No Turning Back (Breaking the Rules #4) - A.M. Madden Page 0,89

up. As always, we will keep you up to date with any breaking news regarding this outrageous claim. Personally, I don’t buy it… but we shall see. This is Quint Lawson. Until next time, I wish you all good night.”

“I haven’t seen it anywhere else yet,” Wes said, still on the line. “I think that old fucker outed you.”

“I need to call Joseph. I’ll call you right back.”

I watched numb from shock as he jammed a finger on the screen until his lawyer’s name appeared. “Ryder… I saw it,” he said without delay.

“What are we going to do?”

“You’ll do nothing. I’ve been building a case, and I’ll handle it. That’s why you hired me.”

“So I’m supposed to sit here and watch it all?”

“You should call your clients and assure them you are innocent and have sought counsel for this slanderous attack. More than that, you cannot divulge under advice from your lawyer. I’ll send you a prepared statement in case anyone from the press calls. Otherwise, you do nothing.”

“Fine.” Ryder mumbled something else I didn’t catch and hung up. It broke my heart to see the panic on his face. When he shoved his fingers in his hair, hanging his head in defeat, a burst of fury instantly took hold. I pulled a hand away and tugged until he met my gaze.

“Listen to me, Ryder. We’ll fight that bastard with everything we have. He is not going to get away with this, I promise you.”

As my chest heaved with each word I spoke, he palmed my face with his other hand. “Riana, you need to calm down. Please. I can’t worry about you on top of everything else.”

He was right. Especially as I felt my heart beating out of my chest. But this was war, and I wouldn’t allow a narcissistic prick to destroy everything Ryder had worked toward.

“Promise me, Riana,” he pushed.

“Okay… I promise.”

“I need to call Wes back. Go take a bath, do your calming exercises. I’m going to take Kayla for a walk…” Her head bounced up at the mere mention. He leaned closer to kiss me before saying, “Come on, girl.” She jolted upright and trotted to the door in wait.

Watching him walk out had me feeling completely helpless. I had no idea how to help him and had to trust that Joseph was handling it.

Chapter Thirty

Ryder

November

There was my fucking face again. At the airport I stared at the large screen hanging above the bar near my gate before lowering my head. While safe behind my sunglasses, I ignored the closed-captioned text scrolling beneath my photo and instead buried my face in my phone.

My life had been hell for weeks. The night after the news broke of the lie Doug peddled, the entire sports world began buzzing with speculation. Was it true? Was it not? Athletes, agents, and sportscasters debated both sides like they would analyze a championship game.

Meanwhile, my phone rang off the hook. Reporters looking for a story. Athletes needing to know if there was any truth to the claims. Colleagues prodding for information. It was never ending.

An announcement with boarding instructions blared over the speaker right above my head. Thanksgiving being days away made the plane jammed. Crying children and eager parents surrounded me, and I tried to focus on getting home to the one thing I was thankful for.

My life with Riana.

If it weren’t for her, a bar brawl followed by prison time would’ve been a real possibility for me. I just wanted to hit someone, specifically Doug. So instead I threw myself into my job, traveling to see my clients in person in damage-control mode, while ignoring anything I read or heard that questioned my morals. And when I shut down for the day, for the week, I got lost in her in any way I could.

“We are now inviting rows ten through twenty to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass ready.”

With a heavy sigh, I grabbed the handle of my carry-on, wishing I could close my eyes and be back in Riana’s arms. As I shuffled my way toward the flight attendant scanning boarding passes, my cell buzzed in my pocket.

“Hey, baby. I’m just boarding.” I was met with silence and breathing. “Ree?”

“Okay,” she said, her voice strained before she sucked in a breath.

“What’s wrong?” The man behind me tapped my shoulder. “Go around me.”

“Ryder, I don’t want you to panic. I’m having contractions. They’re probably Braxton Hicks. The guys are taking me to the hospital