Then it all came flooding back to me.
I remembered going into Millie’s parents’ room and coming face-to-face with Robbie Stenson. I spilled some beer on myself — wasn’t that what he had said? But he had been holding two full cups in his hands. And he told me he hadn’t even been drinking. I grimaced as the memory of the sweet, fizzy liquid glided into my mind, reminding me of how he had urged me to drink it and how, as we sat on the bed, I had become uncomfortable with the way he watched me. And then everything in my memory went dark. I realized, just as the register rang again — echoing the alarm bells in my brain — that Robbie Stenson had drugged me that night and then orchestrated our walk home together so that he could assault me. There was nothing innocent or na?ve about it.
And worse, I felt sure that if Luca hadn’t intervened when he did, things would have gone from bad to awful.
The line pushed forward.
“Move,” the fat man behind me whined, but I couldn’t move. I was rooted to the spot. “Hey, come on.” He prodded me.
Bile rose in my throat. Beside me, Robbie was shuffling forward, dangling the empty red cup back and forth in his hand. It had become a pendulum hurling explosive memories at me, one by one, and before I knew what I was doing, I was shoving him out of the line.
“What the hell?” His stocky frame stumbled sideways. He tripped and landed on the grass, clutching at his ribs.
“How could you?” I lunged again, but this time he was prepared. He pulled himself up and backed away from me, away from the crowds. I followed him.
“What the hell is your problem?” he spat through gritted teeth.
“You tried to assault me!” I hissed.
“No, I didn’t,” he returned so evenly that I might have doubted the memory if it wasn’t pulsating against my brain. “I was walking you home when your boyfriend beat the crap out of me for no reason. You’re lucky I didn’t report him.”
So Luca had caused Robbie’s injuries, and by the looks of things he hadn’t held back. But stranger than Luca’s likely status as a psychopath was the realization that somewhere beneath my conscience, I felt a wisp of satisfaction. Robbie Stenson hadn’t gotten away with trying to violate me.
“I know you drugged me.” I was vaguely aware of hysteria rising inside me. Thanks to Luca Falcone, Robbie might have paid for what he did, but he hadn’t paid for what he’d planned to do. “You set up the whole thing! I remember what you gave me.”
Robbie snorted and his features shrunk into his face. “Do you?” Still holding his sides, he rounded on me like a vulture circling its prey. “Well, I doubt that would stand up in court.”
“So you admit it?” I returned furiously.
He shrugged and then I was hurling myself at him again. A sharp pain rippled through my left shoulder as I landed against his chest with a thud. He grabbed me, his hands digging into my rib cage.
“Stop it!” His face contorted in pain. His hands squeezed tighter in warning. “You’re making a fool out of yourself. Let it go.”
I struggled against his arms. “Get off me!” I shrieked. I dug my nails into his fists as hard as I could until they snapped away.
“Fine,” he replied. “Just get out of my face.”
I jumped back, widening the gap between us. “You’re a sick freak!” I shouted, raising a fist at him as adrenaline pumped in my veins. “How could you do that to me? To anyone!”
Robbie’s grin stretched into his bruised cheeks. “Oh, come on. You must know that banging Michael Gracewell’s daughter means serious novelty points.”
“You mean raping,” I spat, circling him.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to try and fight me?” he sneered.
He was the ugliest person I had ever encountered. “I hate you.”
“Relax, Sophie. I wouldn’t even touch you now.”
The way he said my name like it was some dirty word made me feel physically ill. “You’ll pay for this!” I watched with satisfaction as the color drained from his face. His eyes grew wide and he hugged himself tighter. But I was wrong to think my words had suddenly started to scare him, because Robbie wasn’t looking at me anymore; he was looking over my shoulder.
Out of nowhere, a third voice joined our conversation. It was eerily calm in contrast to our heated exchange.
“Ciao, Robert. Long time no see.” I would have mistaken the dulcet tone as familiar — friendly, even — if I weren’t so sure it belonged to Luca Falcone. I watched Robbie throw his hands up and recoil as Luca stepped out from behind me like he had just sprung up out of the grass. How long had he been there, listening? I turned around, searching for his brothers, but he was alone. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation,” he said calmly. “I hope I’m not intruding.”
“Get the hell away from me, dude, or I’ll call the police.” Robbie’s voice quivered an octave higher than usual and the smugness rapidly vanished from his face.
“Robert,” Luca said. “I think you need to calm down. You seem very highly strung.”
“You broke my ribs!”
“Only a couple,” said Luca dismissively.
“What do you want?”
Luca’s fake-friendly voice was almost more harrowing than his threatening one. “I just want to talk to you about something, is that acceptable?”
He took another step forward and Robbie stumbled backward. “I don’t know you. What the hell would we talk about?”
“Doesn’t your dad own a furniture business?”
Robbie’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
Luca took another step, closing the gap between them. “It’s common knowledge, right?”
“I guess.”
“And you work for him, don’t you?”
By now I could only see the back of Luca’s head as he made his way forward, ignoring my presence completely.