Page 116 of An Inevitable Marriage

“Liam’s not—”

“How much did he pay you to be his wife?”

His words felt like a knife between the ribs, cutting me straight to the bone. How did he know? We’d made sure only a handful of people knew about the contract, about the money.

I didn’t think for one second they’d betray us.

Deciding it was better to play dumb, I slowly pushed to my feet and smoothed my hands down the front of my dress. “I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Like hell you don’t.”

He closed the distance between us, and before my brain could process what was happening, he stood right in front of me. The stench of cigarettes and alcohol floated up my nose.

Bile immediately pushed up my throat. I quickly swallowed it down and took a step back, then another and another until the edge of the desk dug into my backside.

Realizing I had nowhere to go, Shane grinned. Again, he moved fast, invading my personal space in a blink.

“You need to leave.” Grateful for my steady voice, I lifted my chin a little higher. “Now.”

A laugh bubbled over Shane’s lips. The maniacal sound of it sent ice through my veins. My heart beat faster, and my stomach felt an awful lot like it’d flipped over on itself. I refused to show weakness or fear, so as desperately as I wanted to shove past him and run away, I held his stare instead.

The wicked glint in his eyes intensified as he lifted his hand and brushed his fingers over my shoulders. Acting on instinct, I slapped his arm away.

“Don’t touch me.”

Shane’s face hardened into that of a monster. In a flash, he grabbed my face. His fingers dug into my cheeks, so deep, so hard, so freaking painful, I thought for sure he’d pierced my skin.

“Tell me, whore, does he pay you extra to fuck you?” His free hand came up to my chest.

I slapped it away again.

“I bet you give it to him good, too. That’s the thing with you fat girls; you’re always so damn eager to please.”

He tried to grab my breast again. And again, I slapped him. I needed to get away from this idiot, but his hold on my face was so brutally relentless I had nowhere to go.

“Do you let him fuck your tits? You probably do, don’t you?” Instead of reaching for my breast, he gripped the hem of my dress between his fingers and started pulling it up.

I smacked and kicked with everything in me, but the guy wouldn’t let go.

“Stop it.” Because he had my face in such a vise grip, the word came out muffled. “Stop it!” I tried again.

All it did was anger him even further. Flattening his body against mine, he pinned me to the desk.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You should be happy a man like me is even touching you.” He let go of my dress and grabbed his belt. “In fact, I think you should get on your knees and thank me right now.”

I shook my head as much as I could. My arms and legs flailing around, trying desperately to cause him enough hurt so he’d let me go. My silent cries were answered when my knee rammed straight into his balls.

“Fuck.”

He went down fast. I didn’t waste a single second. Jumping over his body, I called out for Tamara and sprinted for the door. Halfway across the room, fingers curled around my ankle, and I pitched forward.

I hit the floor so hard, my breath got knocked out of my lungs. And then Shane was on top of me. Flipping me around, he clasped both my wrists in his hands and fumbled with his pants again. I was dizzy from the fall, but that didn’t stop me from bucking like a wild beast.

Or screaming for help at the top of my lungs.

I wouldn’t lie there and become a victim. I’d fight until I couldn’t fight anymore. Then I’d fight even harder.

“Shut up, you stupid wh—”