Page 108 of Ice Devil

I pounded the air with my fist. “Damn the bastards. That’s what good ole Jesse and Kyle were doing. Ensuring your contract was in jeopardy.”

“Why me? I keep asking myself the same question. I’m not some superstar.”

My thoughts were all over the place. “Not yet, but both you and Ford have gained significant momentum, proving yourself to be incredible players. Perfect to make scapegoats out of.”

“Then why not pick on Ford?”

The answer was ridiculously easy. “Because you were the one I interviewed. Luck of the draw. Or maybe I should say you drew the short stick. Whoever is behind this knows better than to try and go after the Masters brothers. They are too popular. Too important financially. Plus, right now the Hellions are in the spotlight.”

“With my reputation ruined, the playoff bid lost, the assholes can make an example out of me without calling too much attention to what they are doing.” Beck laughed, but almost immediately allowed me to hear his sexy growl.

“Yes.” Crazy thoughts drifted through my brain, enough of them my head was killing me.

“Did you really deck one of those assholes after the interview?”

After blowing on my bent knuckles, I rubbed them on my tee shirt. “I did. The fucker deserved it.”

“God, you’re my kind of woman.” He nudged me with his shoulder, the action so normal, so typical of him. Yet there was still a wall between us, which had also been planned. What in the hell were the bastards up to?

“Yeah, well, Matt made it sound like money exchanged hands to keep the jerk from filing charges.”

“Maybe my wolf should pay him a little visit.”

“I’m not sure I’d mind.” I was only half kidding. What did that say about me? “Remember our time together in Arizona?”

The way he rolled his eyes reminded me of the little boy inside the huge man. One big burly dude who tried to pass himself off as a dangerous guy. But under all the muscular layers was someone with a heart of gold.

What did they call that in romance book language? A Golden Retriever? Yep. That was him. That was the guy I’d fallen hard for.

The realization was a clear zap of current that wasn’t only based around physical chemistry. Every inch of me was tingling.

“I’m furious with you, but I’m not going to shove aside the best sex of my life.” His attempt at making a joke gave me some hope we could at least work together for a little nasty project I had in mind.

“In hindsight, I should have told you this before, but only a couple days after I’d returned to Chicago, I was sent a picture of us in the pool. Together. Naked. With no doubt what we were doing.”

His eyes opened wide. Was there a little bit of his wolf hiding behind his irises?

“You’re kidding. How in the hell did they get the picture?”

“They had to be a tree climber because it was taken from at least fifteen feet in the air. Completely anonymous.”

“AI?”

“Unfortunately not.”

He took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds. “Just like the photograph I was sent with you and that… asshole at whatever dinner you were at.”

“There were a lot of pictures taken that night, but no outside reporters were allowed. You know what that likely means.”

I could tell he’d easily connected the dots. “Someone is trying to either play us against each other or use our relationship to their benefit.”

“Exactly.” I had a feeling the naked picture would be used next.

“For what purpose?”

“Maybe another angle to show that shifters don’t deserve to be in sports. I discovered around this luxurious dinner that at least two people have vested interest in the media company who owns the Chicago newspaper, and at least two local stations in other markets have partial ownership in various sports organizations, including the Las Vegas Cruisers. Guess what not a single sports team includes?”

“Shifters.”