Page 29 of Bared Betrayal

The man makes me nervous. His aloof, condescending manner isn’t exactly inviting, and he sure as hell knows how to make you squirm within five minutes of being in his presence. Two seconds under his pensive stare makes you feel like he’s reading you, sizing you up, contemplating whether he should chew you up or swallow you whole.

I wait until he’s out of earshot. “Why didn’t you tell me you invited your dad?”

Sebastian throws back a glass of red wine in one gulp, a drop of crimson clinging to the corner of his lips. “I didn’t invite him.”

“Did Elenor invite him?”

“I don’t know.” Sebastian is still glaring a hole in the back of his father’s head. “Probably.”

“Wish I could say I’m surprised. But when it comes to your grandmother, nothing surprises me anymore.”

“I need to clear my head.” Sebastian’s voice still drips with venom, and there’s this pang of sympathy in my chest.

“Seb—”

I sigh, watching helplessly as my fiancé storms away, leaving me with the chaotic energy he and his father just stirred up. I’ve always wondered about his father, someone Sebastian never talked much about. But after what just happened, I doubt I want to know more. They’re like two gladiators rolling around in blood and waiting to tear each other’s heads off.

“Care to walk with me, Miss Sawyer?”

A sharp bolt of heat bursts from where he has grabbed me. I inhale sharply, a shiver rippling down my spine as Gabriel King steps in next to me, his hand locked in an ironclad grip on my arm.

“Excuse me?” I glare at him as he’s practically dragging me through the crowd. “Get your hands off me.”

He doesn’t. In fact, he doesn’t even bat a fucking eyelash, and it’s like the groups of guests magically make way for us like this man is Moses and they’re the Red Sea. It’s fitting, really, since Elenor does want a red wedding.

Not the time, Kallie.

“Let go of me.” I jerk my arm, but it only makes him tighten his fingers even more, and I know I’m currently in an inescapable situation with a seemingly mad Gabriel.

My heels scrape along the polished floors as Gabriel tows me down the hall. He scans around us, then grips my dress around my waist and tosses my ass inside the first room he can find, shutting the door behind him.

“Jesus. No wonder your son doesn’t like you.” I wrench the fabric of my dress back into place and realize that we’re in Elenor’s study. It reeks of her perfume. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, you fucking Neanderthal?”

“Watch that dirty mouth, Kallie.”

“I’m going to walk out of this room and pretend like this didn’t happen.” I march toward the door, my fists clenched. “The last thing Sebastian needs is a reason to hate you more.”

Gabriel’s fingers clamp down on my arm, this time squeezing hard, causing me to wince. “How long have you been cheating on my son?”

Blood completely drains from my body and my heart is thumping loudly in my ears. “Excuse me?”

He yanks me close, and his jaw tics as he glares down at me with eyes that now seem more deadly than mesmerizing. “How long. Have you. Been cheating…on my son?”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Let go of me.”

Fury explodes in the blue of his irises, his face nothing but lines of animosity and rage as he spins me around, slamming my back against the wall, my breath whooshing from my lungs. “Stop lying!”

“I’m not lying,” I hiss, flailing to get him the fuck off me.

“Where were you last Sunday night?” He leans forward into my space, inches from my face, towering over me like a shadow wanting to devour me.

Shadow.

Fuck.

I lean my head back against the wall, taking him in—no, drinking him in, an image as clear as day forming in my mind. Cobalt blue eyes. Sharp jawline. A voice like molten lava. A presence that both excites and suffocates me at the same time.

Oh, no.