Chapter 70.
Fuck.
20es
I straighten out my dress as 1 stand. Thank God I chose the dark blue, cowl neck sweater style that below my knees and just meets the tops of my boots. Absolutely nothing about this outfit can send him
mixed signals
“I didn’t see a meeting on the calendar.” I take a glance at my laptop screen just to make sure. “Actually, we’re not scheduled until-”
He cuts me off with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I was in the neighborhood. Had some ideas for the gallery placement and wanted to run them by you. Do you have some time?”
I have to admit, I’m taken by surprise at how professional he’s being. I never expect anyone to change overnight, but damn, can I hope. “Oh. Uh,
sure. I can spare a few minutes, I think.”
His grin widens. Conrad holds the door open for me, giving me plenty of space to walk through without brushing past him.
“I found a few pieces that I’d love to feature in this new show, ones that I put aside as rejects but now, I’m having second thoughts.” He gestures at one wall of the showroom the moment we step inside. “The response at the last showing really favored similar themes and palettes, so this may be a great way to save time while refreshing interest.”
The petty side of me wants to ask him if he’s painting a new abstract nude. The rest of me doesn’t want to know either way. “How many are you looking to bring out for this section?”
“About five or six.” He turns to smile at me. “What do you think?”
“Depending on the size of each canvas, we should be able to make that work.”
“You’re always good at that.”
“Huh?” Shit. He’s giving me The Eyes now. Those same puppy–dog eyes that he’d give when he wanted to convince me of something, like, How could I ever cheat on you? Is this the face of a man who’d step out
on you?
Why, yes, asshole. It is.
Conrad steps closer to me, so I take a step back. He does it again, and again, all the while cooing his compliments at me. “You. Your brilliant mind. You always know how to make things work, even when they shouldn’t. Like us.”
I hold a hand up to keep him from coming any closer. “There is no ‘us.‘ Unless you mean it in terms of this gallery-”
Chapter 70
“You and me, ‘Ne. Us. We can make this work You always make it work on in the v
“There is nothing to work out, Sidney,” I spit “Were done. You f*
“I’m back.” He moves even closer, not stopping until I feel my bark press against the out as right bree
I’m here and I want you.”
My heart is in my throat. Conrad has never been outwardly aggressive toward me he were me enough priority in his life to care enough either way
But right now, he’s looking at me with this glint in his eye that makes me very, very nerons
“You need to back up.”
“We need to work things out.”
He wraps his hands around my waist the same time he leans in. Then he panses and looks down. “Hell, Daphne. You’ve put on some weight.”
“It’s literally none of your business. Back. The hell. Off.”
It’s like he doesn’t hear me. Like he’s in a totally different universe from the one where I’m trying to pants him away. His grin turns into a smirk, and he has the balls to wink at me. “We can work that weight off baby. Don’t you worry.”
I’m done playing nice. I’m also terrified that he’s about to do something to hurt my baby. How did it even get to this point? We haven’t been in this room for more than ten minutes.
I shove hard against his chest. “I mean it. Get off! Get the hell off!”
“Fuck, baby…” His voice purrs in this sickening way when his hands slide up to cup the sides of my breasts. “I take that back. You feel fucking incredible now.”
I try to swallow back my whimper of fear, but there’s no hiding it. Conrad hears it, and clearly mistakes it for something that indicates I’m enjoying this.
“I know you need to punish me.” He presses himself against me despite my desperate attempts to shove him away. “I want you to punish me. Make me work hard for it, baby. I deserve it.”
I pull a hand back to swing at his face, fully intending to slap that horrible glaze of lust out of his eyes. But he grabs my wrist and pins it to the wall. The same thing happens when I try with my other hand, until I’m nearly crushed under his weight and his breath fans along my neck.
“That’s it. Fight me. Make me earn it. Make me carn you.”
“Help!” I don’t care anymore–I don’t care if Todd or Keith or Hazel find me like this, with Conrad, as long
Chapter 78
as they can put a stop to it. Im so fucking scared of what this man is going to do and all I can think about is my baby and Pasha and what if “Somebody help me
Shhhh, relax. Conrad releases one of my wrists so he can grab my face and hold me there, right where he wants to kiss me. I shake my head furiously, but he only tightens his grip to the point where it’s actually painful. “I just want some time with you, baby. We deserve some time together, after everything.”
I should knee him. I try, but my stupid dress is in the way. And he’s got me so trapped between himself and the wall, I’m lucky I can even kick my feet.
Irritation flickers across his face. But he doesn’t let that stop him. Conrad holds me there, a knowing smirk curling his lips, and he moves to press them against mine in a kiss I swear is going to make me
throw up.
A familiar set of manicured nails wrap over his shoulder. And in one swift motion, Conrad is ripped off
- me.
“The fuck is going on here?” Sofiya wedges herself between us. I can’t see her face, but her entire body is simmering with rage.
“This is between Daphne and me.” Now, Conrad is officially pissed off. He steps forward and reaches out to push Sofi aside, his gaze set squarely on me.
Again, Sofi grabs him, but this time, it’s for leverage. Her hands grip both his shoulders so she can deliver a knee to his groin hard enough to crush his testicles into baking powder.
His eyes bug out of his head the same time his lungs emit a high–pitched wheezing sound. When he doubles over, Sofi takes the opportunity to uppercut his chin, snapping his head back and making him bite his tongue with enough force that blood starts trickling between his lips.
The man crumples to the floor. Bloody, wheezing, and curled up in the fetal position cradling what’s left
of his nuts.
“Are you okay?”
I don’t know what I was expecting, to be honest. Since it sure as hell wasn’t this, I wonder if part of me figured Sofi would assume the worst and accuse me of cheating on her brother.
Instead, she’s looking at me with sympathy and concern, stepping over Conrad like he’s not even there just so she can cradle my face in her hands and check me for injuries. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”
“Fucking! Bitch!” Conrad gathers enough of his wits to scream at her. “You’re crazy! You crazy bitch!”
