Breaker's Point Bad Boy Billionaires Boxset (25 page)

S
taring
at her reflection in the mirror, Holly cringed. The dress was not something she’d have chosen to wear herself but Marcus had insisted she have some flesh on show.

It was far too tight, clinging to her body in a way that made her want to cover herself with her arms. But it was the type of dress she’d seen many of his conquests wear.

Grabbing the last of the pins from the top of the dresser, she finished pining her blonde hair up on her head, a few strands trailing free, and as she swung her head from side to side, they brushed against her shoulders.

A knock on the bedroom door made her jump and she stood staring at the dark wood for a moment as she struggled to compose herself. She was normally calm and collected but Marcus was beginning to wear her down. She could feel it, the fear over what he would do next creeping into every cell in her body.

Moving to the door, she flipped the lock open and tugged the door wide, revealing Victor in the hall.

There was a moment of silence as he stared at her. The feel of his eyes, sliding up and down her body left her feeling cold. His hungry gaze pressed against her skin, and Holly swallowed hard. Pushing her shoulders back, she forced herself to stand straighter, taller.

“Marcus wants to inspect you downstairs.” Victor’s voice was thick with lust and it set her already-frayed nerves on edge.

“Inspect me?” She pushed all of the disdain she felt into her voice and it was enough to snap Victor out of his sudden interest in her.

“His words, not mine.” He turned and started down the hall, his pace long and purposeful as though he knew she would simply do as she was told. It irritated her but there was nothing else she could do.

She sighed and followed him, the heels she wore making her feel a little unsteady. She wasn’t used to wearing shoes as high as the ones she had on.

Following him down the stairs, she paused outside the living room door and sucked in a deep breath, or at least as deep of a breath as the tight dress would allow. Victor had already stepped into the room, and Holly could hear Marcus’ low rumbling voice.

Moving into the room, she paused just inside the door, her gaze coming to rest on the woman called Nessie that she’d met that morning. She stood at Marcus’ side, her hand stroking down over his chest as she stared up at him with the type of adoration Holly imagined addicts wore.

“Finally. I thought you were going to try and make a fool of me again,” Marcus said, his voice cold as he pushed out of Nessie’s grip and crossed the room.

His eyes appraised Holly as he slowly circled her. She held her breath as he moved behind her, his hand sliding down over her shoulder, moving lower.

She jerked away from him and started to turn but he caught her before she completed the movement, jamming her body against his.

“For such a fat cow, it’s amazing what a little fabric can do. You’re almost attractive, Holly.”

Although his cruel barbs didn’t surprise her, it still cut to the core to hear him make fun of her so casually. Of course Nessie’s tittering laughter didn’t help, either.

As though to emphasise his words, he placed his hands on either side of her hips and dug his fingers into her soft flesh. It hurt enough to draw a small whimper of pain from Holly and she inwardly cursed her own weakness.

Marcus thrust himself against her, the movement jerking her forward but his grip on her hips held her solidly against him. The action sent a shiver of revulsion rolling through her and she fought against his hold.

“I suppose I can see some benefits to so much extra flesh. At least it’ll give me something to hold onto when I mount you on our wedding night.”

His words and the image they conjured had Holly’s blood running cold. They’d never discussed what would happen after they married but sleeping with him was out of the question.

He released her as suddenly as he’d grabbed her and Holly used the opportunity to turn on him. Her arm lashed out as her hand connected with his cheek, the sound of the slap reverberating around the room, echoing into the shocked silence that followed.

“I told you once, if you ever lay a hand on me I will kill you. I agreed to a wedding but it is in name only.” She spat the words at him, her anger trembling through her body filling her with artificial confidence.

Holly watched as rage filled his eyes, like water flooding in to fill the void.

He reached out, his hand closing around her jaw in a vicelike grip as he pulled her towards him.

The sound of the doorbell made him freeze and Holly held her breath, waiting for him to make his move.

“I’ll deal with you later.” He released her and nodded towards Victor. “Don’t just stand there, answer the door.”

Holly stumbled away, crossing the room in an attempt to put as much distance between her and Marcus’ temper.

“You should be grateful.” The soft whisper caught Holly unawares, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Nessie stood next to her, her thin arms crossed over her chest. It was a defensive gesture and one Holly recognised only too well.

“Grateful?” Holly echoed, her voice incredulous. “Why the hell would I be grateful to a monster like that?”

“He wants to marry you, he needs you. He doesn’t need me, never will.”

Her blue eyes were wide and Holly could see a flickering of fear down within them but it was masked by something else, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“You love him?” Holly asked, keeping her voice low as the first of Marcus’ guests stepped into the room.

“Love him? No. I love what he does for me, what he gives me and for that I’d follow him to the end of the earth.”

“I don’t understand.”

