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by Cambria Hebert


  “Just breathe,” he murmured against my ear.

  “So you’re sure they will come here?” Agent Marks asked. “You sold it to them?”

  Romeo stepped forward. “If you’ve watched the news or the sports channel at all, then you know I sold it to them. Gamble and I went to extremes to make sure I was being followed by reporters so I couldn’t leave this hotel.”

  “You’re not really fired?” I asked.

  Romeo smiled. “Hells no.”

  Braeden laughed.

  Agent Marks signaled three guys in the room who nodded and grabbed up bags full of God only knew what.

  Romeo produced our room key, and they took it and disappeared.

  “The room will be wired heavily so you won’t need to be,” Agent Marks told Romeo.

  What did that mean?

  “You have the money?” he asked.

  The agent gestured to a black briefcase on the nearby table. “May I?” Romeo asked.

  The man inclined his head. Romeo popped the top, and when he opened the lid, rows and stacks of money stared back at us.

  “You’re going to pay them!” I gasped.

  “They won’t get out of that room with that case, ma’am,” Marks said.

  “It’s a trap, tutor girl,” Braeden whispered.

  “A trap,” I echoed.

  Romeo moved across the room and offered his hand to Agent Marks. “Thanks for coming through. I really appreciate this. These guys are scum.”

  “Of course. We were quite excited when your father called. As I said, we’ve been trying to take down this ring for a while now.”

  “So they know everything?” I asked nervously.

  Romeo glanced at me, a little regret in his eyes. “Everything.”

  Agent Marks turned to me. “We’re going to need a full statement from you. I’ve reviewed your mother’s file, and I’m certain I can have the case reopened immediately.”

  “What about my father?” I chewed my lower lip. I know I said if he had to do jail time, that was his price, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be hard.

  “He’s not innocent in all this,” the agent said. “But he’s also not the big fish we’re after. We’re hoping he will cooperate with this case and give us names and additional evidence we can use to bury these guys in jail for the rest of their lives.”

  “Will my father go to jail?”

  “I can’t make promises. But I can tell you if he is cooperative, we’ll be willing to cut him a deal. He’ll get more leniency.”

  At this point, it was the best I could hope for. “And what about us?” I asked.

  “We’ll be free,” Romeo said.

  The agent moved away and pulled up a laptop and a few tablets. He did some things and then the sound of the men over in our room came through.

  “What if they suspect something when we give them the money?” I asked.

  Romeo shook his head. “You won’t be in the room. You’re going to stay here. With Braeden.”

  I shook my head adamantly. “You’re not going alone!”

  A hard look came into Romeo’s blue eyes. “You’re staying here. And I won’t be alone. That’s why the feds are here.”

  “This is all very elaborate,” I said, weary.

  Braeden put his arm around me. “Go big or go home.”

  Going home sounded pretty good at the moment.

  “Ma’am,” the agent said. “If you could come over here. I’ll take your statement and get a report started.”

  I answered so many questions I lost track of them all.

  But the one thing I didn’t lose track of was the clock. Darkness was approaching quickly and with it was danger.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Romeo

  All we could do was wait.

  Because they never gave a specific time, I had no idea how long this could take.

  I was sitting in the hotel room with only a briefcase full of cash to keep me company. Rimmel was in the next room with Braeden, and I knew she wasn’t happy about it.

  Once this was over, I would have all the time in the world to make it up to her. Assuming something didn’t go wrong and they killed me.

  It was well after midnight when I heard a sound at the door. My body tensed, but I stayed where I was. I wasn’t about to go open the door and make it any easier for them.

  Seconds later, two men slipped into my room and shut the door behind them.

  I clicked on the lamp nearby, and they jerked around to face me.

  “Evening fellas,” I said.

  Their eyes bounced around the room with paranoia, and that made me nervous.

  “Where’s the girl?” the man who pretended to be a reporter asked.

  I snorted. “You threatened to kill her. You think I wouldn’t keep her away?”

  “You better have every last cent of that money or it won’t matter where you stashed her. We’ll find her. We’ll kill her. Just like that mother of hers.”

  My blood ran cold, and I jumped up. “You killed her mother?”

  The men enjoyed the reaction they got. “Regretfully, no. But her killing set a precedent among the underground world of gambling. It’s what inspired our boss to go into business for himself, and that old man was such an easy target.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I growled.

  “A couple drinks, a few free games of poker, and some organized wins was all it took to get dear old daddy back in the game. He racked up a whole pile of debt before he even knew what hit him.”

  “You son of a bitch,” I growled and launched across the room. My fist connected with his jaw and his head snapped back on his neck. “You fucking conned him.”

  The man rubbed his jaw and smiled. “Well, with his daughter cozying up to a rising football star, how could we not? The possibilities are endless.”

  How long have they been watching Rimmel? Months? Years? The thought made me sick. Even though this had been a big gamble, I knew then it was the right thing. They wouldn’t have stopped here. They would have kept trying to extort money from me, or worse.

