But she had been humiliated by him before.
And she would never,neverlet him do so again.
Never. Whatever it costs me!
Her business could go down the drain...she could lose everything she possessed—but not what was most precious to her. The one thing she would never lose again.
My self-respect. That is all I care about now—all that is vital to me. Essential!
Defiance blazed in her. A sheet of fury, white-hot and lethal. In a sudden jerking movement she stepped away, head snapping back, hands flying up to ward him off. There was denial in every line of her body. Scorn in her flashing eyes. Words spat from her. And there was absolute refusal in them, lashing like a whip.
‘In your dreams! In yourdreams, Luca Farnese—because you’ll get nothing else!Nothing!I’d starve in a gutter first!’
Vehemence seared her like a branding iron on flesh as she reared back from him, from what he wanted of her, what he thought he could reduce her to. Begging from him with her body.
His reaction was so fast she could not foresee it, let alone avoid it. Hands snaked out, seized her shoulders, fastening over them like iron. And what was in his face now she had never seen before.
‘Dreams?Ofyou?’ A harsh, mocking laugh broke from him, cut off with a contortion of his features. ‘Do you know why I summoned you here tonight? Let you think you could prostitute yourself for me?’
The iron grip of his hands tightened, his fingers digging into her. His voice had been a snarl, and it came again now.
‘So I could do exactly what I’m doing now! Throw you from me like rotten flesh!’
His hands lifted from her as though she were poison, contaminated, and the movement was so sudden she reeled back as if he had actually flung her from him.
His voice was low, feral, his eyes like dark pits of fire. ‘Do you think I wouldeversully myself on you again? A woman likeyou?’
She stumbled back, hands flailing helplessly, trying to get her balance. Her face contorted. Mouth twisting as she heard what he’d just hurled at her.
Her voice choked as she spat back at him. It was all she could do. ‘Go tohell, Luca Farnese! Just go tohell!’
She lurched away, snatching up her evening bag, half stumbling to the door of the suite, long skirts twisting around her legs, impeding her. She had to get out of there...she was suffocating, drowning...
From the moment Luca Farnese had told her to her face that he would take her to his bed again she had vowed to reject him with all the scorn and fury she was capable of. And all along...
All along he’d been planning a completely different kind of humiliation. Even crueller.
A choking sound broke from her and she clutched at the door handle, trying to yank the door open, fumbling with the catch because she was shaking, desperate, beyond anything, only wanting to escape—flee, get away...
She couldn’t bear to be here—couldn’t bear to breathe the same air as him.
Couldn’t bear it...
A hand closed over her shoulder again like an iron vice, hauling her around. ‘You’re going nowhere!’
He towered over her, eyes like dark fire, face twisted in rage. Rage at her defiance? Her escape? She didn’t know. Didn’t care. Knew only that she had to breathe fresh air—or drown.
‘Let me go!’ Her voice was piercing—desperate.
Her eyes flared upwards, into his. And out of nowhere fear filled her. Not fear of his physical hold on her, which was lessening even as the fear seized her. But a fear that came from a far more terrifying place...
From herself. Her own body...
Treacherous—betraying.
The grip on her shoulder changed. His mouth untwisted. Only the dark fire in his eyes remained.
Pouring into her.