Page 124 of Fake Out Hearts

Becca scoffs and looks up at me. “You’ll never believe this, but he was seriously trying to get me back.”

It takes everything I have not to burst out laughing. “How fucking delusional is this guy? He just put you on blast on national TV, and now he thinks you’re going to get back with him?”

“It gets worse. He told me he’s juicing, that he’s playing better than ever and that he’s going to take over the NHL.”

This time I do burst out laughing. “So he’s not just delusional, he’s actually fucking insane.”

“Yeah…” Becca trails and looks down. But I tilt her head back up to me.

“What is it? What else did he do?” Becca looks away and tears start welling in her eyes again. “Tell me, Becca. Whatever it is. Just tell me.”

She swallows hard but doesn’t speak for another few moments. “He said you were using me to fuck with him. That you married me just for that.”

“He’s pathetic,” I snap immediately. “And you know that’s bullshit. Just like everything else that comes out of his mouth. You know exactly why I married you, and it has nothing to do with his worthless ass.”

“I know.” Becca swallows, nodding. “Believe me, I know. But the way he said it, he sounded so sure of himself.”

“Of course he did. He’s unhinged. Look at the way he put his hands on you,” I say as I gently run my fingers over the bruises on her upper arms. “That’s not love, that’s fucked up.”

“He tried to kiss me too. Right before you got home.”

The thought of that roach trying to put his lips anywhere near her makes my skin crawl and my rage swell all over again. He has no idea how lucky he is that he didn’t.

Becca steps back from me to look me in the eyes. “This is so fucking crazy. What are we going to do?” she asks, and determination builds in my chest because I already know the answer.

“We’re going to take Kaplan down. For good,” I say and pull out my phone to call the police.

Chapter 39

Becca

Theo invites his lawyer, Eric Botti, over the next day. We sit on the couch together while he tells Eric his version of what happened with Shawn, but Theo can’t seem to keep his hands off me. If he’s not holding my hand, he’s rubbing my leg, or wrapping his arm around me and pulling me into him.

After we finished giving our statements to the police so they could file a report, Theo held me all night, wrapped his body around me like a human shield. Like he refused to let anyone but him get near me ever again. And he promised that he’d never let anything hurt me.

After what happened with Shawn, I didn’t think I’d sleep at all, but when Theo told me that, it was like a switch flipped and all the exhaustion I’d been holding back finally overtook me. I slept for ten hours straight, until right before Eric got here. Theo woke me up to tell me that the lawyer was coming, and that I didn’t have to talk with him if I didn’t want to, but I needed the reassurance that all of this shit with Shawn would finally be over.

“Walk me through what you experienced last night, Ms. Summers. And please be as detailed as possible,” Eric says calmly as he looks me in the eyes. He’s wearing a serious but concerned expression, and the crow’s feet behind his thickglasses crinkle when he offers me a solemn smile. But something about his detached demeanor and crisp navy suit puts me at ease. If Theo trusts him to handle this, so do I.

Theo keeps his fingers linked with mine, like he’s trying to encourage me. To give me strength. I sigh. “Well, Shawn has always been pushy and loud, even aggressive, but last night was something else entirely.”

“What do you mean? How so?”

“He was erratic. Unhinged. Like he was on drugs or something.”

“Theo mentioned that he said something about steroid use. Do you think that’s what it was?”

I nod. “Probably.”

“Then his unpredictability makes sense if that’s true. Though there’s no telling if anything else was in his system at the same time,” Eric says as he scratches a note on the yellow pad of legal paper resting on his knee. “What did he say he wanted?”

“He wanted to get back with me. We used to date before Theo and I were married. I don’t know if you knew that yet,” I say, and Eric nods. “He’d sent me a text a few nights ago about how he was sorry for the reality show stunt and wanted to talk.”

Eric raises an eyebrow at me. “And did you respond?”

“I did for her,” Theo answers.

“What did you say?”

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