Read Online Playing His Dangerous Game by Tina Duncan - Free Book Online

was also tough. They decided to see just how tough I was.’
    ‘You mean …?’
    He nodded. ‘They decided to fight me whether I wanted to fight or not. I hated it.’
    ‘I can imagine,’ she said.
    ‘After I’d been beaten up a few times my dad decided we’d better do something about it.’ His smile was rueful. ‘He enrolled me in a local karate class. I never looked back.’
    ‘So instead of getting beat up you did the beating instead? Why do men always have to be so macho? Surely there was a better way of dealing with the bullies than meeting violence with violence?’
    Royce shook his head. ‘You have it wrong. Martial arts training gave me confidence. I wasn’t scared any more. And because I knew what I was doing I could dissuade most of the bullies without hurting them. Strange as it may seem to you, I actually abhor violence.’
    ‘You sure picked a strange profession, then.’
    He grinned. ‘Not really. My business is mostly about prevention. I can’t stop other people from behaving aggressively, but I can protect others from being hurt. Which is exactly what happened at school.’
    Shara frowned. ‘I’m not following you.’
    Royce picked up his cup to prevent himself from reaching across and smoothing the small furrows on her brow with his fingertips. ‘If I saw another kid being picked on I stepped in before the situation went too far. I made it clear to the bullies that they’d have to deal with me if they did anything.’
    ‘And did they heed the warning?’
    ‘Some did. Some didn’t,’ Royce replied, taking a sip of coffee.
    Shara raised an eyebrow. ‘And the ones who didn’t?’
    ‘Let’s just say that they didn’t need a third warning,’ he said simply, his gaze steady on hers.
    Shara drew away from him, looking horrified. ‘What did you do to them?’
    He frowned at her reaction and leaned across the table. ‘I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. If you’re imagining bloody noses and broken bones then you couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t operate that way. The only thing that got injured was their pride.’
    ‘I see.’
    ‘I hope you do. Because the last thing I want is for you to think that I’m some kind of thug.’
    Not only was his professional reputation important to him, so was his personal one. A man should protect his character as solidly as he protected himself.
    Shara shook her head, sending her hair swirling around her shoulders. ‘How could I think that after what you did this morning?’
    Royce frowned. ‘You’ve lost me. What did I do this morning?’
    ‘When you got angry you reminded me so much of Steve that you frightened me. As soon as you realised what was happening you immediately backed down.’
    Royce still didn’t get the point. ‘I did. So?’
    She smiled an odd kind of smile. ‘Steve would never have done that. He seemed to enjoy scaring me.’
    The admission made him grit his teeth as a wave of fury rode up his spine. It nauseated him to think about what Shara had had to endure.
    Royce took a deep breath, surprised by the depth and intensity of his reaction. He’d dealt with numerous sleaze-buckets over the years—had witnessed more sordid and downright awful situations than he cared to think about. But he accepted them as part of the job.
    It was a fact of life that those things existed.
    There was no point getting emotional about it. Doing so was just a waste of time and energy and achieved nothing.
    Instead, he dealt with ugly situations the same way he dealt with everything.
    With discipline and self control. And with calm, cool logic.
    So why the hell was he sitting here wanting to smash something at the thought of what Shara had had to endure?
    Royce wasn’t sure, but his reaction set alarm bells ringing.
    ‘Unfortunately I’m not surprised. These guys get their rocks off pushing other people around.’ He curled his lip. ‘Butyou don’t have to worry about that. Be assured that Brady won’t touch you while I’m