Reveal (Wicked Ways #2)(98)

“That’s great,” Ella says. “And the legal paperwork?”

I think of Ryker and the shock that’s going to be on his face when I ask him if he can help me write up the contract selling my assets to her. I don’t know why the thought fills me with even more pride.

“I’ll get the paperwork drawn up. You can have your lawyer look at it beforehand.”

“Perfect.”

“I think it would be smart to hold a joint conference call with all my ladies. That way they can see that I support you and your success, and so they don’t have to worry about how things might adjust as ownership changes.”

“I think that’s a great idea. Thank you. I’ll look at my calendar when I get back to my office and let you know some dates that work for me.”

“Sounds good.”

She reaches across the table and shakes my hand. “Do you mind me asking . . . why sell now when you’re just starting to make a notable name for yourself?”

“Sometimes you just know when to quit.” I stand from the table. “And it’s time to quit.”

I think of my immunity deal. How I’m walking away, hopefully unscathed. How you can only tempt fate—and the law—so many times before you end up being caught.

“I admire you for walking away.”

With one more smile and a bittersweet tug on my heart, I exit the bar.

Ironically, it’s the same one I met Ryker in that first night. I think of the nerves I felt, of the anger I held, and of the fear I had upstairs in the hotel room.

So much has changed since that night in so many ways. All for the better. All for the future.

It feels so strange to walk across the hotel lobby. To feel relief and not have the weight of the world resting on my shoulders.

Sure, Ryker paying off my bills will put me in a better standing with social services. Add to that the letter the FBI said they’d be providing today on my behalf. Adopting Lucy is far from a done deal, but for the first time since I started this process, I feel like I might just be seeing the light of day.

Now to head home and wait for Ryker to tell me he’s back in town so we can celebrate all these things. And maybe I’ll be able to do a little explaining about what was going on that he didn’t know about.

That’s assuming I get the all clear from Special Agent Noah that everything I provided them with panned out.

Desperate to get out of this costume and wig for what might be the last time, I enter the elevator to head to my room, where my Vaughn clothes are.

Even now, even with immunity, I still feel the need to be cautious doing the change-in-the-hotel-room thing.

Old habits die hard, I guess.

Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, I keep my head down in the elevator and scan through the emails on my phone. Emails on an account I’ll no longer have to care about.

People exit floor by floor, ding after ding.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw you dressed like this, Vee. It’s truly stunning.”

I jump when Carter’s voice hits my ears and more so when his hand slides into the crook of my arm. I immediately try to yank it away, but his grip holds firm.

“Uh-uh-uh. Not so fast. You and I have a few things we need to discuss.”

The elevator car is empty. The panic coursing through me is almost debilitating.

“Go to hell.”

His chuckle is low and unforgiving, and I yelp out as he tightens his grip hard enough to leave bruises. “Don’t cause a scene, and I’ll play nice.”

He pushes me off the car when the door opens and steers me to my room. “Key,” he demands.

I stare at him and don’t obey.

I yelp as I’m slammed up against the hotel room’s door, my arm twisted against my back, my face pressed to the cool wood. My vision goes white for a beat from the pain as the heat of his breath hits my ear.

“Pretty please, Vaughn. Be difficult. Give me a reason to punish you more than I already want to. Your cry is my aphrodisiac.” He slides a hand over my ass, and I try to buck him off me, but he yanks my arm farther up my back in response. “The fucking key, Vaughn.”

My purse is ripped off my neck, the thin strap snapping without much force. His body is pressed against mine, but he manages to open the door with his free hand. I fall forward as it gives, and I land on my hands and knees on the floor.

I scramble up immediately but not before the door is slammed shut. “I warned you, Vaughn. I have eyes everywhere in this town. I know everything. I have a snitch in the courthouse. Immunity in exchange for goods on me? Really? You sold me out to the fucking feds? And I thought we were so much closer than that.”

My back is against the wall farthest from him. The moment is so very similar to the first time I faced him down in a hotel room, but this time the stakes seem so much higher. So much more damaging.

My eyes scan every damn thing in the room around us to see what I can use as a weapon.

“I wouldn’t even attempt it,” he warns as I see the phone on the nightstand, the lamp I could swing, anything and everything.

“What do you want?” My voice betrays me. Fear woven into false strength.

“Oh, you know what I want. We both know that. I’m over playing the games. You tried to hurt me today. Now it’s my turn to hurt you. And apparently time is of the essence, since someone will be knocking down my door to serve warrants soon.”