Page 3 of The Penalty

“Not a chance. Don’t you know anything about that family? The dad is some shady hedge fund guy. I invested—”

“Enough.” I rammed his head into the wall again.

“You really haven’t changed at all, have you. Still the same hot-headed prat. No wonder you need therapy.”

“Fuck you.”

His strangled laugh sent a chill through me. “Millie told me how you’d choke her like this. Squeeze until she almost passed out when you shagged her. She hated that.”

A familiar wild energy coursed through my veins. For years I’d stopped it from swallowing me whole.

Not tonight.

I let go of his neck and punched him in the stomach, relishing his shocked grunt even though my hand flared in pain.

“You will listen to me now.” I grabbed his neck again, shoving him back against the wall. “Stay away from Victoria. And admit what you did to Charlotte.”

“You’re delusional,” he cackled. “I didn’t do anything to her that you didn’t do to Millie.”

“This is where your lies will come back to haunt you. We both know I never did anything to Millie. But you did. Just like you did to Charlotte.” I squeezed his neck harder. “You can’t hide behind your family name and your money forever. I don’t fucking care if it takes me fifty years. I will destroy you.”

“Not before I destroy you first.” Jordan’s voice didn’t sound as confident as before. “You’re not squeaky clean either. Taking advantage of Millie. Manipulating her so you could act out all your fucked up fantasies.”

“It wasn’t like that and you know it.”

“Oh no? What would you call it then? Coercion? Never did learn how to control your urges. Looks like Bennet wasn’t able to teach you everything.”

Another punch to the gut should shut him up. Pain burned through my hand the second it slammed into his stomach but I smiled when he gulped in a few breaths and couldn’t speak.

“Watch yourself, Maddox,” he wheezed. “You never know what can crawl out of the shadows and bring the past back to life.”

“More empty threats? Looks like you haven’t changed either.”

“Not threats. Promises.” A sinister grin pulled at his mouth. “You’re nothing. Just some pretty boy footballer who thinks he’s the anointed one.”

You’re nothing.

Never have two words filled me with more rage than those.

You’re nothing.

I squeezed his neck harder. My lips curled in distaste. “You hurt the woman I love. You’re the reason her twin isn’t alive. I’m going to enjoy torturing you wherever and whenever the opportunity arises.”

Terror flashed through Jordan’s eyes before unbridled anger emerged.

There’s no turning back now. I’ve ignited something dangerous.

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” he said in a deceptively calm tone.

“Yes I do,” I responded just as serene.

He tipped his head forward. “I know your weakness now. I’ll find her. And it’ll be more than a simple phone call next time.”

“Touch her and it’ll be my fucking pleasure to put an end to your shitty existence.”

“Try and st—”

This time when I slammed his head into the wall, I knocked him out.

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