Safe at Last (Slow Burn #3)

“She was raped by three of your friends,” Sterling said softly.

Zack’s mouth flapped open and shut. He was utterly robbed of speech. His mind was such a red cloud of fury he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t think it could get any worse than Gracie being raped and believing it was at his instigation. But she hadn’t simply been raped. She’d been gang-raped. By people he trusted! People he called friends? He was a hair’s breath from completely and utterly losing all control and turning over the entire goddamn world to find the sons of bitches who’d violated Gracie in the most demeaning, dehumanizing manner possible.

“What friends?” he demanded hoarsely.

“I don’t know. I swear,” Sterling said. “She didn’t get into much detail. All she said was that three of your friends raped her at your request. That you wanted to get rid of her for good. It happened while you were at school. The day before you were due to come home again. She said you wanted the job done and for her to be gone by the time you got home from school.”

Tears of rage and anguish swirled chaotically in his eyes. This was insane. It was something straight out of fiction or some bizarre movie. This shit didn’t happen in real life, did it?

His friends had raped the woman he loved? Supposedly at his behest? And she believed that?

How could she have had so little faith in him? She should have come to him. Immediately. God, he would have killed every last one of them. He would have done anything in the world to protect her, to make it better. He would have gladly spent the rest of his life in jail if it meant seeking justice for the horrific crime committed against her. He would have spared no regret and he would have made damn sure that Gracie was taken care of for the rest of her life. Had whatever she needed. And she damn well would have known that he loved her with every piece of his soul.

What friends?

Someone he’d trusted had violated the woman he loved? It was no secret that Zack was solidly in love with Gracie. That he’d planned his entire life around her. Everyone knew it. Even his asshole of a father. Even his father had resigned himself to the fact that Gracie was going nowhere. That she’d forever be a part of his son’s life. That for Zack everything, everything revolved around her and her happiness. There was nothing he wouldn’t do, wouldn’t sacrifice for her love and happiness.

“So you know nothing at all other than she was raped. By my friends. Because I asked them to.”

He could barely even get the words out. They choked him. The taste was so bitter in his mouth that he gagged.

This wasn’t happening. After twelve years without her, he’d dreamed of this moment. The moment when they were reunited. Perhaps he’d imagined it a bit too optimistically. Maybe he’d truly thought that whatever misunderstanding had driven them apart could be overcome with a few words and that everything would be okay. That they’d resume their life together and live happily ever after.

How the hell were they ever going to be able to overcome this? He didn’t even know where to start.

Why would his friends rape her? Why would they try to tear them apart? Well, they certainly hadn’t tried. They’d succeeded beyond his wildest imagination. But it still kept coming back to . . . why? Had they hated her so much? Had they hated him so much? Was it jealousy? Resentment for what they deemed his perfect life? How could anyone do something so utterly despicable?

He searched his memory, trying to remember how they’d acted around her. Granted, she hadn’t been exposed to them often. Zack hadn’t wanted to share her with his friends or anyone else for that matter. He was extremely possessive of Gracie and his time with her. Had they resented being second best to a mere girl? Had they set out to ruin not only her life but his as well? He couldn’t wrap his head around any of it.

But he didn’t remember any animosity. His group of friends had been polite and respectful. They’d even teased and played around with her in an effort to make her feel comfortable. Gracie had been terribly shy. Her self-esteem and self-confidence hadn’t been strong. He’d used every opportunity to build her up. To make her secure in the knowledge that she was perfect to him. That he loved her, would always love her.

The only person who’d been overtly hostile toward her and had never made the effort to disguise his dislike of her had been his father. But after that first time he’d brought her home to meet his father, he made sure the two were never exposed to one another again.

He couldn’t put his finger on a single guy from his large group of friends who he truly believed would do something so despicable. And yet Sterling had said she’d been raped by three of them.