Page 77 of The Billionaire's Angel

He stood there in dark dress pants and a tailored shirt, his shoes immaculate, not a hair out of place, and threatened to kill Amelia right in front of me. How had I been unable to see the monster lurking inside his polishedexterior?

Two months he’d courted me, and I'd never realized what hewas.

“You don't understand why I’m making this difficult?” I asked. “Are youserious?”

Caution screamed at me to be quiet. Not to aggravate him. Not to set him off. I didn't have a choice. I needed him to come for me, and following his orders wouldn't do thejob.

“Sophie,” he said, his voice patient but his eyes hard, “your place is at my side. I need you to comehome.”

“We don't have a home. I sold it when youdied.”

Anthony waved the knife in dismissal. “Damien wasn't supposed to let you sell the house. He had some idea he'd take over for me. He wanted you out of the way, and he was too squeamish to killyou.”

“What happened to him?” I asked, aware every word we said was beingrecorded.

“He won't be a problem,” Anthonysaid.

“Did you kill him?” I asked, pushingharder.

Anthony smiled, a slow widening of his mouth that telegraphed satisfaction and said, “Among otherthings.”

My stomach rolled with nausea. Time to get us back on track. “I'm not coming home with you. I'm filing fordivorce.”

Anthony's eyes narrowed. “You can't divorce me. You're mywife.”

“That's what divorce means,” I explained slowly as if he were a child and not a full-grown man holding a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. “I'm your wife now, and after we divorce, I won't be your wifeanymore.”

“I won't allow it,” he said as if that simple statement ended theconversation.

“I don't care,” Isaid.

I turned and crossed the room, keeping distance between myself and Anthony but trying to draw him away from Amelia. My new position put me too close to Gage’s line of sight, but it worked. Anthony turned away from Amelia and dropped the hand with the gun to his side. He closed the knife and slid it back in hispocket.

“Let Amelia go,” Isaid.

“No. Someone will find her after we’regone.”

“I'm not leaving withyou.”

“Yes, you are. I have a new house, on the side of a mountain, surrounded by trees. You’ll be safe and protected there. We can be alone, just you and me. I've missed you, Sophie. You don’t know how I’ve missedyou.”

“I haven’t missedyou,” I said, trying to rattle him enough to make him forget where he was in relation to the back window. Anthony went on as if I hadn’t spoken atall.

“You bring me peace. You can't imagine what it's been like the last two years, staying away from you, pretending I was dead, surrounded by people who didn't care about me. The stress, it was so intense, so much worse without you. I need you. You’re the only one who takes it away. I tried with other women, but none of them wereyou.”

His voice was wistful, almost sweet. I fought the urge to throw up. I brought him peace because he worked out his stress by beating me half todeath.

A rush of anger displaced my nausea, and I heard myself say, “You don't want a wife, you want a punching bag. You want a victim. You’re only happy when you hurt someone weaker than you. I'd say you need help, but you’re beyond help. You’re amonster.”

Anthony's handsome face twisted into a snarl and he took a jerky step closer. Not close enough. I moved my foot back, and the gun swungup.

“Don't run away from me, you littlewhore.”

I froze in place. He kept the gun aimed at me and went on, his calm façade cracking as his eyes burned with fury. “I'm dead not two years, and already you’re fucking some guy? Letting him touch you, letting him soil you. You were supposed to be clean. Pure. You can't take it all away from me if you'redirty.”

I was getting dizzy trying to follow his twisted logic. It kind of made sense, the way he’d dressed me in those virginal nightgowns, barely touched me sexually, insisted I stay away from men, from people. Isolated and alone, existing only to serve him. I shuddered at the memory and took a step back withoutthinking.

Anthony's hand jerked to the right, and he squeezed the trigger. Chips of concrete flew off the wall. I heard myselfscream.