Page 94 of The One Night Match
“She needs to pay for what she’s done. She needs to lose everything the way I did.”
“I lost everything too!” Riley cries. “I couldn’t fucking walk for weeks. I lost my family’s respect because I cost them the deal with your family. And I lost my ability to trust men.”
“Shut up!” Jeremy screams, slamming the butt of the gun to her temple and tearing a scream from her throat.
Her body crumples against his, but he tightens his hold on her to stop her from dropping to the ground. Not because he cares about hurting her, but because the second she drops, Davis or Hugo will shoot to kill. It’s in his best interest to hold Riley up.
“Stupid bitch,” he mutters, repositioning the gun against her head.
Her eyes blink open and closed as she teeters on the edge of consciousness. I’m desperate to have her in my arms, to hold her and make sure nothing and no one can ever hurt her again, to make sure she’s not seriously injured, but I remain rooted in place.
“And what’s your play, Monica? Your stepfather will be executed shortly, your mother banished from the family, and if you’ve aided in my wife’s kidnapping, you’ll be lucky to meet either of those fates.”
“Once she’s out of the picture, I’ll take her place as your wife.”
A laugh tears from my throat, because in what reality would I ever marry her? She’s lost her fucking mind if she thinks I’ll ever let her touch me. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure the orange monster that moved himself into my house will have someone new to torment, and I doubt she’d like her designer dresses being peed on just because the mood struck him. “You can’t seriously believe that I would ever entertain that idea when you orchestrated my wife’s kidnapping.”
She purses her lips. “At least it would be a real marriage, unlike the arranged nonsense the two of you have.”
I chuckle. “Monica, I’m going to say this slowly, so you hear me clearly. I love Riley. Not because I have to. Not because we have an arranged marriage, and it’s expected of me. Not for any other reason than that she’s the single best thing that’s ever happened to me. There is no moving on from her. There is no finding a new wife. If I lose Riley, that’s it for me. I’m done.”
I’m walking a fine line between dropping the mask I wear for the rest of the world, while making sure Monica knows if she doesn’t fall in line, that she’s going to meet a fate similar to that of her stepfather.
“So please tell me again how I’m going to marry you if Jeremy takes my wife from me. Because let me tell you something, I will burn this fucking world to the ground to get her back. There isn’t a line I won’t cross or a person I won’t kill to bring my wife back to me.”
Silence falls over the clearing, the sound of rain hitting the forest floor the only sound as Monica processes what I’ve said,and I turn my attention back to Jeremy, only to see Riley staring back at me, a fresh set of tears falling against her cheeks.
“I love you,” she whispers, but she may as well be shouting the words by the way my heart clenches in my chest.
Jeremy opens his mouth, but he never gets the chance to say anything. Riley uses her body to shove them both backward, her eyes locked with mine as the edge of the hill gives way beneath them and they both go tumbling down the steep ridge toward the raging ravine below.
I’m too shocked to move for a moment before my body kicks into action and I sprint toward the edge, only to grind to a halt as a gunshot fills the forest.
FIFTY
RILEY
Something about hearing the lengths Cruz will go to for me gives me the strength to do the stupidest possible thing I can do.
Or at least that’s how it will look to everyone else standing in the clearing.
My body is weak, my vision blurred from the hit to the head, and Jeremy is seconds away from opening fire on everyone, something I refuse to allow.
This is my mess, my problem that I brought to Cruz’s doorstep, and I won’t allow anyone else to get hurt because of my past.
I use every ounce of strength I have left, which admittedly, isn’t very much, and shove Jeremy backward, catching him off guard.
He stumbles slightly, and I push harder. The edge of the hill is just a few steps away, and all I have to do is get us there.
The ground beneath our feet begins to give way, and my heart lodges itself in my throat as I give one final shove and Jeremy’s feet slip in the mud.
His hold on me tightens like he thinks it will stop him from going over, but he clearly doesn’t realize I intend to go down right alongside him.
The mud beneath us crumples, and before I can take my next breath, we’re sliding down the steep hill.
A sharp stone slices into my leg, but I’m so cold at this point I’m past feeling pain. I’m past feeling much of anything, really. Sticks and mud cling to me as we slide toward the ravine, and I desperately try to dislodge him.
Jeremy grabs at me, trying to hold on to me so I can’t escape, but in the process, he loosens his hold on his gun.
