All Chapters of My Abusive Ex Watched Me Marry His Stepbrother: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

(Lara's POV)Kyle was waiting for me when I opened my bedroom door the next morning. Standing in the hallway with his arms crossed, still wearing the gray t shirt from last night, the water stain still visible on the fabric where I had pushed him into the counter.He looked furious. Not the cold, controlled fury I was used to seeing in boardrooms and during arguments. This was something rawer, something hotter, something that burned behind his dark eyes like embers that had been smoldering all night."We need to talk about what happened," Kyle announced, and his voice carried the sharp edge of a man who had not slept and was not interested in pretending otherwise."There's nothing to talk about.""You pushed me, Lara. You put your hands on me and shoved me into a counter. We have an agreement, and acting like a child throwing a tantrum is not part of it.""A child?" The word landed on my skin like a spark. "You think I'm acting like a child?""I think you're letting your emotions over

The next few days passed in strange, careful silence. Lara did not avoid me, which was different from before. She did not seek me out either. We existed in the same space like two planets in separate orbits, aware of each other's presence but never colliding.She ate breakfast at the counter. I drank coffee beside her. We exchanged three or four words about schedules and appointments and nothing that mattered.Friday night, I came home late from the office. The penthouse was dark except for the kitchen light, which someone had left on. I dropped my briefcase in the hallway and went to my room to change, loosening my tie as I walked.My phone buzzed with notifications. I opened the browser and scrolled through the latest comments about Lara, the ones that had been multiplying like bacteria since Maxton's hospital admission.Each one was worse than the last. Cruel, vicious, personal. Attacking her appearance, her character, her choices. Calling her names that made my jaw lock with a fur

My breath caught. Heat flooded through me, sudden and devastating, pooling low in my belly and spreading outward until my whole body felt like it was humming at a frequency only he could tune into.I stepped back. Rebuilt my armor. Reminded myself that pretty words from controlling men were just prettier chains."Our contract covers public appearances," I told him, forcing steel back into my voice. "What I do in private is my business. My sex life has nothing to do with you, and you should mind your own.""Your sex life." He repeated the words like they were burning holes through his tongue. "You're going out to let someone else touch you.""Maybe. Maybe I want hands on my body that aren't attached to a man who thinks I'm worthless. Maybe I want someone to look at me the way you just looked at me and actually do something about it instead of hiding behind a contract."The sound that came from his throat was barely human. Low, guttural, the kind of sound a man makes when something prima

"I'm free." She spun away from me, arms spread wide, the black dress riding up her thighs as she twirled under the purple lights. "For the first time in months, nobody is controlling me. Not Maxton. Not Kyle. Not the stupid contract. Not the internet. Nobody.""Lara, please. There are photographers downstairs.""Good!" She laughed louder, drawing stares from the VIP section. "Let them take pictures. Let them call me a whore. They already do. At least this time I'll be having fun while they do it."She stumbled, and I caught her arm before she fell. The contact sent a shock wave through both of us. Her eyes snapped to mine, wide and glassy, and for the first time, recognition flickered behind the champagne haze."Kyle?" She squinted at me. Then her expression hardened. "Of course. Of course you followed me. Can't let your investment damage the portfolio, right?""I came because I was worried about you.""Bullshit." She jabbed her finger into my chest, unsteady on her heels. "You came b

I peeled the lace away from her body slowly, like unwrapping something precious, something that deserved patience and care and attention that no man before me had ever given her. My mouth followed where the fabric had been, kissing the soft skin beneath, tasting the warmth of her, learning every reaction.When my tongue traced a slow circle around her nipple, she arched off the bed with a gasp that went straight through me like lightning. Her fingers gripped my hair, pulling me closer, and the small, desperate sounds coming from her throat were the most intoxicating thing I had ever heard."You taste incredible," I told her, moving to the other breast, giving it the same slow attention. "Like something I should have been tasting every single night since you moved in."I kissed my way down her stomach, slow and deliberate, my lips memorizing the landscape of her body. The dip of her waist. The curve of her hip. The soft skin of her inner thigh where her muscles trembled under my mouth.