Page 17 of Dangerous Play

I didn’t want to hear it.

I didn’t want to know it.

All I wanted to do was disappear.

But being in Max’s strong and safe arms was the closest I ever felt to that safe haven I craved.

And I never wanted to leave it again.

MAX

Pissed off was understatement. My body trembled with bottled anger as I listened to that jerk talk. I always knew Ander was bad news. If I could avoid him, I did, and our only interaction was on a soccer field. But what he did to Ivy was the lowest of the lows. Humiliating Ivy and turning her sister against her was too much for me.

I used to believe he had a shred of human decency in him.

But Sanchez was beyond saving.

I needed to get Ivy as far from him as possible.

She shook in my arms as the breeze surrounded us. She clung to me, her pink manicured nails digging into the fabric of my shirt, not wanting to let go.

“It’s going to be fine,” I muttered into her hair to comfort her.

I came here to talk to her, to even offer my help, get a mutually beneficial arrangement going. I make it to the World Cup and she gets to stick it to her ex.

But after seeing the scene I walked in on, I desperately wanted to help her. I wanted to be what she needed me to be.

Her knight in shining armor.

The one everyone saw when I marched into the house and wrapped her in my arms protectively.

No one stood up for her.

No one was there for her.

Not even her best friend who stood by my side, silent, when we walked in on the scene.

Just me.

She needed me. Just like she said it to me. But I didn’t believe her until I saw it.

Guilty, I helped her into the passenger seat of my car.

I should have taken her word, but I didn’t trust her.

I was used to making the right decision in the right time. Being rational and a good decision maker.

As I sat into the driver’s seat, I thought back to the ride over to the house.

Did her friend have time to fabricate the scene? Did she text someone we were coming?

But the sheer shock on Kaia’s face was way too real to be fake. Yet, she didn’t step in either.

A small sob dragged me out of my thoughts. Ivy wiped the tears away with the sleeve of her dress.

“Here,” I muttered, leaning against her, her jasmine scent catching my nose as I opened the glove compartment and took a tissue box out.

“Thanks,” she said, her voice barely a whisper against my ear before I pulled away. “Really… thank you for…” She trailed off, and I was thankful she didn’t finish that sentence.

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