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“We are prepared to do whatever needs to be done to protect what is ours, Ellery. It is part of the oath we swore. The oath you too will swear to uphold once you have my child.”
“Child?” I shake my head. “Have you lost your mind? I’m not going to have your child.”
“You will. And once you do, we will get married, and together we will inherit one of the largest, most powerful fortunes in theworld.”
I knew my trust fund had more than enough money to secure my future in this life and another. But the largest enough to warrant my father’s death?
“I’m not marrying you. And if I find out you had anything to do with my father’s death—”
“You’ll what, turn me in? Good luck. There isn’t a judge, jury, or police unit around, not under our thumb. Trust me, submission is easiest. All you have to do is open your legs, which should be easy considering you’ve had plenty of practice.”
“No!” I clench my fists and struggle to free myself once more, and when that fails, I spit on his face and scream in anger.
“Alright.” He wipes his face against the sleeve of his shirt. “I can see you want to do this the hard way.”
Wrapping both hands around my neck, he starts to choke me. As the air in my lungs thins, I claw at his hands and kick my feet. “I will take what’s mine, Ellery, whether you are awake or unconscious.”
He backhands me again and this hit is harder than the first one. My eye socket feels like it’s exploded and I taste blood in my mouth.
“He’s…going…to…kill…you,” I croak out as Royce cuts off my air.
“By he, I assume you mean Cruz.” He laughs. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but everybody’s favorite All American will not be rescuing you. Not this time.”
I manage to grip two fingers and pull them back, which allows a bit of air back in. “What did you do?”
Royce grins maniacally. “Let’s just say he has been otherwise detained.”
“Leave…him…out of this,” I rasp, fear Cruz has been hurt, or worse, making me cold.
“Leave him out of this,” he repeats mockingly. “No, I will notleave Cruz out of this. He made my job harder by getting in the way, so tonight I am taking no chances.”
“He was never in the way!” I gasp for breath as his fingers tighten around my neck again. “I was…never…yours.”
“You were.” He scoots up, all of his weight on my hips. “Your father promised your hand to me in exchange for my father keeping his secret. But I’m done waiting. Tonight I finally do what I have been waiting to do all summer. And based on your birth control pills, you are ripe for sowing, sweetness.”
“My pills?” I squeak. How the hell did he have my pills?
“Courtney may have fucked up earlier when she let you get away, but she did manage to switch out your pills and get that little camera installed in your room. She’s two for three. Better than her twin, that’s for sure.”
That’s what she was doing the day she hosted the party at my house…she was in my room?
“Starting to click now, huh?” Royce grins. “Good. Since it is, let me tell you…those recordings from your room…shit, you’ve got some moves on you Elle. The way you suck a dick…mm-mmm,” he shakes his head. “It’s a thing of beauty.”
The idea that Royce, Courtney, and lord knows who else, has watched some of Cruz and I’s most intimate moments, makes me sick to my stomach.
I start to heave, my stomach rising and falling, and realizing what I’m about to do, Royce lets go of my neck. I double over and vomit in the sand. Food and bile pools next to my head, and when I roll back over, gasping for breath, my lungs cling to the rush of air.
“Oh Ellery.” He reaches for my hair and pushes it off my face, and at first I think it’s because he’s trying to help me. But when I feel him wrapping it around his fist, while using his other hand to unzip his shorts, I know he’s not trying to help me at all. He’s trying to help himselftome.
Curling my hand into a tight fist, I jab at his face, hitting hard under his jaw. His teeth snap as his head whips back and when he falls to the side, it gives me enough room to knee him in the balls. He groans and doubles over and I push up quickly and run.
Leaving the shadows, I step into the night, and yell, hoping someone will hear me. “Help!” I shout while running.
I get no further than a few feet when I slam right into a wall. Only, it’s not a wall. It’s a broad chest, worked out to a steel like hardness.
“Little sis, you okay?” Cruz’s friend Cal asks with concern.
I look over my shoulder, watching as Royce struggles to get to his feet. “I need to get out of here.”
