Page 35 of My Craving

“Why do you have that monster’s picture on your computer?”

“You know him?”

“I know of him.” She closes the door and takes the chair across from my desk. “His name has been sitting on my desk for the last two days. I wanted to verify a few things before I sent everything to Ronan and Colton.” Her eyes narrow as she looks back at the screen. “Please tell me you’re not considering hiring him.”

That gets a laugh out of me. “No.”

“Good. If that man ever sets foot in this building as an employee, I’ll personally escort him back out.”

I turn my attention to the folders Ronan compiled. “What did he do?”

“It would be quicker to ask what he hasn’t done.”

I open the folder labeled Civil and Criminal Suits and start reading. The first complaint is bad enough, but by the third, I understand the disgust on Alessia’s face and realize I spent the last hour looking in the wrong places because I was too fucking jealous to start with the obvious one.

“Jesus.”

“You understand why I called him a monster now.”

I keep reading. Justin’s social media makes him look like a spoiled rich asshole who spends most of his time drinking and partying, but the complaints paint a very different picture. There are enough similarities between the allegations that dismissing them as unrelated would be impossible, and the more I read, the less likely it seems that Nash’s interest in him has anything to do with attraction.

He spent two nights watching this man. At Obsidian, he went in disguised and already knew how to disappear through streets without cameras. Last night, Declan found him outside the restroom after he’d spent more than an hour watching Justin. I assumed Nash might be interested in him because jealousy gave me an easy explanation, but now I’m beginning to wonder if Justin was the reason Nash went into those clubs in the first place.

“You still haven’t told me why you were looking into Justin if you didn’t know he was our next target.”

“Declan saw Nash watching him at Club Perfection. Justin was also at Obsidian the night Nash went there disguised.”

Alessia’s expression sharpens. “So Nash was following him.”

“That’s what it looks like.” I turn back to the complaints on my screen. “How did Justin end up on your list?”

“The counselor at the center came to me two days ago. Two of her clients told nearly identical stories about being isolated, manipulated, and assaulted by the same man. Neither case went anywhere because Justin’s family has enough money to make problems disappear.”

I look at his photograph again. Nash chose the same man Alessia was already preparing to hand over to Ronan and Colton. That could be a coincidence, but after the disguise, the surveillance, and the escape route Nash had planned before I ever showed up at Obsidian, I’m not willing to dismiss it as one.

“How much does Nash know about Justin?”

“I have no idea.”

“He knew enough to follow him to two different clubs.”

Alessia leans forward and looks more closely at the information on my screen. “Then the question is how he found him.”

“And what he planned to do once he got him alone.”

“You need to talk to Nash.”

“I intend to.” I think about the church where I followed him and the support group he attended. “Ronan found out the group was for survivors and their families. Whatever brought Nash there had something to do with his brother, but Colton told Ronan it was Nash’s story to tell, so that’s where the investigation stopped.”

A smile pulls at Alessia’s mouth. “Colton has been such a good influence on Ronan.”

I turn away from the screen and stare at her. “We’re discussing information that could explain why Nash is following a man accused of assaulting multiple people, and you’re proud of Ronan for respecting someone’s privacy?”

“I know.” She laughs quietly. “I’m also talking about the fact that Ronan respected someone’s privacy. That wouldn’t have happened a year ago.”

She has a point, although that doesn’t make the missing information any less irritating. “I don’t care about Nash’s past. I care how it connects him to Justin Mills.”

“No?” Alessia studies me for a long moment, and I recognize the look. She’s already decided there’s something I’m not seeing. “I think those two things may be impossible to separate.”