I couldn't help it. I choked, "That wasn't love. "
His face relaxed into an expression of abject relief. "I'm glad you understand. At least I won't have to pretend. You won't care if I keep a girlfriend? You have to admit you're a little cold in the sack. "
All I could do was gape. He was insane.
"Americans love an underdog and" - he lowered his voice - "truth be told, I'm not one. But you are. To come from this" - his lip curled as he waved in the general direction of Lake Bluff - "and accomplish what you did, to leave behind your hillbilly past and lose that horrible accent. Why, if I didn't know you were white trash, I'd never suspect. A large percentage of those surveyed trusted you. So if you stand beside me, as my wife, if you tell them they should vote for me. . . " He spread his hands and winked.
"Let me get this straight," I said. "You dated me to see how I played to the public. You took a poll and then - "
"I made you mine. "
"Made me. " Well, at least he'd gotten one thing right. He had made me.
"I staked my claim. " He lowered his hands. "It's a guy thing. "
"It's a rapist thing. "
Shock spread over his face. "What?"
"You raped me. "
"Did not. "
I wasn't going to play " 'Did not' and 'Did, too,' " with this guy. I was going to call Grace.
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and he grabbed me. So much for avoiding it.
"We dated for months," he said.
"My mistake. "
"I must have shelled out thousands wining and dining you. You owed me. "
"You're right. And the time's come to pay up. "
He relaxed a little, though he didn't let me go.
"How about this?" I continued. "You get to go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not become governor of Georgia. " Not that he'd actually go to jail - I had no evidence and it was his word against mine - but it sounded so good.
My head rocked back when he slapped me. I tasted blood. My cell phone fell from my suddenly boneless hands, hitting the ground with a clunk.
For a minute I'd actually thought I could stand up to him. Turn him in. Make him pay. Then one slap, and I couldn't think, let alone defend myself and call the police.
I'd never been hit before. Grabbed, shaken, raped, but never hit. No one tells you what a shock it is - not the pain so much as the degradation, the knowledge that someone can do that to you and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop it.
Suddenly Josh was yanked backward. "Strike a woman, will you?" Malachi Cartwright lifted Josh into the air by the neck of his shirt and shook
him. "Bastard. "
Josh's legs flailed, shoes striking shins, knees pounding against thighs. Cartwright didn't seem to notice.
"Would you like me to kill him?" he asked mildly.
Josh's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"Put him down," I said.
"I dinna think I will," Cartwright murmured, his brogue thickening.