RISKY PLAY (RED CARD #1) BY RACHEL VAN DYKEN Page 0,81
over me, I decided I would not be powerless again.
I wouldn’t be the girl who would marry just because it made business sense. That girl was gone.
I wasn’t going to sit back.
Old Mackenzie would have smiled through her teeth while people hurled insults.
But Slade had changed that.
And I loved him for it.
I loved the Slade that jumped off that cliff with me.
And I loved the Slade that joked with me—that used his anger as a shield and his grief as a weapon.
I loved every part of him.
I loved him more than I loved me.
Me: Tomorrow evening. Don’t tell Slade.
Matt: If you guys could please stop telling me not to tell what you’re all doing, that would be fantastic. It’s hard to keep everything straight. For the record, Alton is the one that outed everyone. He had the password to your old iPad so he could see your emails and texts. Alton got ahold of Britney after stalking Slade online and seeing her picture. They both wanted money—and she wanted Slade back. The plan was to use you as the fall guy and make it look like you were the reason for everything that happened back in Europe. I’m sorry.
I gulped.
Me: And what did Slade say?
Matt: Oh sorry, Slade’s in prison with Jagger right now—they went after Alton, more details on that soon!
Me: WHAT?
Matt: Don’t worry, they’ll get roughed up, I’m sure, but they’re fine! Are you sure you really want to do this?
Me: Yes.
Matt: Alright . . . I trust you.
Me: And Slade? What about his trust?
Matt: He let his fear speak for him. I would extend a bit of grace to the guy.
I smiled down at my phone.
Me: I’ll be set up at seven p.m. We’ll have wine for the press.
Matt: Oh good, drunk paparazzi. Great idea. Bring a Taser!
Chapter Fifty-One
MACKENZIE
I didn’t sleep.
Slade didn’t text.
I tried not to be heartbroken.
I ignored everything and everyone and powered through my day, and when my dad approached me with arms wide—that was when I almost lost it.
I held on by a thread.
And by the time I made it to the press conference, I was a giant ball of nerves and stress.
Matt waved me over to the stage. He’d been talking to my dad for what felt like hours as the press made their way in, enjoying free wine and appetizers.
I slid my hands down my white skirt and adjusted the collar to my black blouse. The idea was to go for classy, not home wrecker, not the sort of girl that would just sleep with a soccer star in order to make a name for herself outside of her father’s business. I was my own woman. I had no reason to go after him, no reason to take what wasn’t mine.
I reminded myself that it didn’t matter. I had money and my family’s backing. I hadn’t needed to expose him or anyone, and Britney was the one to blame for all of this—well, she and Alton, may he rot in whatever hole he was hiding in. On top of it all, they needed to know that I never knew Slade. I wasn’t the one who came between them. I was the one who hopefully saved him—just like he saved me.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to start,” Matt said into the microphone. I wiped my hands on my skirt again and exhaled slowly.
I felt the sting of tears.
And hated it.
Hated that the one man I wanted to see.
Hadn’t so much as texted me.
Had broken all contact with me.
I squeezed my eyes shut, opened them, then slowly made my way to the front of the room. I hated the public eye. Hated it. They had thrown me to the wolves after my failed wedding.
I wanted vengeance against Alton.
For myself. For our reputations.
But now that I had Slade? If I even had him?
I wanted peace more.
I wanted to prove to him that I wasn’t going to walk away, that even if he did, I’d fight for him, for us.
“Hi, everyone,” I said into the microphone. “It’s safe to say you probably all know who I am by now.”
The audience chuckled.
“I met Slade Rodriguez—”
“On a plane,” came a loud voice from the back of the room.
My eyes roamed the strange faces until they fell to his.
The one I loved most.
He stood, and beside him was a beautiful woman with silver hair and kind eyes I recognized from family photos, who patted him on the hand and winked at me—his mom.