  I pulled my fist back to pound him again. The sound of a gun cocking stopped me.

  “I wouldn’t if I were you.” his friend said, taking aim at me.

  “You shoot that gun,” I said, slyly alerting the agents next door, “and kill me, this room will be swarming with people before you can get out.”

  “That’s what silencers are for,” he rebutted and casually screwed it onto the end.

  “Where’s the money?” reporter guy demanded.

  “Over there.” I pointed.

  I stayed where I was while he went to get the case. After he opened it and was satisfied it was all there, he snapped it shut and smiled.

  “Pleasure doing business with you.” He moved toward the door.

  “Wait,” I said and then gave the signal the feds needed to get here. Now. “That’s it, right? You’ll leave us alone? You’ll leave Rimmel alone?”

  Not even two seconds later, the door burst in and several agents dressed in head-to-toe gear swarmed the room.

  “Freeze!”

  The man with the briefcase shrieked and tried to run. He was knocked down and his hands were cuffed behind his back. “We’re going to kill you for this!” he roared. “You son of a bitch.”

  The other man, the one with the gun, stood there in shock, like it never occurred to him that he would get caught.

  “Put down your weapon!” one of the agents said and aimed at the man. “Hands in the air!”

  It seemed to jerk him back to reality. He glanced at the man holding a gun on him, and this dark look crossed his features.

  Oh shit.

  He didn’t drop the gun, he turned toward me with revenge dripping from every pore and took aim.

  “Drop the gun!” the agents yelled.

  He pulled the trigger.

  It all happened in slow motion.

  The bullet cut through the air, a clear path right for m
e.

  Another shot went off and then another.

  The bullet hit its mark. The force of it threw me backward.

  Pain, white-hot and sharp, was all I knew as I fell to the ground.

  Chaos broke loose around me.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Rimmel

  The second I heard the shot go off, I ran for the door.

  Braeden tried to pull me back, but then more shots were fired.

  Both of us went rushing out into the hall, ignoring the orders from Agent Marks, and into the room next door.

  There was a man in handcuffs screaming.

  A forgotten briefcase full of half a million dollars on the floor.

  The other man, his name I would never know, lay slumped half on the floor and half against the wall. He was dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

  “Romeo!” I yelled, desperately trying to locate him in all the chaos of the room. Braeden saw him first.

  “Rim, why don’t we just move back for a minute.” His voice was hoarse and his face had gone white. I avoided the attempt he made to pull me in; it only made me more frantic.

  I rushed around one of the agents standing in my way.

  And then I saw him.

  He was sprawled out on the floor with an agent leaning over him.

  A cry ripped from my throat, and despite the orders for me to get back and the demands that someone “get her out of here,” I ran forward and dropped to my knees beside him.

  I couldn’t even see clearly. I was too busy sobbing. The tears taking over my vision were unstoppable. I ran my fingers through his crazy blond hair and whispered his name through my tears.

  “Ma’am,” I heard someone say but ignored them.

  Someone tried to pull me away, but I fought them until Braeden appeared and pulled them off.

  “Just give her a minute,” he said. I heard the pain in his voice, and it only made me cry harder.

  I heard the agent talking, saying something to Braeden, but I was beyond listening.

  I laid my head against his stomach and sobbed. I would never forgive myself for what happened here today.

  Never.

  I might still be breathing, but my life was over.

  Seconds later, a hand brushed at my hair.

  “No,” I pleaded. “Let me stay with him.”

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” The familiar voice jarred me.

  My sobbing stopped instantly.

  “Romeo!” I sat up and looked down at his eyes, his incredible blue eyes, which were staring back at me.

  “Hey, baby.” His lopsided smile made me start crying all over again.

  “I thought you got shot!”

  “I did.”

  I gasped and began searching his body for the wound, looking for a place to apply pressure. “Why aren’t you bleeding?” I demanded, my brain still not catching up to everything that happened.

  “I’m bulletproof.”

  “Roman Anderson, you are a lot of things, but bulletproof is not one of them!” I yelled. “Now is not the time for your big head!”

  Above us, Braeden laughed. “He’s good. Just give them a minute.”

  The agent and B moved away. Romeo sat up, a grimace pulling at his mouth.

  “You shouldn’t move!” I said, dashing away some of the tears staining my face.

  “I’m wearing a vest, sweetheart. I’m fine.”

  I grabbed his T-shirt and tugged it up. Sure enough, there was a bulletproof vest strapped to his chest.

  “You’re an asshole!” I yelled and then collapsed into his arms to cry some more.

  “I know.” He agreed and held me close. “But I’m an asshole who loves you.”

  I snorted and then wiped my snotty mess of a face on his shirt. It already had a bullet hole in it; it’s not like I could make it worse. “I don’t ever want to go through this again.”

  “Me either.” He agreed. I looked up at him, and he wiped a tear off my cheek. “It’s over. We won the game.”

  “Everything’s going to go back to normal?” I asked.

