7. Bella #2
The threat is clear, and it sends ice through my veins. But I refuse to let Marcus see my fear. “You’re finished, Marcus. Adrian has evidence. Witnesses. You can threaten me all you want, but it won’t change anything. You’re going to prison.”
“We’ll see about that,” Marcus says. His hand moves from my shoulder to my throat, not squeezing but resting there, a clear threat. “You always were naive, Bella. You think the world is fair, that justice prevails. But it doesn’t. Money and power win. And I have both.”
“Not for long,” I manage to say, my voice strained.
Marcus’s eyes flash with rage, and for a moment, I think he’s going to hurt me. His hand tightens slightly on my throat, and I feel panic rising.
“You think you can destroy me?” he roars, his voice out of control completely. “I goddamn MADE you, you silly little girl! You were nothing before me, Bella. Nothing.” He spits to the side and I feel a sudden surge of anger so strong it has me acting irrationally.
I yank away as hard as I can and manage to get one hand free, but not my throat. “No, Marcus,” I whisper, choking. “I was nothing with you, because you are worse than nothing.”
Marcus’s eyes flash open wide and he snarls, his nails digging into my neck. I gasp.
And then I hear the distinct sound of footsteps in the hallway.
“Get your hands off her.”
Adrian’s voice is cold, deadly, and filled with barely controlled fury. I’ve never heard him sound like this - dangerous, lethal, like he’s capable of violence.
Marcus releases me immediately, stepping back. I gasp for air, my hand going to my throat.
Adrian is striding down the hallway, his expression murderous. He doesn’t stop until he’s standing between Marcus and me, his body a protective barrier.
“You have five seconds to leave,” Adrian says, his voice low and threatening. “Or I’m calling the police and having you arrested for assault.”
“This is between me and Bella,” Marcus says, but I can hear the uncertainty in his voice. Adrian is taller, broader, and right now, he looks like he wants nothing more than to tear Marcus apart.
“Nothing is between you and Bella,” Adrian says. “You lost any right to speak to her the day you left her at the altar. Now get out. Because I’ve changed my mind about calling the police,” Adrian says in a low dangerous voice.
He removes his jacket and drops it deliberately onto the floor. Then he rolls up the sleeves of his shirt one by one, slowly, gray-green eyes narrowed on Marcus.
“Now I’m thinking maybe I don’t call them, so there will be no witnesses to what I’m about to do to you.
Now get the hell out of here, you piece of shit.
” He bares his teeth like an animal, and the effect is so scary that even I jerk.
But so does Marcus, and I think that’s the whole point. “Before I make you.”
Suddenly those tattoos on his neck don’t just look like they’re for show the way that I always tease him they are. Adrian looks terrifying.
Marcus opens his mouth to retort, but at that moment in time, Victoria comes careening down the hall, eyes wild.
“Victoria?” I roar, the name coming out of my mouth in outrage before I can even have a chance to think.
The last time I saw her she was riding away with my fiancé after he stood me up at the altar on our wedding day.
I haven’t seen, spoken to, or heard from her at all.
My mother can never even mention Victoria’s name.
She and everything that happened with Marcus are the reason Dad is always off traveling and no one ever sees him.
After my wedding Dad said it broke his heart and he had failed as a father.
I was too hurt to disagree with him, but he’s made himself scarce and my family was never the same after that night.
Victoria’s eyes glance to me first frantically.
I can’t help but think how selfish she is.
She destroyed our whole family and now my dad won’t even come around and she doesn’t even care, she’s still with my loser ex-fiancé who helped her burn it all down.
My hands ball up into fists. Seeing her and Marcus together reopens old wounds that I would have rather stayed closed.
They’re still together. Of course I’ve wondered.
Everyone freezes at this turn of events. Quietly they seem to wait to see how it will go between us sisters. Only as far as I’m concerned, Victoria stopped being my sister that day. And I plan on telling her that.
“Marcus!” she calls. “Please, baby, let’s go home. Don’t do this.”
And I snap.
“You have some fucking nerve,” I say, my voice cold and quiet, low in a terrifying way. My hands ball into fists and it’s all I can do not to start throwing them around.
Victoria flinches, shame filling her eyes the same way it did that day, if I remember correctly. She never felt good about what she did to me, but that doesn’t really count for anything right now.
“Bella please!” she cries, wringing her hands together. “I am sorry,” she sobs, eyes swollen and red. “I am sorry but I love him.”
My lip curls and I cross my arms over my chest like a shield. “Love him, huh? I guess we’ll see how much you love him at his trial.”
“Trial?” Victoria gasps, her eyes flying open even wider, brows going up in shock.
Of course this is the first she’s hearing about it.
“Marcus, baby, what does she mean?”
But Marcus doesn’t even look at her. And even though I’m the one that got stood up at the altar, I find myself feeling bad for Victoria.
“Get the hell out of here, Marcus,” Adrian growls, finally stepping in front of me protectively. I disappear behind his massive figure.
Marcus looks at me, then back at Adrian. For a moment, I think he’s going to argue, going to escalate this into something physical. But then he seems to think better of it.
“This isn’t over,” Marcus says, backing toward the elevator and dragging Victoria along with him on his way. “You’re both going to regret this.”
“The only one with regrets is going to be you,” Adrian calls. “When you’re sitting in a prison cell and rotting for the rest of your miserable goddamn life.”
Marcus’s face twists with rage, but he doesn’t respond. Victoria’s head is whipping back and forth from me to Marcus.
“I am sorry, Bella,” she whispers to me desperately.
Marcus snarls at her, “No the hell you are not, Victoria so just shut it.” He grabs her roughly by the elbow and I flinch just looking at that tight grip he has on her arm. His touch must be bruising. “You loved every second of it, now let’s fucking go.”
I shake my head, though I don’t know at which of them.
Some part of me wonders if my little sister is even okay, leaving with a dangerous man like that.
But the other part of me thinks she made her bed and she’s going to have to lie in it, and plus I also know that she wouldn’t listen to anything I could say to her anyway.
Marcus turns and walks quickly to the elevator, jabbing the button repeatedly. When the doors finally open, he steps inside, his eyes locked on mine until the doors close.
The moment he’s gone, Adrian turns to me, his hands cupping my face. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” I say, though my voice is shaking. “He just… he threatened me. Threatened you.”
“I know,” Adrian says, pulling me into his arms. I collapse against his chest, feeling the adrenaline drain from my body, leaving me weak and trembling. “I know, baby. But he’s not going to touch you. I promise.”
“How did you know?” I ask, my voice muffled against his shirt. “How did you know to come back?”
“I didn’t leave,” Adrian admits. “I parked down the street and waited. I had a feeling Marcus might try something, and I wasn’t going to leave you unprotected.” He pulls back to look at me, his eyes fierce. “I will always protect you, Bella. Always.”
I feel tears prick my eyes. “He said he’d hurt you. If I didn’t back off, if I didn’t tell you to drop the investigation-”
“He’s bluffing,” Adrian says firmly. “He’s desperate and scared, and he’s trying to intimidate you. But it’s not going to work. He can’t hurt me, Bella. No one can.”
“Oh yeah?” I joke weakly. “And who are you? Superman?”