“So help me, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’ll snap your neck and push you down a flight of stairs.”
I go deathly still at his words. What does he want from me? This goes beyond him thinking I’m a gold-digger. This is crazy. Win will lose his shit over him hitting me.
He manhandles me into his apartment. It’s fancy but not as nice as Win’s. Always second best. I wonder if that’s his problem. But what’s he going to prove by kidnapping me? Is this some effort to blackmail Winston out of his money?
“Sit down and don’t breathe a word,” Nate growls, his eyes manic and filled with fury. “I’m going to make a call.”
He shoves me to the floor in front of the sliding glass door to the balcony. As soon as my ass hits the wood floors, I scream at the top of my lungs hoping a neighbor will hear. This is the wrong move, apparently, because it earns me a kick that catches me across my jaw. My head slams against the glass door hard enough the glass wobbles and my vision darkens. I blink my eyes trying to make the fuzziness around me fade. A metallic tang floods my mouth. Blood. I tongue the side of my cheek that my teeth cut into.
Screaming is just going to get my ass beat.
Think, Ash.
What would Win do?
He’d destroy him with his words.
“Wow,” I sneer. “I knew you were pathetic, but this is an all-time low.”
He glowers at me. “The fuck you say?”
“Poor little Nate. Always second best. It must really suck to always be in Win’s shadow. It’s a big shadow. Far reaching. So dark. And you were nothing.”
His entire body tenses and I know I’ve hit a nerve. “Fuck you.”
“Never. I know you’re into scrounging up Win’s leftovers, but I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last man on earth. I prefer powerful men. Not wannabees. Does it make you feel like a big man to have fucked Meredith?”
The surprise that morphs his features tells me I’m right. Predictable bastard. He basically served me that nugget of information when in his office the other day. Now I know it’s true.
“Did she call you by Winston’s name in the bedroom?” I taunt, giving him a cruel laugh. “I bet that fuck lasted all of two minutes it took you to come and then you were the leftovers because we both know that woman still has it bad for him.”
He snags me by my hair, hauling me back to my feet. “You don’t know shit, skank. You’re just a money-grubbing whore who had to get in the middle of years of fucking work. It’s all ruined because of you!”
Keep him talking.
Someone will have heard my screams and come running. Right?
“Winston will destroy you,” I warn. “He’s richer and more powerful than you could ever dream to be. You were supposed to be his best friend but you betrayed him. Why? Because you hate me?”
His hand comes around my throat, squeezing so tight, my eyes feel like they’re bulging, and my face will burst. I claw at his hand as I desperately try to suck air into my lungs. Grabbing a handful of his hair, I yank him hard to the side. We both fall to the floor. Even with my fingers ripping at his hair, he manages to keep his brutal grip on my neck.
“Stop struggling and I’ll let you breathe,” he growls, sweat dripping off his brow and flinging into my hair.
I relax, mostly because my strength has left me. Thankfully he loosens his hold. His body still pins me to the hard floor and it disgusts me to have him pressed against me.
“She’s more than leftovers,” he says, his voice soft. “Meredith. She’s my…everything.”
I believe him. I’d heard it in his voice when he spoke to her the other day.
“Does she know that?” I rasp out, unable to keep from taunting him, even at such a disadvantage.
He squeezes my cheeks, his thumb digging in on the side I bit, and squishes my face as he brings his mouth close to mine. “She fucking knows. She loves me too, bitch.” His hand relaxes. “I’m going to marry her.”
“She’s already married,” I hiss out. “You’re delusional.”
“Stop talking.” He sits up and grabs my wrists. I screech and wriggle but he’s too strong. Easily, he painfully pins my wrists to the wood floors. “Just stop fucking talking.”
Nope.
Not now.
Not when I’m trying to keep him busy until someone comes to help me.
“You screwed Paris up for him, didn’t you?” I croak out, hating that tears are prickling at my eyes. “How long have you been messing up business for him and skimming off the top?”
“Skimming?” He barks out a harsh laugh. “Winston’s so fucking rich he doesn’t notice when millions walk out his door and into my pocket. It’s not skimming, it’s dumping handfuls of his wasted money into my damn bucket.”