False Start (Red Zone Rivals, #5)

by Kandi Steiner

I wondered how big his cock was. It was an entirely inappropriate thought for a real estate agent to have about her new client, but standing in the middle of the vast mansion with marble floors, high ceilings, and a striking view of Mount Rainier, it was all I could think. Because this smelled a lot like overcompensating.

“Hello, Madelyn,” he said. And every memory of Kyle Robbins washed over me like a torrential rainstorm.

And more than any of that, I wanted to hold her. I wanted to pull her into me, brush her copper hair from her face and ask what happened to my girl — because she wasn’t here now. This was only a shell of the Madelyn that used to exist.

“I thought I lost you there,” I teased. “All that looking at your shoes shit isn’t the Madelyn I used to know.”

“The Madelyn you used to know no longer exists.”

“Who hurt you?” “I’m not hurt.” “Who,” I repeated, slower this time, the strain evident in my voice as I tried to keep my cool. “Did this?” She sighed, shaking her head and looking away from me. Then, she rolled her lips together, eyes falling to the binder. “My ex.”

I’ll light you on fire and dance in the ashes. I am not a weak, helpless thing. I can handle myself. And if you respect me at all, you’ll honor this.”

“I want to protect you — whether you need it or not. And I feel like I was put here to do that. If your ex is going to be in your life, he’s going to respect you.” He paused. “And Sebastian.”

“I know you don’t need me,” he said, cutting me off. His eyes flashed with something achingly familiar when he added, “But I need you.”

“You calling me trash, Robbins?” “If you’re trash, then I’m a dumpster diver.”

His stride slowed a bit when he realized how tall I was, and that made my fake grin even easier to slap into place. Alright, motherfucker. Let’s play.

“The only reason I’m letting you live is because I care enough about that woman to do what she asks me to,” he said, and when his finger pointed right at me, I felt it like a bolt of lightning to the heart. “But slip up even one time,” he continued, shaking his head as a damn near evil smile spread on his stupidly handsome face. “And I will risk it all. Understand? I will risk it all.”

“What was that rule you made when we were younger?” I asked, and then hung a hand on my hip and tried to imitate her. “No lying. Lying is the highest offense punishable by purple nurple.”

I rolled my eyes before pulling him under my arm and ruffling his hair like he was my kid brother. The motherfucker loved to brag about the size of his dick — one he let sling between his legs like a proud bull when we were in the locker rooms at NBU.

“I don’t have anything to apologize to you for,” he said with a wink. “Still think your tattoos are sick. Still think you’re one nasty girl. And would still call you Daddy if I didn’t think Leo would break my jaw for it.”

“You don’t have to do this alone. Not anymore. Not ever again. You’re mine, Mads. You always have been. I lost you then, but I refuse to lose you now. Whatever you need, I’ll give it to you. Whatever we have to do, we’ll do it — together. No more letting anyone or anything get between us, you hear me?”

“I think it’s kind of romantic,” he argued. “Kyle is her knight in shining armor. Marshall is the dragon with bad breath.” “Slay that motherfucker!” Leo chimed in,

“I am and always have been hers. And being with her again, fighting through what we’ve had to, surviving what we did… there’s no one in this world I could ever want more than her. There’s no one who could ever make sense. She’s it for me. Period. End of story. She is… everything.” Giana sniffled, dabbing at the corner of her eyes. “So much better than I love her.”

“Madelyn, I knelt before you just like this only hours ago, but it was in haste. It was in desperation to protect you, to assure you that you weren’t alone, to prove that you had me by your side.” He shook his head. “And while all of those things are true, they’re nowhere near the top of my list when it comes to why I want to make you my wife.”

“I love you, Mads,” he breathed, and when his jaw flexed with those words, when emotion made him swallow — it nearly broke me. “God, I love you fiercely. I love you in a way that would kill me if I wasn’t allowed to act out this love every day of my life. I love your passion and your heart. I love your fight. I love your determination. I loved you as a friend, as my first love, as my first… everything. And I love you even more now, as a mom, as a woman who has worn the weight of the world on her shoulders.” He shook his head, kissing my knuckles. “But I don’t want you to shoulder that weight alone, anymore. I want to bear it with you. I want your mornings, and your afternoons, and every single night. I want to wake up to your morning breath and fall asleep to the sound of your snores.”

“I never thought I’d see Kyle Robbins weak for anyone, but girl, he is feeble for you.”

One thing I knew for sure was that he picked the wrong motherfucker to test. And now, Papa Bear was going to rip him to shreds.