Facing My Past

SHAY

I woke up in a room that wasn’t mine. It took me a moment to remember where I was. I sat up slowly, trying to get my bearings.

Right—I was at Forest’s place. He’d brought me here from work. Then Zane showed up, I confessed my feelings to both of them, and then I’d crashed in this room.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Yes?” I pulled the sheets up to cover myself.

“Are you decent?” Forest’s voice filtered through the door.

“Not yet, give me a few minutes,” I replied, hopping out of bed and darting into the closet.

“No rush, just let me know when you’re ready.”

I picked out a light blue summer dress from the end of the rack and slipped it on. I quickly tamed my bedhead and brushed my teeth to get rid of morning breath.

Finally, I reached for the doorknob and opened the door. Forest was waiting on the other side, a wide smile on his face as his eyes took me in.

“Good morning, beautiful. Sleep well?”

“Yeah, the bed was super comfy and I was so wiped out I didn’t wake up until just before you knocked. Took me a moment to remember where I was.”

“I came to get you for breakfast, and then we can go see what’s going to happen to those guys from your past. You don’t have to—it’s up to you.”

I could see the anger in his eyes when he mentioned them.

“Let me eat something first. Then I’ll give you my answer. It’s hard to think about on an empty stomach,” I said, my stomach growling on cue.

Grinning, Forest offered me his arm and led me through the maze of his huge house. We were about to descend the main staircase when Conner appeared behind us.

“Morning, Sunshine. Hope you slept well in this strange place.”

“I did, thanks. The bed was super comfy, and I was so tired that I just crashed.”

Connor fell into step beside me, and we walked into the massive dining room where we’d eaten the night before. Noah was there, but Zane wasn’t. He looked up and smiled as we walked in.

“Morning, guys. Where’s the boss?”

“Maybe he overslept?” Forest suggested, pulling out a chair for me.

Just then, Zane walked in. His hair was still wet from his shower, and he smelled fresh and clean.

“Good morning, love. How was your night? I missed having you in bed with me.” He smiled at me.

I blushed at his words, and he quickly kissed my cheek before settling into the chair next to me. His hand found mine under the table, our fingers intertwining.

“I slept well, thanks. The bed was super comfy, and the hot shower helped me relax. I was out like a light as soon as I hit the pillow.” I peeked at him through my lashes.

Forest looked at us, his eyes filled with sadness. I knew he was hurting because I didn’t return his feelings.

“Shay, I’m sorry for trying to see if you felt the same way about me and for taking you away from your job. I hoped you’d feel the same way about me, but now I know you don’t.”

“Forest, I know you’re hurting, but like I said, you’re like a big brother to me. It would feel wrong to be in a relationship with you.

“Kissing you would be like kissing my brother—not you,” I said, shuddering a little at the thought.

“I get it. Zane got to you and showed you a world I should have shown you. Maybe things would have been different then.

“Now, let’s eat, and then we have a couple of guys to deal with.”

We kept the conversation light during breakfast. When we were done, Forest stood and motioned for us to follow him.

“They’re in the basement. Shay, if you need to leave at any point, just turn around and walk out. You can go back up the stairs into the house.”

“Thanks. I’ll have to see how it goes and what feelings come up,” I replied, taking a few deep breaths.

We walked to a large metal door, which Forest opened. A long metal staircase led down into darkness. Forest flipped on the light and started down the stairs. We followed.

At the bottom, he turned left and led us to where some men were standing guard over two hooded prisoners chained to chairs in a cell.

Forest stepped into the cell with them, keeping a close eye on me. He slowly pulled off the hoods, and I gasped when I saw their faces. Zane looked at the two men, his eyes wide.

“Meet Timothy and Reggie—or Jason and William, their real names.”

They locked eyes with Zane and went pale. Then they looked at me and turned even paler.

“Did I forget to mention they work for you at the Florida warehouse?” Forest was grinning wickedly.

“Boss, why are we here? We were grabbed about a week ago and we’ve been held here ever since. Are you here to get us out so we can go back to work?” Reggie asked, his eyes never leaving Zane’s.

“Not exactly, boys. We’re here to kill you for something you did in the past. Judging by your reactions, I think you know why.”

Timothy looked at me, shaking. “Boss, if this is about what happened when she was eighteen, we can explain what happened that night.”

I crossed my arms and glared at them. “No need to explain. They know what you did to me, over and over.”

They were both shaking now. They looked at me, their eyes filled with regret and pain. Timothy spoke first.

“We were drunk and high that night. We didn’t even realize what we’d done until we started coming down. Our memories were still foggy after that.

“We can’t even recall all the details from that night. Just a couple of dumb kids, high and wasted.”

“Can you remember anything you did that night?” Forest’s hands came down hard on their wrists, gripping them tightly. They winced, tears streaming down their faces.

“No, we can’t. We remember getting into Timothy’s car and heading to a party. On our way back, we stopped for some drugs and shot up while we were still drunk.

“The rest of the night is a blur. We swear!” Reggie said, glancing at Zane.

“You know us, man. We’ve been clean for years. You could even test us right now. We’re clean.

“If we weren’t, the guards would’ve noticed us shaking and begging for a fix while we’ve been down here.”

Zane glanced at the guards, who confirmed that Timothy and Reggie had been perfectly fine and showed no signs of withdrawal.

“Please, boss, we both have families now. We’ve cleaned up our lives and we even work for you. Why would you kill us for getting high and drunk that night?”

“You don’t recall kidnapping a young girl, taking her to a hotel, and raping her repeatedly?” Zane asked, watching their reactions. Their eyes widened, and they started to sweat.

“No, we remember going home, blacking out, and waking up the next morning with a killer hangover, a numb sensation all over, and feeling like zombies.

“When we saw her, we thought maybe she was at a party we crashed or robbed. We don’t remember anything, we swear.”

Forest leaned against the wall, a smirk playing on his lips and his arms crossed over his chest. “So, you’re saying you don’t remember a thing. But when they walked in, you turned pale as a ghost.

“That alone tells me you remember.” Forest pulled out a knife and started to twirl it in his hand.

“We thought all of that was a dream, man. Promise. Everyone knows you’re not supposed to mix booze and drugs. It can make reality feel like a dream.

“Someone could have attacked us and we wouldn’t have known if it was real or just in our heads.” Reggie looked terrified.

Zane stepped forward and placed his hand on Forest’s shoulder. “Let’s go talk for a minute. We need to discuss something.”

He nodded toward the stairs, and we all slowly made our way up into the house.