Page 119 of The Baller

The weasel in front of me wiped a bead of saliva from the corner of his mouth. “You’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life.”

Shaking off Jake’s hands gripping my arm, I stepped forward. “The biggest mistake of my life was giving you my number. This is retribution.”

“Yeah? Tell that to my lawyer.”

Calm took over as I smiled at him, one of Jake’s killer smiles. “I don’t think so, because if this makes any summons, any legal document, intent to sue, or one word of what you just did is aired anywhere, I will put out a statement detailing exactly what happened between us. Every little detail up to when you leaked those pictures of me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he scoffed.

I scoffed right back in his stupid face. “I think you do.”

“You can’t prove anything, otherwise you would have done it already.”

I shook my head, slow and deliberate. “You’re wrong. I never had the courage before, and I didn’t want my name or my family dragged through the media again, but I’m stronger than I was two years ago. I’m not the naïve girl you manipulated, and this time Iwillprotect myself, and anyone I love.” I narrowed my eyes. “What you did was disgusting, not to mention illegal. Scandals in D.C. aren’t ignored the way they used to be. I will do every talk show who’ll have me. I’ll write a book. I will tell my story, and I will prey on you the way you preyed on me. Your name will be worthless by the time I’m done, and in a town where names mean everything, you’ll be nothing.”

To his credit, he barely flinched. Barely. The slight twitching in his left eye gave it away however.

“You don’t have the guts,” he spat.

“You wanna find out?” I leaned in closer, my head tilting as I studied his beady little eyes, his slightly greasy skin, and weak jaw. “You know… you’ve got something on your face. It looks likeGLITTER.”

I didn’t miss the way he shrank like he’d been slapped hard before Lux successfully pulled me away. “Radley, let’s go.”

Jake and Ethan were hot on our heels, leaving Meg and Ava to deal with Christopher Ellington.

“Ouch.” I shook my hand after the elevator doors closed behind us. “Ouch, fuck. His jaw was harder than it looked.”

I glanced up to find Lux, Ethan, and Jake all staring at me. “What?”

“I can’t believe you did that,” Lux said and pulled me into his chest, dropping a kiss on my head as he turned my hand over in his, examining a small cut and the swelling over my knuckles. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for putting you in that position. I should never have left you, and I never should have gotten in his face. I provoked him.”

“Hey,” I began, tipping his chin to face me, “you have nothing to be sorry for. You defended me to that piece of shit. You’ve done more for me than anyone’s done, and you left me with the best trained guards in the world.”

Based on the almost stricken look on Lux’s face, my words didn’t seem to have made a dent. Ethan was still on his cell, and my eyes met Jake’s, who, if I wasn’t mistaken, looked impressed, if not a little amused.

“Jake? What do you think?”

“I think it’s going to cause a load of paperwork, and we need to work on your right hook. But…” his lip quivered, before a wry smile lifted one corner, “that was the best thing I’ve ever seen.”

I tried to hold in the smile; it didn’t work.

“Baller,” Jake continued, “none of that was your fault.”

Lux nodded a thanks, but he hadn’t looked up from my hand. The throbbing was setting in by the time we made it back to the suite.

“Jeez, how do boxers do this all the time?”

“Their hands are wrapped, for one. They wear gloves for another,” Lux replied, leading me over to the couch. “Sit down.”

“Hey,” I called to him as a thought occurred. “I’ve just crossed something else off my list.”

Lux and his serious face returned, dropping to his knees in front of me, with a handful of ice bound in a cloth napkin. The sharp, piercing cold shot through me as he placed it on my sore knuckles, and I winced loudly.

“Goldilocks, if you’re gonna play with the big boys, you need to take the pain that comes with it,” he chuckled softly, his hazel eyes searching my face as he gently shifted the ice around my hand. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Are you sure, Radley? You’re not in shock?”

---