Cowboy Jackpot: Valentine's Day by Randi Alexander Read Free Book Online Page B

just
gotten home from a rodeo, and Layna showed up. Just walked in the apartment.
Except…she was battered. Her eyes were blackened, lip split, nose bleeding. Her
arms were black and blue." His heart beat faster remembering his fear. "I
asked her what happened, but she wouldn't talk for a few minutes. Then she gave
me the threat."
    Kira's fingers pressed to her mouth. Her eyes stared, wide
and frightened.
    "She said I could either give her the twenty eight
thousand dollars I had in my bank account, or she'd tell the police I'd beaten
her."
    "Oh shit. Oh God, Dallas. You must have been just
sick."
    "Sick? Yeah. I'd let her into my life. I'd trusted her.
I…loved her. And the whole time, it was the money." He had to hold Kira.
Dallas sat back against the headboard, lifted her in between his legs, tucking
her head under his chin.
    She snuggled in with a quick kiss to his collarbone.
    His heart went from aching from the fear caused by reliving
that day, to the sweet pleasure of holding this amazing woman close.
    "I couldn't let her get away with it, Kira. It wasn't
the money, it was the idea that she and whoever was making her do this, whoever
had beaten her, couldn't be allowed to do this to someone else."
    "You did the right thing."
    "Did I?" A humorless laugh echoed in the room.
"She'd already called the police from her cell phone just outside the
apartment door. They arrived in minutes and cuffed me. Hauled me out of there.
My neighbors saw it. Saw her standing there beaten and bleeding…" He held
his breath to regain composure.
    Kira sniffled and he felt moisture run down his chest.
    The thought of her crying over him…fuck, he was so screwed.
How was he supposed to let her go after the wedding next week? How had he let
himself grow so close to her?
    "They took her to the hospital, and me to jail. They
didn't find her blood or DNA on my hands, but I had cuts and bruising from the
rodeo. Based on this and her complaint, I was booked. It was nearly morning
before Boone and his dad bailed me out."
    "I'm so sorry. It must have been horrible."
    "It wasn't so bad. It surprised me how I never felt
fear. I knew I'd be exonerated."
    She looked up at him. "You're a strong man, Dallas. I'm
proud that you did what was right."
    He brushed a tear off her cheek. "Plus, I learned a
whole passel of swell new legal terms."
    She laughed softly and tucked back into him.
"Cowboy." It was all she said, but the one word carried a whole
chapter of meaning.
    "My neighbors wanted the building owner to evict me,
but I fought that, too. The town and county newspapers carried the story, and
the rodeo association heard about it. I had to appeal suspension of my
association membership pending the outcome of the trial."
    "She really disrupted your life. Do you ever wish you'd
just paid her?"
    "I did a couple of times…a couple hundred times. But I
had to see it through." He stared out the window at the flashing lights of
the strip. "At the trial, my lawyer, who had been a friend of my parents,
represented me pro-bono… Another big law word."
    She laughed quietly. "That's nice of him. He must have
believed in you."
    "He did." Besides Boone, Jayden, and their family,
he was the only person who'd stood by him, and didn't treat him like a
criminal. "He argued that there was no physical evidence; on me, on her,
or in the apartment, to prove that there had been an altercation. He noted that
one of the police responders had checked her car and found the hood hot, like
it had just been driven. And she'd said I kept her locked in the apartment with
me for an hour while I…hit her."
    "Oh Dallas." She shivered then took a breath.
"That was good police work."
    "Lucky. Stupid luck, again."
    She sat back. "Take your luck any way you can get
it."
    Staring into her beautiful green eyes, he thanked luck for
bringing Kira to him, not once, but twice. "I will, from now on." He
took her hand. "The lawyer was good. He found evidence of her being
hospitalized a few times