Tested (Captured by the Billionaire #5)(2)
Author: Julia Sykes

“Let me go, Jake,” she gasped, desperate to escape.

His voice turned hard, determined.  “No.  Look at me, Mallory.”  His tone brooked no argument, and she found her eyes inexorably rising to meet his.  His gaze was dark blue, flinty.  Mallory sobbed as she realized what she was going to have to do: she was going to have to hurt him.  He would never let her go otherwise.

“Tell me what’s wrong, Mallory,” he commanded.

“Nothing,” she answered automatically, stupidly, delaying the moment she would have to rip his heart out.

His brows came together, his expression hard.  “What have I told you about lying to me, sub?”  He asked softly, dangerously.

“I’m not your submissive,” she forced out.  “I’m not yours.”  She wanted her voice to sound harsh, cruel, but she just sounded desolate.

He gripped her arm tighter, his expression growing angry now.  “What’s happened to you, Mallory?  Tell me the truth.  Now.”

“I can’t do this, Jake,” she heaved out, close to hyperventilating.  “Don’t make me.  Please, just let me go.”  Her voice was soft at the last, pleading.

“I’m not going to do that, Mallory.  I’m not going to let you go.”  His voice softened, turning gentle.  “I need you, Mallory.”

Bracing herself, she hurled out the words: “Well, I don’t need you!”  She would have to become what Celeste had accused her of being if she had any hope of escaping him.

Jake’s grip on her arm slackened, and he looked as though she had slapped him across the face again.  But he did not release her.  “I don’t believe that,” he said, his voice rough.

“I’ve been using you, Jake!”  She insisted.  “I’m exactly what you said: a gold-digger and a s-slut.”  But now she was crying harder than ever.

Jake grasped her by her shoulders, shaking her.  “Why are you saying this, Mallory?”  He demanded.  “Why?  I know this isn’t you.”

“I…”  She hesitated, unable to bring herself to say the lie that she knew she would have to tell.  “I don’t want to be your submissive.  It makes me feel degraded; it’s disgusting.”

Jake shook her again.  “Why are you lying to me?”  Frustration made his voice almost a growl.

“Fine!”  She exclaimed, hating him for making her do this to him.  Why couldn’t he just let her go?  Clinging to that anger, she stilled her heaving chest and said her next words as clearly and as coldly as she could manage.  “I’m seeing someone else.  I love him.  I’ve only been with you because of your money.”

Jake’s mouth parted, shock etched in every line of his face.  He looked as though he had seen a ghost, as though Mallory were morphing into Jennifer and he was experiencing her betrayal all over again.  His hands dropped from Mallory’s shoulders, hanging limply at his sides.

She couldn’t bear seeing him like this; it cut her to the core to see what she had done to him.  “Jake…”  She said hesitantly, unable to stop herself from reaching out for him.

He flinched away from her.  “Get out,” he said softly.  “Get out of my house.  Now.”

Seizing the opportunity to flee, Mallory immediately followed his command.  She turned on her heel, sobbing as she ran out the door.  She flung herself into her car and tore down his long driveway.  When she reached the highway, she had to pull over, too blinded by her tears to drive.

Chapter 2

Mallory didn’t sleep that night.  She cried for hours until her tears ran try.  Jake’s anguished look flashed before her eyes over and over again.  She closed her eyes as if she could block the image out, but then the whole scene would just play out behind her eyelids.

“I need you, Mallory,” he had said.  And she had thrown it in his face.  It didn’t matter that everything she had said was a lie; she had still wounded him deeply.  And she would never be able to forgive herself for that.  Her blood boiled as she thought of Celeste.  She would never forgive that bitch, either.  Mallory wasn’t used to backing down when she was challenged, but Celeste was playing in a whole different league than she ever had.

Did I do the right thing?  She had asked herself so many times.  But of course she had; there was no other way open to her.  Maybe she could have let herself be ruined if it would have saved Jake, but she couldn’t bear the thought of bringing shame down on him, of destroying his entire world.  He had worked so hard to earn respect in his company, had worked his way up from nothing at his father’s insistence.  If that tape came out, he would lose everything.

Dawn came, and still Mallory had not slept.  Her eyes were puffy from crying, her throat raw from her sobs.  The sun was halfway to its zenith when she was jerked from her brooding thoughts by a knock at her door.

Must be Sally, coming to gush about the splendid ball, she thought morosely.  She wasn’t sure if she could handle seeing her friend right now.  Or anyone for that matter.  But if she ignored Sally she would only badger Mallory with phone calls until she came to answer the door.

Resignedly, Mallory rolled out of bed with a groan.  “Coming!”  She called, her voice raspy from crying.  She wrapped her bathrobe around herself and went to open the door.

When she did, she froze when she saw who was on the other side.  Jake was standing there, looking lost.  His eyes were as red-rimmed as her own, and his hair was a tousled mess.  He extended his hand, and Mallory’s eyes widened when she saw what he was holding out to her: it was the beautiful diamond and sapphire necklace that he had gifted her the night before.

“What?”  She said breathlessly.  “Jake…”  Just saying his name aloud sent a pang through her heart.  But she pressed on.  “I can’t accept-”

“You’re lying to me, Mallory,” he cut her off, his voice gruff.  “I know you’re lying to me.  What I want to know is: Why?”

Because Celeste is a conniving bitch!  She wanted to shout it out, to erase the hurt on Jake’s face.  But she couldn’t; they would both be ruined if she did that.  “I’m not ly-”