Page 141 of The Elusive Billionaire

Riley instantly loses his swagger as panic swims in his wild eyes. He’s on probation. Making threats would certainly send him right back to prison. His hands squeeze me so tightly I can no longer fight the wince when my skin pinches between his fingers.

“That’s not even close to what happened,” Riley seethes, wrenching me to his side as though he forgot he was still holding onto me. “What the hell’s going on here?”

“Let her go.” Moose glares at the point of contact on my arms as though he has X-ray vision.

“I heard him make threats against the town and others like it,” Blissy says, ready to take a swing at Riley the first chance she gets.

“Same here.” Marty from the hardware store steps forward, followed by Betty from the diner.

“Would you like to file an official complaint?” Chief asks with his thumbs tucked into his front pockets.

“If you don’t, I will,” Moose says calmly.

My gaze snaps up to the gentle giant who’s been Grey’s sounding board for months now.

“We protect our own, Savvy.” Gone is the menacing tone he used with Riley, and in its place is a grandfather full of love and compassion. “This guy threatened not only you but everyone here. We won’t let that slide.”

My lip begins to sweat as the seriousness of the situation weighs on me.

If I speak to the police, the real police, not Chief, there’s a very good chance that Riley will be sent back to prison. But if I do that, the DeVanes will most certainly come after me.

Madi holds up her phone and snaps some photos of Riley grasping my arms. It sets him into a spiral, and just when I think he’s going to lunge for her, I twist my shoulder, causing his fingers to dig deeper into my skin, but I’m able to face him head-on.

“Already got the whole thing recorded, Madi. No worries.” It sounds like Betty, but I don’t dare look away from Riley to confirm.

“You won’t get away with this.” He whispers low and deadly, but it lands as intended.

“Neither will you.” I wiggle my left arm, but he doesn’t release me. “I’m not the same little girl you could bend to your will, Riley. You killed that girl the day you stole Paige’s freedom. And the difference is, now I have an army to stand at my back. All you have is…” I lower my voice. I’m not sure why I want to protect Bethany, but I do. “A woman you manipulated and hurt simply because you could.”

“My family. Paige’s fucking family,” he rants.

My torso jerks with his angry flailing, and Moose growls beside me, but I plead to him with my eyes to stand down. So long as no one intervenes, he’ll only hurt me.

“Yes. You have them,” I concede through the pain radiating up my arm, wondering if it’s possible to break a bone by simply squeezing it. “I also suspect you truly do have my brother too. That’s a loss I’ll feel until my dying day, but all losses heal with time. And I have the Reyes family on my side now. I have Happiness on my side. But most importantly, I have myself.” I step forward, forcing him back a step, and he finally drops my aching arm.

“And I’m stronger than you’ve ever given me credit for. I’m smart, and I’m powerful. You, Riley, will always be a scared little boy begging for mommy’s approval. So go home. Go home and make mommy happy because you will not get what you came for here. You’ll never get me.”

I back him up another step, then another, as a sense of strength rushes through my system. He appears to be caught off guard by my words and my actions. It fuels the confidence that I’ve desperately needed.

We make it to the front door, and he finally digs in his heels. “Remember, Savannah. There’s more than one way to ruin your life. And I’m going to exhaust every single one of them.”

I toss my arms into the air. Nothing I say even puts a dent in his giant ego, and I’ve hit my breaking point. He will come after me. He will make good on his threats. But I don’t have to willingly lie at his feet. “Bring it on, you big crybaby. Bring. It. On. I’m not scared of you anymore. There’s nothing you can do to me that I haven’t already done to myself. So go ahead, you goddamn bag of shit. We’ll see who lands behind bars first. But I guarantee I won’t be the one in the orange jumpsuit.”

I poke him hard in the chest. It shocks him, and I feel another odd sense of empowerment. He’s always been stronger than me, but this time, I’ll fight back with everything I have.

“You just made the biggest mistake of your life,” he hisses.

“Ha.” I pause, opting for dramatics. “Oh, you’re serious?” He hates being mocked, so I do it intentionally. “Sorry to burst your tiny-brain bubble, but I already made that mistake the day I agreed to go out with you when I was a teenager.”

His eyes fall flat, the rage rippling off him like heat on the asphalt, but I don’t back down now—I can’t. I have to protect the family that found me, took me in, and showed me what love should look like, even if all it does is take the target off their back and doubles the size of my own.

“And by the way.” I fill my lungs as though it’s liquid courage and push on. “The age of consent may be sixteen in the state of Nevada, but that pesky little court of public opinion that matters so much to mommy dearest would probably have a different opinion, considering when I was sixteen, you were twenty-two. And I kept receipts, Riley.”

I lower my voice—quieter, more lethal, a dangerous whisper. “I have every message you ever sent me, and I have no problem asking my fiancé to blast those messages on every channel that Omni-Reyes owns.”

“In case you don’t know,” Madi says, attaching herself to my side. “Omni-Reyes is the largest media conglomerate in the United States. Hell, I might have my husband blast that crap everywhere just because you’re a disgusting predator.”

Riley’s breaths come in short, desperate pants as though he’s drowning on dry land. “You have no idea what kind of war you’re starting here, Sin. But I promise you, it’s one the DeVane’s are ready and willing to win.”