Page 63 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

As I’d hoped, the four bodyguards I’d paid to travel with us appeared out of nowhere. Damn ninjas, though this time I was grateful for their agility and stealth.

“There a problem, Mr. Davenport?” the lead guard asked.

Damon clocked the guards one by one. “Is this an ambush?” he growled.

“Does it need to be? My understanding is we’re here to lay Maia’s grandmother to rest and have a few words with her mother before we head back to California.”

“Lena talks to no one without my say so, and I’m going to have to not-so-politely decline your invitation for a chat. Anyone associated with her”—he hissed as he gestured to Maia—“is nothing but trouble.”

“Okay, but that means I’ll be forced to speak with Kate Bennings and Cheryl Kent, along with the dozens of lawyers I have on retainer, about a certain experience they had with an officer of the law. Hmmm…” I rubbed at my bottom lip. “Apparently, someone hurt those two young women, threatened their lives, and demanded they sign settlement agreements for a sum of ten thousand dollars to keep their assault quiet. That’s blackmail, but as an officer yourself, I’m sure you already know about that.”

Damon stepped forward, coming toe to toe with me. “You want play with the big boys, bucko, I’m game. Name the place and time, we can meet alone. Man to man.”

I huffed a dry laugh. “Man to man? Is that what you think you are? Listen—” I dipped my head forward conspiratorially. “If a man needs to beat his wife and kids to feel like the king of his castle, he’s no man at all. And if that said man allows another torepeatedly abuse his stepdaughter, well, I believe that is called an accessory to a crime. And I also believe that when a parent kicks their teenager out of the house at gunpoint after beating them up, it’s another form of child abuse. What do you think?”

“I think there is a statute of limitations that we’re well past. Besides, I am the law. What I say goes. And I want you and your two-bit whore to get the fuck outta my town before I put a bullet between both of your eyes and drop you over the side of a cliff where no one will ever find you.”

That was when I pulled my phone out of my pocket and showed the front of the screen. “I recorded all of that. I’m sure a jury of your peers will be okay with you blindly using your badge as your personal golden ticket to commit whatever crimes you want and not suffer any consequences. Unless, of course, you want to shut the fuck up, sit down, let this family put their matriarch to rest and have a quiet little chat without you or your goons present.”

“You’re going to regret ever setting foot in my town,” Damon sneered.

“Got that on record too. You’re just digging the hole deeper and deeper. Now, Mrs. Burke, it’s good to finally meet you. Please, if you will”—I gestured to a pew about twenty back from the front—“I’m sure your daughter would like to sit with her mother and siblings as they say goodbye to their grandmother. Your presence is not needed,” I snapped.

“Yeah, well, I’ll be back—with a warrant for your arrest. Derrick, you’re with me!” He hollered over his shoulder. Derrick moved like a snake, not saying a single word as he followed his father.

I lifted my hand and waggled my fingers. “My lawyer is already waiting at the hotel. Do your worst.”

Damon pointed at Lena. “You have no idea the hellfire coming your way.”

I smiled as I watched him and his eldest son follow him out of the building.

“Mom, we have to talk. We don’t have much time…” Maia started her spiel, delving straight into our plan to get them out of Colorado and away from the devil and his spawn.

Episode 106

Cat and Mouse

MADAM ALANA

“What is the meaning behind this?” I asked Angel Salazar, who stood, arms crossed, his chiseled facial expression set to “extreme focus” as he watched his technician place a glittery looking diamond on one of my red painted nails.

“It is a tracker. The highest tech available.”

I frowned. “Why do I need a tracker when we’re the ones setting the trap?”

Angel’s deadly gaze flicked to mine, piercing straight through me like an arrow to the heart. His nostrils flared as he cocked his head to the side. “Plan B. Prepare for anything.”

I licked my lips and shifted in my seat, uncomfortable with his intense scrutiny. “Have you…” I cleared my throat. “Have you ever needed the Plan B?”

His eyes flared with an instant fury, the likes of which the Devil himself would cower beneath before he spoke. “Only once,” he clipped and then dropped his gaze back to his technician.

Conversation over.

I sat quietly as they made sure the diamond tracker was securely placed. It actually looked rather pretty sitting atop my wedding ring fingernail. Something I might consider under different circumstances, those being the opposite of puttingmyself up for bait to one of the world’s most wanted criminals and his treacherous daughter.

“Here, make your call.” Angel handed me a burner cellphone. “Do not provide more information than what is stated here but say it in a manner that Angus and his team will believe it’s legit.”

“It is real. We’re sitting in the hotel as we speak…”

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