Page 15 of The Forbidden Bride He Stole

“You have not begun to hate me, Hannah,” he bit out. “That is a promise.”

But Hannah was not cowed. This was not the biddable girl who had been in his care all those years. Not the still, clear reflection of his own goodness that he’d seen as she’d done well in school, worked hard, presented herself with such care.

This was a woman. The one that had ignited his desire so unexpectedly even as she had called up his rage. This woman was on a path of destruction, and he could see in the reckless light in her eyes that she knew it. And was willing to let herself be destroyed if she could claim even a momentary victory.

“You will not best me, Apollo. That is my own promise to you.”

With that, she left him standing there in the entry of his magnificent home, the evidence of all his billions soaring around them in the form of clever architecture, high arches and priceless artwork. Feeling as if he had no more power than he did when he was a boy.

But that feeling lasted only a moment. Because it was unacceptable. Because he would not indulge it. Because he would not allow it. He would not be manipulated by a child.

He would see an end to this. One way or the other.

CHAPTER FOUR

SHEHADDONEIT. She had put the plan together flawlessly, and now it was her wedding day.

The chapel was in a beautiful location, on a rock that overlooked the brilliant jewel-bright sea. It was a white building with a blue domed roof and glittering windows. Her wedding dress was a beautiful liquid silk gown that shimmered as she moved, little crystals covering all of it.

The minute the wedding had been scheduled she’d been given access to her trust fund to pay for the affair.

It meant that she and all her friends were outfitted splendidly. And if she had slipped in a few purchases to make her friends’ lives better and filed them under wedding expenses, so be it.

She needed this. And she knew she had likely compromised her relationship with Apollo forever but...

She couldn’t go on like this. The night he’d carried her out of the club had made it clear. She was lost to him. Willing to debase herself, even as he humiliated her. When it came to him she wasn’t rational or reasonable. When it came to him she made terrible choices that could not be endured.

The only power her father had given her was this. She had to use a man to escape another one, and while she hated it with every fiber of her being, she knew it was the only thing to be done.

Apollo had vanished after that night at the club.

Part of her had hoped he would storm in and apologize. That they would find some other way forward, but he hadn’t come to her. He’d left town. Hell, he’d left the country. And so she’d moved forward with her plan to get away from him on her own terms.

She hated it. But she needed it.

She couldn’t see past the next three years. If she sank deeper into her obsession with Apollo, there would be nothing left of her.

She had to do something.

This was the only something she could think of.

She gathered her bouquet, a stunning coral arrangement with bright blue blossoms sprinkled throughout that matched the blues around them, and looked at Mariana. “This is the right thing to do, yes?”

“Of course it is,” said Mariana. “You’re getting your freedom. And listen, I can’t... You have been extremely generous. Thank you.”

“I’m going to get you a job at my father’s company. My company.”

“You know this is not why I became your friend,” said Mariana.

“No, I know,” she said. “But I think you’re great at your job, and I think you’ll bring something to the company. And I understand that... It’s not really fair that I’ve been given all of this. Yes, I have the education to do all of this, but very few people could simply step into this position. Especially not at this stage. I’m not owed any of it. But I do want to have freedom. Agency. I feel like I deserve to at least manage the assets that I was left, even if I’m not entitled to them.”

Because the truth was, she could walk away without doing this. She could get a job, be just like her friends. Her anger prevented that. Her anger at her father, at Apollo.

And even more so, doing that wouldn’t have the effect on Apollo that this would. She needed him to feel her anger. To feel her defiance. And only this would do.

“It’s all right,” said Mariana. “You don’t have to justify yourself to me.”

“Maybe I’m trying to justify myself to me. Because I’m doing a kind of extreme thing to get out of dealing with Apollo for the next three years of my life.”

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