Love, Diamonds, and Spades (Cactus Creek #2)(39)

“You want me to stand by and let all those listeners think that I don’t hate him with every fiber of my being for leaving me alone and scared after my emergency c-section when the surgeons told me we’d almost lost Cooper. That I don’t hate him for not comforting me when they told me Cooper might not survive his first week of life, or speak or laugh. That I don’t hate him for not being there to comfort his own son on the endless nights when Cooper would cry, not because he was an infant who wanted milk or comfort, but rather, because he was struggling to breathe and fighting more pain than any newborn should be expected to endure.”

Rylan reached for her but she backed away.

Now that she started, she couldn’t stop.

“But you know what? That’s not even when I started hating him. The man was dead to me when I started my second trimester and he bartered me off to a loan shark to cover his gambling debts.”

Rylan paled. Shock, fury, and…heartbreaking sympathy flew across his features.

“That’s right. You want to know why I hate gambling so much? It’s because I was wagered off once. Brody had a fifteen thousand dollar debt so not only did he steal everything he could from me, but he also gave me to his loan shark. Like he owned me. Like I was his slave, his property that he could give away to who knows what fate. He bartered this deal and took off.”

Voice shaking, she stared at him and said dully, “My only saving grace was that the loan shark had a semi-decent conscience and didn’t want a single pregnant college chick who would be showing in about a month be an indentured escort for his high-end prostitute business. So he let me trade my grandmother’s two-carat diamond ring, the one that I had wanted to bury my mother with, but couldn’t, because her living will insisted I keep it for my own engagement, and then pass it on to my children, along with the beloved history of her mother’s mother wearing it.”

Before he could say a single word, she walked over to the door and pulled it open.

“I think you should leave, Rylan. Because whether you’ve been lying this entire time or you’re just lying now, you’re doing it because you’ve made a deal with the devil. My own personal devil. And now, every single time I hear that song, that’s all I’ll be able to think of.”

He stepped out onto the porch.

And she closed the door behind him.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN


RYLAN HAD LOST HER once and for all.

All weekend, he picked up his phone countless times but before he could finish dialing Quinn’s number, he just remembered the look of devastation on her face, heard every single heartsickening word of what that bastard Brody put her through.

Rylan couldn’t have begun to imagine the levels of evil Quinn’s ex had reached.

But now that he did, if anything, it made him more determined to sell Brody the song to keep him out of Quinn’s life for good.

“You’re early.” Brody sat down across the table from him. “Were you waiting long?”

“Spare me the pleasantries, *. Just give me the paperwork so we can be done with it. I want your ugly face out of my town.”

“By all means.” Brody slid a stack of paperwork before him. “It’s tagged and ready for you to sign.”

“Rylan William Grey, don’t you dare sign that.”

Rylan and Brody both looked up in surprise to see Quinn headed toward them, her face grim.

“Honey, it’s all for the best this way. Brody has agreed—”

Quinn stopped right at their table. “This isn’t Brody.”

What?

She tilted her head at the nameless man. “You’re looking good, Cam.”

“Likewise, Quinn.”

Quinn turned back to Rylan. “Rylan, meet Cameron, Brody’s older brother, manager, and all around Mr. Fix It and vacuum cleaner for all of Brody’s trouble and crap.”

“That is what’s on my business card,” said Cam, dryly.

Rylan frowned. “I checked out your ex’s photos online and matched him up.”

“Yeah,” nodded Quinn. “They’ve always looked similar. Cam always looked smarter, and a touch douchier.”

Cam chuckled. “Same old Quinn.”

And because Rylan was clearly in a strange alternate universe, Quinn smiled back before shaking her head and volleying back, “Same old Cam. I knew your brother wasn’t smart enough to come up with this plan. It just took me a few days to get over the hurt and figure it all out.”

Rylan felt a migraine coming on. “I’m completely confused as to whether I should bash this guy’s head in right now or not.”

The question went unanswered as at the moment, Cameron and Quinn were busy facing off and ignoring him completely.

Quinn tsked. “I’ve forgiven a lot of what you’ve done for Brody over the years but this was way below the belt. Stealing another artist’s song? Even for you, this seemed extreme.”

Cam let out a heavy sigh. “You were always the only one who thought I had an ounce of good in me.” He looked over at Rylan. “I was going to keep it as an insurance policy only, I swear. If things got out and got ugly, I was going to bring this out to try and redeem him at least a little. We weren’t going to take it, perform it, or anything.” He turned back to Quinn. “I was actually going to go over all of that with Rylan today – it’s all in the paperwork.”