Page 42 of Mad Love

“Of course.” Charles reached into his inner suit pocket, and Evan stiffened, going on alert.

Not that I would be lucky enough for Charles to pull out a gun and shoot Gary.

“Easy, mate,” Charles said with a laugh. He extracted an envelope and passed it to Gary. “Consider this a show of good will.”

Gary took the envelope and opened it, his brows pulled together. A slow smile spread across his face. His gaze moved to me and then Charles. “Not a bad down payment.”

Charles’s hand settled possessively on my shoulder, his thumb stroking my bare skin. “I wanted to prove I was serious.”

His touch felt wrong, and I endured it for only a second before I jerked away. Or tried to. His hand tightened and he glared at me. “Sit still.”

“Get off me,” I hissed, not bothering to mask the contempt in my tone.

Gary laughed again, the sound caustic. “I tried to warn you.”

“Leave us,” Charles demanded, not breaking eye contact with me.

“Why?” Gary pressed. “I think I’d rather see for myself that you can handle her.”

Fucking asshole, I seethed.

“As tacky as that sounds,” Charles drawled, “I won’t have an audience while I discipline my property.”

Gary tsked under his breath. “Not yours yet, son.”

“I can cancel that check and walk away from this deal right this second,” Charles reminded him. “You need me more than I need you.”

Gary glowered for a moment before dipping his head with a grimace. “Fine. But first, we need the photo for the announcement.”

“Get up,” Charles demanded and literally snapped his fingers like I was a dog.

I stared at him and didn’t move fast enough, because a hard hand clamped onto the back of my neck and wrenched me up.

Charles smirked as he went to stand in front of Gary’s bookcase. He caught me when Evan shoved me forward. His hands landed on my hips and pulled me close.

“Smile, love,” he whispered in my ear as he wrapped his arms around me from behind.

I started to struggle, and he held tighter while Gary glared at me from the other side of his phone.

“Fucking behave,” he hissed at me.

“Go to hell,” I shot back, still fighting.

He paused, eyes narrowing with scorn. “That library you used to help at had a children’s program, didn’t it? Met on certain days. It would be a shame if something were to happen to all those innocent lives.”

I stilled, remembering Marge’s death.

“Now smile,” Gary commanded.

I forced myself to smile even as I died inside.

“Let’s get something a bit more… intimate,” Gary suggested. “Charles, why don’t you kiss her?”

Charles shifted me around in his arms and I barely felt it.

“Make it look good, honey,” Gary called.

Charles’s lips touched mine, and everything in me wanted to step back and run as far and as fast as possible to get away. Instead, I stayed still and didn’t move as Charles tried to coax my mouth open.

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