“Oh, Chadd, about that?—”
“I’m telling you, Chadd,” I interrupt, knowing I have to choose my words carefully to direct this anger toward her and not me, especiallywhile he’s still holding a gun.“Been there, done that. She’s playing you like she’s been playing us.”
“No! No, you’re wrong, Boucher. You’redeadwrong,” he says, walking over to me, gun raised. My pulse races. My breaths are short. Sweat beading on my forehead, but not for me. I need to protecther. Shit…I need to protectthem. She’s carrying my child, and we haven’t even had a chance to talk about it.Dear hockey gods, please let this plan fucking work.
“She just admitted it! She trickedyouthis time—not me. Sucks, doesn’t it? She played you like a little fiddle, and she’s just standing over there smiling, waiting for her payday so she can drop you faster than you finish. Not to mention, she told everyone about your tiny wang.”
“I do not have a tiny…” —he turns to face Angelica— “you told? You know I’m embarrassed about that; you said it was okay and that size didn’t matter because I used it just fine.”
Angelica shrugs. “I mean…itisa little on the small side. But I swear, I didn’t tell anyone.”
Chadd’s face becomes beet red, full of rage and fully pissed off.
Perfect.
Her eyes widen as he stalks toward her. The loaded gun now aimed away from me—but directly at the backstabbing bitch.
“You…you tricked me? You said youlovedme. Was it all a lie?!”
Angelica steps back, her hands raised in surrender. “Chadd…don’t fall for this. He’s trying to get you all worked up. This was just an arrangement. I…I do love you. Ilove youfor getting me the intel I needed. For getting me even more access to the Riders. But…I’m not reallyinlove with you. You knew that, right? Listen, let’s just put the gun down so we can talk.”
“No!” he shouts, the gun shaking in his hand. “Youhumiliatedme! I’m…I’m going to fucking kill you.”
“Chadd, don’t do this. Please!” she pleads, taking another step back. But it’s no use. Chadd’s finger is on the trigger, andI’m stunned as a loud bang rips through the air, piercing my ears. Angelica screams and falls to the ground. But Chadd falls as well.
What the fuck just happened?
67
kennedy
My sweet, wonderful, and fucking smart as hell boyfriend goaded Chadd into getting upset at Angelica and bought me more time to get free.That man is brilliant.After painstakingly rubbing the zip tie along the chair, I finally feel it snap.Thank. God.And they are still arguing, too distracted to see I’ve gotten my hands loose. I glance toward a brick within reach—the best weapon in my vicinity. He’s fucking aiming a gun at her, his finger on the trigger.He’s going to shoot her. And then we’ll be next.This is my chance. I bolt from the chair, throwing the brick at his head as hard as possible in my somewhat foggy state.
BANG!
By some act of God, I nail him right in the head. Angelica is bleeding on the ground, and Chadd is knocked the fuck out.Thank you, Reserve beer league softball.My heart races, my vision swimming as I see Jordan unscathed, outside of a cut on his face, staring at it all in complete shock.
I exhale the breath I’ve been holding in, my pulse easing as the tension lightens.We’re okay.
“Kennedy! What…how?! Are you okay?” he shouts from his chair, straining to get to me. Nodding, I grab the gun and Angelica’s knife and quickly cut him loose.
I wrap him in my arms. “I’m okay. Are you okay?” Warmth radiates through me as we hold each other so fucking tight I’m afraid we’ll both suffocate. But I don’t want to let go. Tears I’ve been holding back let loose, and I’m now a crying hot mess, sniffling into his chest. “You stupid, stupid,smartman. I can’t believe you came here for me. But I’m so glad you did. You worked your magic and gave me a chance to work mine.”
He cups the back of my head, clutching me to his chest. His tears spill out, falling onto my face and making me cry harder. God help me, I kind of love that he’s a crier.
“Baby, I wasn’t going to leave you here with her. I wasn’t going to stop until I found you. Not for one second. Especially when I saw she had you here somewhere in my arena. I basically live here! I was going to tear the place down brick-by-brick,” he says as I smile up at him.
“I know you would have. I would have done the same for you.”
“Yeah, ’cause you’re a total badass and I fucking love that about you. Speaking of your badassery, how thehelldid you take down Chadd?!”
I snort. “Well…Angelica, Mara, whoever the fuck she is…made a few mistakes. One of them was not realizing I’m smart enough to get out of zip ties. Once I got my hands free, I waited for my moment.” I lean back, cupping his cheek, my thumb brushing against his skin in awe at his part in all this. “JJ, I couldn’t have done it without you. You sneakyson of a bitch got Chadd all worked up over her. Fucking brilliant.”
“Yeah. Well, my acting skills arequiteamazing.” He smirks.
I tilt my head, unable to stop myself from giving him shit, even in this situation. “And you’resohumble.”
“I know, right?” he says as we both laugh, relieving just a bit of the tension. “How did she even get you down here?”
