Page 81 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bride

The distance between us disappears so fast that I don’t have any time to react. His hand knocks the mug from mine, and the porcelain shatters against the wood porch. Strong fingers close around my wrist so tightly that pain slices through my forearm. He twists it up behind my back, pressing his body to mine and pinning me against the solid doorjamb. “You don’t know who you’re fucking with, sweetheart. But I’ll tell you right now, you’re going to regret it.”

I believe him.

His moves are too fluid, too well-practiced.

He’s done this before.

Many times.

He’scomfortabledoing this to people.

Which does not bode well for me being able to get the upper hand.

His grip on my wrist behind my back increases, and he uses his hold and body to try to force me back into the cabin.

Don’t let him get you back inside.

At least out here, there’s a chance to get away, somewhere to run. Hope that I can escape this madman. If he gets me inside, this doesn’t end well for me.

Vivid images of another man’s hands on me assault my brain.

Another harsh touch.

Another threat.

The day my entire life went to shit.

Those memories threaten to overwhelm me, to make me shut down when faced with another piece of shit wanting to take something that doesn’t belong to him, but the familiar sound of Silas’ truck coming down the narrow path through the trees fills my heart with a glimmer of hope.

His uncle intensifies his grip, wrenching my arm harder. Pain shoots through my shoulder and wrist, and I bite my lip to keep from crying out and giving him the satisfaction of hearing me in agony.

Instead of shoving me inside, he yanks me out onto the porch fully, putting me between him and what is sure to be a very pissed-off Silas.

Gravel flies as Silas pulls to a stop behind the SUV and throws open his door. He grabs the shotgun from the rack behind his head in the cab as he steps out. Whiskey leaps from the truck and barrels toward us, barking and snarling, only stopping because Marty uses me as a human shield.

Silas levels the gun at us. “Take your fucking hands off mywife.”

A deep chuckle sounds from directly behind my ear, Marty’s warm breath fluttering my loose hair as he tugs me closer to him. “Or what? You’re going to shoot me? Sick your dog on me? You wouldn’t dare risk hurting her, would you? Because you need her, you and Ronald.”

The mention of the family attorney makes Silas stiffen, but his gun doesn’t waver. Nor does his gaze that’s locked with my own. Of the dozens of emotions I’ve seen welling in the pale blue, the one he looks at me with now is new—a mix of panic, resolve, and something I don’t think anyone has ever shown me before.

“Come now, Silas. Did you think I wouldn’t find out what you two were up to?” Marty releases a mirthless laugh, jostling me painfully. “Ronald thought he was so smart renting a car to come up here instead of using one of the company vehicles, but he didn’t think to do it under someone else’s name.” He shakes his head, tsking in my ear. “It took me a bit to locate the right rental company and car. But once I did, it was simple enough to track the GPS and figure out where he’d gone. I knew he was up to something. Ronald never was very good at keeping secrets, but I hadn’t anticipated it beingyou,Silas.”

The way his name rolls off the older man’s tongue makes bile rise in my throat—filled with so many unspoken atrocities that made Silas into the man he is today.

Scarred. Broken. But not weak.

Never that.

Silas advances until he’s standing next to Whiskey, only a few feet from us. The dog’s low growl fills the air as he bares his teeth and snaps at Marty. But Silas’s uncle is right about one thing—Whiskey isn’t doing anything and neither is Silas. Not when I’m standing between them and their target.

He wrenches my wrist behind my back against, so hard it feels like a bone might snap—a reminder to Silas that he’s in control. I try to cry out, but my gasp of pain gets stuck in my throat.

“Whatever you and Ronald think it is you’re going to accomplish, you will fail. And I’ll make you pay for even attempting it. This is the only warning you’re going to get.”

Silas snarls at his uncle, his finger slipping closer to the trigger. “Let her go and get the fuck off my property.”

Marty shifts behind me, keeping me close while inching toward the steps that will take him down to his waiting SUV. “Somebody grew a backbone in the last fifteen years. You’re not the same little, sniveling, crying boy, begging me to stop, are you?”

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