Chapter 2

Her eyes widened in shock. She couldn’t have heard him correctly. “Excuse me?” she said, unable to believe what she had just heard.

“Don’t play dumb. You’re a smart girl. How much would it take for you to dump Matt and take off?” Enzo asked.

“You’re offering me money to leave your brother?” Savannah asked.

He nodded. Something that looked like genuine regret flickered across his face. He fidgeted nervously and then pinned her with his stare. “I’d hoped you’d make this easy. It’s not a small amount of money we’re offering.” He said.

The “we” in that statement confirmed Savannah’s suspicions that Matt’s mother was indeed the mastermind of this operation. 

“Did your mother put you up to this?” she asked him. “You’re both out of your minds. I love Matt. He loves me. We’re getting married.”

He didn’t reply, just grinned at her.

She was about to tell Enzo exactly where he and his mother could get off when he took another step toward her. The look in his eyes had her hastily backing away.

“I think you should go now,” she said even as she reached for the phone.

Enzo lunged across the bed, knocking the phone from her hand. She was so stunned by the sudden attack that for a moment she didn’t— couldn’t—defend herself.

He shoved her down on the bed, his hands moving roughly over her body, pushing up her skirt, pulling at her pants. She drew her knee up, trying to catch him in the groin, but he dodged and then rolled her underneath him.

She cried out in pain at the rough mauling. She was furious and terrified. He fully intended to rape her in Matt’s bed. Had he lost his mind? Matt would kill him for this.

His hands moved over her skin with bruising force. Knowing if she wasn’t able to fight him off that he’d assault her in Matt’s home, she began struggling with renewed force.

She finally managed to land a blow between his legs, which had him doubling over, clutching at himself. She rolled, falling to the floor, her hands desperately grabbing at her clothing. She got to her feet, her hand clutching her bruised throat.

“He’ll kill you for this,” she gasped. “How did you think you’d get away with it? My God, you’re his brother! You bastard.”

She started for the door, her only thought to get to Matt, but Enzo’s words gave her pause.

“He’ll never believe you,” he said.

“You’re insane,” she choked out even as she ran for the door.

Savannah had been very wrong, and Enzo had been right. By the time she rushed to Matt’s office, she was too late.

Matt was standing in his office, his hands in his pocket, his head resting on the office wall, his body stiff. When she called his name and he turned around to look at her, she knew something was seriously wrong. Matt had never looked at her that way before.

She tried to explain what had happened, but Matt hadn’t believed her. Enzo had called his brother from Matt’s own apartment before she could arrive at Matt’s office.

He had given Matt his own accounting of what happened, and the genius of his story was that he told Matt exactly what Savannah would tell him. Only Enzo told Matt that Savannah had been the instigator and that when he told her he was going to tell Matt that she had cheated on him, she had concocted a smug story that he had assaulted her.