She made a scoffing sound. "How can you be sure?"
"Because they know better. They're not gonna say one word about you."
She glared up at me. "Yeah? How do you know?"
I knew, because I'd kill them if I had to. But that would hardly reassure her. So I focused on something easier. "Because if they do, they'll find themselves dropped off someplace worse the next time."
Her gaze narrowed. "What next time?"
I shrugged. "Depends on them."
She glanced around the parking lot, and I could tell exactly what she was thinking. Tonight, they'd been dropped off in a public place. There'd been police, a crowd, and even a tow truck. They'd had no clothes, except for their underwear and enough bling to make them look like the shallow assholes they were.
Yeah, it was fucking embarrassing. It was meant to be. But it could've been worse. My jaw tightened. Itshouldhave been worse.
Chloe looked to the crowd, still milling around near the busses. "What could possibly be worse than this?"
That was an easy answer. "My old neighborhood."
I imagined those guys wandering around down there, with no car, no shoes, no phone – and just enough bling to draw the worst kind of attention. If they were lucky, they'donlybe mugged and have the shit kicked out of them. If they were unlucky, well, they wouldn’t need to worry about the next time, now would they?
"So answer me this," Chloe said. "Why, of all places, did you bring them here, where I work?"
"You wanna know why?" I said. "Because this is exactly where they were gonna drop you."
Her forehead wrinkled. "What?"
"Yeah," I said, feeling an edge creep into my voice. "They were gonna strip you down to your bra and panties and dump you right here. In this parking lot." My jaw tensed. "Want to know what they called it? A prank. Just a fucking prank."
She gave a small shake of her head. "Seriously? That's all they were gonna do?"
"All?" I said. "Isn't that enough?" I recalled Chloe on her lawn, with that guy on top of her. And then, I imagined her nearly naked out here in the cold, with hundreds of eyes devouring the sight of her, where she worked, no less.
At the thought, I wanted to hit something. Trying to keep it together, I said, "God, Chloe. They hurt you. They scared you."
"Yeah." She gave me a hard look. "And they weren't the only ones, now were they?"
She was right. "No." My voice grew quieter. "They weren't."
"So whatwasall this?" she asked. "Your idea of justice?"
"Something like that." I met her gaze, trying to make her understand. "We did exactly to them what they were gonna do to you. Seemed fair enough."
"Fair?" She made a scoffing sound. "Yeah, but you didn't stop there, did you?"
"What do you mean?"
She eyed me with obvious disgust. "I mean, you also beat the crap out of them. And, you ruined their car." She crossed her arms. "So it wasn't exactly an eye for an eye, was it?"
Tonight, I'd done a lot of things that I sorely regretted. But none of them involved those two guys. If anything, they'd gotten off light. Chloe, of all people, should understand that.
I stared down at her. "You're sticking up for them?"
She shrugged, letting the disgust in her eyes speak for itself.
I loved her, and I'd hurt her. But there was no way I could let this slide. "You're serious. Aren't you?"
My voice rose. "After what they did to you? You think that's alright?" I turned to glare across the parking lot. "Because I'm not gonna lie to you, Chloe. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. And if they ever pull that crap again, especially with you, they're not gonna get off so light."
