Phantom: Her Ruthless Villain (Ruthless Triad 5)

He caged me in with a hand on each side of my head and growled, “I fucking loved you. Say you don’t love me, and you never did. Say that shit to my face.”

“Olivia!” a startled voice said.

I turned to see Garrett standing at the end of the hallway, party music spilling in from behind him.

But Phantom’s intense gaze never moved off me.

“Please,” I whispered. “Don’t do this. He’s standing right there.”

Phantom’s eyes flashed, dangerous and violent. “You think I won’t fuck you right here in this hallway in front of your fiancé?”

My traitorous body heated at his words, my pussy clenching for something it missed so much. But I couldn’t…I couldn’t let him win. The stakes were too high.

“Please,” I said again. Pleading. “Leave. Just leave. I don’t want you here. You’re ruining everything.”

He brought his head in closer, hovering his lips above mine. “Then say it. Say that shit to my face.”

“I never loved you,” I answered quickly. Then I hardened my voice to add, “I don’t love you now, and I never did, and I’m sorry if you felt led on, but there are plenty of fish in the sea, and I have decided on mine. So leave. Leave this party immediately. I never want to see you again.”

His concrete face…so feral and hard—for a moment, it softened, hurt shining suspiciously like tears in his eyes.

That is until Garrett came closer to us and said, “Don’t make us call security. I think you’ve already embarrassed yourself enough.”

Again, Phantom didn’t acknowledge Garrett. He just stared at me for several violent seconds, the air pulsing between us like a bomb about to go off.

But then he said, “Alright.”

And with that, he simply pushed away from me and walked back down the hallway, disappearing through the side doors where he must have come in.

“Do you want me to call security?” Garrett asked as we watched him go.

“No, that would draw unwanted attention,” I answered. “It’s over. He finally got the message. I’m sorry about that. Please don’t—”

“Darling, don’t apologize,” Garrett said, his tone magnanimous. “Remember how upset I was when I thought I’d lost you for good?”

He took my hand and raised it to his mouth to kiss the back of my fingers. “I almost don’t blame him for his last-ditch effort. But I will not abide another intrusion like this. Imagine if someone other than me had walked in on that scene.”

He made a disgusted sound as he started walking us back to the party.

“He won’t return,” I promised, remembering the hurt look in his eyes.

“Just in case, I’ll warn security to be on the lookout for him. You can put a thug in a suit, but they’ll always be a thug deep down inside.”

That old instinct to defend Phantom tried to rise inside of me at his words. But I squashed that urge down just like I had the memory of Eric’s voicemails. I wasn’t that person anymore.

I kept it all pressed down, and fortunately, the rest of the party went off without a hitch. Dad decided to save his speech for the wedding. And I managed to make it another hour before I told Garrett, “I’m sorry, but I absolutely have to get some sleep.”

“I’ll walk you up to your room,” Garrett offered, pressing an affectionate kiss into the side of my forehead.

“Thank you for the escort,” I said with a gracious smile when we made it to my door.

“Of course,” he answered. Then he leaned in for a kiss.

And I tried. I tried so hard. But I had to turn my face away at the last minute, forcing it to my cheek.

Garrett pulled back, the accommodating fiancé fading away. “You promised.”

“I know.”

“I can’t wait forever,” Garrett said with an irritated look. “We’ve been back together for months, and I’m a man with needs.”

Needs…the word pierced my heart as I remembered the night Phantom arrived at my door to tell me the same thing.

But no. I couldn’t let myself think about that. I batted the memory away and returned my focus to Garrett.

“After the wedding,” I assured him. “Just give me until Sunday.”

Garrett glowered but then pasted on a bright smile. “Perfect. That’s how we’ll celebrate the acquisition.”

I tried and failed to smile back. Then settled for, “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, my love,” he answered.

I sighed, kicked off my heels, and leaned against the door with my eyes closed after he left.

Then I immediately undid the side zipper of the empire waist dress I’d worn to the rehearsal dinner and let it fall to the floor. And I let out a huge sigh when I finally freed my breasts from my bra.

My gorgeous La Perla had never been a problem before I gained weight. But I was beginning to hate underwire bras as much as Han’s wife, Jazz. Maybe, like her, I’d switch to sports bras after the wedding—