57. Cassidy

I curlmy fingers into the blanket and tuck it tighter around me. I"m not stupid enough to think it"ll keep Roman out, but it"s all I"ve got. Also, the smell of eggs wafting off the plate my bastard of an ex is holding makes me gag a little. "Where are you going?"

Her face melts into a smug mask as she grins at me. "Your bar. It"ll be opening soon and I have to make sure I"m there when my future husband comes in looking for you. He"s going to need someone to comfort him."

Roman chuckles as he sets the plate down on the bedside table and sits on the edge of the bed next to me. I scoot away from him, but it"s not far enough. "Don"t worry about that, babe. He"s never going to want you again after what we"re about to do."

I don"t like the sound of that at all. "What exactly are we doing?"

"First you"re going to eat. You"re going to need your strength for the plans I"ve got."

He holds up a fork full of food like he"s going to feed me, and I turn my head away. "I"m not hungry."

Roman drops the fork with a loud clang, and when I look over, Saylor"s gone.

Damn it.

"Even better. If you don"t want to eat, we can move on to the fun part." He tosses the plate onto the nightstand and some of the food flies off it, but he doesn"t seem to care. Then, he grabs the blanket in his fist and yanks it off of me so fast I don"t have time to hold on. "We"re making our own video for your porn account. Just a little something to remind everyone who gives you the best dick."

More like the most selfish dick. I don"t think Roman ever actually made me come. But I don"t say that out loud. I don't have a death wish.

I"m sprawled out in his bed in nothing but my Sin Bin tank top and a pair of lacy white panties Hayden bought me. I cross my legs, trying to keep them closed while Roman grips one of my thighs and forces them open. His gaze drops between my legs, but his eyes get stormy and fill with fury the longer he looks.

"What the fuck is this?" I slap his hand away when he goes for my panties, but he manages to tug the front of them down enough to reveal the tattoo of Hayden"s name. His rage-filled eyes lift to mine. "You fucking slut. You let him mark you?" Every word gets louder and by the last one he"s full-on yelling, spit flying from his mouth—the whole thing.

I flinch, hating that I do it, but Jesus, he looks unhinged and not in the fun way Hayden is. He crawls up my body and I kick and bite and scratch at him, but it"s like he doesn"t even feel me do it. He presses the gun to my temple and settles his weight between my legs. The cold metal stops me mid-fight and the tip of his nose is nearly touching mine as he stares down into my eyes.

"You need to learn what it means to be fucking loyal, Cass," he growls as his fingers dig into my hip hard enough to bruise. Like this asshole has any idea about loyalty. "And before today"s over, you"re going to regret ever betraying me."

I swallow hard as I try to keep my breathing steady. "You don"t want to do this, Roman."

He scoffs as he grinds his disgusting dick against me through our clothes. Yep, he's hard. "Don"t tell me what I want or don"t want." He leans down and bites my neck so hard I cry out in pain.

Ah, fuck it. I have one last card to play, one last idea to buy time. Admittedly, it"s not great. If he"s this insane over a tattoo, he might go ballistic when he hears what I"m about to say. But there"s a small sliver of hope it"ll snap him out of whatever mental break he"s having and remind him that I"m a human being and he doesn"t actually want to kill me.

"I"m pregnant." He freezes, so I keep going. "I"m pregnant and Hayden is my husband, Roman. That"s not just going to go away because you want it to."

He pulls back and stares down at me with a mixture of shock and disgust on his face. "You"re lying."

I start to shake my head, but the metal digs into my skin, so I stop. "I"m not."

Roman rolls off me and stalks over to his closet, disappearing inside. I scramble out of the bed, fully ready to make a run for the door, when he appears with a knife in his hand.

I don"t know what he plans to do, but I do not want to find out.

I bolt for the door, but he"s right behind me and grabs me around the waist before I can get away. He slams me back against the wall and presses the tip of the knife against my stomach. "If you"re pregnant, then I need to take care of it."

Somehow I doubt he means raise the baby as his own, not that I"d be cool with that either.

My heart pounds so loud in my ears I can hardly hear anything else. My vision tunnels down to just Roman and the knife as he presses it harder into my skin. Where the hell is Hayden?

I"m breathing so hard I"m dizzy, and I"m so freaking afraid as the tip of his knife nicks my skin.

"I knew you were a whore, but I can"t believe you took it so far," he growls. "You let another man knock you up and this," he moves the knife slightly, his attention dropping to my stomach before he grabs my hair and yanks my head back. I bite my cheek to keep from reacting to the fear and the sting. "Isn"t happening."

"If you do this, I could die," I warn him, glaring at him with every ounce of the hate I feel for this man.

His lip curls. "Better you die than have that asshole"s child. The last thing we need is more of his bloodline tainting the planet."

"You"re pathetic," I spit, deciding that pissing him off can"t possibly make this worse. He"s already about to do the worst thing I can imagine. "Such a sad excuse for a man that you have to resort to this to get someone to want you."

He slams me back against the wall again so hard my teeth click together and my head bounces off the drywall. Between him pistol whipping me last night and this, I think I might pass out or have brain damage. My eyesight is blurry and I see stars. It takes me a second to realize he"s talking, but when I do, I wish I hadn"t heard him at all.

"If you don"t shut your fucking mouth, I"m going to cut out your tongue and wear it on a necklace around my neck to remind you of what you are." He leans closer until his face is inches from mine. "And that is nothing."

I swallow hard against the sting in my scalp and the throbbing in my skull. The light feels like a knife stabbing me in the brain and thinking is becoming an issue, but I"m pretty sure I have a concussion. "You"re going to ruin your life if you do this."

He laughs, but it"s not funny. It"s dark and twisted and sends chills down my spine. "Who cares? It"s already ruined. Your husband," he spits the word, "made sure of that. Now you"re going to help me break Vaughn and I don"t give a shit what happens after that."

And I can see it in his eyes—he means those words.

He'll never stop.

His fingers loosen from my hair but grips my throat so tight I can"t breathe.

And for the first time, I think he might be about to actually kill me.