Page 99 of We'll Meet Again

He stopped right in front of her, towering over her, a dangerous gleam in his eye. The corner of his mouth kicked up into a smirk. “You’ve got no proof.”

“I do,” she said. “I’ve got it on my phone now, and all I’ve got to do is send it to Ethan’s agent.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Do that, and you’re fired.”

“Fire me, then. I don’t care. I won’t let you take this chance from him.”

She started to move past him but he stopped her, snatching her arm.

“I’m warning you, Billie.”

He squeezed so hard, his fingers felt like irons. She winced and tried to pull free of his grasp, to no avail.

“Let me go,” she said with more confidence than she felt.

“I won’t let you ruin this for me.”

“And I’ve already said I won’t let you take Ethan’s dream from him.”

“He never has to know the difference.”

“I’ll know!” she cried. “And beyond Ethan’s fate, what you’re doing is wrong! How many others have you prevented from moving?”

“That’s none of your concern,” he snapped. “Give me your phone.”

“No.”

“Billie -”

“No, you are so selfish,” she went on. “You say you want what’s best for this club, but you’re only looking out for yourself! These athletes aren’t even people to you! The only thing you care about is how things make you look, you prick!”

“Watch your mouth!”

“Fuck you!”

The heavy impact of Tony’s palm on her cheek sent her reeling, the sound cracking like a whip through the empty office. Pain exploded beneath the left side of her face as she stumbled backward and fell to the floor. Her skin stung and her flesh throbbed. Did she cry out? She didn’t know, the sound of her blood rushing drowned out anything else. Until her scalp began to burn and she realized Tony was hauling her back up, but only to her knees.

“Where’s your phone?” he demanded.

“Fuck you!” she cried again.

He spied it in her back pocket and made a grab for it, but she was too quick for him. She turned her body around so it was on the floor and out of his reach. His fingers released her hair, but she wasn’t able to breathe a sigh of relief. He pinned her beneath him with his forearm across her collarbones. Dangerously close to her throat.

“This doesn’t have to be difficult,” he said. “Hand it over.”

“Get off me!”

A wild struggle ensued. He grabbed at her again and she did her best to shove him away - by his chest, his shoulders, his face, whatever she could reach. Unfortunately, Tony was strong - much stronger than Billie, and he was able to force her to turn her body. But she was faster than him, so she grabbed her phone out of her pocket and hurled it across the office. It slid to a stop just in front of the door. With a growl, he shoved her down and got to his feet. Billie remained on the floor and grabbed him around the ankles. With a cry, and every ounce of strength she could muster, she tugged him back down. He hit the carpet with a heavy thud.

“Goddammit!” he huffed, and kicked at her.

She dodged his shoes by centimeters. There wasn’t enough time to get all the way up, so she crawled as fast as she could to try and get past him, but he didn’t let her. Seizing her painfully by the thigh, he yanked her back towards him. With her free leg, she shoved her knee into his ribs, but he used the momentum to cage her underneath him once more.

She struck out at his face with an open palm, but he caught her wrist. He saw the other one coming, and grabbed that as well, securing them over her head. Before she could knee him in the groin, he sat on her legs, his weight totally immobilizing her.

“Let me go!” she demanded.

“You know I’m not going to do that,” he replied through a ragged breath.

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