Page 52 of Love Bites
She said nothing.
“Yes, a fling is always healthy—something one needs to get out of their system.”
“What?!”
“I’m glad you found a way to get out your frustrations. An affair is normal, but now, it’s time for you to come back to your life.”
Katheryn glared at him incredulously. She could hardly believe what he was saying. A fling was healthy in a relationship? What the hell? She shook her head.
“No, Hunter, I willnotgo with you. You cheated on me, and I’m not going back to that. I deserve better. I don’t want you anymore. I thought I made it clear we were over when I tried pelting you with that lamp.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Although your actions were childish, I’m willing to look past them, considering they were done in anger.”
“Childish?Childish?! Are you serious?”
“Yes, ‘throwing tantrums and running away’ is childish. But I’ve found you, and I’m here to take you back to our life together.”
“What part of ‘I’m not going back with you’ did you not understand? Because it wasn’t a joke, Hunter,” she practically shouted at him, drawing the attention of people on the street. “We. Are. Done. Now, leave me alone and go back to your mansion.”
She turned to give him the cold shoulder and hailed a passing cab.
Suddenly, his hand gripped her forearm...tightly.
“Katheryn,darling, you’re causing a scene. Come with me, and we will discuss this.” He tugged her arm, but she wrenched free of his grasp.
“Don’t touch me!” she shouted. “I’m not a child throwing a tantrum, Hunter. I’m a grown woman, and I make my own goddamn decisions. I don’t want to be with you anymore. That’s all there is to it.”
Anger flared in the depths of his eyes. He grabbed her arm again, squeezing it hard enough to make her wince. She bit the inside of her mouth to avoid crying out. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cower, however. She tugged her arm and glared at him.
“Hunter, let go of me!”
“We’re leaving. Now.”
A black car idled near the sidewalk, a true testament to how shocked she’d been at the sight of Hunter to ignore a car that rich. The back door was flung open and he tugged her against his side, half-dragging her as he walked.
She dug in her heels, yanking against his iron grip but he was stronger than she’d given him credit for. His arms wrapped tightly around her and she barely even had time to scream for help as he shoved her into the backseat.
“Hunter, you son of a bitch, let me go!”
She fell against the leather interior and kicked out her legs with all her might. Panic and fear threatened to choke her, but she didn’t give in. She couldn’t. She had to get away from him.
Because if he was able to find her with a few calls and was risking taking her, she feared what else he would do. She never realized before, too blinded by her parents’ wishes and the love she thought she had for him, but there was something dark in his gaze. Something dangerous.
Something that threatened harm.
“Let me out of the car this instant!” She kept her voice firm with the demand so he couldn’t hear the underlying fear beneath.
“Be quiet, Katheryn. The journey is going to be rather long, and I would prefer to get through it without your hysterics,” he stated. straightening the cuff of his suit.
“You bastard,” she snarled. “Why can’t you understand I don’t want to be with you anymore?”
“Because that’s foolishness,” he replied. “You and I both know where you and your family would be without me. You’d be facing the poor house, homeless, begging for scraps on the street. You’re nothing without me, and you’re mine. I do not plan on giving you up.”
Katheryn stared at him in disbelief. “We weren’t doing that bad! I had a job, and so did my parents. I needed only a few more years working at the lab to pay off our debts, then we would have been free of stress.”
Hunter laughed. “No, you wouldn’t have been free. Only death could have freed your debt. Apparently, your parents hadn’t told you just how far into it they were. They were about to lose their house, you were about to behomeless.”
“You’re lying,” Katheryn whispered. She didn’t believe him. How could she?
