Risky Play (Red Card #1)(36)

And that was when I heard the sirens.

I grabbed the bottle of wine from the table and started drinking straight from it once a cop walked in, followed by another.

And put all three men in cuffs.

“He started it!” Alton roared.

I almost kicked him in the ribs.

“Shut the hell up, you pussy,” Slade sneered. “I can see your man tits from here.”

Jagger choked out a laugh and then added, “He has one testicle. Literally.”

Alton’s face flushed while wine almost spewed out of my mouth. Matt made his way over to talk to the cops.

People were clearly enjoying the show.

And I was so frozen in shock that I didn’t know how to react or what to do.

But when Jagger was talking to the cop with Matt and Alton, Slade turned around and whispered, “Sorry . . . again.”

My answer? “I like chocolate too.”

He grinned. “So you’re saying I have to send chocolate with the flowers next time?”

I nodded.

“Done.”

“And Slade?”

“Yeah.” His eyes locked on mine.

“You’re my hero.”

“Funny, that’s always something I’ve wanted to be to someone . . .”

My eyes filled with tears.

We stared at one another and the world faded around me. His golden eyes didn’t leave mine for a few seconds before the cop escorted them out of the restaurant.

“Do you think you can talk your father into persuading Alton not to press charges?” Matt asked once they were in the cop car.

My chest ached a bit. “I’ll try.”

“Thanks.” He patted my shoulder. “Head on home, get some sleep . . . they’re not going to jail, but I see some community service in Slade’s near future, and to think he’d been doing so well . . .”

Instantly, I felt guilty. “It was my fault.”

“Nah, he threw the punch, but something tells me Alton deserved it.”

I gave him a silent nod.

“Then I’m sorry the fucker didn’t pass out cold.”

I laughed. “Thanks, Matt.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s really fun, my job . . . keeping their asses out of jail, losing sleep, balding—”

A smile tugged my lips upward. “You aren’t balding.”

“Don’t make me show you the spot. It’s embarrassing.”

I stood and gave him my hand. “Should I grab the tab for the wine?”

“Already taken care of when I saw Slade make his way over. I know the guy. When he sees something he wants, he gets tunnel vision and doesn’t think, he just . . . executes. It makes him a hell of a striker, and sometimes a hell of a human.”





Chapter Twenty-Nine SLADE

I reacted.

Poorly.

Again.

But the bastard was just sitting there insulting the world by breathing, let alone speaking about her in a way that was so disrespectful—if I see him on the street I’m taking all hateful vengeance toward Jagger and Dextering it on Alton.

Simple.

“One testicle, though?” I wondered out loud as the cop took off the cuffs and gave me a look that said I really needed to stop talking if I wanted to make it back to my house and not a jail cell next to a guy named Billy who has some things in his trunk he wants to show me.

“Think about it.” Jagger massaged his wrists while Matt discussed terms with the cops. “Is there any chance in hell you’d want that woman”—he pointed at Mack’s disappearing form as she got into an Uber Black SUV—“to know that you have one of something that you should have two of?”

“Huh.” I rubbed my chin. “You’d think he’d be so sexually repressed that he would have just taken the chance, plus when you love someone . . .”

Jagger stared at me like I’d grown three heads.

So I stopped talking.

“No, continue.” He crossed his arms. “I think we were having the closest thing to a moment I’ve ever seen.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m just saying, it shouldn’t matter. Things like that don’t matter, not when you’re with someone.”

It wasn’t a topic I liked to discuss.

Loving someone.

Loving anyone.

And losing them.

Loving them with your soul—only to discover you never even had their heart, like with my ex-fiancée.

It’s the worst. It feels like a death—maybe not as bad as my father dying, but it sure as hell didn’t make me feel like I wanted to go ahead and do it again.

The risk? Was too high.

The reward? Well, I never had the reward, because she took it from me the minute she decided to sleep with someone else.

“Hey, you still with us?” Jagger walked over and touched my shoulder.

I frowned at his hand. “You’re touching me.”

“You looked ready to cry.”

“Bullshit. I was just . . . thinking.”

“Also disconcerting.” He moved his hand just as Matt walked over to us with a wide, encouraging smile.

“Fixed,” he announced.

Jagger and I both stared at him.

“What is?” I was the first to ask.