Page 80 of Broken Player

“Why would he do that? He’s already taken the ranch,” she mused, absently stroking my arm.

“He lost, Freckles. That’s why. You hurt his pride, and then I came along and shoved it in his face. Now he wants to make us pay. The problem with that is he has no idea what I’m capable of.”

“And what exactly are you capable of?” she wondered.

“I’m the guy that handles shit. The guy who doesn’t let anyone hurt the people I care about. And I’m also the guy willing to do whatever it takes to keep those people safe.”

“I know all of this. It’s one of the things I love about you the most.” She looked up at me with wonder in her eyes that I wasn’t sure I deserved.

“Well, you don’t know everything that I’ve done. And I don’t know how far Yates will go to try and break me or break us apart.”

“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or what he does. He’ll never break us apart because I know the kind of man you are in here,” she proclaimed, laying her palm flat against my chest over my heart.

“Not everything I’ve done has been good. Or legal,” I added, covering her palm with my hand.

“Did the people you take care of deserve it?” she asked, her expressive coffee-colored eyes staring into mine.

I nodded slowly. “Every single one.”

“Then I don’t need to know. I trust you, and I know you’d never hurt anyone unless you had to.”

Tugging on the hand she had resting on my chest, I pulled until she fell against me, leaning back until she lay sprawled out on top of me. Wrapping her in my arms, I stroked the skin just underneath the hem of her shirt. “How the fuck did I get so lucky to get to call you mine?”

“You’re the only one who proved himself worthy of me,” she whispered, her lips moving against my chest, which warmed at her words.

And I’d never stop doing everything I could to continue proving to her how deserving of her I was.

Almost like a bad case of deja vu, Connor and his team, me, Quinny, and Ryan all crowded around the sectional in my living room. The last forty-eight hours had gone by both fast and slow at the same time, and my head felt like it was starting to spin Exorcist-style.

If it weren’t for Ryan’s calming hand stroking my arm up and down in a steady rhythm, I’d be completely on edge. Shit didn’t get to me. I was always in control, always planned ahead and knew what was coming. But Yates was an unknown. He was purposefully trying to fuck with Ryan, and now he’d set his sights on me.

I didn’t want to drag shit out. I wanted to take him down before he could do any more damage. And right now, we were about to find out what tools we’d have at our disposal to do it. What kind of ammunition was he hiding from the world?

And how could I exploit that shit for maximum pain and entertainment?

Connor leaned forward, grabbing the iPad off of the ottoman in front of him. “It’s been an interesting forty-eight hours,” he started, flipping the cover open. “Buckle up for the circus because shit’s about to get wild.”

I exhaled, sinking back into the cushions and draping my arm across Ryan’s shoulders, pulling her into my side. Bit by bit, I started to relax. I hadn’t even admitted it to myself, but therewas a part of me that’d been afraid despite all the digging, Yates was as clean as he appeared to be. It looked like my gut feeling about him had been right.

Julian and Indy glanced at each other, and it looked like they were having a silent conversation between themselves. Finally, Julian spoke up. “We watched him in rotating shifts for the past two days. There was really only one thing of interest, and that was that he likes hookers.”

“Alot,” Indy added. “Like a disgusting amount. I’m surprised his dick hasn’t fallen off yet.” He turned to me. “And I’m billing you for a gallon of fucking brain bleach to wash out some of the shit I’ve seen.”

“Worth it if we get to take him down,” I chuckled.

“Oh, he’s fucking done. There’s no doubt about that anymore,” Connor confirmed, swiping across the screen of the tablet he held. “Thank fuck you didn’t marry this pervert, Ryan.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and she paled. “Oh, Jesus. What kind of sick shit is he into?”

“Prostitutes aren’t bad enough for you?” Quinn joked from her other side, and I bit back a smile.

Sebastian pulled a file out of the messenger bag that sat on the floor next to his feet, setting it down on the ottoman and flipping it open. “Where do you want to start? The women suing him for paternity tests and back child support for his alleged kids? The sex tape one of his many prostitutes is blackmailing him over? The transsexual fetish porn he watches every day? Or how about the fact he’s stealing from his family’s bank?” He finished pulling out page after page, setting each one down as he explained what they were.

And my smile got a little wider with every item Sebastian tossed out like a fucked up checklist of depravity. I was ecstatic that Ryan chose me and not walked down the aisle to that prick,but hearing how fucked up he really was deep down? Now I was beside myself happy that I convinced her I deserved a shot.

I glanced over at my girl, her freckled nose wrinkled like she’d smelled something bad. She looked horrified, disgusted, but, most of all, really fucking pissed off. My heart fucking sang, watching her strength shine through, like a goddamn avenging angel as fury took over her beautiful features.

She smoothed down her hair, taking a deep breath as she reined in her anger. Her shoulders relaxed a fraction, and her flushed skin started to fade back to its normal tan-with-freckles that I loved so much. “I don’t even know where to start,” she finally admitted.

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