“Beck,” I manage to croak out, holding my arms out in front of me defensively.

His hand shoots out, grabs me above my elbow. He leans his face in and snarls, “You fucking broke into my office?”

He’s furious, and tiny bits of spittle hit my cheek. I reach my free hand up to wipe it away but he’s dragging me out of the office, so I just flail for balance.

“Jesus Christ,” he snarls as he pulls me into the hallway. “Who the fuck are you? What’s your goddamn game, Sela?”

“Beck,” I implore as he manhandles me into the living room. “Just wait…”

“I fucking trusted you,” he yells in his rampage, refusing to look at me. “I brought you into my home, into my bed…and you’ve been doing nothing but lying to me, sneaking behind my back. Are you a fucking spy for another company? What’s the game, Sela?”

His fingers are digging into my arm so hard my bone aches. My free hand comes up and tries to peel his fingers back to give me respite. He’s holding me so tightly, though, I can’t make any headway. I dig down the heels of my tennis shoes and they catch on the hardwood floor, except Beck is pulling me so hard I go flying face forward and fall to my knees. Beck pauses…gives me a moment to stand up, and the minute I’m upright, he starts pulling me forward again.

“I want you out of my fucking condo,” he snarls, and I see he’s heading for the front door.

I redouble my efforts trying to dig my heels in again, but Beck doesn’t even pause. He jerks on my arm, causing me to stumble, and reaches for the doorknob.

“Beck, no…wait,” I plead with him. “Please give me a chance to explain.”

“What’s to explain?” he asks with a bitter laugh as he releases his hold and spins on me. “You know…that day you lied to me about taking my car. I knew something was up then. My gut told me there was something you were hiding.”

“It’s not what you think,” I say as I shake my head in denial at him.

“Broke into my office, and looking for shit on me,” he spits out at me with disgust.

“No…I swear to you,” I say in a half sob, and finally blurt out, “It’s about JT.”

Beck throws his head back and gives a sarcastic, bitter bark of a laugh. His eyes shine with malice as he grabs my purse off the foyer table and shoves it right into my chest. My hands come up automatically to catch it as he releases, and I hug it to me. “Don’t even go there, Sela. You’ve had a hard-on for him for some reason, but I’ve known him forever. I’ve known you for a few weeks. What you and I have can never compare to the bond I have with him. Who the fuck do you think I’m going to believe?”

“I swear to God, Beck…this is about JT,” I say as tears now spring to my eyes, fill them to the brim, and with just one slight blink of my lids, go spilling over.

“Save it,” he growls, and his hand shoots back out to latch on to my upper arm now. He gives me a hard jerk, and I go stumbling forward again. He grabs the doorknob, wrenches it open, and starts pushing me through. “I want you out of here now. I’ll pack your shit up and have it delivered to your apartment, but you get the fuck out of my home and out of my life right this very minute and don’t look backward.”

“Beck,” I wail, dropping my purse on the foyer floor as I reach out to him, desperately trying to get him to listen to me. “I swear I’m not trying to hurt you.”

His blue eyes fill with darkness and his eyes narrow at me with something I would put akin to hatred. His hand shoots out and he catches me around the front of my neck, pulling me in slowly and up onto my tiptoes until he’s almost nose to nose with me. For the first time since he caught me in his office, his tone is calm but still rippling with rage and menace. “You’re no better than all the other girls, Sela. All looking to get ahead at some man’s expense. What were you doing? Searching my financials? Hoping to blackmail me with something? Looking to steal from me?”

With each question he asks, his grip on my throat tightens but not enough to cut off my air. Only enough to keep my attention and so I don’t forget he’s in control of this situation right now. With each question, his fury seems to increase, as if my inability to answer is an admission to each accusation.

He pulls me in a fraction of an inch closer and whispers, “I don’t care what the reason. I just want you fucking gone.”

Beck pushes me through the door and I have no choice but to walk backward from the force of his grip on me. My hands fly out, grab on to each side of the doorjamb, and dig in hard.

“Let go, Sela,” he snarls at me, releasing his hand on my throat and capturing both my wrists tightly with his hands. He peels them loose.

“No, wait,” I cry out, trying to launch myself back into the doorway.

“Get the fuck out,” he bellows at me with so much rage it feels like a sonic boom reverberating in my ears.

Beck pushes me hard, lets go of my wrists, and I stumble backward, falling to my butt with a jarring impact. He kicks at my purse, sending it hurtling through the door where the contents spill out all over the floor. That doesn’t stop me though. I immediately lurch forward to my hands and knees, crawling toward Beck standing in the door.

“Please listen to me, Beck,” I implore, my eyes begging him for just a few moments of his mercy.

He glares down at me, complete and utter disgust holding every inch of his beautiful face hostage. I crawl faster as he starts to shut the door, reaching one hand out in a pitiful attempt for a single, fucking bit of leniency from this man. He looks down at me like he wants to spit on me.

“Beck,” I say with a sob.

The door is halfway closed and I take a desperate look at his face, knowing that it’s the last time I’ll ever see it again. I’ll never know pleasure and joy like he’s given me, and although I know I’ve betrayed him and I can’t blame him for his actions right now, I throw all caution to the wind and I bare my soul to him. “JT…he raped me.”

The door comes to an immediate halt and Beck’s eyes go round with surprise. His mouth slackens and he pales for a moment as he looks down at me, his head tilted in confusion. I think perhaps he may even reach a hand out toward me…help me to my feet…pull me into his embrace and tell me it’s all going to be okay.