Page 138 of Reveal

Bile revolts in my stomach and threatens to rise.

“They know I’m here. I’m supposed to meet with them afterward. I’m—”

“To discuss me?” He laughs. “You naive cunt. Do you really think they’re going to let a whore like you off the hook after they get what they want from me? Do you really think they’re not going to take credit for whatever it is you told them? Throw you into the fire to get all the glory?”

His words strike fear in me, much the same as how Noah and Abel made me feel, but so very different because of what he wants to do to me.

“I don’t care who gets the credit so long as you get what you deserve.”

I yelp when his hand smacks against my cheek. The sting on my cheekbone is real and painful, and it takes a minute for me to steady myself.

“Why couldn’t you just play as perfectly into my plan as Ryker did, huh?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Do you know how easy it was for Bianca to sell him on representing her? To pretend that she hates me and wanted a divorce? Us both vying for him to take us on as clients? He washed that money perfectly clean for us. What better place to hide the money we received than to give it as a retainer for a bogus case? And to top it all off, your little boyfriend helped to investigate me for her.” His laugh sounds off.

“I don’t . . .” My mind spins with the notion that they used Ryker. How we played perfectly into their hands without ever knowing it.

“His investigating me was our little measure to see if anyone else was noticing our scheme. Ryker has one of the best investigators out there, so if he couldn’t sniff out the bribe, then no one could. Besides, it allowed him to gain a few billable hours for his trouble, so when he returned the remainder of our retainer, it didn’t look like a perfect two mil.”

I just stare at him, lips lax and thoughts racing as I try to fathom what they did. And I’m sure the haze of fear being here, in this situation, doesn’t help to expedite my thought process.

He grins. “It’s pretty brilliant, if I do say so myself.”

“So that was the game?” I ask, dumfounded by their disposal of people. “Use him to hide your bribe?”

“Mmm. What we didn’t plan on is you and the call log.” He runs a hand up the side of my torso, and I fight to remain calm.

“You piss off enough people, betray them, someone’s bound to return the favor,” I say, finding my resolve.

“Exactly.” His chuckle sends fear ricocheting through me. “I’m returning the favor to you right now.”

With my hands still cuffed in one of his and his forearm pressed against my shoulders, pinning me to the wall, he slides a hand between my thighs.

My entire body tenses.

“Oh, this is going to be fun.”

This is real.

So real.

The tears come. The random babbling as his fingers dig into me through the fabric of my clothes. I scream for help. For him to stop. But every movement, every show of fight, has him growing harder against my leg.

I can smell my own terror in the room almost as certainly as I can smell his arousal, and both make me dizzy and nauseous.

“Will Ryker still want you when I’m through with you?” His voice is a growl in my ear. “He’s not really into used things—that’s why Bianca and I had so much fun using him. Nothing like showing the best attorney in all of New York that he’s far from fucking invincible. First with the representation and now with what I’m going to do to you.”

I grit my teeth and fist my hands as I try with every ounce of my being to push him off me.

“Will you cry when I fuck you?” He lifts a brow. “I think you will. All tough on the outside but not an ounce of strength when shit gets real.” He presses a kiss to my lips as I buck my head back and forth. “Will you fight me? Will you lock your legs around my waist and try to prevent me from ruining you?” He yanks my skirt off me, the expensive fabric giving way without an ounce of fight. “I love the sound of a hand hitting flesh . . . it turns me on. So go ahead and hurt. I’ll get off on it.”

This time he shoves his tongue inside my mouth, and I make a conscious decision to let him. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but chomping down as hard as I can on it is probably the most satisfying.

He cries out and lets go of me as a reflex to the pain I’ve caused him.

I make my move. The door is too far away, and I’d have to go through him to get there, so I run to the nightstand, my sights set on the lamp.