Page 81 of Broken Player

“How about we start with the easiest thing first?” I suggested, taking the opportunity to rub soothing circles across her back.

She laughed, but I wasn’t sure if she actually found any of this funny or not. My guess was not. “Easiest? What on that disgusting list would you refer to aseasy?”

Shrugging, I answered, “The porn, probably.”

Sebastian nodded along with me. “Mad’s right. What you see is mostly what you get with that one. He looks at porn alot. Enough that I started to wonder how the hell he has time to do anything else with his day. But when he looks, it’s always the same kind. The kind where the woman has both boobs and a cock.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, and Ryan must have heard the really fucking unsexy snort that popped out of my mouth before I could stop it. I tried to cover it up with a cough, but judging by the glare she shot me, I’d say it hadn’t worked. “Sorry, baby. It sounds like you weren’t exactly his type.” I leaned close enough that I whispered the next part into her ear. “But you’re definitely mine, and when we’re done here, I’ll take my time showing you exactly what you do to me.” It was a dirty promise I intended to keep.

But first, we had plans to make.

“Next up is the sex tape,” Connor decided, turning his tablet so it faced Ryan, Quinn, and me. I assumed the rest of them had already seen it, so he was showing it for our benefit. Turning to Ryan, I waited for her to meet my eyes. “I don’t think you have to watch this, Freckles.”

Her gaze hardened as she turned back to the screen, her spine straightening. “I need to know everything we’re up against. That asshole is messing with everyone I love, and I don’t want to miss anything that we can use against him.” Her tone left no room for argument, so I moved my body closer until our legs were molded together and tucked her into my side. She melted into me, and I breathed another sigh of relief. I hated it when she was mad at me.

“Anyone care if I take a quick break to make some popcorn first?” Quinn asked, jumping up without waiting for an answer and striding into the kitchen. Cabinet doors opened and closed before the telltale sounds of the microwave starting carried across the room. Connor looked at me with a shake of his head and a twitch of his lips.

The scent of butter wafted through the house as Quinn came out of the kitchen with a giant bowl filled to almost overflowing with popcorn. He settled in next to Ryan, grabbing a huge handful and shoving it straight in his mouth, crunching loudly. Ryan giggled softly beside me and reached her hand into the bowl, taking some for herself.

“Fuck it,” I gave in, grabbing a handful, too. We all settled back into the couch, making ourselves as comfortable as possible for the horror we were about to endure.

“Anyone need a drink? Any other refreshments?” Connor mocked before glaring at each of us individually.

“Nope,” I snarked, popping thePjust because I knew it’d piss him off.

He held the iPad balanced on his lap, pointed in our direction, and pushed play. All of us stilled and watched in silent disgust and revulsion as frame after frame flew by, a variety of positions, more of Yates than I ever cared to see, and enough offensive dialogue to make even me uncomfortable painted a disturbing as fuck picture of the guy Ryan almost tied herself to.

I held her a lot tighter as the video finally came to an end, and she shuddered against me. It wasn’t the same way she usually did, either. Instead of her shuddering in reaction to my touch, this was distaste and nausea.

“Well, that was informative,” Quinn piped up, continuing to munch away on popcorn as if we hadn’t all just watched Yates going to town on some prostitute he picked up and did unspeakable shit to. How the fuck he could still eat after that was beyond me.

I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to eat again.

“I think the damage that could do is pretty self-explanatory,” Connor said, flipping the cover shut on the tablet and setting it down. “Now’s where we get into the really juicy stuff.”

Sliding a couple of the papers out of the folder Sebastian laid out, he handed them over to Ryan. I read over her shoulder, and I noticed Quinn doing the same thing. “How many women are suing him?” I finally asked.

“Three, from what I can tell,” Sebastian answered, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “If I had more than two days to dig into it, I could tell you if there’d been others he’s settled with in the past. Apparently, your boy doesn’t know how to use a goddamn condom.”

“Don’t call him my boy,” Ryan snapped with a look of pure disgust on her face. I pressed a kiss to her temple, and she leaned into me, closing her eyes for a second. I breathed her in, closing my own eyes and pretending that it was just her and me in this room, and we weren’t dealing with any of this bullshit.

Forcing my eyes open, I sighed. “So, he’s got three women who claim he fathered their kids?” I asked Sebastian.

He nodded. “He’s been trying to fight them, but they’re asking for DNA tests. He can only put that off so long unless he comes to a settlement.”

“This is good, Freckles. We can use all of this against him,” I reminded her, and I saw Quinn nodding in agreement on her other side. He held her hand in his and shot me a concerned look. We both knew Ryan was strong. I wasn’t worried about her breaking down or not being able to handle this. But she carried a fuck ton of guilt when it came to not being able to protect the people she loved just like I did. She’d be worried this wouldn’t be enough or it wouldn’t work. But I’d make absolutely sure that motherfucker went down.

There wasn’t another option.

“Yeah, and we will. I’m not going to let him get away with coming after my family, coming after you,” she said vehemently, cupping my rough cheek with her warm palm. “I’ll kill him before I let him get away with the shit he’s pulled.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have to kill anybody, Lancelot,” Quinn chimed in. “What was the last thing?”

Connor straightened up, digging through the papers in the file and swapping them out for the ones about the paternity suits. “Embezzlement. From what Bash was able to dig up, Yates has been stealing from his family for over a year.” He pointed to a couple of highlighted transactions on the bank statement Ryan was staring intently at.

“When I first started digging into Yates’s finances, his main bank account was nearly empty. I figured it was just a cover or something, and he was hiding his wealth somewhere else, maybe somewhere offshore. Instead, we found that this is his main account, but he shuffles money from Rutherford Financialinto an offshore account and then transfers it here,” Connor explained.

“His accountant probably told him it wouldn’t be traceable. It took me two hours,” Sebastian announced, a hint of pride in his voice.

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