***
RYDER DIDN’T HAVE to knock on the door and wait for Joel to answer it, or give him the opportunity to ignore it and cower away from him like the chicken shit he was. He swiped the key card Eliza had given him and waltzed straight into Joel’s room catching him in an embrace with...
“Violet?”
What the hell?
Ryder yanked Joel off Violet, just as he had the night before, only this time he didn’t let go. He slammed Joel against the wall and held him there with his arm against his throat.
Ryder turned to Violet waiting for her explanation and it had better be a damn good one.
Violet’s beautiful, all natural face was swollen like she’d cried the night away and pink pinched her cheeks and the tip of her nose. Her damp hair fell loose down her shoulders and darkened the sleeves of her blue sundress.
It immediately made him think of her snow−ice−queen outfit and how damn sexy she’d looked in it. They were supposed to sleep the night away in each other’s arms, not battle demons of their past. It also reminded him why they were here and that Joel was keeping them apart when he was the criminal.
“Ryder, let him go,” Violet ordered, surprising him. Why was he surprised? He’d walked in to them in a more than friendly looking embrace.
Was she really still in love with Joel? Had he been the fool chasing after a woman who was chasing after someone else?
The thought felt like Ryder was the one slammed and pinned against the wall. “What are you doing here?” he demanded, giving Joel a little extra shove against his throat. He made a painful sound and Ryder almost grinned. He deserved it.
Violet folded her arms over her chest, not looking at all like the damsel in distress he had envisioned. Her hard solid stare granted independence.
“What are you doing here?” she retorted, like he was one of the bad guys. The villain.
“I’m here as your hero. Your Prince Charming. Your happily ever after. Lord, woman, what else do you think I’m doing here?”
“Strangling your best friend by the looks of things.”
Ryder glared at Joel. “He is not my best friend.”
“Not if you kill him.”
“Don’t temp me. Are you still in love with him?” Ryder had to know. What other reason would she have to be here? Hugging Joel? Crossing her arms and staring at Ryder like he was the villain?
Violet’s eyes narrowed on him. “I’m ensuring that I don’t destroy my happily ever after,” she said.
“With him?” Ryder’s voice hitched up a notch with shock.
Violet’s face softened. “No. How can you ask me that after I’ve already given my heart to you?”
Relief stripped away Ryder’s uncertainty, letting the element of her love overflow through his veins.
“Please, let him go.”
Joel. Violet’s love still didn’t change the fact that Ryder was putting an end to Joel harassing Violet. “Give me one good reason.”
“You had sex with his wife. On his wedding night. Even if you don’t remember, we hurt him, Ryder,” she said. The pain in her voice soaked through his anger at Joel.
Ryder hadn’t considered it from that point of view...from Joel’s point of view. He’d been so consumed with Joel holding this threat over Violet that he hadn’t had a moment to consider Joel’s feelings about what Ryder had done...with his wife...on their wedding night.
Ryder turned to Joel, a friend, a man who he’d once laughed with, but in recent years had grown apart from. Now, he understood the reasons behind Joel’s attitude toward him. Ryder had hurt Joel...but Joel had hurt Violet too.
Ryder felt the guilt of his betrayal to Joel. A betrayal he didn’t remember, a betrayal that twisted his gut with remorse. But right now, Ryder’s loyalty remained with Violet because he had given her his heart too and with that came the urge to protect her, forever.
Ryder lowered his voice. “You left a paper trail. I know all about your illegal activity. The money you took from your friends to invest in a bogus business and Robert stepping in to pay them back, with interest.” The blues and purples around Joel’s eyes darkened his stare. “I want the tape that belongs to me and Violet and your silence in exchange for my silence. And if you ever think of releasing it, I will have your ass in jail.”
“Alright,” Joel said.
That came too easy. “Alright?” he questioned skeptically.
“Alright,” Joel promised.
“And you’re not going to hurt Violet again. You’re not going to threaten her, make ignorant jabs in her direction, or go behind my back, because from here on in, it’s me and Violet as one, as a team. You’re in her life, but I’m in her life too and I don’t plan on going anywhere. If I ever get wind that you are harassing her, I phone the authorities.”
Joel nodded.
Ryder released him and said, “I’m sorry I slept with your wife.” Ryder didn’t even bother to mention his memory was so hazy, he didn’t remember it.
Joel rubbed his throat and nodded his understanding. “I’m sorry about yesterday.” Joel glanced between the two. “I will leave you alone.”
“It’s alright.” Ryder crossed the room and grabbed Violet’s hand. It fit perfectly into his and he gave her a little squeeze, sending her a wink. “It’s your wedding day and your room. We will go.”
On their way out the door, Violet called back to Joel, “Go to the salon where the kids are getting their hair done and one of the girls should be able to cover up the darkness around your eyes.”
Ryder loved that she was so thoughtful, even after everything she’d been through with that man. He had something special planned for them, but once they were in the hallway, Violet stopped.
“Ryder?”
He turned to her, their arms stretched between them with only their fingers connecting them, and his heart swelled. She painted a face of makeup and wore outfits that defined her outer beauty, but standing before him, with everything stripped away, she was more beautiful in his eyes than ever before, because he knew what was in her heart.
Ryder couldn’t wait another moment. He kissed her and then pulled her into his arms and simply held her.
They might have come together under the strangest of circumstances, but he was thankful he’d shown up at Joel’s silly wedding planning meeting.
Violet broke the embrace, but she didn’t pull away. She leaned back on her flat shoes to look up at him. “I can’t promise that I’m not going to get scared when things are hard and sometimes my first instinct is going to be to pull away from you and hide. I’ve been alone and done it for so many years that I don’t even know how to let someone in when things go astray. I’m a hot mess of a thing. I thought I was strong and now I see I cut everyone out because I’m weak and it’s easier.”
“Violet, you’re not weak−”
“My dad has a room of files...” Violet paused as a couple got off the elevator.
“Come on, let’s go somewhere private,” he said.
“I know just the place.”