Page 81 of Wicked

“You ordered my father’s murder out of anger? How could you?”

“Easy.” He grips my arms. Hauls me over his shoulder. Drops me onto the metal chair. “It was easy to snuff out your father’s life. Earned me more respect on the outside.”

“If it’s money you’re after, I inherited money from my father.” The father he killed. “My uncle too.” The uncle his friend murdered. “It’s not much, but it’s something. Just let us go.”

“You think it’s money I want?”

He crosses his arms. Stares a hole between my eyes. At my sides, his friends snicker.

“I don’t need your money, Harper. My operation will be worthbillions. Maddox is dead. I ordered the hit. A hostile takeover is happening as we speak.”

I suck in a breath. “You’re taking over Maddox’s business?”

He smirks. “Is that what you’re calling it now? I remember hearing you say other words like ‘illegal’ and ‘not right.’ You gonna snitch on me again, Harper? Be an informant for Detective Pete Greene?”

He finally speaks the words. Levels me with the accusations only two people—Shephard and my uncle—knew of.

I can’t use my fists to save my life. There’s no way I can escape when my ankles are bound. But I can listen to Ryker’s advice. It was at the cemetery. The words said in front of my dead parents and uncle.

“The past is done and over with, Harper. It’s harsh, but accept what happened and move on. Your past defines you, no doubt. Made you the strong-as-fuck girl you are, inside and out. Made you the girl I’m falling hard for. But don’t let your past hold you back from living in the moment. Forgive who you once were. We all make mistakes.”

“I’m sorry for what I did, Sam. Sorry I played mind games. Sorry for using your feelings for me to get close to Shephard. Sorry for going behind your back. I forgive you and our friends for what you and they did. I forgive you for my father’s murder.”

Memories come rushing at me. My tears fall. His body stills.

“What Shephard said is true. We applied for a marriage license. I was so angry, Sam. You told me you’d protect me. Said you loved me. I believed you. Then you . . . You took me. Did horrible things. And I hated you for going back on your word. Of all the promises you had to break and the person you did it to, it had to be me.”

I lift my chin. Lock my eyes on his. Blink at the tears so I can see him clearly.

“What I’m not sorry for is you being my first love. Don’t take by force something I’m willing to give you freely. Let Shephard go. Promise me you won’t hurt Ryker. Give me your word and I’ll leave with you now.”

“You’ll never run away?”

“Never.”

“You’ll be mine?”

“The future Mrs. Taylor.”

“Done.”

30

Harper

Hope blossoms in my chest, but I don’t drop my guard. Sam isn’t to be trusted. Ever.

He undoes the cuffs. Pulls a knife from his back pocket and cuts off the plastic ties. He signals for the guys to leave us alone. They do. He shuts off the spotlight. Large arms wrap around me from behind, pulling me against a rock-solid body. The outline of his erection pulses thick against my back.

“Say the words. The ones your father wrote to your mother.”

His breath is warm on my neck. His fingers demanding and searching as he slips his hand inside my panties.

“Say the words that will bind us from now and forever, Harper.”

He strokes me. I resist the urge to shove his hand away.

“You are mine. I am yours. Run and I will come after you. Fight and I will hold you tight until the fight dies from you breath by breath. Love another and your world will go out with a bang.”

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