Nessie smiled and she suddenly looked much older than her years. She unfolded her arms and slipped the lace sleeve of her dress up over the crook of her elbow, revealing a mess of needle marks all in various stages of healing.

“Just remember it can always get worse. Pissing him off is a guaranteed ticket to shitsville.”

A sudden commotion on the other side of the room allowed Holly to finally drag her gaze away from Nessie’s arm. Marcus’ voice from the hall raised the hairs along the back of her neck and she crossed the room.

“You’ve got some nerve,” Marcus said as Holly stepped into the hall and froze.

Riley stood inside the door, a wide grin on his handsome face as he shrugged out of his coat.

The sight of him was enough to drive all the air from Holly’s lungs, as though someone had driven their fist through her chest. She wavered on her feet, gripping the doorjamb as she fought to steady herself.

What the hell was he doing here?

The man behind Riley stepped forward, his icy blond hair sparkling beneath the hall lights and Holly instantly recognised Anderson Clarke.

“You wanted me at your table, Marcus, this is the price,” Anderson said, his expression serious and calculating as he stared Marcus down.

Holly expected Marcus to explode. The colour that flooded his face made him look unstable and from the tensing of his shoulders she knew he was seconds away from launching himself across the space at Riley.

“Marcus, they’re waiting for you,” Victor said, his voice low and calm as though he were talking to a small child on the verge of a tantrum. “Think of what you’re trying to achieve.”

It was enough to diffuse him and Holly watched as he seemed to give himself a mental shake before turning and stalking back into the living room.

Victor started to follow him but he paused as he reached the door.

“It’s fine, Victor, I’ll be just a moment,” Holly said, knowing he was waiting for her to follow suit.

He stared down into her face and a flickering of jealousy crossed through his eyes, making her a little nervous before he stalked off, his back straight and shoulders stiff.

“What the hell are you doing here? Have you completely lost your mind?” Holly whispered as Riley crossed the hall towards her.

She backed up until she felt the cold press of the wall behind her and she was left with nowhere to go.

“I want to protect you. Leave with me—leave right now—and he won’t even know you’re gone until we’re far enough away from this place that it doesn’t matter how angry he gets.”

She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears as his hand cupped the side of her cheek.

“I can’t, Riley, you know that, I’ve told you. If I go, what’ll he do to my father? to…” She cut herself off before she had the chance to let her mother’s name slip out.

Until she could find a way to protect the people she loved, there was nothing she could do but carry on with the plan and marry Marcus.

“I can protect your father—I can protect all of you—you’ve just got to trust me.”

“I want to, I really do, but it’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

Riley’s fingers stroked down against her cheek, his hand pausing against the edge of her bruising. She’d tried to cover the marks but there was only so much concealer and makeup could do and the dress was so revealing that there was no way to hide the marks around her neck and collarbone.

“He did this to you?”

Holly nodded, her mouth going suddenly dry. Riley’s expression hardened and he jerked away from her.

“I’ll kill him for this.”

Holly grabbed his arm, halting him from bursting into the living room. She could feel the tension in his body, his muscles flexing beneath the touch of her hand.

“Don’t, Riley, please. You’ll only make it worse and I couldn’t bear to see anything happen to you.”

“Holly, nothing is going to happen to me, I’ll be fine. He’s just a man and I’m not going to let him get away with something like this. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

She shook her head as the tears began to drip down her cheeks.

“Please, Riley, you don’t know what he’s capable of. He’s dangerous.”

Riley laughed but it wasn’t a pleasant sound.

“It’s not just me, there’s far more at stake than you understand. He’s not working alone and the man he’s working for is far more powerful. He has connections, Riley, and you’re going to get yourself killed if you don’t back off.”

Holly let out a sigh of relief as Riley paused and stared down into her face.

“You know who he’s working for?”

“Not yet, but I’m getting closer. They’re dangerous, but Marcus won’t do anything to me. He needs me, he needs what I can give him.”

“I can’t leave you here to face him, Holly. I won’t.”

Holly pushed the ache in her chest down into her body but it only made her feel hollow inside.

“This isn’t your choice to make, Riley. I told you last night and I meant it. There’s no future for us. The more you interfere, the worse you make the situation. If you really cared for me, if you ever loved me, you’d walk away and let me deal with this myself.”

She watched as his face seemed to visibly pale, hurt and anger chasing across his face until his expression hardened into resolve.

“You may have given up on a future for us, Holly, but I haven’t and I’m not about to start now.”

He pulled out of her grip and strode into the living room.

She stood in the hall, waiting to hear the sounds of a fight breaking out.

Marcus would kill Riley.

The murmured sounds of laughter and conversation continued and Holly crept forward towards the living room door.

Was her mind playing tricks on her? Was it just protecting her from what she knew had to be occurring in the room?

