Page 15 of Breaking the Annulment

Dead silence rang through the phone. Finally, voice as cold as ice, David replied, “You’re making a mistake, Giannopoulos. She’s been mine for a long time. Nothing you say or do is going to change that.”

Michalis ended the call abruptly. Turning toward the exit, he pulled Aurelia close, uncaring of how it looked, and growled in her ear, “You can walk out of here, or I can carry you out, it’s your choice.”

“Let me go!” she hissed. She tried to twist away, but his arms locked around her like a steel cage.

“Wrong choice.”

Before she had time to process the threat, he released his hold on her long enough to bend down, shoulder to her waist, arms locked around her thighs and lifted. Over his shoulder she went, like a bale of hay, stiff and unbending. She grabbed his hair and yanked. Hard.

“Put me down!”

“You’re only making this worse for yourself,” he growled.

He walked over to the cashier like he was taking a leisurely stroll. Unhurried. Controlled. He held up the phone. “This is mine now,” he snapped, tossing a wad of bills on the counter. Without further explanation, he carried Aurelia outside.

Her heart pounded so violently she feared she’d pass out. Behind the sedan, she spotted his limo, tinted windows making it impossible to see inside. The night air was suffocating as he dumped her into the back seat. She landed on the plush leather, her breath coming out in a loud “whoosh”.

Michalis slid in after her, slamming the door.

“We’re in,” he barked, voice cool. “Take us home.”

“Yes, sir. You want the divider up?”

The moment Michalis nodded, the partition came up, cutting off one more avenue of escape. No one was coming to her rescue. If she didn’t do something in the next two seconds, she would be trapped in the back with an angry predator. She could see it in every taut line of his hard frame. He was ready to pounce.

As the limo peeled away from the gas station, Aurelia lunged for the door. Michalis caught her around the waist, dragging her back, this time onto the seat, right between his legs.

Aurelia closed her eyes,dread mingling with a faint, traitorous ache between her legs. She’d managed a glimpse of freedom, but at what cost?

Tears of shame fell, unchecked, down her cheeks. She stared out the window, refusing to acknowledge her captor or the furious beating of her heart.

As the limo sped toward the house, the tension between them pulsed and grew like a living thing; a dark promise that neither of them could break.

“You think you can just run away again?” he growled, eyes burning with rage. “And call your precious boyfriend for help?”

Tears of shame morphed into rage. “You can’t keep me locked away! I have every right to go home!"

She started to pull away, but he grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her head back toward his chest, silencing her protest with a brutal, angry kiss. At that angle, she could offer no resistance. Off-balance, she threw her hands out to the side to steady herself. Immediately, she realized her mistake. His thighs were rock hard beneath her touch. She could feel every muscle flex at her touch.

She yanked her hands away like they’d been burned.

He chuckled, ending the kiss and abruptly releasing her.

She scrambled to the seat across from him, as far away as she could get. They sat for several minutes, their labored breathing the only sound in the car.

“You defy me at every turn,” he growled. “What did you think would happen if I caught you?”

Her pulse thudded painfully. “It doesn’t matter?—”

“I think it does,” he said, almost too quietly.

She pulled her gaze from the passing scenery to glare at him. “Think whatever you want, then.”

He smiled coldly. “You knew I would come after you. I told you if you ran, I would chase you, so what did you think was going to happen when I found you?”

She crossed her arms defensively. “Obviously, I didn’t think you were going to catch me. If I did, I wouldn’t have run, now, would I?”

He crossed his arms, mirroring her. “Consider the consequences now, then. What are you anticipating, now that I have, in fact, caught you red-handed, and not only running, but contacting another man?”

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