AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pride was the only thing that was going to get me through this.
“I’m going to destroy you, baby,” he snarled down at me. “I’m going to ruin you and everything you hold dear so badly that you’re going tobegme to give you peace.” His fingers dug into my hip, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from crying out. “If this is the route you want to take, if you’d rather hate me than forgive me, then I am going to bring your entire life down in ruins around you. Your parents, your brother, your future, even that goddamn dog of your parents that came up on their background checks is going to feel my wrath.” My stomach dropped at the quick reminder of who I was dealing with, but I couldn’t cave now. “And if you think I treated you like a dirty slut last night, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
“I hope rape doesn’t weigh heavily on your conscience because that’s the only way I’ll ever let you touch me again,” I fired back, and Stone immediately stepped back, his hands no longer on my body.
And then my heart stopped.
Juststopped beating with his next words, and I wondered how I was able to still exist without the reassuring pulse of life inside my chest.
“Ilove you, Rylee,” he said, his voice apathetic, his expression cold. “I fell in love with you the day you crashed into me.” His gaze held mine prisoner as he outlined my future. “But if I can’t have you, then I will bring your world crashing down around you until you are as miserable as I am.” His head tilted upward in a quiet challenge. “If you want to violate the contract, be my guest. If you want to fuck other guys, have at it. If you never want to see me again, I can make that happen. But all of that comes with a price, Rylee.”
I had towork my throat to create enough saliva in my mouth for my tongue to work. “That’s not love,” I replied.
“Ihate to break it to you, Rylee, but that’s love in its purest form,” he countered. “If it doesn’t make you feel like you’re going insane, it’s not love.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. All I knew was that my pride was running the show again, and this time, it was trying to protect me from the heartbreak that was Stone Lexington.
So,I called his bluff.
“I’m not marrying you, Stone.” My pride was doing its best to bat down all the other emotions threatening to take over, and I could only pray it would win. I couldn’t give in.
I just couldn’t.
I couldn’t because I wasn’t done being hurt over the way he treated me last night, as dramatically female as that sounded.
After a long while, Stone gave me a tight nod. “Fair warning, Rylee?” I nodded. “When you can’t take it anymore, and you come to me begging, it’s not going to do you any good.” His eyes narrowed in a thoughtful expression. “Begging doesn’t work on me.”
“Whatdoes?” I asked before I could pull the words back.
“In your case?” Stone shook his head. “Nothing.” And then he walked over to the nightstand, grabbed the complimentary pen and notepad, then wrote something down. When he was done, he looked back over at me. “That’s Alexander George’s phone number.” I let out a soft gasp. “Call him and do what you need to in order for him to help you. Because, Rylee, you’re going to need his help.” His eyes raked over my face before adding, “You say I don’t love you, but the head start I just gave you proves otherwise." He turned and walked out of the motel room, but not before wishing me good luck.
Chapter 31
Stone~
Sweat was dripping all over my body, and my muscle were burning with the strain that I was putting them through, but I wasn’t done. I wasn’t sure I would ever be done. I was afraid that, if I stopped punching this bag, or stopped lifting the bench bar, or stopped working the barbells, or stopped running on the treadmill, I’d go looking for Rylee and kill her.
After I’d left her motel room, four hours ago, I came straight home and haven’t left the gym room since. When I’d bought this place, I had converted the third bedroom into a gym, and thank fucking God for that foresight, because another person I wanted to go out and kill was August Remington.
I. Wanted. To. Kill. That. Motherfucker.
While I’ve taken full responsibilityfor not trusting Rylee and the way I treated her, I knew August was behind that stunt Laney had pulled. Whatever August was up to, Laney was his pawn, and he had used her spectacularly. I just didn’t know what Laney had to gain from it yet. I knew what August was hoping to gain, but I didn’t know how any of it benefited Laney.
Stepping away from the punching back, I took a drink of water, and walked a slow lap on the treadmill to wind down. Once I was languid enough, I grabbed my phone off the utility table and dialed Chicago.
“What’s up?” he answered after the third ring.
“I need a further detailed background check on Laney Spinner,” I told him.
“How detailed?”
“Idon’t need facts,” I told him, and I knew Chicago automatically knew what I was hinting to.
I didn’t need facts on her life; I already had those. When I had run background checks on the initiating class, they had been thorough. What I needed was motive as to why Laney would help August break me and Rylee up. So, for that, I needed someone to hack into her phone and social media accounts. I needed correspondence between Laney and August, or Laney and anyone who could shed some light on her motives.
“How soon?”
SinceI planned on destroying Rylee’s life beginning on Monday, the sooner the better. However, I knew it would take a couple of days. Trusting a hacker went both ways. “As soon as you’re comfortable,” I told him.
