PLAYED - A BRITISH BAD BOY ROMANCE (15 page)

The other players – most of who weren’t even playing anymore – shifted
uncomfortably or hesitantly moved closer. In response, I released his hand,
holding my hands up in restraint.

“Take your money, and get away from me.”

“Pay me what we agreed on,” the kid shouted.

“Your money is on the table. Sod off.” I replied, turning away. I was
finished with this discussion. I wanted to get back to my drink and forget any
of this happened.

I had no such luck.

A hand gripped my shoulder and spun me round. Before I could react, the
kid’s pitiful little fist made contact with my chin. I stared at him in disbelief.
I’d grown up on the streets. I’d been in my fair share of fights in and out of
the bars and I’d never seen someone throw such a weak arse punch.

“You
little piece of shit!” I shouted,
thrusting a quick jab into his face. I didn’t want to hurt the kid, I just
wanted to bloody his nose a bit and teach him a damn lesson. What happened next
was something right off the green. Dylan fell backwards and exaggeratedly flung
himself across a pool table as if I’d just hit him with a goddamned truck. He
was screaming and flopping on the floor. The kid was faking it!

What the hell?

Another set of arms wrapped themselves around me. I wrenched an arm free
and left a glancing blow against the redneck. Two more people tackled me to the
ground. I went into self defense mode, arms and legs flailing until a flash of
a badge came across my vision and I realized that an officer of the law was
attempting to restraining me against the ground.

“You’re coming with me,” he snarled into my ear. Every drop of
adrenaline pulsing through my veins left when I felt the cold, constraining
sensation of handcuffs around my wrists.

“Wait – no!” I started to growl.

“You have the right to remain silent,” the officer began, pulling me up
to a stand. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of
law…”

I looked up, catching the kid’s eyes. He was grinning wide as he strode
toward the door at the back of the bar. It was only then that I noticed my
wallet in his hand. The little arse had pickpocketed me, and used the “fight”
to cover his tracks!

“Wait! That little shit!”

The officer pulled my arms up tighter behind me, forcing a shout of pain
and cutting me off. He continued rattling off my rights as I was pulled towards
the front exit. The patrons were giving me a wide berth, regarding me
impartially, but a face in the crowd caused my heart to stop on the spot.

No… it can’t be.

The unmistakable grin of Alistair Pritch filled my vision, draining the
life from my limbs. I staggered, almost dropping to my knees, as the officer
helped keep me upright.

You see, I had realized in that very instant what had happened to me
tonight.

“You…” I gasped in defeat.

My enemy simply nodded, standing directly in front of me, his wicked
smile spreading wider across his lips.

“That’s right, Lex. I’ve been waiting a long time to see you in
handcuffs… and now, I finally had my opportunity. You’re an easy man to follow,
did you know that?”

“Stand back, sir,” the officer told him as he tugged me along.

“Enjoy seeing me on a cereal box soon, Lex!” Alistair chuckled
menacingly, blending back into the crowd. “And enjoy your night in jail!”

He did this,
I thought to myself.
He set me up.
He must have paid the kid to play me like a goddamn fool… but why is he here?
And how did he find me?

I knew, as the officer dragged me outside and towards his squad car,
that I’d have plenty of time to consider these questions.

I also knew that the answers wouldn’t come.

Chapter 13

Riley

When I climbed into the passenger seat of Jess’s rental sedan, I was
still seething with anger from the earlier argument with Lex.

Him getting arrested hadn’t helped matters.

…Even if I felt personally a little responsible.

Jess didn’t say anything at first, as we navigated through the streets
and headed towards the parish prison. Instead, we sat in silence, quietly
watching the rain sprinkle absentmindedly against the windshield.

“I think this is the first chance we’ve had to really speak together,”
Jess finally spoke up, keeping her eyes locked onto the road.

“That implies that we’ve been speaking,” I observed, glancing over at
her.

A small grin crossed her face.

“He really fucked up this time, didn’t he?” Jess asked.

“Well, he’s in jail…”

“That’s not what I mean,” Jess replied. “With you, I mean. I haven’t
seen him so easygoing in years… For him to storm off into the night like this?
To get into a fight? Lex has been the center of plenty of scandals, but he
hasn’t been in a straight up bar fight since his early career… You two must
have been in one hell of an argument.”

“That’s not really your business,” I shrugged.

Even in the darkness, I sensed Jess’s face harden into bitter resolve.
“It actually
is
my business,” she
quickly replied. “It’s my job.”

