Page 101 of Twisted Games of Revenge

“What, I’m serious.” Dani sniggers a laugh. It’s so nice to see her relaxing a little bit.

I hear the quiet shuffle of feet from the living room, and then Ricky emerges, followed by Frankie, both joining us in the kitchen. He must be done with his check-up.

“Thank you, Harley,” she says, and I see the unshed tears welling in her eyes.

“It’s nothing. Ricky would have just been lazing about the place anyway.” I wink at him cheekily, knowing I owe him for this. “You gave him something to do this morning.”

“I have made a call to a friend who’s going to give Frankie and Millie a safe place to stay until we can work out something more permanent. And I will come and check up on you again next week, okay?” he tells her.

She looks to me and Dani. “Thank you so much. Both of you. I couldn’t take Millie back there after what he did this morning. I can’t tell you how much this means to us.”

“You don’t have to. We have both been in tough situations ourselves, we get it.”

“I will never be able to repay you,” she says sadly, and I feel the weight of her despair. I remember that awful feeling of having nothing when my papa died. It’s so scary, and I couldn’t imagine doing it with a toddler and a baby on the way as well.

I offer her a friendly smile. “Just stay safe. That’s all I want.”

A sharp rap echoes through the room, and Maddox and Geovani trail behind a familiar guard from the boys’ club as he enters our apartment. Millie clings to me tightly, her small, sticky hands clutching my arm, her grip surprisingly strong. She’s scared of men, that much is obvious, but I would be too if I was her size and three oversized dudes I didn’t know just approached me. “It’s okay, these are some friends of mine here to help you and Mommy,” I tell her.

Frankie takes her from me, and she hugs in tight with her mom, still watching the guys.

“This is Geovani, Maddox, and Tucker,” Ricky introduces them to the girls.

Geovani’s hand entangles with mine, and Maddox kisses me on the cheek. I haven’t seen either of them today, they were off training in Geovani’s gym when I woke up this morning. Maddox’s fight might have been postponed until next year but the two of them are still obsessed with training every day.

I’m sure Frankie is wondering what the hell is going on because I already told her my boyfriend is a doctor, and I know she also noticed my engagement ring in the car. But it’s not one of those situations you can explain to someone you just met. It probably wouldn’t make sense to her if I tried.

Tucker holds out a hand for Frankie to shake, and she does tentatively. I can see the way she scans him, looking to see if he is really safe.

“I can come with you to the safe house if you like, help you get set up,” Dani offers, seeing her obvious fear.

“Thank you,” she whispers, smiling softly at Dani.

I scribble my phone number down for her and hand her the piece of paper. “Anything you need, day or night, you call me, okay?”

“I will,” she agrees, and the four of them leave together.

As soon as the door is closed, Maddox turns to Ricky. “Name and address of the fucker who did this.” He’s close enough to me that I can feel the tension in his body.

“I texted it to you,” Ricky says, his guilty eyes flashing to me.

“Alex said you lot need to be careful; you can’t just go round to their place and take matters into your own hands, as much as we might all like to.”

Maddox kisses my lips quickly, taking off for the door like I haven’t just spoken.

Geovani gives me that devilish smirk only he can get away with before blowing me a kiss. He’s out the door behind Maddox. The two of them are pretty inseparable these days. It’s like they think it’s their personal mission to rid this town of any scumbags.

“Guys,” I warn them. But they’re gone.

“Fuck. Ricky, stop them.”

He pulls me into his hold. “They know what they’re doing, baby doll, don’t you worry about them.” But he has to know I do. I worry about all of them. Things are changing around here, and while it’s definitely for the better, we’re still trying to navigate this new world.

I collapse onto the couch, and Ricky does the same, pulling me onto his lap.

“Ricky, we have to do something, you and me. I hate when people say,I wish things could be differentbut then never do anything to actually change them. I have the money. You have the expertise. Together, we could really make a difference for so many women.”

He brushes his hand over the side of my face and into my hair then pulls me into his lips. “This is why I love you so much, baby doll,” is all he says before kissing me.

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