‘My God, Stacy! What the hell happened to you?’ He held her at arm’s length, looking down at the livid bruises on her flesh as she winced. ‘Forbes!’ he said forcefully. ‘Forbes did this to you?’
The tears were streaming down her face. ‘Yes,’ she gulped. ‘He—he—’
Deep burning anger flared in his eyes. ‘My God, did he—’
‘No! No,’ she cri
ed. ‘But it wasn’t for want of trying.’
‘The bastard!’ he swore. ‘I’ll kill him for this. I’ll kill him!’
She leant heavily against him as he led her to his suite, her legs feeling incapable of supporting her. She was shaking so much her teeth seemed to rattle. Once inside his suite Jake saw her seated on the sofa before moving to the drinks cabinet to pour her out a drink.
He held out the glass. ‘Drink it, Stacy,’ he encouraged as she shook her head. ‘It’s brandy. It will calm your nerves.’ He forced the glass in her hand before moving to the door.
Stacy stared after him with bewildered green eyes. ‘Wh-where are you going?’
His face was white and grim as he looked at her. ‘I have to go and teach Forbes the right way to behave with a lady,’ he told her abruptly.
She put out a hand imploringly. ‘Don’t leave me,’ she pleaded. ‘Please don’t leave me, Jake.’
He was instantly back at her side, pulling her head down on to his shoulder. The hand about her shoulders moved to gently smooth her hair away from her face. ‘What did he do to you?’ he demanded harshly.
She shuddered, as reaction began to set in. She licked her lips, conscious of stinging pain where the tender skin was raggedly cut. ‘He—he wanted—’ she faltered as the memory of her narrow escape became all the more vivid. ‘He thought you and I had— He wanted the same—’ she couldn’t go on, burying her face in his throat. ‘It was horrible!’
Jake touched her swollen mouth. ‘And he did this to you because he thought that?’
She nodded. ‘And because he said he didn’t like to be thwarted by any woman. He said I’d made a fool of him by being with you last night.’
His mouth was tight. ‘He’s made a fool of himself.’
‘He even tricked me into having dinner with him. He said I would help to keep the fans away, that I’d be helping him,’ she added bitterly.
‘I told you it was an act. But that warning came too late, didn’t it?’
‘Yes. I left when I realised he’d been lying to me, but he insisted on coming with me. We were in his suite before I knew what was happening to me.’
He shook his head. ‘You’re too much of an innocent to see through his little act.’
She nodded miserably. ‘I know that—now.’
Jake stood up, his mouth a forbidding line. ‘Drink the rest of your brandy. I’ll be back in a minute.’
‘You—you aren’t going to see him?’
‘I am,’ he told her grimly, the whiteness about his mouth evidence of his anger. ‘Just drink your brandy and I’ll be back before you know it.’
Stacy shivered. ‘I wish you wouldn’t,’
‘I have to. I’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget,’ he promised fiercely.
He was back within five minutes with a look of satisfaction to his grim features. There wasn’t a mark on him except for a slight redness to his knuckles. He sat down to pull Stacy back into the circle of his arms. ‘I don’t think he’ll be trying to rape anyone else for a few days.’
Her eyes widened. ‘What did you do to him?’ she asked breathlessly.
Jake gave a taut smile. ‘Don’t worry, I didn’t hit him anywhere it’s going to show. He’ll just have very bruised ribs for a few weeks. And a bitten ear, of course,’ he added teasingly.
Stacy blushed. ‘It was the only way I could escape him.’