Page 3 of Hard Ruck

I took the glass and lowered myself down onto the couch, one leg under me, careful not to spill any over the rim. “I didn’t want to get you involved,” I said with a sigh. “I was hoping to talk to her and convince her to back off. She wouldn’t. She was going to publish that article, telling the world I used to work at Flirts, and that she saw me with the guys.”

Sadie winced. “That would have gone down well with Smashers’ management.”

“Exactly.” I downed a gulp of wine. “We both know what would have happened then. They would have made excuses for the guys, and I would have been burnt at the proverbial stake.”

She sat beside me and leaned over to pat my knee. “I hate to say it, but that’s exactly what would have happened. Guys like that always get out of things like this.”

“That’s why they have a PR department,” I said, trying not to bristle. Was she suggesting they’d throw me under the bus and walk away without looking back?

“It seems to me like they don’t need one,” she said lightly. “You had the situation under control.”

I relaxed against the back of the couch and exhaled slowly. Of course she wasn’t pointing fingers, I was just on edge.

“Did I?” I rubbed my temples with my fingertips. “A simple conversation turned into getting my brother involved.”

“From what I’ve seen of him, I’m sure he didn’t mind,” she assured me. “Belinda seemed, I don’t know, unreasonable when I met her. I get the impression nothing short of what you actually did would have convinced her to drop it. Or killing her. She was so sure she was onto something that was going to make her a shit ton of money. That was all she cared about. She wasn’t worried about your feelings. Or how your guys would think about any of this. But here you are, worried about what she’s going through.” Her expression softened on my behalf.

“Iama doctor,” I said. “It’s my job to help people, not put them through…whatever my brother is doing to her.” Should I have put my pride aside and ended her life to save her from suffering? What would my brother have thought of that? I was almost certain he would have supported my decision, but at the same time, he might have been disappointed to miss out on a research opportunity.

Either way, I couldn’t undo what I hadn’t done.

“Regrets?” Sadie asked.

That was a good question and required some thought before I could give her an honest answer.

“No,” I said finally. “What choice did I have? I had to do what I did, or sit back and watch my life implode. After which, my brother would have done what I did anyway, out of retribution. Either way, she would have ended up the same.”

“Honestly, I need to find me a man who looks after me the way your brother looks after you,” she said. “But one who fuckslike your three rugby players. How does it feel to have a blessed life?”

I snorted into my wine. “It doesn’t feel very blessed right now. What happens when the next person finds out what I used to do? I might not be so lucky again. They might tell the whole world before I could get to them and stop them. Or I might have to do what I did tonight, again. How many times am I supposed to do that? Maybe Ishouldgo and work with my brother. Working for the team feels like a ticking time bomb.”

“What kind of talk is that?” she scolded. “You’re an amazing doctor and you’ve worked hard to get where you are. You used to take your clothes off for a living, so what? You don’t deserve to be vilified for it.” She regarded me for a moment. “This isn’t about that, is it? This is guilt about handing that woman over to your brother. Even after all she would have done to you, you feel bad for doing it.”

She knew me too well.

“I feel bad forhavingto do it,” I said. “I could have offered her money. I could have given her the names of I-don’t-know-how-many different men that frequented Flirts. Names that would have made her a lot more money than three rugby players, even high profile ones.” Powerful men who would have done anything to keep the world from finding out what they got up to behind the doors of the club.

“She still would have published that article, and you know it,” Sadie reasoned. “She would have taken those other names and happily pressed enter. She wouldn’t have lost any sleep over it either. But you know what, if she published the names of any of those powerful people, she’d end up dead anyway.”

Sadie tended bar at Flirts. She knew exactly who I was referring to. She also knew I wouldn’t have told Belinda anything. My job at the club relied on discretion as much as myjob as a doctor did. It was something I took seriously, no matter how desperate I was.

“When you play with fire, you get burnt,” she concluded. “If she wasn’t smart enough to figure that out, that’s her problem. Not yours. You shouldn’t be worrying about anything she’s going through right now. Just be glad it’s not you with a phone blowing up, and the world all up in your business.”

“You’re right,” I conceded.

“Of course I am. I’m always right,” she said with a smile. “That’s why you tell me things. So I can be the voice of reason on the rare occasion you lose yours. But I’m still cranky with you for not telling me what you were doing. I would have liked to see the expression on her face when you walked into her apartment and aimed a gun at her.” She pointed a finger gun in my direction.

“Next time, I’ll capture it on bodycam,” I said dryly. “Would you like me to stream my brother’s torture sessions so you can watch?”

“Actually…” she said slowly.

I grimaced at her. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t make that suggestion. I’m definitely not going to suggest it to my brother.” He’d totally be on board with doing that. To be fair though, he probably thought of it already and dismissed the idea. Those he worked for didn’t really like leaving evidence lying around.

Sadie pouted playfully. “Spoilsport. Maybe he’d let me watch some time.”

“I’ll pose that suggestion to him,” I said. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind an audience. He’s always been good at sharing. Who knows, you might come up with some creative ideas he hadn’t thought of.”

“You must have had a very interesting childhood,” she remarked. “With a big brother who likes to torture people, I bet no one got away with doing anything bad to you.”

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