Page 23 of Her Billionaire Hero
“If I don’t have you on my side, defending me, then I have nothing.” Pulling me toward him, he licked his lips. “Sloan, I really need you, baby. I’ve never needed you the way I do now.”
“No.” I put my free hand on his chest to stop him from pulling me any closer. “Not that way. Let me go.”
He released me and I took a step back as he nodded. “No sex. I get it. You never were into it much anyway.”
And for good reason!
I was sick and tired of keeping my mouth shut about why I couldn’t stand for him to touch me, much less have sex with him. “Once I knew about your affair with my mother, it changed things for me. It was obvious I was her replacement. A look-alike. You never loved me—you loved her.”
One brow cocked as he narrowed his eyes. “I lovedyou, Sloan Rivers. I marriedyou—gaveyoumy name. I wanted to have children withyou.”
It felt like I’d been punched. “That’s not my fault.”
“Well, it’s certainly not mine.”
The truth was that neither of us ever went to the doctor to check our fertility. But I wasn’t going to have that fight right now. “Look, this isn’t the time, Preston. I’ve got plans. So, I’m sorry that your day sucked. Mine wasn’t a hell of a lot better.”
“Oh, were you accused of a heinous crime?” He slumped onto my sofa, his head in his hands.
I hated myself for being such a soft-hearted person sometimes. But I sat beside him and put my hand on his slumped shoulder. “I know you didn’t do this. I know you. And if you want, I’ll go talk to the authorities tomorrow and tell them that I know you’re innocent.”
Lifting his head, he smiled. “You would do that for me?”
“Sure. Tomorrow. But you need to go.” I got up to see him to the door.
One hand caught my wrist and the next thing I knew, he had me on his lap. His hand moved up my bare inner thigh. His hot breath scorched the flesh along my neck. “What’s the rush? You sound like you have a date or something, my love.”
“Stop.” I didn’t like the way he was handling me. “And let me go.” It wasn’t even like him to act this way. “And don’t call me your love.”
He didn’t let go of me though. “Sloan, you’re mine. You’ll always be mine. A stupid piece of paper can’t take you from me. I’m the only man who has ever had you and it will always stay that way. You can move out of our home. You can work at your silly little job. You can do whatever you want. But you can’t give yourself to another man. I won’t allow it. You gave me your virginity and your hand in marriage.”
“You practically stole my virginity and we both signed a divorce decree that says I am no longer your wife. You aren’t my husband anymore, Preston.” I had never wanted my maiden name back so badly. It suddenly occurred to me why he’d made such a big deal about me not changing my last name back. “You think that me carrying your last name means I still belong to you.”
“You do.” He let me go and I jumped off his lap immediately and moved away from him. “Sloan let’s not fight. I do need you. We need to make up. You need to move back home with me. Back into our bedroom.”
The wheels in my head were spinning nearly out of control. It was obvious that he wanted the cops to think things were great between us. He needed to show them that he not only had a woman who believed in him, he had the daughter of the woman he’d been accused of murdering believing in his innocence.
But I wasn’t so sure that I did believe in his innocence—not one hundred percent. Not anymore. I thought I knew Preston Rivers inside and out. The fact was, he’d never acted this way before. Was it because he felt threatened by the idea of me seeing another man? Was it because his ass was on the chopping block for murder?
I wasn’t sure. But what I was sure of was that he had a threatening vibe to him. I’d never felt threatened by him even once in our entire relationship.
“I don’t like what you said about me stealing your virginity. I didn’t come close to doing such a thing and you know that.” He got up, straightening his tie. “I gave you a diamond necklace that night. I gave you my solemn promise to never leave you. And I gave you my love, Sloan. You did mutter the words back to me—eventually. I never want to hear you say that again. What we did was beautiful.”
My stomach churned as I recalled that night. He’d gazed at me with such adoration. Why wouldn’t he? He’d had my hair cut to match my mother’s style. He’d bought me a blue dress, the color my mother often wore. He’d taken me to Chateau LaRue, one of the nicest restaurants in town. “You pretended I was my mother, Preston. It wasn’t beautiful, it was sick.”
Making such fast strides that I didn’t even see him move, a hand came hard against my face, knocking me to the floor. I held my hand to my cheek, which throbbed as he stood over me. His face was red, sweat beading on his wrinkled forehead. “How dare you! You’re making a mockery of a beautiful relationship.”
I wasn’t sure if he was talking about ours or the relationship he’d had with my mother. “Preston!” I didn’t know what to say. He’d shocked me completely. Until tonight, I’d never thought he was even capable of violence. “Leave. Leave now,” I said much too quietly.
He stood his ground, looming over me as if he were ready to strike me again. “Sloan Rivers, I want you to take back what you said.”
It wasn’t like saying I took back words would actually take them back. “Out.” I moved back slowly until I felt a chair behind me and used it to help me get up while still keeping my eyes on him. “This stops now.”
Suddenly his shoulders slumped, his entire challenging demeanor disappeared. What was left was a shell of a man. “I’m sorry. Oh, Sloan, I am so sorry. This isn’t me at all.” Sad eyes held mine. “This is making me insane. I do need you. I can’t take this. I can’t take people looking at me as if I’m some kind of a monster.”
But what if you are one?
Chapter Thirteen
