Page 137 of Closer

“I love you, Lil.” His voice breaks on my name. “I would do anything for you.”

Tears prick at the back of my eyes. “I know. And I care about you, Jason. I do. But I couldn’t marry you when my heart wasn’t in it.”

“Your heart was with him the whole time, wasn’t it? Every time I fucked you?” He laughs again, harsh and grating. “It was Sebastian fucking Barron.”

I don’t answer. I can’t. Because he’s right, and we both know it.

“I gave you everything.” He’s shaking now, his other hand balled into a fist at his side. “And you threw it all away for what? A guy who’s going to use you and toss you aside again?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?” He steps closer, looming over me. “Face it, Lil. You’re hislittle plaything until he gets bored and moves on to the next. But maybe that’s what you want? To be used?”

“Wha—”

His mouth collides with mine, and he forces his tongue past my lips. I try to turn my head, to break free, but he holds my jaw in place with a bruising, unyielding grip.

No. This can’t be happening. This is not him.

I shove at his chest, desperate to create space between us. He’s too strong, a brick wall.

Panic claws at my throat, and his other hand gropes my breast, squeezing hard enough to make me whine.

Hide.

I can’t breathe.

I squeeze my eyes shut, hot tears leaking from the corners.

You little brat. I knew you’re not mine.

Hands close around my neck. Harder.

I’m yanked backward, stumbling into a solid chest. An arm locks around my waistline, holding me steady. Safe.

Sebastian.

His voice is deadly calm beside my ear. “The fuck you think you’re doing, Campbell?”

Chapter 41

Sebastian

Jason sneers, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Taking what’s mine, Barron. You got a problem with that?”

My arm tightens around Lil. “She’s not yours. She was never yours.”

“Bullshit,” Jason says. “She was supposed to marry me. She would have if you hadn’t stuck your dick where it didn’t belong.”

Lil flinches in my arms. Fuck.

“Leave.” My voice turns into a low growl. “You so much as look at her wrong again, and I’ll break every bone in your body.”

He scoffs.

Lil’s soft voice reaches my ear, barely through the red haze clouding my senses. “Let me talk to him.”

What? The hell I will. Every bone in my body is on alert, my teeth gritted so hard it aches. “No fucking way.”

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