Pushing the door open, her eyes scanned the room, finally coming to rest on Riley on the other side of the room deep in conversation with Anderson. She released her breath, the air sliding out from between her lips and she could feel her body deflating like a balloon.

Had she gotten through to him? Was he finally listening?

She could only hope he was.

“
I
f she’s right
, then the last thing you should be doing is creating trouble,” Anderson warned.

Riley couldn’t help but notice his friend’s surreptitious glances at those gathered in the room and it made him even happier that he was with him. Two sets of eyes at the end of the day were better than one.

“Anderson, you saw the bruises, do you really expect me to leave her here with him? Weren’t you the one who said I needed to get her out of here as soon as possible?”

“Yeah, but you want it to be right. If you help her escape, what’s to stop him from coming after her again?”

“I’ll be there to stop him.”

“And if you get hurt or worse? What happens then, Riley? What happens to Holly then?”

“Why is everyone so convinced that I can’t take him, that he’ll put me on my ass?”

“Because if Holly is right, then Marcus is as ruthless as they come. A man like that has nothing to lose, so he wouldn’t hesitate to kill you. But you’d hesitate to take a life.”

“Not if I was protecting the people I love.”

Riley watched as his friend shook his head before swallowing down a mouthful of the scotch he’d ordered from the waitress the moment they’d entered the room. Riley could tell he didn’t approve of what he was planning but there was nothing he could do about that.

Marcus crossed the room towards them, the look on his face less than friendly but the fact that he’d allowed him to stay meant something. Riley just couldn’t quite get a read on what it was that Marcus was really planning.

“I’m so glad you could make it, Anderson, although I admit I don’t remember saying you could bring a date.”

Riley dipped his head and hid a smile behind the glass of water he’d accepted.

“Well, you did say this was a business dinner, Marcus, so you can’t really hold a business dinner and not invite Riley Reynolds. His family holds far too much sway in this town. Anyway, I value his opinion…”

Marcus stiffened and Riley could practically see the cogs turning inside his thick skull as he processed Anderson’s statement.

“I’d have thought you were your own man, Anderson, capable of making up your own mind. Or was last night nothing more than front?”

Anderson laughed, the sound bouncing around the room and drawing the attention of some of the other guests gathered.

“You know, Marcus, if you’ve got a problem with me, then you should just say it to my face instead of dancing around the issue. But you should remember that I’m a member of the council and planning committee, and if you’re hoping to start up a business in this town you’re going to need our approval.”

Marcus turned his attention to Riley, his eyes cold and callous and Riley could imagine how a lesser man might feel intimidated by the expression in his gaze.

“Members of the council can always be replaced. You think you’re important, Riley Reynolds. Your father was as arrogant as you are. His death was a terrible tragedy, or so I heard, your mother too…” Marcus paused, a small smile curling just the corners of his lips and Riley fought the urge to wipe it from his face. “They never did catch the driver of the other car, did they? It’d be a terrible shame for Breaker’s Point if something similar happened to you…”

Anger boiled in Riley’s veins and he took a step closer to Marcus, putting him practically nose to nose with the other man.

“What the hell do you know about the death of my parents?” He kept his voice low and deliberate, in an attempt to curb his temper.

Marcus’ smile widened and he took a step back and spread his arms wide. “Absolutely nothing, Riley, how could I? It was a tragic accident, after all…”

Anderson’s hand on Riley’s arm was the only thing that stopped him from knocking Marcus to the floor with his fists. The thought of pummelling him until he begged for mercy was overwhelming but Riley glanced up and caught Holly’s piercing gaze.

The fear in her eyes was enough to take the wind completely out of his sails and he let out a slow and steady breath, burying his anger back down inside himself where it could be nurtured in preparation for when he got his chance to put Marcus in his place once and for all.

“I never took you for a coward, Riley,” Marcus said, disappointment evident in his voice.

He’d obviously been spoiling for a fight and yet Riley couldn’t shake the feeling that what he’d said about his parents had an air of truth to it.

“And I didn’t think you were a fool, but I guess we’re both wrong. Just remember this: if any harm comes to Holly, I’ll take great pleasure in hunting you down and ripping you limb from limb. Do you understand me?”

“I look forward to it,” Marcus said, his voice filled with the arrogance of a man used to being the toughest one in the room.

He moved away and it took all of Riley’s willpower to watch him walk away. He couldn’t think of another person on the planet that he hated more in that moment.

“If you need to leave, I understand. I’ll stay and see what Marcus proposes,” Anderson said, leaning in towards Riley.

Riley shook his head, his gaze never leaving Holly’s beautiful face. No, no matter what Marcus had said or alluded to, Riley knew if he left now it would make him the coward that bastard had said he was.

And anyway, what good would it do Holly if he was to just turn tail and run away at the first sign of trouble? He would see it through to the end no matter what happened.