“Of all the women I could’ve been with, I chose you.”He jabs a finger at my chest, forcing me back.“I’m marrying you, for God’s sake!How is that not enough?”
My back hits the wall.“Get your finger out of my face!”I slap his hand away.“It’s over.No wedding.No us.I’m done.”
He grabs my left hand, crushing it.“Done?Do you know how many women would kill for this ring?”His eyes widen on my bare finger.“Where is it?You dare guilt-trip me when you’re not even wearing it?”
“I was wearing it.”I yank my hand free.“But I threw it away.”
Satisfaction dies instantly as his face contorts.
“You threw it away?”His hand snaps around my throat.
I gasp.Air vanishes.
His face is inches from mine, breath rancid.“That ring cost more than you’ll make in your pathetic lifetime.And you threw it away like trash?!”
“Same way you threw our love away,” I rasp.
He pulls me from the wall only to slam me back against it.My head hits the drywall.
I bite my lip to stifle a cry.
“You’ve gone too far,” he hisses in my ear.
“Let go!”I claw at his wrist, nails digging deep.
His grip loosens.I suck in a desperate, ragged gasp.
“You fucked with the wrong guy, sweetheart.”He barely notices my struggles.“I don’t give a shit if it takes you all night.You are going back and fetching my ring.”
I turn my head, but he grabs my chin, fingers digging into my cheeks to force me to look at him.
His brown eyes burn with contempt.“Pray you find it.Because if you don’t, I will come for everything.And you can kiss that little café of yours goodbye.”
“I knew it!”I choke out.“I knew it was only a matter of time before you used that loan against me.”
“You’re the heartless bitch who threw away the engagement ring I gave you.”He releases my face, lip curling.“Who the fuck do you think you are?!”
“Not sure anymore.”My chin wobbles.“But I’m no longer yours.You don’t deserve me.You deserve to drown in filthy hookups with your pathetic, interchangeable women—”
His hand whips out.
Pain explodes.A blinding flash of white.
He hit me.
The thought reverberates through numbed senses.
“Don’t ever forget your place,” he warns, his chest heaving.“And don’t think for a second you’ll dictate how this goes down.”
He hit me.
The words repeat.A broken record.
Shame swells in my throat.
Can’t breathe.
Can’t speak.
