Chapter 53
reston’s words pierced her like a poisoned blade, embedding deep into the raw, trembling center of her chest. Pain radiated outward in a silent scream, unlike anything she had ever known. Her hand rose instinctively to clutch at her heart, fingers twitching in the empty space before falling limply to her thigh. Her voice was a thin thread, strained but even.
“Mr. Hill, you’re right. My life is worthless.”
It was his truth, after all–he had been the first to say it, spitting it at her with venomous certainty. Yet hearing it on her lips ignited an inexplicable fury within Preston, colling in his gut like a serpent ready to strike.
“Follow me!” he barked, his voice harsh and ragged with unspoken anger.
He turned abruptly, striding away without another glance. Georgia’s eyes remained fixed on his retreating back for a moment before she forced herself to move. Silent, she trailed after him, her limbs heavy as if weighted with iron.
Preston moved quickly, his long strides unforgiving. Georgia struggled to keep pace, each step sending lightning bolts of pain through her bones. Her knees wobbled under her weight, and every joint throbbed with deep, marrow–level agony. Cold sweat soaked her skin, mingling with the wetness of her drenched clothes until she couldn’t tell whether it was sweat Jor remnants of the water she nearly drowned in.
Preston stepped into the elevator and glanced back, irritation flickering across his sharp features when he saw her still several paces away.
“Hurry up!” he snapped, his voice echoing down the marble hallway.
She clenched her teeth until her jaw ached. “Please wait a sec,” she panted, dragging in ragged breaths as she forced her battered legs to move faster.
When she finally stepped into the elevator, her lungs burned as she gasped out, “I’m sorry. Fortunately. I didn’t waste much of your time.”
Before the last syllable left her lips, the world tilted violently. A wave of darkness crashed over her vision, and her eyes rolled back as her body crumpled. Preston lunged forward without thinking, his hands gripping her shoulders before she could collapse to the floor.
“Georgial” he roared, shaking her limp form with panicked force. “Don’t play dead”
But when he looked down at her slack face, his breath stopped. Her lips were a ghastly grey, her eyelids fluttering but unseeing. A piercing ache exploded in his chest, unfamiliar and suffocating.
“Georgia, wake up!” he shouted, gathering her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing. His voice tore out of him, ragged with desperation. ‘Don’t you dare leave me.”
He connected to Lorenzo through the mind link, his mental voice like thunder. “Is Simon here yet? Tell him to come to the top floor right now!”
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, but Preston barely heard it. He strode into his penthouse suite, his footsteps pounding against polished stone as he carried her straight to the massive bed. Laying her down, he didn’t hesitate. His long fingers moved swiftly to peel off her soaked clothes.
His grip trembled with urgency as he unfastened her coat and pulled it away, revealing her thin, soaked shirt beneath. Without pause, he tugged at her top, revealing yet another layer underneath–a long–sleeved undershirt clinging to her clammy skin,
A flicker of confusion crossed Preston’s face. Why the hell is she wearing so much? Summer heat pressed against the windows outside, yet here she was, swaddled in suffocating layers.
He pushed the thought aside and tore off the damp garments with swift, efficient movements. His gaze flickered over her chest as he removed her bra, her breasts spilling free before him. Heat pulsed under his skin. He sucked in a sharp breath, turning away immediately to snatch a crisp white dress shirt from his wardrobe.
He dressed her quickly, his eyes avoiding her bare skin. Focused only on getting her dry and warm, he missed the faint, silvery scars that etched across her torso.
Chapter 53
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His hands moved to the waistband of her pants, intent on stripping away the wet fabric clinging to her thighs when her legs suddenly jerked. She kicked out with sudden violence, as if trapped in some invisible nightmare. One foot slammed into his chin, snapping his head back. He caught her ankles in a firm grip to keep her still, his gaze narrowing on her sleeping face twisted in terror.
She didn’t wake, but her body trembled with instinctive fear, her lips moving with frantic murmurs.
“Maya… Maya.. take me away… take me away….
Preston’s grip tightened around her ankles until his knuckles burned white. His chest felt like it was caving in under the crushing force of something dark and primal
Maya? That’s who you want? That’s who you’re crying out for, even now?
His eyes narrowed into black slits, searing her tear–streaked face with cold fury. ‘Georgia, don’t even think about it. You want to run away with Maya? You think you can just leave me behind?
“Maya,” she whispered again, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes and trailing down to soak the pillow beneath her head. The sight made something snap inside him.
He clamped his hand around her throat, fingers pressing into her fragile skin. His voice was cold, quiet, lethal. “Mason? Open your eyes and see who I am.
The grip on her throat tightened, cutting off her air with ruthless precision. Her eyes flew open, panic and confusion flickering in the depths of her dilated pupils as she met his murderous gaze.
Preston’s voice trembled with a madness that chilled the air between them. “Why don’t you struggle? Why don’t you beg me? Aren’t you good at begging for mercy? Isn’t your pathetic life what you cling to the most?”
Inside his mind, Luca roared in horror. “Stop! Preston!
“Shut up!” Preston snapped back, his teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached. “She’s been thinking about another man!” “You’re killing her, Preston!” Luca howled, the wolf’s anguish echoing in his mind.
Georgia’s vision blurred into blackness as her lungs screamed for air. She felt her body sink into a cold, suffocating abyss, the terror identical to the moment she had drowned earlier, Her arms fell limp at her sides, her chest stilling beneath his crushing grip.
She stopped fighting..
However, her stillness only ignited a deeper rage within Preston.
“Why aren’t you fighting back? Why won’t you beg me?” he shouted, his voice raw with madness as it tore through the quiet. “Isn’t that what you’re best at–falling to your knees, groveling for your pathetic life? Isn’t that the thing you cling to the most, your worthless existence?”
