Page 78 of Broken Player

Letting the curtains flutter closed, I reached for my phone, intending to call Connor. Instead, it vibrated in my hand with an incoming call from Harrison. I fucking hated talking on the phone, and because of that, I only got calls when shit was really fucking bad.

Bracing myself, I answered the call. “What’s wrong, Harry?”

A long sigh greeted me on the other end. “I’ve fucking told you lot athousand. Fucking. Times,” he gritted out. “My name is Harrison. And to think I was calling to do you a bloody favor,” he grumbled.

I bit back a laugh. It was too easy to get under my publicist’s skin, and all the guys in Shadow Phoenix did it. “Fine.Harrison.What nightmare awaits me on the other end of this call?”

“I got a disturbing email this morning from my contact over at CNT. Let me start by saying you must have some luck on your side that he was the one that got it, and I convinced him to kill it,” Harrison shared.

“What email? Who sent it?” I asked, lowering myself to the couch and not liking the churning starting to happen in my gut.

“Hold on,” he muttered, clicking sounds crawling their way through the phone. “I just sent it to you.”

Lowering my phone away from my ear, I put him on speaker. “Let me pull it up.”

Tapping into the new message notification, I quickly scanned the body of the email, my muscles bunching, and tensing the further I read. “What the fuck is this?” I snarled into the phone, unable to keep my anger in check.

“Don’t shoot the messenger, mate. I’m here to help you, remember?” Harrison reminded me firmly, his voice full of a whole lot ofdon’t fuck with methat helped me calm down a little. Breathing in deeply, I filled my lungs with so much air they ached before exhaling loudly.

“Someone was trying to sell this to the media?” I asked in a somewhat calmer voice.

“Unfortunately, yes. Is any of it true?” he asked me casually, as if it didn’t matter to him either way. But I knew better.

“Did I sexually assault anyone? Are you serious right now?” I fumed. By now, he should fucking know me better than that.

“Look. I know you had a few years where things might be a bit hazy. I just need to know if there could possibly be any validity to this rubbish so I can figure out how to deal with it,” he clarified.

“No, it’s not fucking true. Not even one sentence of this goddamn thing is true. But I bet I know where it came from. I’m going to fucking kill him,” I vowed, feeling like my heart was trying to launch itself out of my chest with how hard it was pounding.

“Good,” Harrison agreed. “CNT is the biggest outlet, and they’re not running with it. Even if they did, you could sue them for slander since there’s no evidence to back up their claims. Still, whoever did this isn’t trying to do you any favors.”

“Just let me know if you come across anything else. I’ll handle this,” I decided, ending the call without waiting to hear his response. Was it a dick move? Maybe. I had bigger shit to worry about right now.

Yates was trying to fuck me over in a big way. Lifting my phone back up, I tapped out a message to Sebastian, forwarding him the email Harrison had sent. Tossing my phone down and trying to ignore the growing crowd at the end of my driveway, I stalked down the hall to the shower. I wasn’t used to playing from behind, and Yates was about to learn what kind of man I was deep down. It was time I took the fight to him.

Stepping out of the shower,I walked into my room to find Ryan securing the last couple of buttons on her shirt. Her eyes drank me in hungrily as they raked over my bare chest, water droplets still dripping down my skin. “Going somewhere?” I asked, moving across the room and watching as her mouth dropped open a little, her tongue teasing her bottom lip.

“I…” she started before swallowing hard and forcing her eyes back up to my face. I chuckled darkly, thinking of everything Iwanted to do to her. I’d start by laying her out on my bed and peeling every piece of fabric off of her. Then I’d-

“I have to get back. Quinn texted, and he needs help,” her words broke through my dirty fantasies. Fucking Quinn.

Running a frustrated hand through my hair, I went into the closet and quickly pulled on some jeans and a black t-shirt. “You’re going to have to sneak back home, Freckles,” I called out so she’d hear me outside of the closet.

She poked her head in as I was sliding my watch onto my wrist. “Why?”

“Because there’s a fuck ton of reporters at the end of my driveway thanks to your ex-fiance. If they see you leaving, you’re going to be all over the internet within the hour,” I warned, pulling her into my arms and brushing her hair off her face, letting my fingers linger on the soft skin of her cheek. “Trust me on this, please. Go back to the barn, take Hex, and ride home. I’ll come to get him later this afternoon.”

“Can I at least get some coffee before you kick me out?” she teased, flashing me a fake glare.

I pointed toward the bedside table where I left her a travel mug before I got into the shower. “I’d have cooked you breakfast, but we both know Quinn will have something better waiting for you at home.”

“Facts,” she said, laughing. I leaned down, peppering her face with as many kisses as I could while she wrinkled her nose and giggled, trying to squirm out of my arms. Finally, I released her, and she grabbed the mug, taking a healthy sip before I followed her out to the barn. I watched as she stroked Hex’s nose lovingly, cooing at him and he turned into a puddle of mush at her feet. Ryan just had that way about her. Men of all species worshiped at her feet, and she didn’t even have to try.

Once she climbed up on the black stallion, I looked up at her, in awe of how she looked like a fiery goddess, the sun blazingbehind her creating a glow that surrounded her body. “Text me when you get home,” I demanded, leaving no room for her to question or argue in my tone.

“You sure know how to make a girl feel special, Romeo,” she teased with a grin.

“Blow Quinn off, and I’ll show youexactlyhow special you are to me, Freckles,” I called her bluff.

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