Page 114 of The Re-Proposal

“Vargas wants to keep this ‘incident’ under wraps. And Clay told you to leave the scene. I may not be a fancy executive assistant or have a team of security guards, but I know how the system works. Your people don’t want you there because they’re not going to arrest Hatchen. If they put this on an official record, you’ll have to explain yourself too.”

Dammit. She’s right. Grabbing for my phone, I set it in the docket and call Clay.

My brother answers abruptly. “What?”

“You’re letting Hatchen go?” I growl.

He’s quiet for a second. Finally, he says, “It’s for the best.”

“He’s an abusive jerk who assaulted Clarissa.”

In the backseat, I feel Joel go stiff.

“And you assaulted him back. In a much more damaging fashion. You’re lucky anyone could walk out of this alley without wearing handcuffs.”

Damn.

I hang up on my brother and grit my teeth. Anger surges inside me again. Flicking the indicator, I make a U-turn.

“Where are you going?”

“To that punk’s house.” I press my foot on the gas. “I’m going to finish what I started.”

Ris puts a hand on my bruised knuckles. It’s just one touch. One little touch. But there’s no stopping the giant bonfire in my veins, the way my eyes narrow, the hunger I feel to grab her hand, her waist, her leg and hook it around me.

“Cody, forget him. What matters right now isn’t Hatchen. It’s what Hatchen can do to Maggie.”

I force myself to focus. “You think he’s going to hurt her too?”

“No, not after the beating you put on him.” Her lips curl up. I’m not sure if she believes that or if she’s just trying to placate me. “Besides, Maggie is staying at a shelter currently. He won’t get in there easily. Which means he’s going to exact his revenge in a way that hurts even more.”

“You said he had custody of their daughter?”

“It’s not custody as much as it is a kind of blackmail.”

“Explain.”

“Maggie didn’t want to go to the cops because she was afraid Hatchen would make a case to take her child away. She doesn’t have a place to live or a steady job right now. Hatchen, with all his disgusting ways, has both.”

I rub my chin, thinking through the solutions.

“I have an idea.” Joel pipes up from the backseat.

His voice makes me jump slightly. I’d forgotten he was even in the car.

Clarissa whirls around.

“If someone needs a house, why don’t you just give them one?” Joel smirks.

“Give them?” Clarissa seems intrigued.

“What do you think, my love?”

“Call her ‘my love’ one more time and you’re pushing yourself home in that wheelchair,” I growl.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Joel fires back.

“Try me.”

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