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“You planned a fake marriage, Honey? Really? You’re a disgrace to your mother’s name,” Cal continued to put her down, and I finally had enough.
“Hey, don’t talk to her that way. She’s my wife, and I won’t stand for your mistreatment of her.” My fists balled up, ready to knock both of them out.
Cal laughed, pointing at me. “Enough of this. You. Out of my house. Now.”
“If he goes, I go,” Honey threatened.
Cal’s cough started up, and he headed toward his bedroom with Honey on his heels, still trying to talk some sense into him. Their conversation carried back to me until the door closed.
“You lied to me, telling me you were dating someone.” Coughing. “I need to rest. I’ll deal with you in the morning.”
“Let me help you get into bed.”
“No, Delta will.”
“Delta? I didn’t know you were here. Cal, please. I only did this because I can’t marry Edward. He’s an awful man. You told me I could pick?—”
A door slam closed, bringing an end to their conversation, but then immense pain suddenly hit my head, entered my skull, and the room went dark.
The A**hole
HONEY
Once Cal was subdued, I meandered back to the living room, mired in my head, worried about everything. I stopped short. Nothing in my life previously had prepared me for the scene before me. Buddy was bound and gagged in a chair, with Edward grimacing above him and his bodyguard nearby.
I gasped at the sight of it all. “What are you doing?”
“What’s the matter, Honey? You thought I’d lose to this nobody? This Hollywood outsider? Not a chance. Why the old films and assets of Dream Waves Studios alone will bring a good sized revenue into Kings. Not to mention, the minute we marry, I will inherit everything from Cal Tomms.”
“No, you won’t.” I begged Buddy with my eyes to please be okay. His eyes fluttered, but he nodded, coming around. With a cut lip and a swollen eye and a gash on his head, it angered me that Edward and his bodyguard would do this to him.
“Ah, yes. The stepdaughter so assured she’d inherit everything. You believed in Cal’s love for you like a daughter. But, you see, what he really wanted was a son.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“As I’ve spent more time with Cal lately, it was all too easy to get on his good side, like the son he never had. I assured him I’d oversee his business plus take care of his precious little Honey. I even stood over him while he met with his lawyer, changing everything into my name on the condition that we marry.”
“No! He’s a sick old man, and you took advantage of him. I’ll fight you in court.”
“Not according to his lawyer, who vouched for his being of sound mind and body.”
“Then you’re forgetting one thing. I’ll never marry you.”
He lunged for my arms, twisting them in his tight grasp. “Oh, yes, you will. Or you’ll never see this man again. Jerrod?”
His bodyguard pointed a gun at Buddy’s head and cocked it. Buddy moaned what sounded like my name, shaking his head and imploring me with his eyes not to do it. Oh my God, was he willing to take a bullet for me like this just so I could have my dream? Only a man in love would do that. Could Buddy…have true feelings for me?
This whole time wasn’t an act? How could I be so selfish and careless in thinking his intentions weren’t real? No, I couldn’t let him die for me.
“Fine. I’ll marry you. So, let him go.” I seethed. Buddy thrashed and groaned at my resignation. “But I swear, Edward, once I’m through sending you to Hell, you won’t be around to enjoy it.”
“Neither will you, sweetheart, thanks to the prenup you’ll soon be signing under major duress. The one that says you get nothing upon my death or divorce.”
I spat in Edward’s face. Suddenly, Buddy stood, chair and all, and rammed into Jerrod. As the guard fell down, his gun went off, and I screamed. “No!”
To my horror, I clutched my heart, waiting to see if Buddy had been hurt. Jerrod shoved him off, then righted his chair. He served another punch to his eye, while blood oozed from his shoulder. My stomach churned at the sight of him in pain like this.
“Bastard. Just say the word, boss, and he’s dead.” Jerrod pointed the gun again.
