Drink Me

71. TROUBLES IN PURGATORY

TROUBLE IN PURGATORY

Alice's eyebrows lifted slightly and her lips parted. "Well, I didn't see that coming."

"It's not what you think," Riley added quickly.

"How can it not be? Pretty simple dynamics are involved there..." Alice retorted, her eyes now heavier on Riley.

He didn't reply but let himself fall on the sofa and his head sunk in his hands as the emotions that had overwhelmed him the night before came back with crushing intensity.

"Well?" Alice probed him.

But Riley kept silent. How could he tell her what he'd done? How could he put into words the anger that had pushed him to treat Caroline that way?

"Was she any good?" Alice asked, her voice low and hostile.

At that, Riley's head shot up to find the woman's dark eyes painfully focused on him, and that's when he understood just how displeased she was with him.

"No, Ally, it's nothing like that!" He stood and held her arms in a desperate attempt at convincing her how wrong she was. He'd been so preoccupied with his own guilt and dread that he hadn't even considered how Alice could have perceived the situation. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her so he realised he had no choice but to tell her the truth.

He took a deep breath and instinctively looked away. "I lost control, I just..." he paused, unable to continue.

"Riley, what happened?" Alice asked again, but this time instead of hostility he found preoccupation in her tone.

He sat back on the sofa; standing required too much effort as his tangled thoughts raced with his beating heart. He rubbed his face with his hands for clarity, then started."After Caroline asked me to look into you, I realised that I needed to gain her complete trust, so, as you taught me, I decided to exploit her attraction towards me," he explained as he watched Alice sit on the sofa next to him.

"Yesterday I went to her house to discuss the fake information I've found out about you. We were talking, I was flirting with her a little and that led to a heated kiss." He hesitated, studying Alice's reaction but she kept quiet, her eyes impenetrable. "I tried to push her away, using my cousin and Edward as an excuse but when she found out Aidan told me about their past she said something about how I don't owe Aidan anything and I knew she was talking about Noah," he paused to swallow the lump in his throat. "I just lost it, Ally. The light of reason inside me went off and I..." he glanced away. "I grabbed her and basically forced myself inside her." He covered his face with his hands. "Then I made her... go down on me," he recounted as his face contorted in disgust just thinking back to his behaviour. He forced his eyes back on Alice, afraid of what he might see, but her gaze was still impenetrable.

She studied him for a moment longer, her head tilted to the side in her usual inquisitive way, then her features relaxed a little. "Do you think that has compromised your relationship with Caroline?"

Riley blinked, taken aback by the question; after all he'd just said how could Alice not be disgusted by his behaviour? How could that be her only concern?

Still, he thought back to what he remembered of his and Caroline's goodbye. "I don't think so," he replied. "She made a comment about the way I acted but she also reassured me she'd enjoyed it."

At that, Alice nodded. "OK, that's good," she said simply. "So what's with the frowny face?"

But Riley shook his head. "Did you hear a word I just said?" he snapped, and Alice scowled, confused by his reaction.