Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,108

you suspected about my medical condition in any of your interview requests. At best, you were going to ambush me with it. At worst, you only found out about it just before you published and you never even tried to get a quote or comment from me.”

His gaze finally settled on hers, cold as ice and unrepentant. “None of that would’ve been necessary if you hadn’t been a lying bitch.”

“Name-calling now?” She scoffed, her head shaking as she leveled a glare at him. “That’s rich coming from you. You lied about my physical condition, my relationship, my boyfriend. Do you really think it didn’t hurt me that you tried to turn Carter into some kind of abuser? God, Nathan, you broke into my apartment and left a dead bird on my pillow.”

“Do you want to know the truth?” His expression morphed again, straight up malicious now. “I’d do it again just to watch you squirm. I wanted you to be honest with people, but I also wanted you to know who you’d turned down.”

Nathan jerked his head at me. “Without him in the picture, you and I could’ve happened, Rylee. I might’ve lied about him, but I knew you’d have to be crazy to stick by him with that kind of reputation following him around.”

His smirk was back now, and this had gone far enough. I let go of Rylee, already pulling my arm back as I stepped around her. Only she got there first.

She sprang forward with her fist ready just the way Billy and I had taught her all those years ago. She caught him square in the nose, and suddenly there was blood spurting everywhere. He roared and tried to lunge at her, but Ryan and Don were there to catch his arms from behind while I ensnared her waist and pulled her out of his reach.

A roar went up, and I realized it was coming from the televisions mounted in the hallway. A cameraman charged with doing post-performance shooting had his lens focused on us. I didn’t know when his feed had gone live, but it was clear that the entire crowd outside had heard and seen what just went down.

Someone started chanting her name, and it spread through the place like wildfire. Until I heard it from above and not only through the speakers anymore.

Jules appeared next to us, bouncing around as he clapped his hands and laughed. “That was the best thing I’ve seen this year. Finally, finally, that asshole has been put back in his place.”

Clearly, he was thrilled but I didn’t think he could be more thrilled than me. I spun her around and kissed the dazed look off her face, taking her hand in mine and stroking her knuckles. When she didn’t wince or move her hand out of my grip, I knew she hadn’t hurt herself in the process.

We moved fast after that. Nathan was hauled away while spouting curses and insults, the security guards escorting him not doing him any favors.

Jules led the way through the corridors to the hotel we were watching the ball drop from, someone handing us glasses of champagne when we walked onto the enclosed balcony. Billy, Tani, Bart, and Rylee’s parents were already there.

They swarmed around us, congratulating Rylee and pulling her into hugs. When the count started, she turned back to me with excitement shining bright in her eyes. The incident with Nathan was clearly forgotten for now.

There was no doubt we needed to talk about it, especially since we now knew he had been responsible for the most serious threats all along, but I didn’t want to waste the last few minutes of the year that had seen us reunited talking about him.

“There’s something I want to ask you before it’s officially the new year,” I said, snaking one arm around her hips.

“Ten,” the chanting started from below. She molded her body to mine, holding her champagne in one hand and the other coming to my chest, right over my heart.

“Oh yeah?” she asked. “What’s that?”

“Be mine. Forever.” I watched as her brows swept up in surprise, but then she gave me a gorgeous, radiant smile.

“Absolutely, but no dropping the ball.” Her laughter was cut off by my mouth on hers, and we rang in the new year kissing each other like it was the world and not only the year that was ending.

Epilogue

RYLEE

My parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary party was being held at our house in Conroe. Carter and I flew out