“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You heard me. If I’m so fucking replaceable, why don’t you marry Jenica and put me out of my misery? Seeing you with her would be less painful than pretending to want to be with you after everything you’ve done to me.”
Ransome’s eyes fill with heat, but I don’t care. Maybe he’s had enough. But so have I.
“Everything I’ve donetoyou? Don’t you mean everything I’ve doneforyou?”
“Oh, because you’ve done so much,” I snap. “You’ve stripped me of my identity, scared off all my friends, isolated me from my family, and forced me to be your arm candy while getting treated like shit the whole time.”
“You are lucky I don’t reprimand you for this,” he snarls.
“Do it. At least then I’d know how you really feel.”
Ransome opens his mouth to say something else when his dad and the other men walk out of the meeting room.
“Son, if you don’t have time to see us right now, we can leave.”
“You showed up unannounced. So no, I don’t have time right now.”
“It wasn’t unannounced, son,” Anton says. “Your little secretary here should have told you about it.”
“She’s not my secretary,” he barks out, and I have to admit, it surprises me. “She’s my assistant.”
“Of course. I think you need to remind yourself of that more often, son.”
“If there is something you are implying, I suggest you just say it.” Ransome’s tone is sharp. I suddenly feel like I’m standing at the receiving end of a shooting range.
Anton’s round face stretches into a painful smile. “You may have everyone else convinced that the two of you are dating, but I see through the bullshit.”
“We kissed publicly. What more do you want?” Ransome asks.
“I’m just saying, I don’t buy it. Real passion is all about spontaneity. There is nothing less spontaneous than a public kiss, clearly staged for attention,” Anton says. And for a moment, tense silence fills the air.
I watch as Ransome and his dad have a staring contest. Then, and still without blinking, Ransome’s eyes dart over to mine. He is still livid, I can see it. Walking into a meeting was way out of line. Talking back to him was unjustifiable. Yet, if I didn’tknow any better, the way he is looking at me, the way his jaw is clenching and unclenching, I’d almost say he is going to?—
Ransome pulls me against him and his mouth crashes into mine. The kiss is so long, so deep, so utterly soul-sucking, that I melt in his arms and my hand even finds his. Then, just before he pulls away, he nips my lip. It’s discrete enough that no one sees it, but hard enough to hurt. To draw blood, even.
“Darling, will you meet me in my office in five?” he asks after pulling away.
“Yes, Mr. Rozanov.”
I make my way down the hall, my head spinning like a hurricane and my lip bleeding. It was punishment for my behavior. A warning to learn my place.
And, if I had to guess, a territorial mark to remind me who is in charge.
33
RANSOME
Beauty and the Beast, my fucking ass.
I don’t know where she gets off. After everything I do for her, everything I’ve done for her, Amara comes to work and behaves like this? It’s one thing to mouth off to me, but to act this way in front of my men, who are already pissed off about the arrangement to begin with? It’s a cannonball at a sinking ship, and I’m not going to stand for it.
After a few passive aggressive comments from my dad about holding the reins and remembering how many eyes are on me, I march off to my office like a bat out of hell. Amara is waiting for me, which is almost shocking considering her recent rebellion.
I slam the door shut.
“Where the hell do you get off?” I boom, my voice rattling the shelves.
