Risky Play (Red Card #1)(71)

A: I have the iPad linked to her cell—trust me, I have screen shots and records of everything, and I followed her twice to the stadium. If we both combine the information we have, it will look like she’s guilty and we may just get lucky.

B: Agreed. But only one payment.

A: Sure.

I’d seen enough. She was smart enough to at least not charge toward me in an effort to get her phone.

I handed it over to Matt. “Read the texts with her and A.”

I turned to Britney. “Who’s A?”

Tears filled her eyes. “He said it would be easy!”

“I’m sure he did.” I rolled my eyes. “Who’s A?”

“I don’t know!” she cried. “Alright, he said his name was Alton! That’s all I know!”

“Fuck, you should have killed him when you had the chance, Slade,” said Jagger, glaring at Britney. “Matt, sorry, man, you’re going to have to bail us both out of prison.”

Matt shook his head slowly, then glared up at Britney. “Let me deal with this one first, and I’ll be right there.”

Tears spilled onto her cheeks. “Slade! You don’t understand. We were perfect. I messed up. I get that. But Hawk, he’s not even in the picture anymore. We can fix this! Just think of the possibilities!”

“Oh, I have,” I said with heavy sarcasm. “And it sounds like my version of hell, been there, done that. I’m sorry, and I hope you have a safe pregnancy. But I need you to get the fuck off my property. Now.”

“But where will I go?”

“Looks like you got half a mil, Britney, I don’t know, stay at a hotel. Better yet, wait for some rich old guy you can sink your talons into, he probably won’t even care that you’re a lying, cheating whore.”

“Watch it!” she seethed.

“Out. Of. My. House.”

Matt stood and held out his hand for her to leave. Head high, she said through clenched teeth, “You’ll regret this.”

The minute the door slammed, Jagger grabbed the whiskey bottle, tilted it back, winced, and said hoarsely, “No regrets.”

He handed me the bottle.

I took it without hesitation. “I messed up.”

“Yeah.”

Another swig.

“Mack hates me.”

“Probably.”

“I need to grovel.”

“Yup.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You aren’t helping.”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted. “For not telling you that Brit was cheating on both of us. Honestly I hated you at the time, I didn’t think you’d even believe me.”

I snorted. “I probably wouldn’t have.”

He sighed. “So what are you going to do?”

“Chase.”





Chapter Fifty MACKENZIE

I couldn’t see straight as I drove back to my house. And when I opened a bottle of wine and sat in front of the TV, I realized how bad the situation really was.

The picture they were painting of me wasn’t good.

Apparently, I’d known Slade all this time.

They showed old pictures of me and Alton with Jagger, which linked me to Slade since Jagger had introduced Slade to Britney.

They were calling him a serial girlfriend stealer.

Me a cheater.

Alton a hero.

How the hell did Alton come out looking good?

Britney was a total victim.

And Jagger? Well, they just made him look stupid.

The more I watched, the more angry I got.

I dried my tears.

And stared at the reporters, who didn’t give a flying rat’s ass who they hurt or how long it took to get over the poisonous words they tossed around like candy.

With shaking hands I sent Matt a text from my own phone, not the one I’d been given.

Me: I didn’t out them.

Matt: I know that.

Me: I want to do a press conference.

Matt: Um, what?

Me: At the winery. I want to tell my side of the story. We can control the location, we can control everything.

Matt: Are you sure you don’t just want me and Slade to take care of this?

I grinned down at the phone, heart still a little bit broken, exhausted, but ready to fight.

I would never have fought for Alton.

And even though I was petrified of the power Slade held over me, I decided I would not be powerless again.

I wouldn’t be the girl who would marry just because it made business sense. That girl was gone.

I wasn’t going to sit back.

Old Mackenzie would have smiled through her teeth while people hurled insults.

But Slade had changed that.

And I loved him for it.

I loved the Slade that jumped off that cliff with me.

And I loved the Slade that joked with me—that used his anger as a shield and his grief as a weapon.

I loved every part of him.

I loved him more than I loved me.

Me: Tomorrow evening. Don’t tell Slade.

Matt: If you guys could please stop telling me not to tell what you’re all doing, that would be fantastic. It’s hard to keep everything straight. For the record, Alton is the one that outed everyone. He had the password to your old iPad so he could see your emails and texts. Alton got ahold of Britney after stalking Slade online and seeing her picture. They both wanted money—and she wanted Slade back. The plan was to use you as the fall guy and make it look like you were the reason for everything that happened back in Europe. I’m sorry.