Page 23 of Mr. Strategic

“Oh, I already had some takeaway from Wheatgrass,” I said. “There’s something warming for you on the stove.”

There was another moment of silence, and I almost held my breath as I felt him contemplate me.

Then he walked over to the stove and raised the lid of the frying pan.

I turned a page of my book. It was very good.

“What is this shit?” Michael asked harshly.

The raw, jagged note in his voice sent a shiver of fear down my spine.

I forced myself to meet his eyes as my heart began to pound faster.

“Do you not want a peanut butter sandwich? I can make you something else if you like?”

He was expressionless except for his eyes, which seemed to burn out of his face.

I waited, feeling my pulse flutter in my wrists and throat.

“No, I don’t want something else to eat,” he said, and his voice had dropped several octaves, until it was a harsh low whisper, and it seemed to rasp across the floor and the distance between us.

“I want a goddamn fuckingkisswhen I get home. I want you to look up from your book for two seconds. I want us to eat together. I want mywifeback. I want you tostop this bullshit. You’re driving me fucking insane with your behavior.”

I watched in horror as his long, strong fingers moved to his tie and he began to undo it, short, jerky, rough motions.

“And where is your ring?” he shot at me.

Sweat began to trickle down my back.

“It’s soaking over there,” I said. “It was kind of dirty. I don’t have to wear it all the time.”

There was a cold, dangerous silence.

“Lavender, do you think I’m fucking joking?” he snapped, stalking over to the bowl where my rings were soaking.

He raised his fist and brought it down on the delicate glass, shattering it with a horrible splintering crash.

“You think this is funny? You think I’m some fucking stable person you can do this to? You have no idea how fucking far I’ll go to keep you mine.”

He tore off his white coat, ripping at his tie, smearing blood from the shattered glass all over the fabric.

I screamed then, dropping my book as I tried to shrink back in my chair, too frozen to move as he stalked toward me.

His hands were dripping with blood from the glass, and he ran shaking fingers through his hair, smearing blood across his face, the scarlet liquid congealing in his golden blonde locks.

“You’re scaring me!” I shrieked. “What’s wrong with you?”

“You!You’re what’s wrong with me! Alix came to my officebeggingme to stop you from having sex with Reuben. I told her under no account were you going to be doing that. She wasn’t convinced. She isn’t convinced you’re going to stop.”

“I’ll stop if you stop,” I said, although I was trembling so hard I couldn’t have stood up if I tried.

His eyes darkened, two high spots of color on his cheeks as he flipped me on my belly and ripping down my skirt and panties.

The glass dropped with a chilling tinkle to the ground.

Then he delivered a massive spank to my ass, so hard it drove me face first into the chair.

“You’ve made me lose my patience, Lavender. I don’t like that.”