Beautiful Surrender (The Surrender Series Book Three) by Priscilla West Page B

that. But it doesn’t justify you
coming into my apartment with a gun.”
    “Kristen,
I told you, I didn’t want to do this! What else can I do?”
    “Take
some fucking responsibility for your actions!” Vincent yelled.
    “That’s
what I’m doing now. I’m protecting her from you.”
    “You’re
ruining Kristen’s life! If you really care about her, you’d leave her the fuck
alone.”
    “You
think I like doing this? This is all because of you.”
    “You’re
pathetic,” Vincent spat.
    “You
want to see who’s pathetic? I’ll show you.” Gun in hand, Marty stood up and
stomped toward Vincent.
    “Marty,
no!” I screamed.

Chapter Eight
     
    Marty
stood in front of Vincent menacingly. Vincent looked up at him with defiance.
    “Let’s
see how you like it,” Marty said. “Kris, turn away. I don’t want you to see this.”
    Marty
balled up his fist and punched Vincent across the face.
    “Stop
Marty!” I screamed.
    “Not so
easy to beat me up when you don’t have your goon squad to hold me down, huh?”
he sneered.
    Vincent
tried to shake off the blow but it was clear he was in pain.
    “You
don’t really care about her. You don’t love her like I do,” Marty said.
    Marty
landed another punch to Vincent’s face and I shrieked. Vincent didn’t protest
but his nose began to bleed.
    “Admit
you don’t really care about Kristen.” Marty punched Vincent in the gut,
knocking the wind from his lungs. “Show her I’m right.”
    I
leaped from the couch, my hand around my necklace. “Stop it Marty! You proved
your point. You got your revenge. You don’t need to hurt him anymore.”
    Marty
wrinkled his brows. “What’s that around your neck, Kristen?”
    Oh
no. I’d planned on macing him but
hesitated because he still had the pistol in his hand.
    “Don’t
touch her!” Vincent shouted hoarsely, straining against his cuffs. He was still
trying to catch his breath.
    Marty
hurried over to me and ripped the necklace off. “He gave you this, didn’t he?
To buy your affection.” Marty examined the heart-shaped pendant. He squeezed it
between his thumb and forefinger and liquid squirted out from the bottom onto
the carpet. “What the hell? What is this thing?”
    I could
feel my heart beating through my chest. The one chance I had of getting out of
this mess was gone.
    He
brought his finger up to his nose to sniff then he touched the pad to the tip
of his tongue and grimaced. “Is this like pepper spray or something?”
    I shook
my head, horrified.
    “You
meant to use this on me didn’t you? He made you wear this.” Marty went back to
Vincent. “Trying to turn her against me? Making me out to be some kind of
monster? Let’s see how you like being treated like that.”
    Marty
squeezed the pendant and squirted fluid into Vincent’s face. Vincent closed his
eyes and tried to turn away but it got all over his face.
    “Oh
god!” I cried.
    Vincent
didn’t cry out in pain. He kept his eyes closed but his jaw was clenched
tightly. I could only imagine how bad his eyes were burning right now.
    “Say
that you don’t really care about Kristen. Say it and I’ll stop.”
    “Please,
Vincent,” I pleaded. “Just do what he wants. I don’t want you getting hurt
anymore.”
    Vincent
hung his head, panting. He tried wiping off the mace with his sleeve and
managed to get enough off to crack open his eyes. “I don’t care about Kristen,”
he murmured, blood dripping from his lip.
    Even
though I asked him to say it, and the circumstances were extreme, the words
hurt more than I anticipated.
    Marty
grinned wickedly. “That’s what I thought.” He turned to me. “See, Kris? If I
hadn’t done this, you would’ve never known what a liar he really is. See how
I’m protecting you?”
    “You
think you’ve proven something?” Vincent growled, commanding Marty’s attention
once again. Still on his knees, he threw his shoulders back and brought his
head up, his posture like a soldier’s. “My