Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brewer

“Hi, Red.” Stanley was inside and shutting the door behind him before she could react, and he slumped back against the door with a can of cheap beer in his hand. “Good party. Didn’t bring your new loverboy back with you tonight?”

Adrenaline gave her a voice even if fear had paralyzed her body. “He’s…he’s in the bathroom,” she said quickly. “So you’d better get out of here fast. And that key was for emergencies, so give it back immediately.”

“Forgot I still had it, didn’t you?” He smirked. “This qualifies as an emergency, baby. I want you back and I’m here to get you.”

“Matt!” she screamed and took a step backward, hoping to scare Stanley off. Her mind was racing, but she couldn’t think clearly for sheer terror.

“Nice try, but we both know there’s nobody else here. I watched you come in alone.”

She felt sick. “You watched me?”

“I watched, I waited, and…” He made a tutting noise that unnerved her. “I forgot to knock. Sorry.”

“I don’t know what you’re hoping to achieve by all this because we’re not getting back together. Give me back my door key and go.”

He eased himself away from the door. His jacket was disheveled and smelled of stale cigarette smoke. Her heart thumped painfully as he threw himself onto the sofa, stretched out, and made himself comfortable. “But, baby, it’s cold outside.”

“I’m serious, Stan. I’m asking you to leave.” She spoke as slowly and calmly as she could, but she was beginning to feel helpless. “And give me the key back.”

Her breath caught as he fished it out of his shirt pocket and twirled it in his fingertips, the metal glinting in the lamplight. “You’ll have to come and get it.”

“If you don’t do as I say, I’ll call the cops.”

“They won’t be interested in a domestic argument, sweetheart. They have much more important work to do, rescuing real damsels in distress.”

“Domestic argument? You’ve broken into my house and you’re threatening me!”

He shook his head sadly. “Poor, naïve little Piper. I have a key, a key you gave me. And I’m your boyfriend. They’ll charge you for wasting police time.”

“You are not my boyfriend. You dumped me, remember?” Indignation overrode her fear. “The police will take my word over yours. You really must be drunk.”

He stumbled to his feet and lurched toward her. “I made a mistake. Just seeing you looking like you did tonight made me realize what an ass I’d been and how much I miss you.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Don’t you remember all the things you said to me on Christmas Eve? The list of reasons why you couldn’t stand to spend another minute as my boyfriend?”

“Heat of the moment, babe. I don’t know what got into me.”

“No, Stan, no. It wasn’t heat of the moment because you’ve been running me down and making me feel small almost since we first met at college.” She raised her voice in the hope that the neighbors might hear the sound of arguing and counted the words off on her trembling fingers. “Stupid. Fat. Ugly. Embarrassing. Difficult. Deluded. Low class—”

He raised his voice, too. “Your mom’s a cleaning woman and your dad drives a school bus.”

“How did I ever put up with you?” She exhaled angrily and motioned to the front door. “Just get out. I have nothing more to say to you. Ever.”

The sofa creaked and his hand grabbed her by the throat. “We’re not done,” he grunted into her ear, his hot nicotine breath making her flesh crawl. Then he reached around her to grab a breast. “I’m going to remind you what you’ve been missing these last few months and you’re going to damn well enjoy it. We were going to make babies together some day. Remember that?”

“No! Stop it.”

The breath left her body as he twisted her round and kissed her neck with hot, slippery lips. “I know you’ve missed me,” he grunted as she wriggled and tried to push him away. “Stanley’s here to give it to you big time, baby, you know you want to—”

He froze at the sound of the doorbell ringing and then slammed his hand over her mouth before she could call out. She kicked out at his shins, but couldn’t hurt him enough without her shoes on—it just had the effect of making him angry as well as surprised.

“Quiet,” he whispered harshly, pushed her against the wall and shoved her legs wide by jamming his feet against her ankles so she couldn’t kick him further. “Sh.”

Her heart hammered with fear and hope as the doorbell rang again, and then came the sound of a fist banging on it. She spluttered against his clammy hand and tried to bite his flesh, but his grip was too tight and she was struggling to breathe. The lights were on, thank God, so whoever it was would know there was someone inside. Or at least she hoped they would.

She prayed silently that whoever it was wouldn’t just walk away and leave her alone with Stanley. She wriggled and thrashed like a trapped eel and tried to make as much noise as she could, but Stanley’s ever-tightening grip and the weight of his body pinning her to the wall meant she couldn’t get out more than a muffled squeal.

The bell rang again and this time the person outside didn’t take their finger off it. That wasn’t the behavior of teenagers fooling around, so maybe help was just a few feet away. Stan had never been this crazed before and she was scared, really scared.

“Piper, I know you’re in there, so open up!” shouted Matt. Her heart leaped and Stan’s grip became even more vicious.

Silence.

Seconds ticked by, and she could feel confusion and hesitation pulse from Stan’s hot fingertips as she swallowed in the thick silence. Then heavy blows raining down on the door startled him and his grip slackened for a second—long enough for her to seize her chance and bite his palm as hard as a she-devil.

Stan screamed with pain and jumped back cursing. “You bitch!”

“You bastard!” she yelled back, twisting out from under him and grabbing a table lamp to fend him off. She was able to breathe properly now, but was seeing stars from lack of oxygen, and the taste of Stan’s blood in her mouth made her want to puke. “Get out!”

Then there was a click, the sound of fast, heavy footfalls on the carpet, a blur of black, red, and white, and Stanley’s yelp as a fist crunched into his jaw. He fell backward with a crash into her bookshelf. A black-suited hulk Piper had never seen before picked him up by the neck like a garbage bag, and Stanley’s feet dangled pathetically as he was manhandled out of the front door.