  He smiled. “I don’t think we’ll ever be normal. But I can guarantee we’re going to be happy.”

  It was more than this #nerd could ever ask for.

  Happily Ever After

  Rimmel

  The stadium was packed full and the crowd was going wild. The Knights were having their best season yet, and the entire state was absolutely thrilled.

  From my seat near the field, I cheered and clapped louder than the rest of them.

  Instead of wearing Romeo’s Alpha U hoodie, I was wearing Knights purple, a team hoodie with Romeo’s number twenty-four on the back.

  After everything that happened last year with Zach and my family, it took a while to get over. But we did; we did it together.

  After the feds helped us at the hotel, they arrested the “reporter” and the case moved fairly fast. The man in custody rolled over on everyone he was involved with. Romeo’s testimony and the recordings from the room that night were more than enough to put them all away.

  My dad cooperated with them, and my mom’s case was solved. Dad didn’t get away without punishment. He went to jail for a while but then was released early for good behavior.

  He was currently in a private rehabilitation center and would remain there for at least a month. I didn’t fool myself into thinking his treatment and finally serving his time for the things he’d done made everything that happened to me, Romeo, and my mom okay.

  But it was a start.

  Romeo worked hard for months when we got home. He dedicated almost all his time to physical therapy and getting back the strength in his arm.

  His hard work paid off, and he left Alpha U in early summer and went to training camp. It took a while for him to get back into the swing of things, for all the strength in his arm to come back. But even so, he made a name for himself. Being ambidextrous on the field was quite the achievement.

  Of course, I already knew he was the best.

  Now here we were halfway through his first season as a Maryland Knight. He’d already been offered and accepted a new extended contract.

  I missed him at Alpha U, but Braeden was more than enough to keep me busy.

  In just another year, I would graduate and then I would have to make some decisions about my career. Go off to vet school or use my bachelor’s degree to work with animals here at home. Since the shelter raised so much money, we were able to remodel and were in the process of expanding and hopefully opening another shelter across town.

  Michelle already offered me a position to run it.

  I was thinking it over.

  Out on the field, Romeo threw a completed pass and moved his team into the end zone, where they were perfectly positioned for a touchdown.

  I stood up and cheered and shouted like everyone else in the stands.

  Instead of going back into the play, Romeo lifted his hands and signaled a time out.

  Players called timeout in games a lot. But really, there was no reason to call this one. Not right now. We had a game to win!

  Everyone sat down and waited. I picked up my phone to text Ivy.

  Before I could type anything, the crowd started going wild. The cheering was insane.

  I looked up.

  I started to laugh.

  Romeo was running across the field, helmet in hands, toward where I was sitting.

  I got up and ran to the railing. I glanced up at the giant Jumbotron, and of course, the little scene was being broadcast all over live TV.

  Romeo leapt up onto the railing and grinned.

  “We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” I told him.

  “There you go again, Smalls,” Romeo quipped. “Making me interrupt another game for you.”

  “Me!” I yelled. “I wasn’t doing a thing.”

  “Maybe not, but there’s something I really need to ask you.”

  I laughed. “It can’t wait ‘til after the game?”

>   “No.” He stared at me like he’d forgotten we were in a stadium with thousands of people and every move he made was live on TV.

  “I can’t imagine Ron Gamble is very happy about this.”

  He grinned. “Oh, he knows. He’s been waiting for this moment.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  From out of nowhere, Romeo produced a black velvet box.

  The crowd went nuts, like beyond anything I’d ever heard.

  “Romeo,” I breathed.

  He smiled and lifted the lid.

  Everyone around us ceased to exist.

  I stared down at the most sparkly, beautiful ring I’d ever seen.

  It had a huge round diamond in the center and then was surrounded by even more, smaller round diamonds. The light reflected off it in a million different directions and caught my breath. It was all held together by a thin gold band.

  I tore my eyes away from the ring and back up to Romeo. He wrapped his arm around the railing and gripped the ring with one hand. His free hand reached up and wrapped around the base of my neck.

  Even with the crowd roaring, I heard everything he said.

  “Marry me, Smalls. Nothing in this entire world means more to me than you. Marry me because I really fucking love you.”

  A tear ran down my cheek, and I could feel my body trembling. “You really need to stop cussing so much.”

  He threw back his head and laughed.

  I lost myself in his eyes, in his face. In the way I felt about him. My chest was so full I thought it might burst at any moment.

  I don’t know how I got so lucky, I don’t know how I found a love so pure.

  But I was going to spend the rest of my life thanking God every day.

  “Uh, Rim?” Romeo said, a small smile playing on his lips.

  The moment came crashing back in and the crowd was chanting yes over and over again.

  Yes. Yes. Yes.

  “I am gonna need to get back to the game,” he said, sheepish. “You gonna give me an answer?”

  I grinned. “What they said.” I gestured to the crowd.

  “Yes?” The happiness on his face was all I would ever need.

  “Yes.”

 

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