Page 98 of The Heartbreaker

“You read the room right.” She gave me a soft smile. “Besides, I wouldn’t have cashed your check.”

“I know.” I traced my thumb over her lips. “But the thought of you going to the club every weekend”—I shook my head—“was getting harder to stomach. Every goddamn day, I was feeling worse about it. I didn’t want you on that stage. I didn’t want those men giving you money. I didn’t want them fantasizing about you. It even got to the point where I didn’t want their eyes on you—something I hadn’t felt at the beginning, but I feel that way now.”

I took a long, deep breath.

“When I saw you rush into the lounge, braless, looking terrified and defeated and in the middle of a panic attack—” I cut myself off, needing a second before I continued, running my hand over my head to try to calm myself down. “I’ll never forget that moment. I’ll also never forgive myself for not writing you a check and getting you out of that fucking nightmare of a place.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered. Like I said, I wouldn’t have cashed it.”

On my way back into the club, the plan had started to formulate in my head. By the time I got to the manager’s office, I already knew what I wanted and what I was going to ask for.

And the bastard had made it so easy for me.

“Instead, you’re going to accept a check from him.” I opened the envelope, unfolded the wide paper inside, and held it up for her to see. “If I’d gotten my legal team involved, you would have gotten a lot more. Hundreds of thousands, I’m sure?—”

“Oh my God, Ridge.” Her hand went over her mouth as she looked at the amount on the check. “Fifty thousand? That’s what he gave me?” Her hand then returned to my arm. “It’s plenty. I don’t need a cent more. I shouldn’t even take it because it’s from him.”

“But you’re going to take it.”

She hesitated and finally said, “Yes, I will.”

“It’s enough to pay off your sister and to make a large dent in your student loans.”

“It is.” I could tell she wasn’t done speaking, and I could also tell she was still upset. “I just feel bad that I didn’t work for that money.”

“Addison, don’t say that. You worked your ass off for that money. Not to mention, that asshole put you in an environment that wasn’t safe. In a place like that, protocols need to be established to ensure what happened to you doesn’t happen to anyone else. The fact of the matter is, he just doesn’t give a fuck. So, look at this money like a future advance on dancing you no longer have to do.”

She slowly nodded. “You’re right.” When I set the check down, her hand moved to my knuckles, rubbing the cuts across my skin and the blood that had dried, which I hadn’t yet washed off, and the dark purple bruises that were starting to form. “Tell me what caused this.”

“You weren’t the only one who felt liberated tonight.”

Her brows rose. “You punched my manager?”

I smiled. “Let’s just say, the motherfucker not only has broken balls, courtesy of you, but he now has a broken nose too.”

“Ridge”—she let out a tiny laugh—“you’re kidding?”

“The only good thing that fucking security guard did this evening was find the man who had assaulted you. The dumbass hadn’t left the club, so I was able to give him a little piece of my mind.”

Her head tilted as she gazed at me. “You came to my rescue. In ways I can’t even process yet.”

“Baby,” I whispered, “you don’t need to. You just need to know that I’m here.”

“About that …” She turned quiet for several seconds. “You know, working at the club was the major thing that was holdingme back from you. There’s still the teaching layer, but it was the club that ate at me the most.”

“I know.”

“And because of you, that’s no longer an issue.” She sat up even higher and put her arms around my shoulders, hugging me against her wet body. “Ridge, I’ll never be able to thank you for tonight.”

“No thanks needed. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.” I held her tightly, and when I sensed she needed more, I squeezed her harder. “I care about you, Addison. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”

“Ridge …”

“Yeah?”

“Fuck turtle speed.”

I let out a deep chuckle. “You’ve never said anything sexier.”