Chapter 175

Lake POV

“No,” I admitted quietly. “No, I don’t think he would have. Ramon would never—he’s not like that. He doesn’t—” I stopped, struggling to articulate what I meant. “Samuel used to bring men around. Men who knew exactly how old I was and didn’t care. Men who wanted me specifically because I was young and vulnerable. Ramon isn’t like them. I know he isn’t.”

“Then what are you really angry about?” Rhodes asked gently. “Because Lake, I don’t think you’re angry about what happened five years ago. I think you’re angry about what happened last week. About the lies, the secrecy, the fact that Ramon touched you yesterday morning while knowing the truth.”

He was right. God, he was right. The thought of what had happened five years ago was disturbing, was difficult to process. But it wasn’t what was making me feel this crushing sense of betrayal. That came from Ramon’s choices over the past week. From his decision to hide the truth, to avoid me, to be intimate wi