“Oh no?” One of his perfectly shaped eyebrows arched. “This for Spec?” he said the name as though it were a dirty word.
How did he know that name? She swallowed the shock, smiled, and nodded as though she wasn’t rattled by how much he knew. “It is. He loves when I wear these shorts. Something about being able to slide his hand up my thigh and under—”
The strong crack of his palm across her cheek came so fast that she didn’t stand a prayer of preparing for it. Her head whipped to the side. He was so strong that her entire body slammed against the seat’s armrest, especially her hip, which took the brunt of it against the armrest’s wooden bottom.
Pain lanced across her face and hip at the same time, but she couldn’t determine which was worse. To her every lasting shame, she cried out. But, damn, it hurt so bad.
Instantly, her hands came up to cradle her injured cheek. She blinked. Thankfully, her eyeballs hadn’t popped out of the sockets.
Much as she wanted to stand her ground and spit in his face, her body took over, curling into a protective ball in the seat.
Glancing over his shoulder, he called out, “Roddy, please go to the lounge and find the captain. Tell him we’ll be ready to leave in thirty minutes. And leave us alone until then.”
“Sure thing, boss.” Roddy nodded from where he stood near the prep station, watching her be abused. Her eyes pled with him to help, but he paid her no mind as he left the plane.
As soon as the door slid shut, Lance sprung from his chair. He loomed over her, bracing himself with a hand on each of her armrests. A thunderous expression she’d never seen in all the years they’d been together met her gaze. “Do you have any idea what you’ve fucking cost me these past few weeks?” he growled.
She didn’t bother to answer, just stared up at him with what she hoped was defiance but feared was terror.
“Paying PIs, sending my plane all over the goddamn country looking for you, missed deadlines, canceled meetings, millions of dollars down the goddamn drain because you’re jealous of a stupid whore.” He screamed those last words in Olivia’s stunned face.
Was that how he saw it? She’d run from him out of jealousy? Could he be that delusional?
“Jealous?” she said with a high-pitched, slightly hysterical chuckle. “You think this is about jealousy?” Fear seeped out of her blood, transforming into anger. “You fucking raped someone! You drugged and raped an innocent girl, and you think I’m jealous?” Her bark of laughter sounded harsh. “You’re out of your fucking mind. Even if it hadn’t been a crime, your dick is nothing to get jealous over.”
She rose on wobbly legs. Rage had her confidence inflating and her muscles trembling. Channeling every bitchy instinct she’d ever possessed, she straightened her shoulders and ignored the throbbing in her cheek. “Now let me off this fucking plane.”
“Your language is disgusting.” Lance made a disgusted half-laugh and then grabbed her by the throat. She gagged and choked as air disappeared. “You’re more stupid than I assumed all these years if you think I’m letting you go anywhere.”
She clawed at his hand, trying with every bit of fledgling strength to loosen his grip. His eyes shot fire and hatred that terrified her.
“You think you’re in control here? You think you have any say in how I conduct myself? Who I fuck?” He turned, slamming her back against the wall.
Thankfully, the move loosened his grip a fraction, allowing her to suck in small gasps of air. She raked her fingers over his hands, tearing the skin with her blunt nails, but he didn’t even flinch. Instead, he shook her, rattling her brain.
“S-s-stop.” She managed to squeeze the word past her vocal cords, but Lance was too far gone to notice. Even though she’d seen him rape someone and read his threatening texts for weeks, the violence and hatred shocked her. He’d claimed to love her once. Who was this dreadful man she’d spent so many nights next to? And how had she missed this for so long?
“You think she didn’t want it, you stupid bitch?” he shouted, shaking her again. “You think she wasn’t begging for it? You think they aren’t all begging for it?”
Oh, God. He’d done it more than once. Maybe even countless times.
Her vision grew fuzzy, and a strange sense of calm washed over her. She was running out of oxygen, and instead of panic, her body and mind seemed to accept the inevitable unconsciousness.
The last thing she heard before blackness engulfed her was Lance whispering in her ear. “You think I couldn’t have you begging for it in seconds?”
Olivia came to with a startled gasp what had to be seconds later.