“Charles?” Charlie’s dad steps forward, sending him an inquisitive stare. It’s clear neither of the Barrons knew about this.
I have a real bad feeling. Drew pins me with worried eyes, and I know he’s sensing the same.
“Well?” Father asks, leveling a harsh look at Charlie. The bastard extracts his cell. “You want me to call it all off?”
Charlie clears his throat. “That won’t be necessary.”
Father nods, pride and relief shining in his eyes, before he turns a hate-filled look at me. Acid crawls up my throat, and butterflies invade my chest.
“Mom. Can you and Lillian step out of the room, please,” Charlie says, exchanging a silent communication with his father.
“They can stay.” Father smirks.
“I’d rather they didn’t.” Charlie stares at his mother, gesturing toward the door. She looks to her husband, and he nods, and she ushers her daughter out of the room with a perplexed expression on her face.
“You might want to sit down for this, Abigail.” The bastard smirks again, his eyes lingering on my chest briefly.
Drew and Charlie both stiffen, and I fight a bout of nausea. “I’m fine to stand.”
“Very well.”
I want to charge him and wipe that smug smile off his face. I glance at Charlie as my father moves to the projector. “I know you know what this is.”
His jaw tightens, and his muscles strain against the sleeves of his dress shirt. “You have no one to blame but yourself. Just remember that.”
My stomach drops to my toes, and I brace myself for it.
But absolutely nothing could’ve prepared me for what appears on the screen.
The bastard has the volume turned up loud, and our collective moans ring out around the room. My cheeks inflame, but it’s not from embarrassment although I’m completely humiliated watching the replay of the other night in Kai’s bedroom on a screen large enough to show every thrust and every touch in detail. No, I’m consumed with murderous rage as I watch the man who fathered me attempt to break me again.
The recording starts at the part where Jackson is jerking off, just before he leaves.
“Turn it off!” Drew shouts.
“We’re just getting to the best part,” the bastard says. The video fasts forward, and I cringe as I watch Kai maneuvering into my ass.
Christian’s loud laughter rings out around the room, and I’m sickened at the sight of the telltale bulge in his pants. Sylvia’s glazed eyes peer at me, with a hint of sadness, and her “get numb” strategy is looking more and more appealing. Trent looks ready to fly across the room and murder me.
“You did this,” I hiss under my breath, glaring at Charlie.
“No,” he grits out, averting his eyes as Drew races toward the projector. “You did this to yourself.”
“How did you get that footage?”
“I planted a camera in your purse.”
“You unimaginable bastard.”
“All you had to do was stay away from him.” He stares at me, his nostrils flaring, knuckles clenching, muscles bulging. “How could you lower yourself to do that with Lauder watching? I thought you had more class, but perhaps Trent is right, and you’re nothing but a whore.”
I slap him across the face, uncaring if I’ve sealed my death warrant. “I would rather be Kai’s whore than your wife.” I yank my ring off my finger, throwing it across the room as Drew shuts down the video.
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” Father says, glaring at Drew. His gaze jumps to me. “Retrieve your ring, and put it back on your finger. Now.”
“Fuck. You.” I flip him the bird, jutting my chin up defiantly. “You will have to fucking kill me before I’ll marry him.”
He stalks toward the projector, shoving Drew out of the way, pinning him with a look loaded with the promise of retribution. “Oh, there’ll be killing all right if this wedding doesn’t go ahead,” he says, pushing a button on the machine. “But it won’t be your life I’ll take.”
A new image appears on the screen, and my dinner threatens to reappear.
“No!” I scream, staring in horror at Kai. He’s stripped to his boxers while strapped to a chair with his head lolling from side to side, and every inch of his body is bloodied and bruised.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Someone yanks Kai’s head up, and a sob rips from my throat at the sight of his bloody face. His left eye is completely shut, the skin on his lid swollen and multicolored.
“I fucking hate you!” I rush toward my father, but Drew intervenes, jumping in front of me and pulling me back. I thrash about in his arms, legs and arms flailing as my tortured cries ring out around the room. “I will fucking kill you, you bastard! You leave him alone!!” Angry tears stream down my face, and I’m pumped full of adrenaline and rage. I’m primed to explode, and I want to unleash my anger on my father.
“Control her!” Father snaps at Charlie.
“Give her to me,” Charlie demands of Drew.
“Fuck off.” Drew steps back, keeping a firm hold of me. “Calm down, A,” he whispers in my ear. “You’re no use to Kai like this.”
His words sober me up, and I rein my anger in.
“Patrice, darling.” Father turns to his fiancée with a fake adoring look on his face. “Would you retrieve that ungrateful bitch’s ring?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” She looks unruffled as she walks to the corner of the room where I flung the ring and picks it up.
“I’ll take it.” Charlie steps forward, taking it from her.
He reaches for me, and I cringe away from him. Drew tightens his arms around me. “Back off, man.”
“Can’t do that, I’m afraid,” he says as there’s a knock on the door.
“Perfect timing,” Father says. He levels a stern look at Charlie. “Hit her if you have to, but keep her restrained.”
“Kai!” I scream as he’s carried into the room by Benjamin and Maurio. He’s still strapped to a chair, and his injuries look so much worse in the flesh. My heart pounds, and my lungs scream for air as I struggle to hold back tears.
I can tell it takes great effort to lift his head up, but he does. “Abby,” he rasps in a hoarse voice.
I thrash about in Drew’s arms, needing to go to him. “Let me go.”
“Not yet,” Drew whispers in my ear. “Keep it together, A. Please. You need to keep it together for Kai.”
Again, my brother’s words calm me down, reminding me of all that’s at stake. Father can end Kai’s life with the click of his fingers.
I know I alone have the power to save him, so I’ve got to set my emotions aside and bring my A-game.
“What do you want?” I ask when I’ve gotten myself under control. I deliberately avoid glancing at Kai, because I won’t be able to rein my emotions in if I keep looking at him.
I want to stab my father a million times over for what he’s done to him. I’ll add it to the list of all the things he needs to pay for.
“What I’ve always wanted.” Father stalks toward me, and I shuck out of Drew’s arms, standing my ground as the bastard walks right up to me. He grips my chin painfully. Charlie steps up behind me, dropping his hands to my waist. “You married to an elite and your shares in Manning Motors transferred to me.”