Ryley's Revenge (Gloves Off #2)(45)

“You watched me leave?” I gasped. “How could you do that to me?”

He looked over at Ryley, but Ryley stayed quiet and kept his eyes only on me. “I wanted you back, Ashleigh. I didn’t care how it happened, I just wanted you to know that I was better than him. He’s not going to love you the way I do.”

Now it was Ryley’s turn to snap. “I don’t think what you have is love, *. It’s more like obsession. If you really loved her, you wouldn’t have agreed to Camden’s next plot.”

Colin tensed and closed his eyes, but I smacked his hand to get his attention. “Look at me, Colin. What’s he talking about?”

He opened his eyes and tears fell down his cheeks. I’d never seen him cry. “Camden told me he could make something happen, and by being the obsessive * that I am, I agreed,” he said, glaring at Ryley then turning to me. “I told him about the baby and how it could be mine. But who was I kidding, I knew it was a long shot. I just wanted to believe I still had a chance. Except, when you and Ryley started getting close, I became desperate.”

“Desperate, my ass,” Gabriella snapped. “You made a deal with the f*cking devil. Please tell me Bradley didn’t know about this. Because if he did, I’m going to wrap his balls around his neck and choke him.”

Quickly, he turned to her, holding up his hands. “No, I swear he didn’t know. Bradley has no idea about any of this.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, she closed her eyes and stepped back. “Keep going, Colin,” I interrupted impatiently. “What was Camden going to do next?”

Then tension pouring off of Ryley was enough to charge the air, it scared the shit out of me. When Colin’s head lifted, his dread felt like a tightly wrapped blanket surrounding me, suffocating me. “Camden was going to get someone to change the baby’s test results to make it look like the child was mine.”

As soon as he said it, the monitors around me went on alert. The sound echoed throughout the room and it was loud—annoyingly loud—but the pounding in my ears was louder. Ryley got to his feet and grabbed my face, trying to turn my sight away from the man who deceived me. “Calm down, angel,” he ordered soothingly. “You need to breathe.” I fought against his grasp and kept my piercing glare on Colin’s.

My heart sped out of control and I could feel the anxiety welling up in my chest. How could Colin do that? I didn’t even recognize him anymore. “How could you?” I cried, gritting my teeth. When he tried to touch me, I smacked his hand away and roughly swiped my eyes with my palms. I couldn’t see through the rage and tears.

“I’m so f*cking sorry, Ashleigh. I’d do anything to take it all back.”

About that time, a nurse in pink scrubs barged into the room and rushed straight over to the machines. “My heavens, what in blazes is going on in here? You can’t be getting upset like this, Miss Warren. If the gentlemen can’t keep it together I’m going to have to request they leave. The doctor is about to come in and examine you and we don’t need you upset.” She turned around and glared at both of the men.

“No, I’m okay,” I replied, taking a deep breath. “One of them was just leaving.” My attention fell onto Colin and his face fell.

“What about the baby?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter—” I stopped in mid-sentence. The nurse was fixing the machine, and I really didn’t want her or the whole floor hearing our personal business. “I don’t want to look at you anymore, please leave.”

The nurse kept her head down and bustled out of the room.

“You can’t keep me away, Ash. What if it is mine?”

Anger boiled through my veins, and thankfully, Ryley was on the other side of the bed or he would’ve punched the shit out of him. When he tried to step around Gabriella, she blocked his path. “Colin, I want you to leave,” I growled venomously. “It’s over, all of it. I don’t want to see or talk to you right now. If you don’t leave this second, I’m going to get security up here and throw you out.”

“Or better yet, I’d be happy to do it,” Ryley thundered.

Colin stared down at me in complete and utter despair.

“I’ll have Gabby text you when we find out the baby belongs to Ryley. That way, you’ll have your confirmation.”

Nodding, he backed away toward the door. “I love you, Ashleigh.”

I averted my head and looked down at the floor. There was no way I could love him after what he did. I didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if Camden succeeded in changing the results. It would have affected not only us, but the baby as well. The door opened and he looked at me one more time before shutting the door. He was gone and I never wanted to see him again.

“I seriously can’t believe this shit,” Gabriella exclaimed.

Ryley bent down and brushed the hair off my face. “Are you okay?”

I latched onto his hand and held it to my cheek. “No, but hopefully, I will be soon.”

The door opened and I was afraid it was going to be Colin again. Thankfully, it wasn’t. “Good evening,” a voice called out.

Ryley moved back, giving me full view of the lady at the foot of my bed. She was a middle-aged woman with auburn hair, dressed in green scrubs and a white lab coat. Hopefully, she was the doctor. I couldn’t see her name tag clearly.