Page 150 of Endgame
I should be concerned that he doesn’t put up a fight. That heletsme go at him.
He could press charges. I could lose everything.
And yet.
Aurora, bruised. The way she cried in my arms.
I was desperate, Everett. I’m sorry. I just wanted to fix us.
Since I failed her, she went to him for answers. To find a way to reconnect withme.
So no, I don’t care what he has planned. No one would put me away for this, anyway.
“Such a big man, aren’t you, Winston?” I grab the collar of his shirt and bend toward him until we’re face-to-face. “Assaulting girls half your size?” Since I don’t want him suspecting my revenge plan, I add, “Your own daughter?”
“No idea what you’re talking about.” The twinkle in his eyes sets me off.
Bam.
This blow lands on his chest. Another coughing fit starts.
I stay exactly where I am, relishing the stench. The pain.
His helplessness is a balm to my wounded soul.
“Your reign of terror is over.” I snarl, my chest heaving. “This was the last goddamn time you’ve had your hands on another person. On someone I care deeply for.”
“She was begging for it.”
Lotus.
Aurora.
Whoever else he might’ve violated or injured.
“Next time Aurora shows up here you don’t so much as look at her.”
When he smiles, I’m right there. Crumpling the collar of his shirt in my hand, tighter this time. Choking him.
He’s wheezing, his face turning red.
“You don’t talk to her.”
The lack of oxygen finally elicits a reaction from him. His hands wrap around mine, prying me off him.
Trying to.
The madness coursing through my veins has turned me into a beast. I’ll release him when it suits me, not a second before.
“Mr. Clarke,” a woman from their staff shrieks.
She doesn’t deserve my wrath. She’s having it anyway. “Get the fuck out of here.”
Her heels clack away, leaving me alone with purple-faced Winston.
“Stop,” he begs, still coughing.
“And you definitely”—I growl, punching him one last time in the gut—“don’t touch my fucking wife.”
