Page 94 of In the Danger Zone
“I don’t forgive you.” My voice boomed in his face. “And if she was here, I’m sure she’d say the same thing. But she fucking hates me now thanks to your bullshit. I want you to lay here in this dirty fucking alley and understand that this is what you deserve. You don’t go near her again. Her or her family. You fucking stay away from all of them from now on, got it?”
I should have done it. I should have killed him. But Tanner and Hudson were yanking me away from Asher when my guard was down. Two pairs of hands kept me away from the man I wanted dead. All the while Colton looked down at our battered ex-defenseman with a look of total worry.
“He’s not dead,” Colton said.
“Should I keep going?” I offered.
“Evan, Christ,” Hudson muttered in my ear. “Where’s that ambulance? Colton, you make sure he gets on that thing. We’re taking care of this one.”
I let them shove me away from Asher. I didn’t know what that meant. Maybe some cops were on their way too and I’d have handcuffs on me soon. Whatever. It was worth it. If Asher felt even the tiniest bit of pain, then it was worth it.
***
“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.” Hudson ran his hands through his dark hair. “What the hell was that?”
“Do you think he’s dead?” Tanner asked. “I feel like he’s dead.”
“He’s not dead,” I mumbled from the back seat of Hudson’s car. He had finally pulled over after making a quick getaway from the bar to some random, quiet street. “He should be dead. But he’s not.”
“How do you know?” Hudson glared at me from the driver’s seat. “Did you see what you did to him?”
“He deserved it.”
“Did he now?”
“What did I just say?”
“I thought you said all that shit with Daisy was a lie?” Tanner asked.
“Asher was lying. Daisy was telling the truth.” I sucked in a deep breath. “And I went and fucked it all up.”
Hudson frowned. “Wait, what do you mean? I thought he showed you all that stuff. He showed me that video of her dad.”
“Doesn’t matter. I saw the photo. I saw what he fucking did to her.” I threw my head back against the seat.
“I thought you said something about money,” Hudson spoke up. “Something about a check.”
“Yeah,” I answered lowly. My brain was still trying to work that one out. “I dunno about that. Fuck, I don’t even care about the money right now.”
“You said Daisy cashed a check,” Hudson kept going. “Someone took the money out of your account? Was that her or not?”
“I don’t know!” I blurted out from the backseat.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Asher told me to check my bank app that day. I did. And the money was gone. Ten thousand exactly. The amount I gave Daisy. She said she wasn’t gonna cash it,” I tried to explain. Even if she did take that money and spend it all on herself, I didn’t even care in that moment. She could do whatever she wanted with it.
“Are you sure it was sent toheraccount?” Tanner asked. “Maybe someone else cashed that check. She could have lost it or something. Did you see the account number? Is that hers?”
“How am I supposed to know her account number, Tanner?” I muttered.
“I know Sasha’s,” Hudson piped up from the front. “What?” he asked when both me and Tanner gave him a look.
I shrugged weakly in my seat. “Maybe it wasn’t even her. Maybe Asher was still screwing with her and trying to make her look bad. Either way, I’m the fuck up here. I’m the one who made the mistake. And now she fucking hates me and she has every right to do that. I want her back. God, I want her back so bad.”
Tanner gave his head a shake. “Wait, does that mean Asher really attacked Daisy? She really was in hospital for two weeks?”
“Three,” I corrected him quickly. “And yes. It’s true. He did that to her. Now you know why I did what I did back there.” Staying silent, I looked down at my hands. They were still covered in blood. Every last drop belonged to Asher.
