Page 96 of Love Notes & Lifelines
“No, no it’s not,” I cry. “I kept coming back because you lied to me over and over again.”
Shut up, Stella. Shut up before he breaks you.
The old me would have stayed mute. The old me would have believed his lies, but not anymore. You can’t break what’s already shattered, but I can take those jagged edges of my heartand fight back. Emmy’s beautiful face appears in my mind, and I draw strength for that little girl.
I suck in a sharp breath. “You twisted everything until I didn’t know what the truth was anymore. You messed with my head and my heart, and you did it with the intention of breaking me, but it didn’t work.”
His hands squeeze harder, and the blinding pain steals the breath from my lungs. He has me where he wants me, quiet, pliable, weak, and he thinks he’s won because his larger body makes mine submit, but my mind will never be his victim again.
“Get off me,” I try to scream, but it’s barely a whisper. He yanks, and my scalp aches. I think he may have pulled out some of my hair.
“Oh, Stella. That’s not how this works. I gave you money so dear old brain-dead Mom here could live in this place. It almost cost me my family, so now that you’ve lured in a rich man, I want my money back, with interest.”
He runs his nose up the column of my neck, but I’m stretched so painfully I can’t release a gag. I had taken his money—I didn’t have a choice. He made sure no school would ever hire me again. He went out of his way to burn every bridge and every prospect I had for over six months, so when he offered the six months at Mindful Moments in exchange for all the incriminating evidence of our relationship, I did it.
And shame has burned me from the inside out ever since.
“Get off…”
“They’re in there,” Lucía shouts.
The sound of wood splintering is followed by a voice that doesn’t belong here. Not now. I close my eyes and every bone in my body turns to Jell-O.
“Get your goddamn hands off my wife,” Beck roars, and my entire body convulses. What’s he doing here? Oh, God. Is this another one of Silas’s punishments?
Silas releases me so quickly I fall to my knees. When I can breathe, I lift my head to find that Beck has him in a choke hold, hissing something in Silas’s ear while both men glare—at me. Silas’s is full of rage while Beck’s scans me head to toe with a different kind of rage. At me? At Silas? I can’t tell.
My head droops as the pain of this day settles into my bones and makes itself known. My arm throbs where Silas’s hands were. My neck aches, and the bile in my throat eats away at my mouth. Even my knees begin to ache from the momentum of my fall. But it’s the emotional pain of what’s to come that allows a small sob to escape.
“Beck.” I raise my hand, but my words are hoarse and quiet.
“You made a mistake touching my wife, asshole.”
Wife? What?
Beck very clearly has the advantage of height and weight, but Silas is too stupid to shut up. He’s going to ruin my life again just to watch me fall—he gets off on it.
My eyes well as I envision the inevitable outcome.
“You should have done your research,” Silas taunts. “Luckily, she’s not wearing a ring. You might have time to salvage your reputation.”
Beck releases him, but not before hitting him hard in the gut with his fist.
Silas stalks to the other side of the room, wheezing, and grinning like a serial killer.
“What are you doing here?” Each syllable that passes my lips scrapes against a new wound—the words are raw and rough.
Beck’s entire body vibrates with tense muscles that make his dress shirt pull at the seams.
A baby cries and my body responds as if I birthed her.Ruby. Where are they? Who’s with them?
“Tabby has them,” Beck answers my unasked questions. “Lucía let us in.”
“Stella, Stella, Stella,” Silas tsks. “I knew your pussy was sweet, but enchanting a millionaire with it? You must have learned some tricks in my absence because you’re nothing more than a two-dollar whore.”
In a flash, Beck’s forearm is crushing Silas’s windpipe.
“You will not talk about my wife that way, and I’m a billionaire with a B, you asshole.”
