Page 71 of The Forbidden Bodyguard

STELLA

––––––––

I collapse to the floor and sob my heart out when I hear them leave.

His kiss.

It means everything.

My hand touches my lips, wondering, knowing, if it will be the last time Declan ever kisses me. Or ever holds me.

Sucking in air between my sobs, I grieve what might have been between us. Grieving the life I’m about to give up. My home. My hopes and dreams, friends, career.

My beautiful, clever best friend, Charlotte.

All of it is over.

Tony is a cruel and dangerous man. Those few minutes with him at his estate told me everything I needed to know about him. He’s ruthless, cold, and I’m just a toy to him. Any hope of getting divorced dissolves as the tears pour out of me.

He’s been following me. Watching me.

No one can save me, not even three special forces men—two of them Navy SEALs.

One of them...one of them is the man I’ve fallen in love with.

How stupid of me.

After this, there is no way he’d consider me stable enough to date, even if some miracle did occur, and I don’t blame him.

I cannot waste my time dreaming. Dad has requested, no demanded, that I meet with him at his home office tomorrow mid-morning to discuss the wedding day and all the expectations.

Including the rules from thereon in.

Rules.

My wedding day.

My sobs turn to retching. I scramble to my feet and run to the bathroom where I throw up and bawl my heart out at the same time.

This can’t be happening.

Yet it is.

And there’s no way out of this horrible and terrifying nightmare.

Now Declan is gone.

––––––––

MY EYES FLICK open the next morning, and for half a second I begin to smile. Declan’s gorgeous face is front and center as I feel his lips on mine, his grip on my hips as he presses inside—

Then reality crashes down on my chest, and I let out a guttural cry.

Oh God.

My body trembles, and I curl up into a ball, hoping this is all a bad dream.

It isn’t.