Ryley's Revenge (Gloves Off #2)(44)

Looking over my shoulder at the door, she bit her lip and moved closer. “It looks like Colin got a little roughed up? You didn’t do that, did you?”

I wished it was me who did it. “No, I haven’t seen the f*cker since the restaurant.”

Colin chose that time to walk out, his body tense. He looked straight at Gabriella and nodded toward the room. “She wants you.”

Gabriella started in and I followed until Colin placed a hand on my shoulder. “You better get your hand off of me right f*cking now,” I growled. “I’m not in the mood for your shit tonight.”

“And I’m not in the mood for Camden’s, so you better listen to what I’m about to tell you.” Taking off his hat, he huffed and ran his hands through his hair. “She’s going to hate me when she finds out.”

I waved him on. “Keep talking, I don’t have all f*cking night.”

“When do you think the doctor will be in to do the tests?” he asked.

“Hopefully, sometime soon. That way you’ll see that I’m the father and leave her the f*ck alone.”

Sighing, he leaned his head against the wall. “I already know you’re the father, Ryley. I just wanted her to see that I was better for her than you. I held on to as much hope as I could, but it’s obvious she’s always going to pick you.”

I stared at him in shock. Was he serious? “So what are you saying? That you’re going to leave us alone?”

“It’s not going to matter anyway once she knows the truth. It’ll all be over.”

“Will you just get to it?” I hissed impatiently. “I don’t exactly want to stand out here shooting the shit with you. If you have another point, get to it.”

“Does Camden know you’re here?”

“Not that I know of.”

“I don’t think it matters anyway, since we’re not at her doctor’s office. But Camden was going to get someone to tamper with the results of the tests to make it look like the baby was mine.”

Slamming my hand into his throat, I shoved his head against the wall. He didn’t even fight me. “So you’re saying that he was going to make sure I thought the baby was yours? To what . . . get me away from Ashleigh?”

He swallowed hard, but I squeezed even harder. “Yes,” he choked, grabbing my wrists. “I—I thought she would . . . want me back if she knew the baby was mine.”

Before letting him go, I knocked his head against the wall one more time and crossed the hall. If I didn’t get away from him, I was going to do some serious damage. Gabriella rushed out, eyes wide. “Guys, what in the hell is going on?”

Colin put his hat back on and stood up straighter. “It’s nothing. I was just leaving.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” I hissed. “I’m not going to be the one to tell Ashleigh what you did. You’re going to do that yourself.”

“Oh, f*cking shit,” Gabriella grumbled, heading back into the room. “Why do things always have to be so complicated?”

Colin looked like he wanted to bolt, but I blocked his path and pointed to the room. Ashleigh deserved to hear the truth and it was going to be from his own mouth. The video was one thing, but Camden crossed the line when he broke into my house, when he touched the mother of my child, and now this . . . trying to sabotage the test results. I was seriously going to f*cking kill him. I may not even wait until the fight.





COLIN WALKED IN looking worse than before.

“You guys weren’t fighting were you?” I scolded.

Ryley followed in behind him and came straight over to me, his muscles tense. “Maybe a little,” he confessed. “But it was for a good reason. Care to explain, Colin?”

Gabriella moved out of Colin’s way, so he could come to my other side. His green eyes looked down at me with angst and sadness. I could even feel it in his touch when he grabbed my hand. The last time he looked like that was when I broke up with him. “Ashleigh, there’s something I need to tell you and you’re not going to like it.”

Ryley nodded and held my other hand. From the look on Gabriella’s face, she had no clue what was going on.

“I love you, Ashleigh. I’ve loved you for a long time now. When you told me you were pregnant, I went a little nuts and thought I could get you back. But now I see that’s not going to happen.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmured sadly. “I can’t help the way I feel. I hope you know I didn’t mean to hurt you, or lead you on after I broke things off.”

He nodded his head and looked away. “I know that now, but I did something stupid.”

“What?” My heart sped rapidly out of control and I began to feel sick. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. I was afraid to find out and even more so when I heard his next words.

“I had no idea Camden was going to do what he did. If I’d known, I would’ve never agreed to help him.”

Jerking my hand away, I glared at him, eyes wide. “You can’t be serious? What do you mean you’ve been helping him? What have you done?”

Sheepishly, he glanced over at Ryley and Gabriella. “The video for starters,” he confessed. “Camden thought it would work. When he finished putting it together, I was the one who put it in your mailbox. After you stormed out, I figured you and Ryley would be over and you’d come back to me.”