Page 72 of Her Puck Daddies
He glances at his watch, a smug grin stretching across his face. “And I’ll have it soon. Momentarily, in fact.”
I catch the time on my phone, noting it’s almost 5:00 PM, just like his message had indicated.
“Money?” I ask, playing confused.
“I deserve those millions, and it’s not like they can’t afford it,” he sneers, stepping closer and shoving me off balance. “I’m sure afterward, they’ll toss you to the curb like the trash you are.”
His words hit me like a slap, but before I can respond, everything happens in a blur.
Four men dressed in black emerge from the shadows, descending on Dean like a ton of bricks. In the chaos, I misstep, pain flaring in my healing ankle as I stumble. It had been doing better, I hadn’t needed crutches today, but I still had to be careful. The moment I put too much pressure on it, my balance gives out, and I crash to the ground. A sharp sting shoots up my leg, but I grit my teeth and push through it.
Because from where I’m sprawled on the sidewalk, watching through the haze of pain, I see what matters most—Dean being hauled away. His struggles are useless against the security team, their movements swift and controlled as they take him down.
One of the security team members peels away from the others to help me up, and when I look up, I see it’s Barrett. “Excellent job, Ava. You okay?”
“Tweaked my ankle again, but I’ll live.” With exhilaration and adrenaline pumping through me, I ask, “Did we get enough to put a stop to all this?”
“Oh, yeah,” Barrett assures me with a grin. “And then some. I grabbed this for you. Looks like the divorce papers you mentioned.”
Relief washes over me. The weight of everything I've been through—the fear, the anger, the helplessness—finally begins to settle, and in its place, I have a sense of clarity. It’s really happening. Dean is going down.
And I’m the one who took him down.
Once the immediate danger is dealt with, I head inside the arena with the security team. Doc McClaney quickly checks me over, and after an X-ray, he confirms that the damage to my ankle is minimal. He clears me to go home.
As I step out of Doc’s exam room and into the hallway, I spot Sven, Eric, and Levi approaching. It’s time to come clean about everything that just happened, even though I know this is going to go over like a turd in a punchbowl.
What I don’t expect, however, is for Eric to be the one with the strongest reaction.
“What the actual fuck were you thinking?” he yells, his voice rising with a force that I’ve never heard from him. Levi, sure. Even Sven has a temper. But sweet Eric? This is throwing me for a loop. I think it’s the fact that I was fully onboard with going undercover that has him losing his shit the most. “You volunteered for this? You could’ve been killed.”
“They had surveillance on me the entire time,” I explain quickly, trying to calm the storm. “They were only feet away.”
“But you didn’t tell us,” Sven says, frowning and dragging a hand through his blond hair, looking more disappointed than angry.
“I knew you’d have a problem with it,” I reply, but it sounds weak, even to me.
I glance at Levi, waiting for his explosion. As the most hot-headed of the three, I expected him to lose it the worst. I notice him seething, his jaw clenched, as he sits on a bench along the hallway. But then, to my surprise, he speaks.
“You’re all right?” he asks through gritted teeth, his concern cutting through the anger.
“Yes,” I answer, relieved at his softer tone.
“And you proved to that asshole that you can’t be cowed ever again.” Levi’s words sink in. He gets it. He understands me.
I straighten my spine, pride swelling in my chest. “That’s right.”
He gets up and walks over to me, pulling me into a tight hug. “Please don’t ever do something like this again.”
I grip him back just as firmly. “If this works out, I shouldn’t have to.”
“Come on. Let’s get you home, Ava,” Sven says.
They drive me home, and as soon as they all step into my apartment, it hits me just how cramped the space is. With the three of them here, it feels like I’m a sardine in a can.
I could stay here, I guess. I’ve proven to myself that I’m capable of doing whatever I want, whenever I want. But staying here no longer interests me. This place was my first step toward freedom—a space I could afford on my own, a fresh start, a hiding place where I convinced myself Dean wouldn’t find me. But all of that is behind me now…
Now, the wolf pack standing in front of me?Thatis something that intrigues me. And it calls to me.