Verity:
Roman glared at me as though this was the first time anyone had ever confronted him directly.
I could tell he wasn’t happy about it.
"Don’t raise your voice," he warned, pointing a finger at me.
Then he clenched his fists and exhaled, trying to calm himself down.
"Let’s take care of your wounds," he added as he stepped toward me.
Before he could untie the rope around my waist, I grabbed his hand and stopped him.
I could tell he was offended. He didn’t look happy at all.
"Why?" he asked almost immediately. "Why are you stopping me?"
"I don’t want you to. You can leave," I replied, pointing toward the door.
"Why? You didn’t say that to that fucking alpha king Jaguar."
Of course he brought up Jaguar.
"Well, that’s because he wasn’t yelling at me," I shot back.
"Because if he had—"
I stopped myself.
I could tell he took great pride in being a doctor.
Doctors were highly respected here. They were often given superior treatment.
That was why this asshole was still walking free, even though multiple women had filed domestic abuse cases against him.
"So, if someone doesn’t yell at you, will you open your legs for them?"
There he was, slowly losing control.
"How dare—-Please leave," I requested, pointing toward the door again.
He stared at me in silence. Then, without warning, he grabbed my arm and threw me onto the bed.
I was in so much pain that I couldn’t fight him.
He climbed on top of me and started forcefully opening my robe.
"What the fuck are you doing, Roman?" I protested.
Every time I tried to resist, he pinned my hands above my head with one hand, making it impossible for me to break free.
He pulled my robe open while my hands were pinned above my head and stared at my body.
Then, with one sharp tug, he grabbed the shoulder of my silk dress and ripped it all the way down to my groin, almost completely exposing me.
I gasped in shock. I was left completely naked in front of him.
I watched him swallow as his eyes traveled over my body.
Then he placed his hand on my stomach, and I winced, biting my bottom lip.
"Who did this to you?" he asked, catching me off guard with his behavior.
He was unpredictable, and it wasn’t okay.
"Let go of me," I demanded.
Instead, he began rubbing the bruised areas on my stomach where that man had repeatedly kicked me.
"Who did this to you? Who was he?" he demanded again.
"Fucking let me go!"
Finally, he loosened his grip after he realized he was hurting me with his harsh rub.
The first thing I did was pull my robe around myself, clutching it closed with one hand.
Then I slapped him with the other.
He remained kneeling on the bed while I sat there, trembling.
He fell silent.
"I’m sorry," he apologized immediately. "I just wanted to see what had happened to you, and you wouldn’t let me. I’m a doctor. I want to help people. And my own girlfriend is in pain."
He kept rambling, trying to justify what he had done, but I was done listening.
After the way he had torn my dress, I didn’t feel comfortable around him anymore.
He pouted.
There was a sarcastic edge to his voice that I couldn’t quite catch.
"Would you have stopped your brother too?"
The moment he mentioned my brother, goosebumps spread across my skin.
I hadn’t told him anything about Justin.
I guess my silence told him everything because he smiled and looked up, making direct eye contact with me.
Then he picked up medicine, set the first aid box aside, and walked toward me.
"Come on, Verity. Boyfriends and girlfriends aren’t supposed to keep secrets," he murmured, placing one hand on each side of me against the wall, caging me between his arms.
Then he leaned down until his face was level with mine.
"I just want to help you," he whispered and I gulped hard.
Then he reached toward my neck.
His lips brushed against my earlobe.
Then he whispered the most haunting words I had ever heard.
My fists clenched, and my eyes filled with tears.
"I know."
That was all he said before pulling away.
A terrible feeling settled in my chest.
It wasn’t good.
Then he leaned down again.
This time, his lips lingered against my ear.
He started leaving soft kisses in my hair.
Between those kisses, he told me what he knew, and I felt as though my soul had been ripped out of my body.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All