Page 209 of Play Dirty (Brooklyn Dawn 1)

“Simple. You love her. You don’t deserve her.”

The simple, logical way he said it made my chest seize. “Of course I don’t deserve her.”

Lindsey gasped, trying to stay on her feet.

“Hey. Do you want me to cut you, duchess?” Kyle’s voice was almost musical. A laugh under the Irish. A bastardized version of his overly friendly voice.

“Alex.” Her voice was thicker and lower. Like her tongue was too big for her mouth. He’d probably given her the same thing he gave me. Shaking the fog had only been helped with the pain of my fall and an adrenaline rush of her disappearance. For the first time, she looked small. My larger than life woman never seemed small and helpless.

My anger spiked. Using my face, using the name I gave her. In his warped way, trying to do everything to pin blame on me and take my life at the same time.

How had I not seen this in him?

“I know, baby. I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, don’t talk to her. I told you she’s no longer for you.”

My jaw clenched.

“I gave you a chance, you know. To end it peacefully. I thought for a moment it would be enough to just take you out of the equation, but again—” He let out a dramatic huff. “You have some sort of good luck charm around your neck.”

I frowned. “What?”

“That night with your Jeep. Or didn’t you even notice you were losing control? Or maybe you liked it.”

I shook my head. “What do you mean?”

“I was following you. You were all over the road. I thought finally!” He lifted his knife hand for a second as if the Bohemians had scored a goal. He even laughed like the old days in the pub watching the game. “But no. I had to fucking save you again.”

“You…”

“I drugged you, mate. Fuck! Do you know how hard it was to get you away from your soda? Just for a second. It was all I needed.”

I knew it. Had truly known it all along, but his eyes full of glee tossed another sandbag of guilt onto my shoulders. “Why?”

“Why not?”

God, he hated me so much. “Fine. Life for a life works for me. Take me.”

He shook his head. “See, now that game is over. This one is way better.”

“She doesn’t have anything to do with us. She’s an innocent.”

“That doesn’t work for me. She’s tainted by you anyway. No, it’s a life for a life. Seems fair. You ruined my life in the accident. Then you left me to rot.”

“I didn’t. Never.” That I’d thought about it too many times to count while we were in Ireland shamed me. But after the accident, there had been nothing but our twisted co-dependence tied to guilt and darkness. “I brought you here with me. We both got out of Dún Laoghaire. Both came here to make a life.”

“No. See, that’s not really how it worked was it? You got the fame again. Your scars and flippant attitude made everyone want you more. Even if you didn’t see women panting after you, they were. The crueler you were, the more they craved you.”

He dragged his nose up Lindsey’s cheek and I growled.

“Like this one. I watched you in Ruin. How you were a savage with her.”

Lindsey sobbed and tried to push him away.

Kyle nuzzled her ear. His voice sickeningly sweet. “Though you didn’t push him, away did you? You like that monster inside him, don’t you? Probably makes you come even harder, right little rich girl?”

She flinched. “Stop. It’s not like that.”

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