Hazing, they called it. Most of the guys let it happen, told me it would be over soon. That we’d be doing it next year.

Never. I’d never participate in hazing.

Fucking never.

The cuts healed and the bruises faded.

School years blended into each other.

Then senior year.

Watching the guys in my class—guys who’d been raped years earlier—fuck the freshmen was a horror I would never unsee.

“Come on, Wolfe,” one said. “Take some ass. You’ve earned it. Do it. Do it.”

The words rang in my ears as if chanted by robotic demons.

Do it.

Do it.

Do it.

I grabbed one of them. A bigger one. I was never one to pick on someone smaller than I was. I’d seen my father do enough of that. I was no bully. I was no coward.

Do it.

Do it.

Do it.

I leaped out of the daydream. The thoughts had plagued me since my discussion with Reid about his and Roy’s experiences at prep school. Had my brothers been raped?

Nausea swept up my throat. God. I’d escaped it. I hadn’t forced myself on anyone else, either, despite the masses chanting around me. Oh, I’d given him a good beating for show, but that was where it had ended.

“I need to talk to your assistant,” I said to Lacey.

“Yeah, I want to talk to her too.”

“You think we could go see her at her place?”

“It’s Sunday, and tomorrow’s a holiday.”

“So? This is important, baby.”

She nodded. “I know. Let me give her a quick call.”

I waited while Lacey poked numbers into her phone.

“She’s not answering,” Lacey said. Then she left a short voicemail asking her to return the call. “Now what?”

“We go to bed?” I lifted my brow.

“That doesn’t solve anything.”

“It does from where I’m standing.” I tried to laugh it off. Then, “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m just not really in the mood.”

“I understand.” I’d been trying to put off the inevitable. If Lacey and I were going to be together, I owed her the truth. Especially since some elusive person was trying to bring her into this. It had been a long day, and it was about to get longer.

“Baby, I need to tell you some stuff.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat.

“All right.” She sat down on the couch this time and patted the spot next to her. “Sit down?”

“I think I need a drink first.”

“I don’t have much. Some vodka and wine, I think.”

A bourbon would have been nice. “Maybe it’s better if I just get it out.” I sat down next to her. “This is hard.”

“You can tell me anything, Rock.”