Page 14 of Beg for You

I froze. “Me?”

He stared at me, flushing again.

A sick feeling gripped me behind the ribs. “What does he want?”

“He’ll back me financially until I’m back on my feet, and in exchange, he…”

“What?” I rasped.

“He wants you to marry him, to link our two families.”

I backed up so fast the chair behind me was knocked over. “You can’t be serious?”

“The ranch would remain ours until my death, then it would go to him. But if you’re married to him…” He shoved his fingers through his thinning gray hair. “I have connections, contacts that would be beneficial to him. You know what his family’s like. They’ve alienated themselves, made enemies of some powerful people in this town. Doors have closed. Spencer has been taking over more of the day-to-day running of their property, and he’s trying to repair the damage his father’s done. He needs me. He can’t succeed without my help. This union, it would be an answer to all our problems. Would be—”

“No.” I sucked several breaths in through my nose. “I can’t do that. You can’t ask me to.”

“You would rather see me sink, see me ruined, humiliated, than marry an eligible man, a man with money? A man who clearly adores you? He’d give you anything you wanted. He’d take care of you.” His face twisted. “He’s willing to look past the way you look—”

“You told him?” Pain, so acute it had the ability to knock me to the ground, washed over me. “About the scars?”

“Yes. You should be flattered that he’ll take you as you are.”

“Flattered?” I was going to be sick. “I don’t love him.”

“Love has nothing to do with it.”

“You loved Mom.”

“After a time, yes. I grew to love her, but ours was a kind of arranged marriage. Two powerful families joining forces, just like this would be.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “And that’s what you want for me?” I choked out.

His eyes darkened, locked on mine. “This is a good option for you.”

“Because I’m so hideous no one else will have me?”

He was red, sweat beading on his forehead and upper lip. “If Chris were here, if you’d told me how far he’d sunk, this would never have happened. He had a head for business. He would have done anything to save this family. He would have—”

I lifted a hand, unable to listen to another word. “I…I need to go.” I couldn’t take the weight of it, his accusations, the guilt, the shame. Chris’s death was my fault. And a part of me, a big part, knew he was right. I’d kept what I knew to myself, thought I could help Chris. I’d failed him.

“Cassandra,” my father barked.

I ignored him and ran for the door.

“Think of what losing this house would do to your grandmother,” he called after me. “She wouldn’t survive a blow like that.”

I froze, his words like a dagger to the heart. He was willing to use my love for his own mother to manipulate me. The threat of losing her to get me to bend to his will.

I shoved the door open and ran outside. I climbed back into my car and headed to the main road. I needed to get away. My phone was ringing before I hit the end of the driveway. I ignored it.

I kept driving until the “Thank you for visiting Springhaven” sign was in my rearview mirror, and I kept on going. When I finally stopped, I was across the street from Rocktown Ink.

I didn’t know how I ended up there, or maybe I did.

My next appointment wasn’t for another few days. I should have gone to Ted’s—that would have been the wise thing to do—but I was suddenly desperate to get the tattoo finished. I needed it done. God, I felt trapped. I couldn’t breathe. I shoved my car door open, slammed it shut behind me, and ran across the road, crying out when a car screeched to a stop in front of me and blasted its horn. I kept running, not sure why, just that I needed to get inside. I needed to be in the only place, besides riding Tierra, I’d ever felt any kind of freedom, any control over my own life.

It was late, after nine, but the lights were on inside the shop. I tried the handle, but it was locked, so I started pounding on the door, a desperation driving me that I had no control over.