Read Online Merger (Triple Threat Book 3) by Kit Tunstall, R.E. Saxton - Free Book Online Page B

husband, she would have thought they were insane. She’d seen the bossy and stubborn side of him, but she had never realized there was a deeper, darker core to the man she’d fallen in love with.
    No, it had to be lust. It was just a simple case of infatuation that he had twisted into something he wanted her to believe was more. Now that she knew the truth, she couldn’t continue to love him and be able to respect herself. She wasn’t that weak and pathetic, and she was determined that the first thing she would work on would be eradicating any soft feelings for the man who had manipulated her. “I want a divorce.”
    He didn’t even flick an eyelash. “No.”
    Her mouth dropped open, and she leaned forward a little bit more to glare at him. “You don’t get to say no. Marriage is a mutual decision, but anyone can leave it. I don’t need your permission to get a divorce.”
    “No,” he said again in that same infuriatingly calm tone.
    She let out a small cry of annoyance, frustrated beyond belief. “No, what? I just told you you can’t stop me.”
    He arched a brow, giving her a look that was completely serious. “Lily, I can stop you from doing anything, and I can make you do anything.”
    She glared at him. “Oh, is that because you’re my husband?” She didn’t hold back the bite of sarcasm in her tone. “Those kind of marriages went out in the ‘fifties.”
    He was perfectly calm as he poured himself a drink, lifting the bottle in her direction and waving it slightly in an unspoken request to find out if she wanted some. He shrugged when she shook her head before returning the bottle to the bar. “I can do anything I want, or convince you to do anything I want you to do, because of who I am. I’m your husband, but we both know I’m more than that. You had to eavesdrop and learn everything, which is probably for the best. Now you know what’s at stake, and why you’re going to comply.”
    She glared at him. “I’m not staying with you. There’s nothing that can make me do that.”
    He sighed. “I guess I was wrong then.”
    He wasn’t the type to admit such a thing, and she eyed him skeptically. “Wrong about what?”
    “I thought you loved your father more than you clearly do. I meant it when I told him I wouldn’t hurt you unless absolutely necessary, but I didn’t promise you the same thing about him. To be blunt, you’re my bargaining chip, and you’re going to stay right where I put you. If you don’t, it won’t be just your life at stake. It’s your father’s too. Of course, you also have a mother and siblings too…” He trailed off with a shrug, allowing her to fill in the blanks.
    She shrank against the seat, glaring at him as a sense of futility swept through her. “I hate you.”
    He shrugged again. “Perhaps it’s easier for both of us if you really do, Lily. Approach this as a merger of our two companies, and we’ll both be on more solid footing. Try to remove yourself from any emotions like love or hate. It’s just business.”
    A sharp pang shot through her chest, and she forced herself to acknowledge it was just business to him. She’d known it from the moment he had made his revelations to her father, but hearing him confirm it himself was heartbreaking on a new level. It didn’t help that she shouldn’t love him, because at that moment, she still did. Her goal was to cut away that love as quickly as possible, and one of the best ways to do it was to remind herself that it had all been a lie on his side. “Did you ever feel anything for me?” She forced herself to ask the question, needing to hear his cold and ruthless reply to help harden her heart.
    He hesitated for a moment, taking a long drink before he looked at her. He appeared sincere, but she couldn’t trust anything that came from his mouth. “I feel more than I expected to, but I’ll do what I have to do to protect my family.”
    It wasn’t the harsh verbal slap she had hoped for, and she