Page 132 of An Inconvenient Marriage
I drew back, ready and eager to pulverize his damn face.
But before I could, someone gripped me by the collar and yanked me backward with force. My attacker then hooked his arms under my armpits and held me in place. I blinked, then blinked again. And again. My vision cleared just in time to see a bloodied Trent storming toward me.
He had something in his hand, but it was only when he was a few feet away that I realized it was a baseball bat.
“You fucking piece of shit.” He swung and hit me in the gut.
My body’s instinct was to double over, but because the asshole was still holding on to me, all I could do was gasp for air.
“Today you die.” Another blow. This one harder than the first.
Something cracked and snapped. I tried to take a breath, but it was too painful.
“Be sure to say hi to your mother for me.” One more blow.
“Stop it!” Out of nowhere, Natalie charged her father, hitting him furiously. Her arms and hands a blur of limbs as she slapped him over and over.
With a curse, Trent dropped the bat and grabbed her by the throat. “You little bitch. You should have never been born.”
Trent squeezed harder. Natalie sputtered and scratched at his hands.
I had to get to her.
I tried to break free. But every twist and turn of my body sent a sharp stinging pain through my chest. Each breath nothing but a wheezing whisper escaping my lungs.
Tiredness seeped into my bones and lids. And all I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep. But I couldn’t. Natalie needed me.
I twisted and tugged some more, and when that didn’t work, I rammed my heel into Jack’s foot at the same time as I snapped my head back.
He roared in pain, and his arms finally fell away. Taking the opportunity, I vaulted across the room and drove my shoulder into Trent. The impact had him stumbling to the side, but it wasn’t enough for him to let Natalie go.
Face pale, her eyes were big and full of fear. Her breaths short, pleading gasps of air.
She was going to die.
This miserable excuse of a fucking human being was yet again going to take someone I loved.
Something stirred inside me. There was no damn way I’d let him take her. Hurrying to his desk, I snatched the first thing I could find. A letter opener. Gripping it in my hand, I sped back.
I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t blink. Just lifted my arm and plunged the sharp end into the side of his neck. With my fingers still curled around the handle, I twisted once, then pulled out the makeshift weapon and dropped it to the floor.
Blood spurted from the wound. Trent wobbled and covered it with both hands, stumbling around to face me. “What… the… fuck…?”
He toppled forward, and I took a step back. Blood seeped through his fingers and spilled onto his shirt.
Somewhere behind me, there was a muttered, “Fuck this shit,” followed by hurried footsteps.
I didn’t even have to look to know the security guard was making a run for it. I didn’t care. My focus was solely on the man in front of me.
“Don’t ever fucking touch my wife again.”
Trent fell, his face hitting the floor with a loud thud.
I reveled in that for only a second before I saw her.
Lying a few feet behind Trent’s lifeless body was the woman who owned my heart. Skin ashen and her eyes shut, she didn’t move.
I stumbled over my feet and still couldn’t get to her fast enough. Dropping to my knees, I lifted her into my arms and held her against my chest.
