Page 10 of From Princess to Queen

“I didn’t realise you knew him too?” Leo growls as he starts to drag me from the shadows to the exit at the end of the hall. “I thought your prick of a brother kept you out of the loop!”

“You know my brother?” It’s the first time Leo has ever mentioned that little bit of information. How the hell does he know Oli and Danny? Leo growls at me to shut up and continues to grip my arm, keeping me close to him.

“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to keep up with him and hide from those around us that anything is wrong. The last thing I need is something to make Leo madder than he already is.

“Just fucking do as you are told for once in your fucking life, Gabby,” he hisses as I hurry to keep up with him.

“Leo, you’re hurting me,” I say quietly, aware that more than a few people are now watching us. I spot Neil, who gave me a lift home last night. He watches us for a second, and I see the moment he sees the way Leo is gripping my arm. He takes a step forward, but I stupidly shake my head. The last thing I need is a scene right now. He looks at me for a second before turning on his heels and marching towards the hall where the event is being held.

“I’ll more than hurt you if you fight me,” Leo hisses in my ear as he drags me into the elevator.

As soon as the door closes, I try to pull my arm out of his grip, but he tightens it further.

“Leo, I don’t understand what the problem is. I just said hi to the guy. That’s it. I haven’t seen him in years; I’m not even sure he still speaks to my brother,” I point out as my hands shake and my heart races. I’ve been warned Leo can get violent, but I haven’t heard of him hitting a woman. But right now, I don’t feel safe with him, and I know I need to get away somehow. I try again to put some distance between us, hoping to run when the doors open, but he pulls me back beside him again.

“Don’t give me that bullshit. Your brother is his right-hand man!”

“What? Right-hand man to what?” I demand. Daniel said Oliver knew he was back, but I didn’t think they would still be as close as they were. I’ve avoided Oliver’s calls since last night as I’m too furious to speak to him. Now I wish I had picked up the phone whilst I had a chance.

“We will discuss this in my suite,” he growls as a warning. The doors open, and he marches into the hallway dragging me with him. I feel my clutch slip from my hand and fall to the floor, but I’m too scared to ask him to stop for me to pick it up.

When we reach his door, he pulls the key card out of his pocket and unlocks it. As soon as the door is open, he pushes me inside. My ankle twists in my heels, causing me to fall to the floor.

“Leo, I swear I didn’t do anything wrong,” I start to say but get cut off as the back of his hand hits me across the face.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” he roars. Tears roll down my cheek as my eyes sting from the blow. I pull my hand away and see blood, quickly realising that he has split my lip.

I look to the right and see one of Leo’s men standing by the TV, a half-eaten meal on the table as if he’d been eating when we arrived.

“Get the fuck off the floor,” Leo growls, grabbing my arm and pulling me roughly to my feet before throwing me onto the bed. My ankle throbbing with pain, and my face hurts. A small moan escapes as I try to move myself so I’m not lying on the bed.

“Months of planning just went down the fucking drain thanks to you bitch! I was hoping for the element of surprise, but now Sullivan will give your brother the heads up!” Leo roars as he pulls off his jacket and throws it over the back of the chair, quickly followed by his waistcoat and tie.

“Planning for what?” I demand as I move to sit on the edge of the bed. I glance to the bathroom, wondering if I could make it and lock myself in before Leo gets to me, but I know I can’t. Judging by the pain radiating through my ankle, I’m not even sure it can hold my weight. But I know I need to try and do something.

“You didn’t really think I would be interested in someone as boring as you, did you?” he yells, opening the suitcase on the other side of the room. “I was only with you as I owe your brother for what he did to me.”

“What have I got to with you owing my brother?”

“He fucked my girlfriend like the arsehole he is. I had every intention of fucking you and sending him the photos!” Leo leans over the suitcase and pulls out some cuffs, rags and a camera stand.

It suddenly dawns on me what he plans to do. I jump to my feet and run for the bathroom, but Leo’s guy stops me before I can get to safety.

“Where the fuck do you think you are going?” he laughs as he grabs my shoulders, holding me in place.

“My mouth’s bleeding; I’m just going to rinse it,” I lie, praying he will let me go. But instead, he carries me to the bed and holds me down to ensure I don’t make another run for it.

“No, you’re not. Now stay the fuck down.”

My whole fucking body starts to shake as I try to sit up, but the guy pushes down harder on my shoulders. I turn to Leo to find him setting up the camera stand.

“Leo, I don’t want to,” I start to beg, hoping to reason with him. I realise I’m wasting my breath when he laughs at me.

“I bet you fucking would for Sullivan, though, wouldn’t you?” Leo throws a set of handcuffs at his guy, who’s holding me down on the bed. I try to roll away from him, but he jumps on top of me and straddles my hips, pinning me down to cuff one of my hands.

“Get the fuck off me!” I scream as loud as I can. The guy shoves a rag into my mouth before grabbing my second hand and cuffing it to the headboard, leaving me entirely at their mercy. I try my hardest to scream as loud as possible, but the rag is shoved in my mouth, quickly followed by another rag tied around my head as a gag. I rock my head from side to side to stop him, but he hits me hard. Everything goes out of focus. For a second, I see stars. With the world around me still fuzzy and my ears ringing from the impact, I’m too dazed to fight him as he checks that my hands are securely restrained. I feel the weight of him lift as he climbs off me. I blink repeatedly in an attempt to clear my sight. As things come back into focus, I see Leo with his phone directed at me, the light on to show he’s recording the whole thing.

“Say hi to Oliver, Gabby.”

---