Page 45 of The Games We Play (Balance of Power #3)

SEAMUS

“ T omorrow?” My pissed off tone is clear even over speaker phone.

“You asked me for details yesterday , late last night, to be specific, and I’m telling you everything I know today ,” Rocco replies, annoyed but still concerned at my erratic behavior. Because, I never react to news, positive or negative.

Unless it has to do with Mimi.

I don’t have a full plan set yet, but whatever I come up with he’s got to be fully on board and fully in the know. So, I tell him everything. I tell him where Mimi and I met, how we reconnected, and what happened in the last few months since I decided to move in next door to her.

His silence says everything. He’s probably cautious to reply with my unpredictable behavior because it’s completely out of character for me.

But now he knows and understands how serious this is, and what it means when he tells me that Nathan fucking Simmons has his parole hearing in Texas, tomorrow .

“I’ll get the details of the parole hearing and call Miller. We’ll be ready to go within the hour.” He hangs up and my phone disconnects .

I glance over at the black screen, then out the window to Mimi’s house. I know she’s still sleeping because her bedroom lights are still off from when I left this morning.

I wrote her a note that I was going home to shower and change, even though my legs felt like cement bricks trying to leave this morning.

The only thing that got me out of there was the fact that I have every intention of returning back to her bed before she wakes.

I never want to leave her alone, but I know the more I cling to her, the more she’ll feel like I’m coddling her, which is exactly what I know she doesn’t want.

Before Rocco called, I was dressed and ready to head back over to Mimi’s, but when he told me about Nathan, I robotically grabbed my overnight bag, knowing I was going to be on the next flight to Texas with my guys.

Already conjuring up a plan to make sure he never becomes a free man, by either finding out my contacts with the courthouse judge or doing it the old fashioned way the moment he steps outside the prison.

I’ve thought of a hundred different ways to kill Nathan since seeing the evidence and photos Rocco sent me yesterday.

The fact that his request for early parole is granted is like giving me a winning lottery ticket.

He won’t survive an hour outside those prison walls with what I have in mind for him.

I don’t know who the judge is or what the details of his parole are, but I’m surprised that Mimi didn’t mention anything about it after she told me, which leads me to believe she doesn’t know.

She should have been informed and given the choice to stand in the courtroom and tell her story to the parole board.

Studying my bag, I stop myself again. If Rocco, Miller, and I fly to Texas to take care of Nathan the way I want to, I’m taking away her choice yet again. Something that’s happened far too much in her lifetime.

Fuck .

Thinking about the fear she’s lived in for the last decade—the trauma, nightmares, and memories she’s had to suppress to survive, the baby she lost, that was taken from her without choice.

I pause, grieving for a moment for myself.

Wondering if the baby she was pregnant with was mine, feeling just as powerless with the lack of choice.

I won’t be the one to take that away from her. Not now, not ever, in anything in her life.

I glance back over at the window, seeing the room still dim, but bright art fills the walls with only the light and love that Mimi brings.

She’s managed to become a strong, beautiful woman. Remaining to be the positive, giving person I knew when we were kids, never allowing that extreme trauma to define her, and she thrives regardless of all of it.

I pick up my phone, tapping on my photos app, bringing up the last picture I took.

Mimi is lying in her bed, one arm tucked under her head while the other is draped over the side of her body.

Her olive skin glows under the natural light, with her pink lips parted and a beauty mark that adorns the left corner of her chin.

Her thick, dark hair splays over the pastel pink pillow cases, mixing with the ungodly sight of her ruffled, messy comforter.

The contrast between the mess of the world around her and her ultimate perfection, defines who she is in every way.

I know exactly what I need to do.

Swiping out of the app, I click on my contacts and type in Christian, and click on the phone icon.

“Seamus.” He answers in one ring. I can hear in his tone my name was equally a statement, as it was a question.

I run security for the club he owns, but doesn’t manage. I should be calling Ember for anything related to Afterburn, so I know he’s surprised by my call. But I need the resources of our local billionaire, and I’m never ashamed to owe any decent person a favor if it gets me what I need.

