Page 36 of Seduced By the Billionaire
The words hit her like a punch to the gut. “I… have a police scanner. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Not what I meant, but that does explain a lot.”
For a moment, all she could do was stare. Certainly not the greeting she’d expected, but the tightness in his eyes might be pain—irritability after the explosion.
Juliette licked her lips, her tongue dry. “I think this is about me. There was a strange man in the motel parking lot last night,” she forced out.
“What a coincidence. There was a strange man at my house this morning, trying to blow me up.”
The acid in his tone made her breath catch. He was a completely different man than he’d been the night before. Switching on a dime… the way Daniel used to.
Just say what you came here to say, Juliette. Then run. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want you anymore—he already got what he was after.
At least this would make leaving easier.
“Listen, Ronan?—”
“I’m done listening.” He gestured to his body, the bandages on his shoulder. “I’m in a hospital bed. And I’ll be out of here later today, so whoever tried to kill me can try again.” Not a shred of desire now, nothing to indicate that he thought her beautiful. That savage hatred in his gaze… was for her.
He turned away, staring straight ahead as if he couldn’t bear to look at her face.
Her chest heated—fury, yes, but a deeper hurt was gnashing its teeth in her guts. Betrayal. Sorrow.
Instead of letting her stinging eyes fill, she snapped, “Are you blaming me for that pathetic scratch? If so, suck it up.” He balked, and she closed the distance between them. “This isn’t a coincidence, and neither was the man at my motel. He used to do this all the time, paying people to follow me and?—”
“These other people… were they arrested?” he said to his hands. “Did you call the police to report them? Did you even report that wound on your chest?”
Her scar throbbed, the air too thin. “I’m trying to protect the people I love. So, no. But do you really think that Jason stumbled into my life by accident?”
“So, what, he paid Mercer to date you, then killed him for it?”
“No, he paid him to follow me, but then we had dinner and?—”
Ronan rolled his eyes. “That makes no sense. And it’s awfully convenient that you’d suddenly decide to tell me now.”
What the fuck is wrong with him? But the hollow pain in her chest felt more like grief than fury.
“I wasn’t sure, okay? I really wasn’t. Years of gaslighting… it messes with your brain, and after having relative peace for so long?—”
He snorted, and her blood boiled. Still refusing to meet her gaze.
“If I knew who to look for from the beginning, this never would have happened,” he growled. “You’ve been running around playing some sick game of cat and mouse and leaving me blind.”
“You don’t understand. I am the game. If he finds me, and I’m not suffering enough, he’ll do something to hurt me worse. I honestly hoped he’d get tired of it eventually—tired of me. Then I could go get my mother and disappear.”
“Your mother…” His voice trailed off, eyes softening.
Her chest softened in kind. Could she blame him for not understanding when she’d held so much back?
“The second place I ran was this little town in Oklahoma,” she croaked out. “I got a good job as a secretary under an assumed name. Two weeks later, someone slipped a note under my motel room door that my mom had fallen down the stairs.”
He frowned. “So… you work in strip clubs because it’s demeaning? Because it… placates him?”
“I used to tell myself I took those jobs to build my confidence, but I just wanted an excuse—a reason to feel less helpless. I don’t think I ever felt like I had a choice, and I understood that more clearly after Oklahoma. It is its own brand of torture, constantly being told you’re not pretty enough, not even good enough for a strip club. That I’m ugly, the same thing he always told me. And maybe I deserve a little punishment. I’ve done… terrible things.” Her back straightened. “But I don’t deserve this.”
She’d told Ronan enough for him to understand her position, her fear, and he was torturing her, acting as if this was all her fault. Just like Daniel always had. And she’d be damned if she took that shit from Ronan, too.
In her time away from Daniel, it seemed she’d recovered just enough confidence to walk away from assholes.
