DIDN’T KNOW WHAT to do. He stared at the white wall of the hospital for a good half hour before he finally, mechanically, got to his feet and into his car. He started for home. Ignoring everything. Numb. It had all ended of course. As it had to. As this all should.
Once home he sat on his couch simply staring at the wall in his living room. Hours went by and he didn’t move. He barely blinked. He felt nothing. He felt everything.
But he couldn’t picture what he’d just done to Kylie. What would she do? She wouldn’t tell anyone. Her embarrassment, shame, denial, all of it would keep her silent. Wasting away before everyone’s eyes. He couldn’t stand it.
He jumped up and quickly went to his car and drove towards her place. He parked across from it. Lights were visible in the windows. He stayed there, unsure what he was doing. Being her guardian. The reality of what Cadence had done to herself sunk heavily on him. But Kylie? NO. She wouldn’t do that to herself. He gripped the steering wheel, chanting it to himself. But after the day she’d had. Cadence and then him. What he’d done. Who he was.
He had to fix this. But how? What could he do? He’d apologize, of course. He had to keep trying. Begging. Pleading. Doing something…
Then she came strolling out and down the sidewalk. He blinked to make sure his subconscious wasn’t conjuring her up just because he wanted her to be there. Where was she going? She didn’t even glance around to make sure no one was around or creeping up behind her. She huddled in her jacket. Her ponytail rested heavy over her slim, delicate back. Her long thin legs encased in leggings and tucked into boots. He glanced around unsure what to do. He couldn’t follow her like some kind of stalker.
Finally he pulled his cell out and dialed her sister.
“Ally? You’ve got to go check on Kylie. Please. She won’t call you. She won’t even tell you about it. But she needs to. She needs someone.”
“Tristan?”
“Yes.” He nearly growled it with annoyance.
“Where are you?”
“I came to try and talk to her but now she’s walking down the street and towards some college party would be my guess. Yes, she just turned towards the campus. You know what that means, Ally.”
“What the hell? What happened?”
“I hurt her. She’s going to punish herself now. Please Ally, I can’t stop her, but you can. She needs someone right now.
“What did you do to her? Oh my God, did you cheat?”
He shut his eyes. “I wish it was that easy and straightforward. It’s a long story. And you need to get it out of her. She needs someone. She can’t keep doing this all alone. But I’m the last person she’ll trust.”
“Why? What happened, Tristan? She is crazy about you and you acted like…”
“I am. But it’s complicated. I just need to know she’ll be okay.”
“I’m going right now. But if I find out you cheated I’m coming after you with a sharp knife.”
He shook his head and his tone
was hollow as he said, “You’ll be coming after me with a lot more when you hear what I did. But Ally, I just know her. She’ll bury this deep. Her shame at not seeing who I am, what I was doing to her will be first and foremost on her mind. She’ll try to hide it like she does everything. But this time… she can’t. Don’t let her. Keep after her until she tells you.”
“Tells me what?”
“What I was hiding from her…” He sighed and swore under his breath. “And mostly, what my brother did to her.”
“You and your brother did to her? What could you possibly do to her…” The silence was ominous. “Fucking A, Tristan, if you so much as touched a hair on her head without her permission…” Ally then hung up on him.
****
Kylie walked through her front door at two in the morning. She screamed when someone stood up off her bed. Tristan? No. Ally. Ally who had a key to her apartment. She stepped forward and suddenly scooped Kylie up in her arms. “What did he do to you?”
“How do you know?”
“The fucker called me and told me to come to you. That you needed me but wouldn’t tell me. What is going on, Kylie?”
“What was he doing? Spying on me?”
“He thought you were off to hurt yourself somehow. Did you?”
“No. I just walked around for a while.”
What was the use? Kylie wilted into her sister’s embrace. What was the use of silence anymore? Of hiding? Of her stupid attempts to hide her behaviors? Of trying to move past any of it? She just turned around and made bigger and bigger mistakes. She had thought, crazily, in the last few months she had actually turned some kind of a corner, matured or something, to stop overreacting and acting out. She thought she was moving forward, not back.
“I think… I think I need to tell Mom all this.”
Ally’s breath released. She didn’t start interrogating her. She didn’t admonish her. She just nodded and smiled as she tucked Kylie’s hair back and touched her shoulder. “Okay, I’ll take you home.”