“Your job? You represent him, right? You’re his agent or whatever? So
what if we had a little spat?” I told her, challenging her darkened tone with
my own.
Who the fuck does she think she
is, anyway?
“Whatever goes on between us is none of your concern, like I
said.”

The car screeched to a halt.

“I’m not his agent, Riley. I don’t land him gigs or whatever the fuck
you think an agent for an athlete does. I’m his fucking publicist.”

“Publicist?” I asked, creasing my brow. “You’ve been doing an
excellent
job with that, then. Because a
friend of mine spent thirty minutes in Google and pulled up a treasure trove of
disaster on your client.”

“Lex Lambert is a World Cup football player,” she told me, staring at me
with wide, wild eyes. “He’s one of the best players on the fucking planet of
the most popular sport in the entire world. He’s also a loose cannon and a
complete fucking prick, and he makes my life a tremendous hell.”

“Then, why do you bother representing him? Is it just because he’s
loaded?”

“
Because
Alexander Lambert
saved my life, you nosy little shit,” Jess angrily told me.

“What?” I asked, feeling a sudden burst of shame that I’d turned on him…
after he’d rescued
me
in my time of
need.

Jess’s eyes glistened with tears.

“We met while we were both homeless. We relied on each other to survive.
When he started pulling himself up and making a name for in the junior leagues,
he didn’t for get about me. He immediately pulled me off the streets.

“While he slept on a tiny fucking cot in the den, he insisted that I
have a bedroom – with a locking door. He protected me. He never laid a finger
on me or asked for anything. He was my best friend… Maybe my only friend. With
his help, I followed in his footsteps. I got myself into a good university, and
found a career that I love… one that allows me to return the fucking favor.”

We sat in silence for a moment, allowing us to hear the chorus of honks
from behind. Muttering something under her breath, Jess finally kicked the car
back into drive, and we tore down the roads on our way to where he was
imprisoned.

“I had no idea,” I muttered.

“Of course you didn’t,” she snapped. “He’s a good fucking man, even if
he’s a complete, unrepentant pain in the ass … If he could just learn to get a
grip of himself, he’d have that stupid fucking sponsorship in the bag...”

“I had to find out myself that he’s such a big deal,” I responded. “He
lied to me and practically told me that he was a nobody. Why the fuck didn’t he
say
anything?”

“Because he was
supposed
to be
laying low,” Jess answered through gritted teeth. “And now he’s been arrested
in a foreign country for instigating a barroom brawl.” She sighed, running her
fingers through her hair. “Goddammit… I can’t make this one go away.”

“Yeah,
why
was he arrested?” I
thought to ask. “You didn’t say much over the phone earlier…”

Jess glanced at me for a second, before turning back to the road and
answering. “When he left your apartment, he found himself a bar with some pool
tables. The cops say he attacked somebody.”

“That doesn’t sound like Lex,” I said.

“No… It doesn’t,” Jess replied. “He’s been in a few fights, but never
one
he
started. He’s a lover, not a
fighter.”

I shook my head, the tabloid covers flashing through my mind. A
lover
indeed…

 
“And
you’re
the one who fucked up,” Jess added.

“
I
fucked up?” I spat out,
turning to glare at her with every ounce of enmity I could muster.
Seriously though – who the
fuck
does she think she is?

“Yes,
you
fucked up,” she
reiterated. “What, so, you’re upset that he was hiding some things from you,
right? Is that it?”

“That’s all the reason I need… and for the record, I
still
don’t see how it’s any of your
goddamn business, publicist or not,” I answered.

It was Jess’s turn to be furious.

“Alright,
smartass,
did it
ever occur to you to question what an obviously rich, well-dressed Englishman
was
doing
without a day job in
America?” She asked, glancing over at me.

Before I could respond, she continued:

“He wears tailored handmade Italian suits, plays a little
soccer
as you’d call it, and he’s just
flying under the radar. Here I was, thinking he was completely fucking obvious.
I mean… you knew his name. You didn’t bother to look him up? You could have had
any of these answers at any point. Hell, did you ever
directly
ask him who he was and what he did?”

