Reveal (Wicked Ways #2)(67)

“Leave, asshole.” My fist clenches, and I push her behind me so he can’t look at her.

In his delayed reaction, he finally reaches up to feel his cheek. When he looks at the blood on his fingers, a slow, taunting grin slides onto his lips.

“You can thank your sugar daddy,” he says to her as he hunches over and pushes himself up, his laugh sounding so odd right now. “Just think what the cops are going to say when I head there looking like this, pointing the finger your way.”

“Go right ahead,” I grit out, my body vibrating with adrenaline. “I didn’t touch you.”

His laugh echoes through the empty night. “They’re not going to know any different.”

“Try it.” I take a step forward, and he stumbles back, that sick smile still on his lips.

“I’ll sue you for everything you’re worth, lawyer boy.”

“Be my guest.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” He angles his head to the side, suddenly serious in a way that fucks with my head.

“Get what?”

“Who’s smart now? The lawyer . . . or simple me who just wrote his own ticket?” He runs a hand down his cheek and smears the blood over his skin. “Pay, or I go to the police.”

“Go to hell.” It’s all I can think to say as I push his words away, not wanting to acknowledge every fucking ounce of truth they might hold. “They won’t believe you.”

He pretends to hold a phone up to his ear. “Yes. Hello, Mr. Police. Vaughny is shacking up with an out-of-control psycho. A man who punched me right in front of my own daughter.” Vaughn and I both whip our heads to the doorway, expecting to see Lucy standing there, but find it empty.

“Leave, or I’ll call them myself.” I take a step toward him.

“Please, Brian. Just go,” Vaughn pleads, and the broken sound in her voice—the fear woven into its tone—fucking kills me.

“Congrats, Richie Rich. You just cost her the only thing she cares about. It’s not you. It’s Lucy. Good luck ever getting the adoption now.” Brian holds his hand up and rubs the tips of his fingers together as if he’s rubbing money and lifts his eyebrows.

I might not have touched him once, but the blood on his cheek and the contentious custody battle between these two make his threat very real.

It’s only after I watch him walk across the street, get in his car, and drive off that I finally breathe. When I turn around, Vaughn is gone.

“Vaughn?” I ask when I enter the house, but I stop when I see her.

She’s pacing the room, her face a mask of fury as she moves. All that contradicts the anger emanating from her are the tear streaks on her cheeks.

“Nothing is going to happen. He doesn’t have the balls to go to the cops. As much as I had visions of knocking him out, I didn’t. That would have invited the problem. But that?” I hook a thumb toward the door. “That’s nothing we can’t explain. It’s our word—sensible, responsible citizens—against his.”

“You don’t know him.” It’s the first time she’s looked my way—albeit briefly—since I walked in the door.

“I consider myself lucky, then.”

“This isn’t a joke, Ryker. This is . . . this is . . .” Her hiccupped sob throws me.

I move to stand in her line of pacing so she’s forced to stop and look at me. When she does, I pull her in against me and hold her tight. “It’s not a joke. I know that. But I also know we did nothing wrong.” I press a kiss to the top of her head and just breathe her in. Her fear. Her uncertainty. Her desperation to take care of Lucy.

All of it.

And I know I love her even more because of it.

There are those words again. That thought again.

“I’ve got you, Vaughn,” I murmur against the crown of her head. “I’ve got you.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Vaughn

I toy with the card on the flowers that were delivered an hour ago.

Sorry for what happened. I’ll make this right by you.

The flowers are vibrant, while I still feel washed out from the gamut of emotions that have owned me over the past few days.

Hell, who am I kidding? The past few weeks.

The bright side? Ryker just might be right. Brian is too much of a wimp to go to the cops and make a false report.

The call I waited for all day never came. The one from Priscilla asking me what happened to Brian and then having to disprove her crazy accusations.

It didn’t come the next day either.

Maybe Brian didn’t go to the police after all.

I bury my nose in the flowers again, draw in their perfumed scent, and sigh in relief for what feels like the first time since Brian left here with his threats.

I jump when my cell rings. My pulse calms when I see it’s one of my girls. “Hey, Ivy. Everything okay?”

“Always.” Her throaty laugh fills the line.

“What’s up?”

“Couple things. Does the name Carter Preston ring a bell with you?” I sigh at her mention of his name. “Ha. Your sigh says it all.”

“It’s a long story, but yes, I know the senator. He’s someone I choose to steer clear of. Why?”

“Guy’s got a real hard-on for you.”