Page 116 of Beyond the Rules

“Too bad.” She flashed her fangs at me. “BecauseIhave a problemwithyou.”

“Then I suggest you get over it quickly. You’ve got a sweet kid who needs his father and you need to get along with Zar forRyan’ssake.”

Laura let out an infuriated gasp. “How long have you been around? A nanosecond,maybe?

“Long enough.” I drew taller on my heels and just said it. “IloveZar.”

Laura flinched, but she bounced back quickly. “If you love Zar so much, why were you fucking Aidenjustnow?”

“None of yourbusiness.”

“Oh, my God.” Laura’s eyes almost bugged out of her skull. “Zar’s girlfriend. Aiden’s fuck buddy. Tanner’s date. You’re fucking all three of them, aren’t you? You little pervert. You guys are playing foursome. You’ve got your own slutty quadgoing.”

I took a deep breath and bit the inside of my cheek. I swear, some days required patience I didn’t own. “How about youmoveon?”

“Not a chance.” She crossed her arms. “You’re indulging in that ‘one for all and all for one’ fantasy they’ve got going. Can’t say I blame you. I’d go for it too, but they didn’twantme.”

So Laura had known at least some things about the guys’ pact. She wasn’t stupid and had put it all together. Her reaction was the opposite of Teresa’s; not acceptance, but the kind of narrow-minded bias I could expect from a world that had a narrow definitionoflove.

“Three studs for your slutty self,” Laura leered. “You’re either the hungriest cunt around or hard to please. Or maybe those guys are so fucked up that you need three to get a whole man outofthem.”

I shoved her against the wall and pinned her there. “You can call me whatever you’d like, but don’t you dare mess withmyguys.” I snarled. “They’re amazing and any girl lucky to have even one of them in her life would be delirious with happiness.Gotthat?”

“Yeah, sure, wow.” She lifted her hands palms-up in the air. “Can you pleaseletgo?”

My protective instincts had taken over. My heart pounded in my breast. Damn, I was mad. I let go of Laura and inhaled a calming breath. It was time to put an end to her reign ofterror.

“You’re going to learn to get along with Zar,” I said. “You’re going to stop milking him dry. You’re going to let him see his son whenever hewants.”

Laura snorted. “Why would Idothat?”

“Because if you don’t, I’m going to give Zar all the info I’ve collected on you, info that, if shared with a family court judge, for example, could loseyouRyan.”

Laura stiffened. “What the fuck are you talkingabout?”

“I know that you’re deep in debt and that you’ve been caught shoplifting twice. I also know that you’re having an affair with a married man and unbeknownst to him, with his wife, also. The social worker assigned to your case has filed some iffy reports about you. I don’t think she likes you much. Any one of those things would make a judgeblink.”

Laura’s gaze searched my face in complete disbelief. “How the hell do you know allofthat?”

I might as well get it over with. “I hacked your laptop. I hacked your Blue Ray. Hell, I hacked your toaster and your goddamnrefrigerator.”

“That’sillegal!”

“But the cat’s out of the bag and the reports and the arrest records are on file. If Zar’s attorney gets wind of anyofit…”

I wasn’t a vindictive person, but after the hell that Laura had put Zar through, the panic gleaming in her eyes gave me a measure ofsatisfaction.

Laura’s face lost all color. “If you know all of that, why haven’t youtoldZar?”

“Because I wantyoutotellhim.”

Her lips flapped wordlessly. “But…why?”

“You’ve made a huge mess out of your life,” I said. “No way around that. But Ryan needs both his father and his mother. So maybe, with a little work, you can become a better mother. You need to get your acttogether.”

“I don’t understand.” Laura raked her manicured nails through her hair. “You went out of your way to ensuremyson’shappiness?Why?”

She couldn’t understand because she’d never really loved anyone more than she loved herself. She didn’t get it because she’d never considered her choices from her son’s point of view, or from Zar’s. Having been caught in the middle of my parents’ divorce, I knew how some feuding couples shot straight through their children’s hearts to get at eachother.

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