“Why would I have done that? I don’t have any reason to snoop around on
the guy,” I answered. “Not until someone else did it for me, not that I
asked
for the help or anything…”

“So, what, you’re the one woman in the world who wouldn’t be suspicious
about any of those details? The man is a sex god, do you think he wouldn’t have
a little history? No… You know what I think? I think you were never looking for
a real relationship. You were using Lex. You wanted a little fun for the night and
you didn’t
care
who he was. I’ve seen
the way he looks at you. That man loves you! How do you feel? Did you ever tell
him how you really felt? Did you let him know he was nothing but a shag?”

We took a sharp turn, and I braced myself against the armrest on the
door.

“Maybe that
was
what I wanted…
But things changed,” I replied, my anger turning to sadness.

“You know, Lex can be a
real
fucking
prick,” Jess said, “but he’s a good guy underneath. You brought that out in
him. You were
good
for him. I don’t
think I’ve ever seen him happier. And don’t sit there and pretend you don’t
want things to work out. You wouldn’t be coming if you didn’t want to see him.”

“I’m just here for the moral support, and then I’m right the fuck out of
here.”

“Seriously?” She tilted her head and glanced over at me.

“I don’t need his money, or his lifestyle.”

We came to a stop, and I realized that we were finally here. Jess killed
the engine and turned to me again, her uninterrupted gaze piercing through
mine.

“Let’s get one thing straight, you and I. I happen to think that you’re
a smart woman with a great head on your shoulders. I know you’re not after his
damn money! Do you think I’d have let him go near you if you were some kind of piece
of shit gold digger?”

I went silent as the car came to a stop. While I deliberated on these
thoughts, I followed Jess into the station. She opened the door for me, and we
walked up to the front desk clerk. With bushy gray hair and a stern face, the
clerk seemed faintly familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

“I’m here for Alexander Lambert,” Jess confidently informed him. “He
should be incarcerated here somewhere for drunken disorderly conduct of some
sort.”

The clerk glanced up from his desk.

“British guy, right?”

“That’s the one!” She chirpily smiled

“Right. He won’t be able to leave just yet,” the clerk responded,
glancing through a file on his desk. “We’re waiting to see if the young man he
assaulted wishes to press charges.”

“I’m sure that an amicable solution can be found,” Jess responded
instantly, her smile unwaveringly strong.

“Be that as it may… we still need to keep him here while we finish
receiving eyewitness accounts. There’s an officer taking down notes as we
speak.”

“May I speak to this kid? I’m sure I can make an arrangement with him to
handle this without tying up your valuable time…”

“Afraid not,” the clerk told us. “We haven’t found him yet. We’re
interviewing witnesses as we speak.”

“…Virgil?” I asked, letting it all come back to me. “Virgil Higgins, is
that you?”

The clerk blinked a few times, and then recognized me. “Riley Ricketts…
didn’t expect to see you here. What brings you in here?”

“My boyfriend appears to be in your jail,” I shrugged. “This is his
friend, Jess. We’re trying to figure out what to do about this
alleged
act of his. Is there anything we
can do?”

“Nothing outside of wait for a phone call,” the clerk noted hesitantly.

As if on cue, the phone on Virgil’s desk rang, and he paused to answer.

We caught part of a one-sided conversation, although he cupped the
receiver in his palm at one point and turned away. Both of us leaned closer to
hear, although it was of no use.

He hung up and turned back to us.

“Looks like it’s your lucky day… Detective Donovan has three witnesses
that say the other guy threw the first punch, and one of them just backed up
Lex’s story that the kid made off with his wallet. We’re gonna go ahead and
drop the charges. Your boyfriend is free to go,” Virgil told us. “Now, normally
he’d wind up at the back of the list, and get out late morning… but for you,
darling, I can expedite him out shortly.”

“Much obliged, Virgil,” I smiled.

“Not a problem. My wife loves the paintings you’ve put in our living
room. She swears by your work.”

“Happy to contribute. Tell Mary-Ann that I send all of my love.”

“Will do, darling.”

We waited outside in the sedan for a few minutes. Finally, an officer
escorted Lex out of the building and removed his handcuffs, pointing towards
our vehicle.

When he climbed into the car, he gave me a quick glance of
acknowledgment. I wasn’t sure how much of my irritation to convey, so I simply
kept a strong, impartial face.

Jess, meanwhile, immediately slapped him.

“Do you have
any idea
how
difficult you just made my job for me, with that bullshit stunt of yours?”

“A… little?” Lex asked, nursing his cheek.

“Arrested!
Arrested, on battery
charges and disorderly conduct!
What the fuck, Lex? How the shit do I spin
that to Brett Barker?”