I flinch, but a second later, a strong set of arms wraps tight around my waist.
“Don’t you talk to her.” George’s voice is low. Menacing.
But my guess is that Karl Newton is used to dominating the room,and he assumes that the child of his business associate will always be cowed by him.
My father keeps his glare on me. “The only reason she didn’t go through with it is because she gotjealous. Jealous of my wife and son. And Charlotte thought she could use you for a payout.” He sneers. “Don’t pretend like you’re not desperate for my money. Just like she was.”
The comforting hold of George’s arms disappears, but only so he can step forward, snatch my father’s collar, and slam him against the closest wall.
Honestly, what is most impressive about the move is that the closest wall is, in fact, another set of floor-to-ceiling windows. And George stands inches away from the glass, too enraged by my father to notice how close he is to the edge.
“Never again. You willneverspeak to her again.” George’s knuckles crack as he clenches his free hand into a fist at his side. “Or I will ruin that fucking nose job everyone knows you got. And then I’ll tell Shawn every single thing that you’ve said to her. You will lose your son. Don’t doubt that for a second. Because he loves Beth more than you.”
My heart clenches hard in my chest.
“Put me down now!” Karl sputters, his face turning reddish purple.
It’s not a good look for him.
“Release him, George!” Mr.Bunsen shouts, to no avail.
“Do you understand?” George presses, ignoring his father and keeping his hold tight.
“Fine!” Karl gasps.
George relaxes his grip, and my father slides down the glass, gasping and choking.
“Let’s go, Beth.” George is at my side, his hand pressed gentlyagainst my lower back. A vast difference compared to how he was manhandling Karl Newton.
“You’re making a mistake,” Mr.Bunsen snarls after us. “I thought your marriage to Annabel was bad. But taking up withheris a new low.”
Shock crystallizes into icy dread, although it doesn’t freeze me in place. George ignores his father’s words, guiding me out of the room and down the hall toward the elevators. We walk silently. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but I sure as hell only have one thought in mine.
Annabel is George’s ex-wife?
Chapter
34
“Am I revenge?”I wait until we’re back in our hotel room to ask the vulnerable question.
George blinks at me, as if I spoke in a language he doesn’t know and needs to decipher.
“What?”
I lean a hip against the desk in our hotel room and cross my arms over my chest. Even knowing the posture screams defensiveness, I can’t force my muscles to ease.
“I’m trying not to take what our fathers said at face value, because both of them suck ass. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t sometimes right. So tell me, did you want me to be your date to this wedding as some subtle ‘fuck you, I’m doing fine’ to your ex-wife?”
Shawn called George’s ex Elle. Must be short for Annabel. The idea that he’s just using me hurts like I walked straight into a spinning propeller.
“No!” George is in front of me, his large hands grasping my shoulders, a tinge of panic in his slate eyes. “That was some bullshit my dadfabricated. I asked you to come as my date because you’re the only one I ever want at my side.” His hands slide up to cradle my cheeks. “In the air, on the ground, I want it to be you.”
My heart gives a pathetic flutter and thump. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”
George’s mouth twists. “I forgot.”
“You…forgot you were married?”
