Page 84 of Fumbled Love

I pounded my fist into the drywall, choosing the wall instead of her face. I paced back and forth; my body was vibrating with too much rage. I needed to get the hell out of there. I pulled my phone out and held it up so she could see that I’d been recording the whole conversation.

“Anything else you want to add?”

Her mouth fell open. “You recorded our conversation? Isn’t that against the law?”

“Don’t give a fuck if it is. As long as it exposes your lies, I couldn’t care less.”

Her eyes filled with fake tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for her to get hurt. Please don’t turn me in. I’ll retract my story, I’ll do whatever you want.”

She wasn’t sorry that Kinley was attacked. She was sorry her ass got caught.

“Save your fucking tears. There is a special place in hell for women like you.”

I spun around and headed toward the door. She reached for my arm. “Where are you going? Let’s talk about this.”

I took her hand in a tight grip and shoved her off me. She stumbled back in a panic. “I hope you saved a little bit of that money you collected from the last article you sold, because you are going to need a good fucking lawyer. I will stop at nothing and spend every last cent I have to make sure you pay for all the trouble you caused. And you know the best part?” I smirked. “I’m not the only one. The wives, the players, the entire Arrows organization. Yeah, you pissed off a lot of people.”

“You won’t get away with this.”

“You don’t think so? Because I can handle this in one of two ways. I can contact the website who ran the article and tell them what happened and threaten to sue. Or I can throw my money around and find the perp my damn self. Either way, you’re going down.”

“Please,” she sobbed. “Don’t do this. I know you’re angry, but you care about me. I know you do. You can’t just erase all those years we’ve spent together.”

I pulled on the door handle and looked over my shoulder. Her makeup was running down her cheeks; her body was visibly shaking. I felt absolutely nothing for her, but hatred. “You are dead to me!”

As I walked back out to my car, I called Julian. He answered on the first ring. “You need bail money?”

I huffed a laugh. “Not yet, but if you can track down the motherfucker who attacked my girlfriend, I might.”

“Talk to me.”

“Della sent him. I recorded the entire conversation on my phone.”

“You want me to find this guy? I can threaten to sue whoever paid for the story.”

I loved how he was straight to the point. He didn’t waste time with pleasantries or fluff. “Yes, and yes,” I said, hopping into my truck and starting the engine. I looked over at Della’s house before backing away. “Spend as much of my money as you need to, and let me know the second you track the asshole down. But I want a go at him before your people approach him.”

“Mav, you got a kid on the way. The last place you want to be is sitting in a jail cell while your girl is giving birth. I’ll make sure the situation is handled. “

“I want him to fear for his life, just like she did.”

“He will. I promise. I represent a couple heavyweights who get bored sparring with the same trainers every day. Trust me, they would be more than happy to use their fists on somebody new.”

A smirk lifted my lips as I merged onto the interstate. “Thanks, Julian. I appreciate it.”

“No thanks necessary. Now you better get going, don’t you have a flight to catch?”

“Yeah, but I have to make a quick stop first.”

“I’ll let you know when the situation is handled. It shouldn’t be hard to follow the money.”

I blew out a sigh of relief. “That would be great.”

“Now, go get your shit done so you can get your girl. And I want a copy of that conversation ASAP.” He barked out and hung up the phone. I was going to miss the asshole.

But he was right. It was time to put this all behind me. I selected a podcast to listen to, hoping it would calm me down during my twenty-minute drive across town. My palms were sweating, and my heart was racing as I pulled into the familiar driveway.

Deanne was sitting on the porch, drinking a beer and doing a crossword puzzle. “I had a feeling you’d be showing up sooner or later.”

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