Page 21 of Hacker Christmas

Ryan let out a chuckle. “Try and do that. I will take my business to the other studios. You can’t ruin me. That doesn’t work anymore, you ignorant asshole.”

“Funny,” I said, “he threatened me with the same thing. I’m not even in the industry anymore. I think he’s trying to hold on to what little power he has left before the studio kicks his ass to the curb.”

I didn’t want to deal with the overgrown baby anymore. I looked to see where Daisy had gone, so I didn’t see it coming until the fucker swung at me, and I saw it a second too late, but Neal punched him square in the nose and knocked him to the floor. Blood oozed out of his nose, and he groaned.

“Neal, are you okay?”

“Yeah, he’s not the first person I’ve punched out.” Neal’s eyes turned dark, and I wanted to ask another question but resisted. “Go find Daisy,” he said. “I will take care of this.”

Daisy was near the bathroom, and it looked as if she was shaking. Annabella stood with her. When I reached her, I pulled her into my arms. “What’s wrong, love?”

* * *

Daisy

The moment I heard the man speak, I knew my past wouldn’t stay hidden. I had made it twenty-four hours before I encountered one of the men who’d tortured me for hours. The second his squeaky voice spoke to Aaron, chills ran down my spine.

He was more evil than the man who kept me in a cage for years. I wanted nothing more than to take him out in that second. But I froze and didn’t know what to do.

It was the first time I had ever seen his face. He always wore a mask, and I didn’t know if I did something, whether it would hurt Aaron’s career, or if Aaron and Neal would believe that the man who’d made me bleed and given me most of the scars on my back was in the same room with us.

Instead of confronting my past head-on, as Dr. Robison always told me to do, I ran. Annabella stopped me before I could make it to the bathroom. My stomach churned, and I didn’t know if it was morning sickness or the evil bastard in the room. I had a feeling it was because of the man.

Aaron walked up while Annabella tried to get me to calm down. “Love, what happened?” he asked, glaring at Annabella.

“You put that glare away, Aaron Ross. I stopped her as she was about to run past me. When you walked up, I just got her to take a deep breath.”

I hated that they spoke about me as if I wasn’t in the room. Yes, Aaron had his hand in mine, but his gaze was on Neal and the man from my past.

I took a deep breath. “That man you were speaking to used to come to Al’s house.”

Aaron’s eyes flashed with anger. “Annabella, stay with her. I will be right back.”

I tried to reach for Aaron, but he was out of arm’s reach in seconds. I yelled his name, but he didn’t slow down. When I started walkingin his direction, Annabella wrapped her arms around me. “He needs this, Daisy.”

I needed him more. Neal had a hand on James when Aaron got there. I heard him call him a pathetic piece of shit before he punched him in the face and gut. Neal grabbed Aaron and pulled him back. I escaped Annabella’s arms and ran toward my men. “Aaron, stop. Let’s call the police, and they can take it from here.”

The piece of shit wiped the blood from his mouth. “You little bitch. You think you can ruin me like you ruined Al? I won’t go down for what you think you know.”

Neal turned in my direction and scooped me into his arms. “I’m taking her to the other room,” he said to Aaron. “I think we should call Brock. The case is still open. He isn’t the only man Brock has been looking for.”

We went to the kitchen with Annabella on our heels. Right before we walked around the corner, I saw Aaron pull out his cell phone. I let out a sigh of relief that one more creep would be off the streets. The only thing I worried about was the other women he had tortured in the past five years. I knew there was no way he had stopped when Al got arrested. James thought he was bigger than the law.

Annabella handed me a glass of wine, and I had to decline even though it would have helped with my nerves. “I can’t. I’m pregnant.” I hadn’t planned on telling anyone but our family until we were further along. But I knew Annabella would have pestered me until I took a drink.

She squealed with excitement. “Oh my God, that is so cool.”

“Shh. We’ve only told family. I just knew you wouldn’t stop trying to get me to drink.”

Annabella’s excitement notwithstanding, the party had died down, and I felt bad because we had only been there for a half hour before I wrecked it.

“Baby, I will make sure he goes to jail,” Neal said.

“That’s not why I’m upset. I wrecked Aaron’s party. This was his last one.”

Neal pulled me into his arms. “Aaron didn’t want to come tonight, but he knew a bunch of your old friends would be here. He came to make you happy. The fucker in the living room wrecked the party. He started something with Aaron before we even knew what he had done in the past.”

I lay my head on Neal’s shoulder and took in his warmth, but soon, the sound of footsteps heading in our direction made me pull away. Aaron stood in the doorway, his hair mussed from running his hands through it. His tie was completely loose, and he looked sexier than ever.

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