‘No.’ She glared at him. ‘Friends of yours, I believe. Friends who drugged me and abused me while I was unconscious.’ He reeled back at the accusation, his jaw dropping, clearly lost for words. ‘How could you, James? How could you do that to me?’ Her voice cracked and she fought to keep her composure, holding back her furious tears. ‘I trusted you, and I thought…’ Her hands closed into fists, frustration and rage and shame balling together as she beat them against her thighs with such force it made him jump. ‘And then you do that!’ She wanted to hit out, make him understand her pain, but first she needed the truth.

He looked stunned, completely taken aback. ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. Why don’t you just take a deep breath and start again. Somebody saw us at the hotel and told Matt, is that it?’

She stared at him. Has he really just ignored what I said? Then she understood. He was trying to make her believe it didn’t happen. Her fury ratcheted up a notch.

‘No, that’s not bloody it. Weren’t you listening?’ She picked up her phone and swiped through, looking for the video. ‘I’ll show you…’ She frowned and searched some more, but she couldn’t find the clip anywhere. A flush of heat raced through her body and her mind froze as she realised the truth.

It’s gone.

Someone had deleted it.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

She stared at her phone, and frantically went through the process again from the beginning, making sure she hadn’t missed it, but no, the video wasn’t there any more, vanished as though it had never existed. Her shoulders tensed as James stood behind her, looking over her shoulder.

‘Show me,’ he said, so close she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.

She stepped away from him, panic freezing her brain, making her unable to do anything but repeat the process she’d already been through three times. ‘It’s not… I don’t understand. It’s not there.’ James put a hand on her shoulder, and she shrugged it off, spun round to face him. ‘You keep your filthy hands off me,’ she spat. ‘I know what I saw.’

He stared at her, and she could see the confusion and hurt in his eyes. ‘Look, I’m really sorry if I’ve done something to offend you, but I’m still no wiser as to what you’re talking about.’