“But I’m not sexy.” Sam hiccupped.

“Come on. We know what you did with Peter,” Dee said, and I no longer recognized her.

“It was fake.” Sam shook her head. “Someone sent me that picture. It wasn’t Peter.”

“So, you’re a liar,” Lil said. “We can’t be friends with a liar… Jax, how does it look?” She curled her fingers, gesturing without looking at him, her eyes glued to Sam.

I did this to her. Guilt washed over me, and I wanted to fix it, to take Sam’s hand and drag her out of the penthouse, to run. But I was frozen. Sick to my stomach, I could only watch.

He handed over the controller, and Lil scrolled through the videos, picking out the most suggestive images of Sam. “What’s your Network password?” she asked.

Sam remained silent.

Lil grabbed Sam’s face, her fingernails digging in, drawing blood, until Sam’s eyes bulged. “Tell me.”

I gasped, tears springing to my eyes, but still, I was immobile.

Sam clamped her mouth shut.

Dropping her hand, Lil took a step back. “I’m not going to ask again. Tell me.”

“No,” Sam said, her eyes faraway.

I thought Lil was backing off, but then she whipped around, kicking her heel into Sam’s stomach. “Tell me.”

Sam doubled over, coughing, and I swallowed a sob.

“Tell me.” Lil’s fist connected to Sam’s jaw with the sickening thud of flesh smacking flesh, a slab of meat flapping on a counter. I’d never heard a punch in real life, and bile rose in my throat.

She’s going to kill her.

Gagging, I backed away from the scene, taking one last glance at Kylie and Dee staring on, faces void of emotion. As I retreated, Sam’s cries grew weaker, until the thuds garnered only whimpers.

Heaving myself into the bathroom, I threw up. When my stomach was empty, I lay on the floor, my cheek pressed to the cold tile. I can’t stand by and watch this…

But my limbs were too heavy to move.

A sharp angle of light carved me in two. Grabbing me by the hair, Lil pulled me to sitting, getting down on her knees so her nose was touching mine.

“You should learn from this. You’re only good to me if you build me up. Your numbers may be higher than mine, but I can dismantle you in a second. Always remember that could be you in there, so get with the program. You’re one of us. Act like it. Clean yourself up and get out there. We need to finish this night out—make it look like fluffy teenage fun. You have ten minutes.” Standing, she delivered her parting shot, kicking me in the chest.

Lightning exploded across my sternum in hot shards, zapping my breath, and I collapsed on the floor.