Chapter 63 He Found Out
Anna's POV
Lucas laughed bitterly, running a hand through his hair. “So you spread your legs for him willingly? For Don Xavier? My fucking stepbrother who treats women like toys?”
Tears stung my eyes. “It wasn’t like that. I… I don’t even know how I feel. I feel sick about it. I feel guilty. I kept thinking about you the whole time.”
“Bullshit,” he snarled, voice rising. “You think about me while his cock is inside you? While you’re moaning for him?”
“Lucas, stop—”
He grabbed my arm suddenly, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. “You were supposed to be mine! I was going to get you out of this. I had a plan. And now you’ve let him fuck you like some cheap whore on the first night?”
Pain shot through my arm. Fear spiked in my chest as I saw the raw fury in his eyes. This wasn’t the Lucas I knew. This was a man breaking.
“Lucas, you’re hurting me,” I gasped.
For a second, his grip tightened even more, his face twisted with rage and pain. His other hand came up, fist clenched like he might actually strike me.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Then, just as suddenly, he released me and staggered back, horror replacing the anger on his face.
“Fuck… Anna, I’m sorry,” he breathed, voice shaking.
“I didn’t mean… I would never hurt you. I’m so sorry.”
I rubbed my throbbing arm, stepping away from him until my back hit the wall. Tears slipped down my cheeks. “Get out, Lucas.”
“Anna, please. I lost control for a second. I’m devastated. He took everything from me. You were the one good thing—”
“I said get out!” I shouted, my voice breaking. “Now! I can’t do this right now. Just leave.”
He stared at me for a long moment, eyes filled with regret and lingering anger. “This isn’t over,” he muttered. “He doesn’t get to win. Not like this.”
Lucas turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him so hard the walls rattled.
I sank onto the bed, burying my face in my hands.
My arm ached where he had grabbed me. My chest felt tight with guilt, confusion, and a strange, unwelcome longing for the man who had claimed me so thoroughly last night. How had everything spiraled so fast?
A few minutes later, the door opened again without a knock. Xavier stepped in, closing it softly behind him.
He took one look at my tear-streaked face and the way I was cradling my arm, and his expression darkened.
“What happened?” he demanded, voice low and dangerous.
I wiped my eyes quickly. “Nothing. Just… leave me alone for a while.”
He crossed the room in three strides and gently but firmly took my arm, inspecting the reddening fingerprints already forming on my skin. His jaw clenched.
“Lucas,” he stated, not a question.
I pulled my arm away. “It’s not your concern.”
“You are my wife. Everything about you is my concern.” His tone left no room for argument. “Did he hurt you?”
“He was upset. You told him about the wedding like it was nothing. He feels betrayed.”
Xavier’s laugh was cold. “Betrayed? He should be grateful I didn’t put a bullet in his head for even thinking he could have you. You belong to me now, Anna. Lucas needs to learn his place.”
“Don’t talk about him like that,” I snapped, anger flaring through the hurt. “He cares about me. Unlike you, who only sees me as a prize you won.”
Xavier stepped closer, backing me against the wall again. This time his touch was different—controlled, but no less intense. He tilted my chin up so I had to meet his eyes.
“Is that what you think?” he murmured. “That last night was just me claiming a prize? I felt how your body responded to me, Anna. How wet you were. How many times you came screaming my name. That wasn’t a prize. That was chemistry. Raw. Real. And you know it.”
My breath hitched. “You tricked me. You manipulated the situation.”
“Did I force your legs open?” he asked softly, his thumb brushing my lower lip. “Did I make you kiss me back at the altar? Did I make you beg?”
I hated him in that moment. Hated how right he was. Hated how my body was already reacting to his nearness again.
“Get away from me,” I whispered, but there was no real heat in it.
Xavier leaned in until his lips were inches from mine. “You can lie to Lucas. You can even lie to yourself for a little while longer. But you can’t lie to me, little wife. You want this. You want me. And sooner or later, you’ll stop fighting it.”
He pressed a slow, deliberate kiss to my forehead, then stepped back.
“Rest. I’ll deal with Lucas myself. He touches you again like that, and brother or not… he loses more than just you.”
Xavier turned and left the room, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts and the confusing mix of fear, guilt, and undeniable desire swirling inside me.
I touched my lips, remembering how they had felt against his last night. Then I looked at the bruise forming on my arm from Lucas’s grip.
Two dangerous men. Both claiming pieces of me.
And I had no idea which one scared me more.