Page 38 of Playing By His Rules

For the first time, he got a good look at her face and the red handprint on her cheek and lower, the imprint of fingers around her throat that indicated that the other man had choked her. A new swell of rage rose within him, and Rick knew if William was still there, he would have ripped his dick off and disabled the man more than he already had.

He forced himself to remain calm, for her sake. “I don’t know what William is going to do, or how he’s going to play this out since there is no hiding his battered face, but I need to call Mac and Dean and let them know what happened . . . and what I did.”

She groaned and buried her face against his chest again. “They’re going to hate me.”

He really wanted to reassure her that everything was going to be just fine, but he wasn’t going to lie. “Look, I know they aren’t going to be thrilled about the situation, but the last thing they’re going to do is blame you for William’s behavior or actions. Even if he is the CEO’s son. They’re decent, fair men, and while I know I’m going to get an earful for beating William to a pulp, they’re going to understand why I did it because they’d do the same thing if it was their wife in that kind of situation.”

She looked up at him again, her expression skeptical. “I’m hardly your wife . . . or your girlfriend for that matter. I doubt they’ll see it the same way. I just don’t want you to lose your job over this. Over me.”

Rick knew, without a doubt, he’d take that risk a hundred times over for her. “I swear, they’re not going to hold it against me, or fire me. We just need to figure out how to smooth things over with Charles, so we don’t lose the contract.”

“Is that even possible?” she asked, her tone tinged with doubt.

“Yes,” he said, even though he really didn’t know how this would all play out, especially after the way he’d seen Charles catering to his son’s antagonistic attitude out on the golf course. Losing the contract was a possibility, but he trusted Mac and Dean to fix the situation.

He gently brushed his fingers along the red mark on her face, his gut twisting when she winced in pain. “Your cheek is starting to swell and bruise,” he said, and taking her hand, he led her to the small kitchenette in the suite. “You need to put some ice on it while I call Dean and Mac. Is your cheek and neck the only places he hurt you?” He hated to ask but needed to know the extent of William’s violence.

“No.” She shook her head and parted the ripped fabric bisecting the front of her dress, then moved the lace cup of her bra down so he could see dark purple teeth marks embedded into the swell of her breast. “He bit me, too.”

Rick’s blood fucking boiled. Never mind ripping the guy’s dick off. He wanted to fucking kill him. With an outer calm that did not match his inner rage, he said, “We have to take photos, so we have evidence of his assault, just in case we need it.”

She nodded her agreement, and he snapped a few pictures with his cellphone to document William’s brutal attack, and the awful marks and bruises he’d left behind. Rick was grateful that the other man hadn’t had the chance to violate Madison in the worst way possible, because that was something he never could have forgiven himself for. Madison was his to protect, whether she wanted to be, or not.

He wrapped up some ice in a small hand towel, then made Madison sit down on the couch and place the cold compress against her cheek while he went into the bedroom and closed the door to have a private conversation with his bosses. He sat down on the bed, called the office, and once he had both men on the line he explained to Mac and Dean what had happened—which meant starting the story at the beginning of his stay at Reign and telling them about paying Madison’s debts in exchange for her staying with him for the week, and that she was the escort that he’d been with Saturday night.

He told him what kind of asshole William was when it came to women, and that he didn’t take rejection well. Then he mentioned that he was also the CEO’s son—which drew curses and groans from both Mac and Dean over that disconcerting revelation. Rick mentioned the threats William had made during the golf game, and how he’d followed through on those intentions while Rick had been giving his presentation. And lastly, the part about how Rick had returned from his meeting to find William assaulting Madison—and unleashed his own punishment on the man in the form of a dislocated jaw, broken nose, and who knew what else kind of damage to his face.

“Jesus Christ,” Dean said, his agitated voice traveling through the cellphone line. “When we gave you the membership to The Penthouse, it was to find a random woman to fuck . . . not to find one you wanted to keep for yourself.”

He knew his boss wasn’t happy about the turn of events, but Rick had no regrets about meeting Madison. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t planned. It just . . . happened.”

Mac piped in. “Clearly, she must mean something to you, more than a random fuck, for you to rearrange this William guy’s face, especiallyknowinghis relation to Charles.”

“Yeah, she does,” he admitted, dragging his fingers through his hair. “Look, I know this situation complicates things with Reign and the contract, but what happened isn’t her fault.”

“Of course, it’s not,” Dean said, thankfully assuaging Rick’s concerns. “She’s not responsible for some entitled asshole’s actions.” He sighed. “It just so happens that said entitled asshole is the CEO’s son, which makes everything a bit more complex to resolve.”

“Clearly, this isn’t an ideal situation,” Mac said, his tone even, despite the severity of the offense. “And I’m sure as soon as Charles finds out what happened between you and his son, if he hasn’t already, he’s going to be livid—no matter the reasons or circumstances. So, I want you to lay low for the rest of the day. Mac and I are going to drive to Vegas, and we should get there around five this afternoon. We’ll call Charles on the way there to set up a meeting with him for this evening to sort everything out.”

“Okay,” Rick agreed, and hoped he didn’t royally fuck up one of the biggest contracts of his career.

Chapter 17

There wasn’t much to do as Madison waited with Rick for his two bosses to arrive in Vegas. They ordered up room service for lunch, and she watched a few shows to pass the time while he answered work emails and addressed other office related correspondences on his laptop to keep himself occupied. As the day wore on, Madison’s body and muscles started feeling the effects of that morning’s attack, and her cheek throbbed from William’s brutal slap, but she was more concerned about Rick facing Mac and Dean after defending the honor of a woman he’d only known a handful of days.

One that could possibly cost them a very large contract.

He’d told her about the meeting his bosses had set up with Charles for that evening, and even though she knew Rick was concerned about the fallout, and facing possible assault charges for attacking William, he tried to minimize the outcome of his actions. Which only made her more anxious, because she was the reason he was in this situation to begin with.

At four that afternoon, she went into the bathroom to freshen up so she’d at least look presentable when she met Rick’s bosses for the first time. She’d changed out of her torn dress and into a pair of jeans and casual blouse, and did her best to hide, or at least subdue, the marks on her face and neck with concealer. It had been a harrowing morning, and Madison had even made the suggestion that she ought to head home so she wasn’t in the way, but Rick refused to let her leave, insisting he wanted her there.

And because she knew the possibility existed that she might have to press her own assault charges against William depending on how the meeting with Charles went this evening, she decided it was best if she remained at the hotel until everything was over, and somehow settled between the men. The last thing she wanted was to drag anyone through a court battle of any sort, and she hoped and prayed that they all found another way to resolve the issue that didn’t include bringing law enforcement into the picture.

But once everything was settled one way or another, Madison knew it was time for her and Rick to part ways, before she wreaked any more havoc in his life. Or before her heart fell any harder and deeper for the man.

Hearing commotion out in the living room, Madison exhaled a deep breath and headed out to meet and greet Rick’s bosses. She was surprised to find that not only two older, good looking men were standing in the suite, both of their presence very commanding, but also two very beautiful women were with them.

The two men narrowed their gazes at her, as if summing her up, while the women offered her genuine smiles as they walked over and introduced themselves.

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