“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Charlotte spat. “Don’t play games with me, girl.”
I shook my head. “Charlotte, I honestly don’t know what you’re going on about. Now, I would appreciate it if you let me go and kept your hands to yourself.”
“Don’t play me for stupid, Cassidy,” she snapped. “I know what you have been up to. I know all your little plans and the things you did. Did you honest think that I would just stand by and let you take them from me?”
“Get off me,” I said as I struggled against her. The more I pushed against her wait, the more she leaned into me. If I continued to struggle against her, I was worried she would break something in me.
“Not until you answer my question,” she snapped.
“I don’t owe you a damn thing, much less answer,” I said and continued struggling against her anyway. I wanted to push back against her weight so I could free myself. My drive for survival was kicking in and I was starting to lose all sense. “Now get off of me.”
“I’ll let you go when I’m ready to, and not before then,” she hissed.
“Get the fuck off of me, you crazy bitch,” I said and forced her back. Her eyes had widened when I called her a bitch. She probably wasn’t expecting me to be so audacious. I had only caught her off guard, but it was enough for me to push her back enough that I could sidestep away from her. I quickly put several more feet of distances between us and sucked in a few deep breaths.
She smirked at me, clearly having recovered from my verbal slap in the face. “You haven’t seen crazy yet.”
I sucked in a breath as she charged toward me. I took off down the hall, but I wasn’t quick enough. Within seconds, she was on me, tackling me to the ground and pinning me to the floor. She leaned in close to my ear. Her breath was hot as it poured over my skin.
“Now, you will listen to me, and listen to me good,” she started. “The men belong to me.”
“What men?” I asked and struggled to lift myself up. She was a very heavy woman. Much more so than she appeared. “I haven’t claimed any men and I don’t want to.”
“Nice try, but I already know otherwise,” she added. “Either back off or suffer the consequences.”
She shoved my head into the floor. I grunted against the force.
“I don’t want the men,” I gasped. “I have no clue as to who you are referring to.”
“Stop playing stupid!” she shouted. My ear rang with the assault of her voice.
“Lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I certainly don’t appreciate being threatened or tossed around like this,” I said. “Now, get the fuck off of me.”
I tried to kick my feet back to get her off of me, but it didn’t do me any good. This woman had more strength that she let on.
“I don’t like repeating myself. And I certainly don’t give second chances,” Charlotte’s breath brushed along my ears with each warning. “Keep that in mind for next time.”
The more I struggled, the more weight she pressed against me. It was hard to breathe, and I felt like she was trying to crush me into the floor.
“Let me go and leave me alone!” I shouted, hoping someone on the floor would hear and step out of their room at the very least, jump in and intervene at most. Either way, I didn’t want to be in this mess.
My heart hammered and my vision started to blur.
“Don’t make me hurt you to prove a point,” she said.
“You’re already hurting me!” I shouted. “Help! Somebody help me!”
“Oh I haven’t even begun to hurt you. Not yet,” she warned.
I gasped. “Lady, if you don’t get off of me…”
“You’ll what?” she asked and clutched a fist full of hair before slamming my head into the floor. “Call the cops? Please. I have many of them in my back pocket. They would never believe you over me.”
“Get off,” I screamed as I tried to wiggle beneath her.
She slammed my head into the floor again and chuckled. “You can’t even defend yourself. What it is they see in you is only temporary. They will come crawling back to me.”
“Charlotte,” I panted out. “I don’t want your men. I haven’t stolen them. I don’t have some hidden agenda against you.”