She turned and walked away, but Diren was not finished.
He grabbed her arm and spun her back around.
“You don’t get to just walk away from this!” He yelled. “What about Ryland? Is he being arrested?”
She shrugged indifferently.
“Probably not. There’s no proof and I’m not going to testify against him.”
“Why not?” Diren shouted, attracting looks from passersby but he barely noticed.
She stared at him dully.
“Would you?” she asked, shaking her head.
“Ayla…”
She glanced at him.
“If I take care of Ryland, you need to promise me that you are done with your double life.”
She scoffed.
“What does that even mean?” she snapped but Diren suddenly pulled her close, hating himself for needing her so desperately. “I’ll never be free of Ryland. It doesn’t matter what you do. He will find me. I know he will.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he murmured. “You’re safe now, I swear it. He won’t get near you ever again. I won’t allow it.”
And even though she was resisting it with every ounce of her willpower, Diren felt Ayla relax in his arms.
I will protect you, he swore, furious at the situation. You are worth fighting for. You’ve run long enough. It’s time for me to keep you out of harm’s way. For once, I’m going to fight for and protect what makes me whole…and he wasn’t going to lose this time.
He hoped to God he was right.
Epilogue
“Ryland? Ya gun answer that damned poundin’ on the door?” Beth Ann yelled from the tiny closeted bathroom but Ryland ignored both her and the racket on the flimsy trailer door.
The knocking continued and Ryland turned up the volume on the television.
He had been in fine form since learning how Ayla the bitch had betrayed him.
She had gotten herself arrested and over the past weeks, he had been living in fear of when the police were going to come knocking.
Doesn’t mean I have to let them in, he thought sourly. They haven’t got an iota of proof that I did anything to my disgusting father or my slutty girlfriend.
The shock of learning that his father had been sleeping with his teenaged girlfriend all those years ago had been the catalyst to Ryland’s mental breakdown.
Tara-Lynn had been so smug, so unapologetic.
They both deserved what they got. It was just a stroke of luck that Ayla ran over Darius when he was running for help. Poor, stupid girl. And now she’s trying to ruin everything.
The “friends” he had who were supposed to collect the money from the Cayman Islands were having no luck breaking the encryption that his fucking sis had put into play, and Diren Benning had swept his step-sister away somewhere untouchable.
But I’ll find her one day, he vowed, sucking in his cheeks.
“Dammit, Ryland!” Beth Ann howled. “Answer the damned door! They know we’re in here!”
Sick of listening to her kvetch, Ryland rose and sauntered to the flimsy portal, peering out at the stranger on the stoop.
“Heya!” the man called cheerfully. “Sorry ta bother ya, but I got me a dead truck out here. Kin ya gimme a boost?”
Ryland eyed the man, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
He grinned sheepishly and pointed behind himself at the Ford F150 behind him and Ryland stepped onto the rickety steps.
Inadvertantly, his eyes swept toward the spot where the screen door had hung precariously before almost killing his stepmother.
I really should have fixed that for her, he thought but he realized how timely the accident had been. It had scared Ayla into giving him what he wanted, after all.
“Yeah,” Ryland sighed. “I can help you – for a little cash.”
The man nodded and turned back to his truck and as Ryland reached for his own car door, he felt an explosion in the back of his knee.
He howled in pain, falling to the ground as blood began to seep from his leg.
Uncomprehendingly, he looked up at the man who pointed a pistol at his face.
“You’ve been a bad boy, Ryland,” the stranger said, his southern drawl gone. “You’ve done some bad things.”
He whimpered, covering his face in terror as the man shook his head.
“Ryland! Oh, my God!” Beth Ann screamed, running out.
The man turned the gun on her.
“Back inside, ma’am. This won’t take but a minute, I promise.”
Beth Ann froze in terror.
“Inside, ma’am,” he said again and she fell back into the trailer, her face opaque with fear.
“Ryland, you need to turn yourself in and confess to all your crimes,” the would-be assassin said.
Ryland opened his mouth to respond but the pain was far too great for him to speak.
“Don’t try and speak,” the thug continued, nodded amiably. “Just nod if you agree. You will go to the police and tell them about Darius and Tara-Lynn and what you have done to your step-sister for all these years.”
Ryland’s dark eyes grew huge.
He knew everything.
“Who…are…you?” he gasped. “Did…Ayla hire…you?”
He was losing blood quickly but the stranger seemed to be in no rush despite the sound of sirens in the distance.
The man chuckled aloud.
“Oh, goodness no,” he chortled. “Ayla would never do such a thing. She’s your sister, isn’t she? But Mr. Benning…well, Mr. Benning, he never forgets a slight. Like when people steal from him. Or try to ruin his wife’s life.”
Wife? Ayla married that son of a bitch? I will kill them both!
Faintness began to overcome Ryland and he finally knew that it was over.
I’ll never get my hands on that money now. Benning knows. I’m a dead man if I don’t obey.
“Do we have an understanding, Ryland?”
He nodded painfully and closed his eyes.
He could always try and run. He had some friends down in Mexico…maybe he could outrun his new step-brother-in-law.
When he opened his eyes, the man was gone but his message still lingered.
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She wanted to lose her virginity – but not to just anyone. She wanted her bodyguard.
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Cleo’s brother is a cop who is going to clear up this mess for her – or try to. But in the meantime, he literally hand-delivers Cleo to his best friend Dallas for safekeeping.
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BLACKMAIL_A billionaire blackmail romance Page 13
