The room goes silent again. Very slowly, Dalton leans back in his chair. I can see a muscle flexing in his clenched jaw. Hudson looks at his brother, who in turn raises his eyes to his wife. I glance behind me. Ally Briar has locked eyes with her husband.
‘I told you, didn’t I?’ she murmurs softly.
‘I don’t understand,’ Harmony blurts before I can say another word.
Hudson shakes his head. ‘That no good motherfucker,’ he whispers.
Dalton lowers his head, running his fingers through his closely cropped hair.
‘Wait, what are you all talking about?’ Jake asks.
‘I can’t fucking believe it,’ Dalton says.
‘I can,’ his brother responds.
‘You mind if I tell them?’ Dalton says to his wife.
Ally consents. ‘Go ahead.’
‘About four years ago,’ Dalton says, addressing me in particular, ‘Ally starts getting these explicit messages sent to her phone. Sexual stuff, fantasies, that kinda thing. We didn’t know who from. She blocked the number, but each time, more would show up. Then one day, at an event at the Danube, she gets talking to Brody Conway. He follows her to the bathroom, grabs her, presses her up against the wall and starts telling her what he wants to do to her.’
I look at Ally in surprise.
‘He used the same language as the phone messages. We took it to the police, but nothing was captured on CCTV, there were no witnesses, and they couldn’t trace the phone numbers back to him. He denied it; cops said there was nothing more they could do. I almost resigned my position, especially when it seemed like Samantha Conway was working double time to have the whole thing hushed up.’
‘I didn’t know that,’ Harmony says to Ally. ‘I mean… there have always been rumours but I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s okay,’ Ally responds. ‘Thank you. I didn’t sleep for weeks after that.’
‘And there’s been nothing since?’ Harmony asks.
Ally comes further into the room. ‘Nothing. Thank god. Everything stopped after he cornered me. But I’ve avoided him and the next time I saw him was at his wedding.’
‘Which we didn’t wanna go to,’ Dalton adds.
I can feel the tension in Jake’s fingers. ‘What rumours?’ he asks.
‘That Brody Conway has always been creepy as fuck,’ Hudson growls.
‘When I was a rookie,’ Harmony interjects. ‘We had a cheerleader leave the squad. No notice, no reason, nothing. One day she was there, next she wasn’t. We heard rumours later that she left because Brody was obsessed with her. Wouldn’t leave her alone.’
Dalton levels his eyes on me. ‘I need to know everything.’
All attention returns to me. Heat flushes the base of my neck. ‘He came to the club once, about two months back. I had to give him a lap dance. By order of the boss, it had to be… without any clothes at all. We call itSurly’s rules.I didn’t know it was Brody at the time, then when we went to the wedding, I knew.’ I look at Dalton and Ally. ‘After that, the messages started coming. He had me to go a waterfront apartment at the bay. I had to dance for him then. Then the time after that—’ I look at Harmony and I feel the sharp sting of tears. ‘He had Persia’s CMC uniform waiting for me on the bed, so that I could take it off in his presence.’
Harmony explodes. ‘He had what?!’
‘He bragged about taking it from her locker.’
She shakes her head. ‘That asshole!’
‘I’m sorry that I did it,’ I tell her.
‘Don’t be. By the sounds of it, you didn’t have a choice.’
I feel a heavy weight on my shoulders as I exhale. ‘Now he’s threatening to tell everyone that I’m a stripper if I don’t spend the night with him.’
‘You are kidding me,’ Ally blurts in disgust.
