My body erupts into chills, goosebumps covering every inch of my body. I’ve never seen him this detached before. It’s as if he isn’t even in there, nothing but hatred driving his actions.
“Preston, stop. You’re scaring me.” My voice comes out barely a whisper, but it’s all I can muster. Evil is the only way I could describe him right now. It’s as if I were staring right at the devil himself.
A sneer dances across his lips. “Why? Am I scaring you? Are you hiding something? Want to tell me something about you and Aiden?”
Shit, shit, shiiiiit.
He knows. He fucking knows. But how? I haven’t acted out on any of my feelings. The closest I’ve come to it was the other day when Aiden interrupted with the governor’s calls. God. Did he somehow overhear our conversation?
My body begins to shake. That’s it. This is it. There’s no doubt in my mind that this little trip of his is his idea of disposing of me.
Putting on my mask of indifference, though my body betrays me, I pull one last ditch effort at securing my safety. “Of course not, Preston. If you insist on going through with this little getaway, then I suggest we bring our detail with us. Especially with the perceived threat we just had. One can never be too safe, right?” I press my lips together and smile, fighting back the tears of terror that are threatening their way out.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you.” Preston releases me from his hold only to pace directly in front of me. “No, Charlotte. This trip is just for you and I. A reward for all that you’ve done.”
My body deflates back against the wall. It’s now or never, Charlotte. Either bring out his monster here in front of the cameras or face it out on the open sea where none will be the wiser as he throws me overboard, quite literally feeding me to the sharks.
“No.” My head held high, I stare into his soulless pits of disdain.
“No, what?” Preston cocks a brow as if sensing my little game.
“To be quite honest, I don’t feel safe. If you won’t agree to having our detail on board, then I’m not going.”
“But Charlotte, we don’t need them. The only people on board will be you and me, your husband.”
“Precisely. With your track record, I’m not looking forward to being in close quarters with your Hyde.”
His eyes narrow as he lunges for me, grabbing both of my hands and pinning them above me. “I haven’t got the slightest clue as to what you’re referring to, my dear.”
“This. This is what I’m talking about. Your voice is as sweet as honey, but your bruising grip on my wrists is crushing. It hurts. Let me go.”
“Are you scared?” A cackle falls from his lips and I see the monster threatening to peek through.
“Of a coward like you? Never. You’ve wrongfully accused me of being with multiple men by this point. Calling them worthless and garbage. Well, I’m here to tell you that ten of you would never amount to one of them. You are a horrible husband and at this very moment I wish that all of your accusations were true.” Closing my eyes, I tell him my truth. “Maybe then I’d be free of you. Free of this cage you’ve trapped me in.”
“You ungrateful bitch!” Preston flings me to the floor, my body landing at his feet. “After everything I’ve done for you, everything I’ve given you. You were nothing before me. You will be nothing after me.”
Crouching down to my level, his hand reaches up to my throat, effortlessly crushing my windpipe while his knee lands on my sternum—keeping me from getting up.
My arms flail, trying to grasp at his arm and prying it from my neck, but I’m not as strong as he is. “Ssssssssst.” I try telling him to stop—warn him that he’s killing me—but all that comes out is a strangled hiss.
As everything begins to fade, I hear a loud crashing sound. Suddenly Preston is being lifted from my body as he goes flying across the room.
Aiden.
I’m not one to believe in a knight in shining armor, but right this very second, looking at Aiden in all of his six-foot-three glory, no other title would fit. He charges toward Preston, his toned and chiseled body looming over the man crumpled on the floor.
“Get up! Get up, you fucking coward! I refuse to hit you while you’re lying on the ground.”
“Security!” The bastard has the balls to yell out for my protective detail, as if they don’t know what he’s being doing to me behind closed doors.
“Cry all you want, little man, they aren’t coming for you.” Lifting Preston by his shirt, Aiden helps him to standing. “You might have fooled many, playing the part of a loving husband. But we both know that when you’re behind these four walls, you’re nothing but a coward, taking out your insecurities on a woman that is far too good for you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just some muscle head that nobody will believe. It’s your measly word versus that of their senator.” Preston has the balls to chuckle while his body dangles in the air from Aiden’s hold. Unbelievable.
“Yes. They’ll have my word, but they’ll also have the footage and audio to corroborate the very thorough statement I plan on giving.” A full toothy grin spreads across Aiden’s lips and my breath catches. God, that man is gorgeous, but when he smiles he quite literally takes my breath away.
Preston’s face turns the color of a tomato and I can’t help but cackle. It’s a full blown maniacal laugh, emerging from all of the repressed anger and sadness I’ve carried over the years. Tears fall down my cheeks as I bowl over, clutching my stomach as my chest rises and falls with each laugh.
“You fucking who—” Preston’s face whips back as Aiden’s fist slams into his nose, blood quickly trickling down Preston’s face.
My hands fly to my mouth as I suck in air. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t Preston getting clocked out.
“You’ll pay for that, prick.” Preston gargles as the blood trickles down his lips and onto his perfectly pressed dress shirt—the blood red a stark contrast to the bright white. “If you come after me, I’ll be sure to make the rest of your life a living hell. You think you can leave this house with your so-called evidence? Please. I’ll have the police here before you can say Miranda Rights.”
“You’re bluffing and we both know it. Besides, everything that’s been recorded in this room is sent to our server. Our server which is saved to the cloud. The cloud which can be accessed anywhere in the world, as long as you have access to wifi.” Aiden backs away from Preston, extending his hand toward me and helping me off of the floor. “If you value whatever dignity you have left, you will let us leave with Charlotte—peacefully.”
Chewing on my lip nervously, we pause a few feet from the door, waiting on Preston’s response. The ideal situation would be for him to admit defeat and just let me leave. He can keep the clothes, the car, the damn house. I don’t need a damn thing if he’d just let me go.
“Charlotte is miiiiiiiine!” Preston charges toward Aiden, flinging his entire body forward, arms outstretched and hands reaching.
Unfortunately for him, Aiden is a SEAL. With one swift movement, Aiden releases my hand, spins counter-clockwise, stopping directly behind Preston and securing him in a chokehold.
“Titus, please remove Charlotte while I deal with the senator.” His eyes find mine, and despite the murderous rage that’s dancing around the irises, I feel his warmth, silently reassuring me that everything is going to be okay.
With a nod, I feel Titus’ hand gently tapping my shoulder. I was so entranced in Aiden’s gaze that I totally missed him entering the room.
“Ms. Montgomery, will you please come with me?”
Blinking my eyes a few times, I finally nod. “Yes, of course.”
Following Titus out of the room, I look back once more and see that Aiden’s arm is still firmly wrapped around Preston’s neck as he begins to walk my husband’s body toward a chair, his legs violently kicking in a futile effort to get away.
My face scrunches up at the sight before me.
Not at the idea of what Aiden will do to Preston, but at the idea that it actually brings me some twisted sense of satisfaction.
