Page 99 of Trouble in Love
“If that was supposed to make me feel better, it didn’t.” Something must have relieved his fear, though, as he lumbered in a few paces, nodding as he saw me. Stopping by the mudroom, he scanned the space with darting eyes … perhaps looking for weapons. “Never thought I’d get an invitation to the Golden Boy’s palace,” he grumped. “If you don’t want to hurt me, what do you want?”
“Justice,” Luca said. “For me and for you.” Headlights shone through the lounge window before Luca could explain further. “Look, I concede that given our past, this is an odd reversal of events, but Brookes, get into the closet.”
His brows knotted together. “No fucking way am I getting into anything until you tell me what’s going on.”
As I joined him at his side, Luca stepped into his space and pressed both hands into his chest, pushing him as he spoke. “Just do it, okay, asshole? You owe me.”
Dallas said nothing. Just sighed like Luca had moments ago, shook his head, and backed into the pile of coats and winter boots while another pair of fists began pounding at the front door.
“Luca, it’s me, and Chris is with me. Let us in, babe.”
Babe?I was torn between cutting the bitch and laughing at her predictability.
“Called it!” I whispered. “I knew she’d bring her brother. She’s such a fucking amateur.” I stood on the tips of my toes and placed a big, wet kiss on Luca’s lips. “Are you sure you’re up to this? Are you sure I can’t hurt her? Not even a bit?”
“Yes, on both counts.” He flashed an unconvincing, tentative smile, kissed me again, then pushed me into the same hiding spot as his teammate.
“What the hell is going on?” Dallas asked as he pressed against the wall.
“Just shut up and listen.”
Side by side, Dallas and I leaned against the door of the mudroom, listening to the river of flaming trash being spewed by the woman he loved.
“Dallas tricked me into thinking I loved him. He gaslighted me, Luca. Told me you boasted about your conquests. That you slept with everything that moved when away for games. That I was naive to expect any different, or to believe someone like you could really want a nobody like me. Then he sabotaged my birth control so I would get pregnant.”
“I never!” Dallas cursed, lunging for the handle. “She’s lying. She told me Luca was horrible to her. Called her fat and wouldn’t sleep with her. He broke her heart. I would never hurt her like that. I love her.”
“Yeah, nah. Sorry to break it to you, Dally, but your girl is full of shit, and this is just the tip of the shit-berg.”
The crap continued to flow. It was nauseating, outright malicious, and all backed up by Chris who topped off the falsities with some of his own. Most of his were about me. What he thought were my secrets were told to the one person in the world who already knew them. Who loved me despite everything.
Then came the clincher. He was dumping Dallas as a client. Insisting Clara had sought his advice when struggling to deal with Dallas’s increasingly violent behavior. Above all else, this enraged me. It had taken me years to admit I was the victim of sexual assault. To hear the pain that women like me were forced to carry through life being weaponized so flippantly was the final straw ... for all of us. At the same time that Dallas and I almost ripped the door from its hinges, Luca lost his cool.
“Just stop. Just stop it all. You sit there and lie to my face again and again, and all because you want to get your filthy hands on my money.”
Chris and Clara froze, but only for a second. Surprisingly, Clara defrosted first. This confirmed my suspicions that she was much more heavily involved in all this than I initially thought. “What is she doing here? And you!” She pointed to Dallas. “Why are you here? What lies have you spread about me? Whatever it is, Luca, you can’t believe a word.”
“Give it up, Clara.” Watching her squirm had a sinister smile twitching the corners of my lips. “Luca knows you two are brother and sister.”
“The fuck?” Clearly, Dallas who was clutching his chest like his heart was imploding, did not.
“Yup.” Luca added. “And I know about the photo leaks, and the blackmail.” He redirected his gaze to his stunnedformermanager. “Coach and Jason Brown know, too. You’re so fucked, Chris. And fired.”
“You told them? That’s slander. Defamation,” he snapped, his words displaying a bravado not matched by his pale face. “Even if it was all true, which it is, in the legal world, it’s hearsay. You don’t have a shred of proof. On the other hand, I have an ironclad contract. Make one move to get rid of me, and I’ll take it all. Every last penny. You would be nothing without me and Clara, and if you think I’m going to sit here and let you ruin what I have worked for, you’ve got another thing coming. No one will believe a lying slut like her and a dumb jock son of a junkie.”
“You’re right. I didn’t ….” Luca nodded, barely able to contain a crooked smirk that had my pulse thrumming. Calculating Luca was hot. “Until I reached out to Doreen. Seems you’ve been playing her as much as everyone else. Unlike me, she’s been suspicious for a while and has all the receipts, Christian. Every single one.”
“Babe. Don’t forget we’re recording this conversation.” I smiled while pulling the mic from my bra.
“Oh, of course. How could I forget?” Luca leaned down and whispered into my ear.
“You had it in your bra? That’s so hot, Princess. But I’m kinda jealous of a microphone, so it’s weird, too.”
“Focus, Luca.”
“Right. Sorry.”
From the corner of my eye, I noted the very pale, and clearly heartbroken Dallas raised his hand. In all the chaos and dysfunction of the previous twenty-four hours, I’d forgotten he was losing the future he had planned with his wife and child. Even though he had once done the same to Luca, I couldn’t help but feel sad for him. “I was convinced Luca was going to beatme to a pulp, so I’m recording it too. I just have the mic in my pocket, though. No boobs.”
