Page 146 of Burn

Maybe Nixon never planned on taking it this far until Caleb taunted him at the bar. I think if Caleb wouldn’t have reacted that way, then, and in the lobby of the hotel, maybe Nixon would have let it go. But no one could have predicted how unstable Nixon really is.

My whole body shakes as I squeeze my eyes, the angry tears spilling over.

When I open my eyes, Nixon’s kneeling in front of me, his hand moves to the side of the chair, his gun shoved inside the front of his suit.

I hope it goes off and shoots his dick off.

“Stay away from me!” I scream, trying to kick at him again, but his hand over my mouth cuts off my voice. I struggle against the rope around my hands, burning and scraping against my skin.

“Come on, Mila, you know you want me. You know I can give you a life he can’t.” His whisper is low as he parts my legs and wraps his hands around my backside, moving my hips to the edge of the chair and forcing himself hard against me.

I want to puke. He’s hard!

“He’ll never give you what I’m capable of.”

Sick fuck. My heart’s thundering rhythm keeps me from speaking.

“You know it’s true, Milena.” When I don’t respond, his frustration gets to him, his tone vibrating through my entire body, shaking my bones. “Tell me you know it’s true.”

I’m not going to allow him to takeanythingfrom me. Not when my mind drifts to whatcanbe taken from me now. Caleb.

“I’m never going to give you what you want.” I wince when his left hand grabs a fistful of my hair. “Never.”

“You know you want this,” he whispers in my ear, placing a kiss on my neck. I want to bleach my skin now. “You just won’t admit it. We could be amazing together.”

“Don’t touch me, you . . . delusional fuck!”

He laughs; it’s both sinister and sarcastic. “Why him? Because he’s some kind of hotshot firefighter?” His brow raises. “He left his brother to die in a fire. What do you think he’s going to do to you?”

He knows about the fire? Jesus Christ. I clearly underestimated bankers.

“It has nothing to do with him,” I growl. “It’s because I don’t want you touching me.”

Nixon’s face crumbles into deep ridges of disbelief. “You just don’t know what you’re missing.”

“See.” I push myself back away from him, knocking the chair over and kicking him as hard as I can between the legs. “That’s where you’re wrong. I fucked your dad, pretty sure I know what the Shaw boys are all about.”

He stands, though he’s hunched over in pain, his hands on his knees. “You shouldn’t have done that, Mila,” he warns me, taking the gun out of his pants. And I can’t understand how it didn’t go off when I kicked him. Maybe that shit only happens in the movies. “Now you’ve pissed me off.”

Straightening his posture and the jacket of his black suit, his eyes become a little darker. He sniffs, his knuckles sweeping over his bottom lip, his forehead scrunching as he speaks. When he’s closer, I can instantly feel the heat as he reaches forward and flicks his lighter and holds the open flame against my desk. “I came here for one thing. I want you and well, if you’re not going to give it to me, I can either take it or leave you to suffer the consequence of the denial.”

“Did you honestly think you had a chance with me?” The spark from the lighter catches the paperwork on my desk but doesn’t burn quickly. And then the spark catches and my desk envelopes in angry flames. What the fuck is it made of? Lighter fluid?

Nixon steps back from the desk smoldering in flames, heating the room and me ten feet from it. “Last chance.”

Remember when I said you never really know someone? This is precisely the bullshit I’m talking about.

When I don’t accept his invitation, Nixon shakes his head. “I could have given youeverything,but you’re too stupid to know it.”

I hate his smile.

I hate his eyes.

I hate that he called me stupid.

I hate that my father trusted him and his family.

They grow darker as firelight spills behind him. He takes a step my direction. Gently, his palm finds my cheek, but there’s nothing gentle about this man. I know that now. Leaning in, his mouth moves toward my ear again and his grip increasing on my arms, squeezing until I wince at the pressure.

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