AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘What are we really doing here?’ I asked, joining him at the full-length window.
He turned to me, his face impossible to read. ‘Brunch. You should wear the white dress.’
Oh.
Shit.
How fucking stupid was I? I caught my reaction before my face conveyed it, tamped it down quickly and trapped it.
Thewhitedress.
The trip to Vegas.
The last-minute plans.
‘Why are we here?’ I repeated, my chest a carved-out hollow because I already knew the answer. Dornan didn’t answer. He opened my overnight bag and pulled out the white dress, handing it to me with an air of finality.
The dress in one hand, I stared down at Las Vegas Boulevard and wondered, if I ran at the glass hard enough, would it break and let me fall to my bloody death fifty floors below? I handed it back. Dornan laid the dress out on the bed instead, smoothing out the creases.
‘Your father would never allow this,’ I said, staring at the dress Dornan had arranged. I didn’t have my burner phone with me. I couldn’t call John. Fuck! I needed to call John.
Right.
Now.
Dornan smirked, standing before me and tugging the hem of my dress. I resisted, holding on to that hem with everything I had. Dornan raised his eyebrows and took hold of my wrists, squeezing them just enough to show his strength.
‘Allow what?’
I rolled my eyes, trying to shake his grip off, but he was having none of it. He tightened his fingers around my wrists, and they throbbed in protest.
‘A trip to Vegas. A white dress. Look at what you’re wearing!’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe we’re going to have a nice dinner.’
‘It’s the middle of the morning,’ I shot back. My wrists were on fire. There’d be marks on them tonight.
‘Maybe we’re going to have a nicebrunch,’ Dornan said, his jaw tensed, his demeanour no longer amused. Now he just looked fed up.
‘I’m not marrying you,’ I said, the words out of my mouth before I could think twice.
He slapped me across the face so hard I tasted blood. My wrists were free, though, and purely on instinct I punched him in the face, as hard as I could.
Right in the nose.
The nose that John had broken the night before.Teamwork.
Blood exploded from his face and he stepped back, cupping his hands over his nose. All I could see were his eyes – black, cold, determined. The pain of my blow hadn’t angered him, or so it seemed. No, it seemed that the violence had only strengthened his resolve.
He took his hands away and blood dripped onto his shirt, a chilling grin spreading across his face. His nose was bent slightly, and red.
Oh, Jesus. I was going to pay for that.
He came at me like a fucking CIA operative: blunt, fast, effective. He grabbed my hair and yanked, spinning me until I was in his arms. Before I could break free, he had his arms locked around my neck, squeezing against my carotid artery, and within a matter of seconds, the room went black.
***
I woke up on the plush carpeted floor of the limousine we’d travelled in to Vegas. I had no idea how I’d gotten there, or how long I’d been there. I had some drool on my cheek. I wiped it away, craning my head to take in the dimly lit interior of the car.