“Everything is fine at the club,” I state immediately, so he isn’t concerned about Afterburn or anyone in it, but I cut through the bullshit because I know he doesn’t have time for it. “This is personal and I need a favor.”

“Okay,” his voice even and sure, “what do you need?”

“Can I borrow your plane?”

An hour later, I’m packed and walking out my front door, locking it before walking down my front steps to Mimi’s house.

In the span of the hour, we were able to secure Christian’s plane, confirm the details and time of the hearing tomorrow afternoon, along with the name of the parole board members and the judge overseeing the proceeding that’s making the final decision.

Judge Morrow is known for his unconventional methods and ridiculously mild punishment for criminals who deserve much more than the lenient sentencing he gives them. He’s as corrupt as they come, and I’ve learned that Nathan has managed to make friends in all the right places.

Nathan’s attorney, who happens to be his brother-in-law, runs in the same circles as Judge Morrow, and neither have anything guiding their moral compasses. Judge Morrow's influence on the Governor's parole board members was yet another shock to discover how deep their pockets go.

It reminds me of my father’s connections, how the wrong people who knew the right ones could get away with practically anything.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the entire directory of government officials in their so-called justice system deserves a visit from me and my team after Nathan is dealt with.

But that’s for another time.

Mimi woke up about half an hour ago, a little earlier than she normally does, but I wasn’t ready to come back over without having everything in place.

I need to tell her about Nathan and give her the choice of what she would like to do, but want to assure her that I have every detail covered, and I wasn’t coming back over here until that was done.

Flipping the latch on the door of her side yard fence, I push it open and walk down the opening between our houses. She’s already made it to the backyard for her yoga session and it took all my willpower to continue to pack my bags instead of taking in my customary morning view.

Rounding the corner, the fountain that sits in the middle of her backyard is running, creating a river flow soundtrack behind the light curtain of mist that hangs heavily in the yard.

Mimi’s mat is splayed out at the edge of her cement patio, right before it reaches the grass.

Her toned arms hold her body in a perfectly aligned plank pose and the lines of her athletic body are on full display.

Wet cotton balls form in my mouth as I follow the outline of her black lace underwear and pink sports bra.

Breath fog floats away from her lips as she lowers herself to her mat, shifting on the tops of her toes and arches upward, before pressing back onto the balls of her feet.

Watching her from my window is like a personal performance that only I got the pleasure of witnessing.

Seeing her flow close up in finite detail is majestic and it’s just for me, well…

not that I’ve given her a choice. I’ve invaded her personal space since the day I moved in.

But she knows about it, and I smirk at the knowledge that I know she likes it just as much as I do.

“That is new.” She turns her head to see what I’m referring to and I tilt my chin up at the pink and black criss-cross sports bra she’s currently teasing me with.

“You would know.” She’s breathless as her knees and forehead come to mat and she relaxes into a pose, hiding her smile .

Yes, I would.

“How did you sleep? I ask.

She takes in a deep breath, releasing it with a content sigh. “So good.” She shifts her gaze to me, smiling. “Thanks to you.”

I don’t know that I’ve ever blushed in my life. But here I am, sitting in a plastic patio chair with my favorite girl while she stretches in her underwear, cheeks burning.

Fuck, I’m a goner.

I smile back, unable to avoid it. “Good.”

Her gaze shifts to my overnight bag that I placed to the chair next to me and she urgently sits up. Her smile drops as her eyes bounce between me and the bag.

“What’s going on?” Her brows pinch together as she stabs me with a look that could demolish a building.

Glancing down at my bag, I realize my mistake. I should have left it at the front so she didn’t feel the need to put up her defenses. I know how deep her abandonment issues run, but she’ll never have to worry about that. Ever.

Leaning forward, I look her dead in the eye.

“You never have to have that look on your face again because I’m not going anywhere, not unless you’re the one to tell me to leave. And if you do, I’ll tear my heart out and leave it here with you before I go. I want you, all of you, for as long as you’ll have me.”

She bites her lip to smother her grin, and that’s exactly what I wanted to see.