Player (A Secret Baby Sports Romance)(260)

I want to choke on the sour laugh in my throat. What about the danger you see clear as fucking day that you choose to ignore?

I shut my eyes and count backwards from twenty, trying to calm myself down. I can hate Javier, and Benson, and every turn of every event of the last few days that brought me right here to this cell, but I know deep down that none of that is who and what I'm really mad at.

Because the one I'm the most furious at is myself.

I hate that I let myself fall into it all; to be swept up in the bullshit of Javier and this whole adventure. I hate that I forgot who I was, and who my family was, and all the reasons why this man was the worst possible thing that could have happened to me. And I let all that slip away inside because I got so tangled up in his lies. Hook, line, and sinker; I swallowed the whole damn thing, like a stupid little girl.

I hug my knees tighter to my chest, and wonder if the Agency even knows that I'm missing yet.

Even more, I wonder if my family knows.

I squeeze my eyes shut, burrowing my face into my knees as every single regret, and every single pang of guilt I ever had about not telling my sisters about what I did comes rushing back at once. I should have told them. I know it's against the rules, but I don't know how much the rules matter at this point, when I'm locked in a cell.

I should have told you; I'm so sorry.

I wonder what the Agency will tell them, when they eventually realize what's happened; when they realize I'm dead. Protocol is something stupid like a plane crash or an accident of some kind; something cliched that wraps the whole affair up neatly with a sad but final little bow.

And they'll never know. My own sisters will never know what happened to me, and that might be the thought that hurts the most.

I'm scrunching my face up, determined not to cry, when I suddenly hear a shout from outside my door. There's the sound of a scuffle, of muffled yelling, and then a sickening crunch.

I sit bolt upright; my hands gripping the edge of the cot and my face tight as I stare at the door and the silence on the other side.

Something slams against the door, making me jump. The crash comes again; the sound of someone trying to break down the door. I shiver as it hits again, and again, and then a fifth time, before the door suddenly gives way and comes splintering into the room along with the figure crashing through it.

You've got to be kidding me.

Javier stands from the ground, shaking his head and wincing as he looks up suddenly and meets my wide eyes with his own fiery ones; “Let's go.”

I stare at him in absolute shock; “Excuse me?”

“I said let's go, princess, now!” He runs to the door and looks quickly around the hallway before he ducks back inside and marches right over to the bed where I still haven't moved.

“We need to go righ-”

“What the fuck are you-” I start to bat his hands away, shoving away from him. But suddenly he grabs me, and I gasp as he yanks me into his arms and kisses me. He kisses me with a passion I've never felt before, with a hunger and a fervor that I could've never imagined. For a moment, I want to believe it; I want to let myself slip back into this and drown delightfully in the fairytale fantasy.

It's just for a moment though.

I shove myself back from him, and before I can stop myself, my hand is slapping him hard across the mouth; “Fuck you!”

“Chelsea!”

“You- You- you set me up you fucking assh-”

He grabs me and shoves me against the wall this time as his lips crash into mine again, and this time, I only whimper as I grab his face and kiss him back with every single ounce of my being.

“Koufax,” he growls, breaking away from my lips for a moment; “Koufax sold you out. He's here, with Blackriver.”

“What?” I stare at the man in front of me; the man that makes me feel things I've never felt, the man that fills me with contradictions and questions I've never had to face or answer.

But he's also the man I never want to stop kissing me; not ever.

“They think I'm back with them, Chelsea; it's why I couldn't say a damn thing earlier.” He kisses me again, and I moan into his mouth as his powerful arms draw me tight against him; “Believe me, I wanted to kill them all right there with my bare fucking hands.” He growls, nipping at my lips.

So, what happens now?” I look around the room at the smashed-in door and the guard slumped on the ground; “What are you going to do?”

Javier grins; “I'm a criminal, remember? I’m a thief, and I’m going to do what I do best.” He winks at me; “Take something I want from people who I don't think should have her.” He kisses me once more, fiercely, his arms holding me tightly as he sears his lips across my own.

“C’mon spy-girl, we're getting the fuck out of here.”