Power Play, page 25
“I don’t give a fuck who hears me!”
“Well, I do. Judy is a friend.”
“I’m your fiancé.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him he wouldn’t be after tonight, but I refrained. I’d wait until we were back in the limo heading home. I wasn’t heading to any after parties because I wanted to get this over with.
We made our way out to the loading area where the limos were waiting, and I tapped my foot impatiently.
I suddenly couldn’t wait to give him back his ring.
“Hey, girl!” Sage waved as she breezed past me. “Stay strong,” she breathed against my ear. “And call me tomorrow!”
We’d talked earlier in the evening, so she knew what the plan was.
I waved at her before getting into the limo.
Did I want to wait until we got home or should I do it in the car?
He’d just moved into my house in Marina del Rey, so we had a long drive, and I didn’t want to have to think about it the whole time.
“I think we need to take a break,” I said quietly, biting the bullet.
“A break?” He looked up from whatever he was doing on his phone in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to get married,” I said. “And we’ve been fighting a lot since you moved in. Maybe we rushed things.” We’d only been together nine months.
“Rushed things?” He stared at me. “I gave up my apartment to move in with you!”
“And you don’t pay any bills,” I said quietly. “You should have been able to save up.”
“Save up? What the fuck, Bailey?” His expressive dark eyes turned almost black. “This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not laughing.” I glanced down at the ring on my finger, itching to remove it.
“What did I do?” he demanded, his voice softening as if he’d just now realized I was serious. “Are you mad about the Madalina thing?”
Madalina was my housekeeper and he’d yelled at her the other morning for folding his socks incorrectly. He’d raised his voice and berated her to the point he’d made her cry, and I’d been furious. I’d warned him not to ever speak to her that way again, and he’d apologized, but I’d been terrified she would quit.
“That was one of many red flags in the last couple of months,” I admitted. “There have just been a some things that make me uncomfortable.”
“I’m sorry.” He scooted closer to me on the seat, reaching for me. “I’ll do better. What if we go away to Coronado for the weekend and—”
“Dirk. Stop.” I slid a little way away from him. “I want to give us a little time apart so we can think. Like I said, a break.”
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” he said, his jaw working in obvious irritation. “You know I’m out of work right now so I can’t even get a new apartment.”
“You can go to your mom’s,” I pointed out.
His face tightened. “You want me to move in with my mom like I’m some kind of kid? Are you serious right now?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I said quietly. “I’ll be happy to give you enough money for the security deposit or whatever you’ll need to get an apartment, but you’re going to have to figure out the rest. You promised you were going to get a regular job if none of those auditions last month panned out, yet you’ve been dragging your feet. Even if we weren’t taking a break, you need to work, Dirk.”
“You selfish little bitch.” He glared at me. “Who put this shit in your head? Was it Sage? Or that cunt of an agent of yours? Huh? Who was it?” He snaked out a hand, gripping me by the throat.
“Dirk!” I squealed in surprise. “Stop it!”
“You can’t just toss me away like yesterday’s trash!” he yelled.
He had my throat in a death grip and I couldn’t breathe.
He’d never laid a hand on me before, so this caught me by surprise, but I’d been in Hollywood for seven years at this point, and I’d learned a trick or two. Besides, Han was up front. All I had to do was get his attention.
“Dirk!” I gasped out his name, wiggling to try and get away from him. “Please!”
When he refused to let go and squeezed even harder, I knew I had limited time. I reached down and grabbed one of the Manolo Blahnik stilettos off my feet. I threw it toward the privacy screen, nearly crying in relief as it thudded against it.
“Ms. Walker?” Hans lowered the screen and looked back at us. “Hey! You need to let her go!”
“Cunt!” Dirk growled, shoving me away from him.
The back of my head bounced off the glass of one of the windows, making everything in my field of vision blur.
“Ms. Walker!” Hans was calling my name.
“Shut up, you fat fuck!” Dirk picked up a water bottle and hurled it in his direction.
I tried to talk but nothing came out, my throat burning from the assault.
The car swerved as Dirk yelled insults and continued throwing things.
“Fuck!” I thought I heard Hans yell but then the car jolted violently, throwing me across the back and slamming me into another window.
There was the sound of breaking glass and someone screamed.
It might have been me.
Then there was nothing.
Find links to Hit ‘em Hard and all of my books here.
FOUL PLAY (L.A. PHANTOMS, BOOK TWO)
When one of the most beautiful women in the world friend zones you, what’s a determined hockey player supposed to do?
Change her mind.
Visit my website for more information about Ivan and Cheyenne’s story! And turn the page for links to all of my books!
ALSO BY KAT MIZERA
Lauderdale Knights:
Knight Before Christmas (A Garland Grove/Lauderdale Knights holiday novel)
Slap Shot
Big Shot
Long Shot
Hot Shot
Sure Shot
Rough Shot
Cheap Shot
Holiday Shot (A Lauderdale Knights holiday novella)
L.A. Phantoms:
Hit ‘em Hard (A Bang Brothers Hockey/LA Phantoms prequel)
Power Play
Rock Hard:
Play
Pause
Rewind
Fast Forward
Rock Harder:
Rock Bottom
Rock God
Rock Steady
Rock On
Las Vegas Sidewinders:
Dominic
Cody’s Christmas Surprise
Drake
Karl
Anatoli
Zakk
Toli & Tessa
Brock
Vladimir
Royce
Nate
Sidewinders: Ever After
Jared
Dmitri’s Christmas Angel
Ian
Dax (A Royal Protectors/Sidewinders crossover novel)
Suze’s Diary (A Sidewinders Companion Novella)
Sidewinders: Generations:
Zaan
Tore
Anton
Van
Decker
Alaska Blizzard:
Defending Dani
Holding Hailey
Winning Whitney
Losing Laurel
Saving Sara
Chasing Charli
A Very Blizzard Christmas
Tending Tara
Calling Cassie
Playing Peyton
Catching Lana (An Alaska Blizzard Companion Novel)
St. Louis Mavericks (with Brenda Rothert)
Hard Fall
Hard Limit
Hard Pass
Hard Luck
Hard Hit
The Royal Trilogy:
Nowhere Left to Fall
Nowhere Left to Run
Nowhere Left to Hide
Royal Protectors:
Sandor
Cocky Protector (book 1.5, part of the Cocky Heroes Club series)
Xander
Axel
Dax (A Royal Protectors/Sidewinders crossover novel)
Inferno:
Salvation’s Inferno
Temptation’s Inferno
Redemption’s Inferno
Tropical Inferno (formerly “Tropical Ice”)
Romancing Europe:
Adonis in Athens
Smitten in Santorini
Lucky in Lugano
View Kat’s entire collection of books at www.KatMizera.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today Bestselling author Kat Mizera was born in Miami Beach with a healthy dose of wanderlust. She's lived from coast to coast, and everywhere in between, but home is wherever her family is.
A devoted mom and wife to her wonderful and supportive husband (Kevin) and two amazing boys (Nick and Max), Kat loves to travel the globe with her adventurous, hockey loving family. Greece is at the top of that list. She hopes to one day retire there, spending her days writing books on the beach.
Kat is former freelance sports writer who now writes steamy hockey romance about her favorite fictional teams, the Las Vegas Sidewinders and the Alaska Blizzard. The library of novels she's penned also include sexy contemporary stories about baseball stars, alpha sex club owners, special forces heroes, rock stars and royalty. Regardless of genre, her books about bad boys with hearts of gold will steal your breath, rock your world and melt your heart.
WHERE TO FOLLOW KAT:
WEBSITE
BOOKBUB
KAT’S PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP
Kat Mizera, Power Play
