Chapter 350
A shiver ran down Elissa Drummond’s spine. “Rowan!” she cried out, instinctively moving to stop him.
Rowan acted as if he hadn’t heard her. With a swift motion, he pushed her out of the doorway and, in the next second, grabbed Frank Atwater by the collar, dragging him inside.
The moment the door slammed shut, Elissa and Tanya Foster heard the sickening thud of fists hitting flesh.
Elissa whipped out her phone to call the police, but Tanya snatched it from her hand. “What’s the point? Who’s going to stop those two p>
A wave of fear washed over Elissa. “I’m worried something terrible will happen p>
She had always known Rowan could handle himself in a fight and that a typical scuffle wouldn’t hurt him. But she had never seen such raw violence in him before. That first punch had instantly split Frank’s lip.
“Rowan knows his limits.” Tanya glanced at Elissa’s disheveled state, forgoing her usual gossip to steer her toward her own apartment. “Besides, Frank deserves it. He’s had a good beating coming for a long time p>
What kind of man was he, anyway? Did he really think digging up a little evidence would erase everything he’d done? A guy like him needed someone like Rowan to set him straight.
Inside, the moment Frank was dragged through the door, Rowan sent him crashing to the floor with another punch, this one even harder than the one at the entrance. He’d held back then, not wanting to frighten Elissa.
Frank scrambled up, wiping the blood from his mouth with his thumb. He let out a cold laugh. “You act like a goddamn animal and you have the nerve to hit me p>
He lunged, his right fist aimed at Rowan’s face.
But Rowan had years of karate training under his belt and was dead set on avenging Elissa. He wasn’t about to let Frank land a punch. Just as Frank’s fist was inches from his face, Rowan caught his wrist, twisted it, and drove another powerful blow into his abdomen.
The image of the crimson stain on the bedsheets flashed through Rowan’s mind, and he felt a surge of rage so intense he could have killed Frank right then and there.
He rained punch after punch on Frank’s midsection.
“You think I’m the animal?” Rowan threw him back to the ground, pinning him by the neck. “Didn’t I tell you not to marry her?” he roared, his voice shaking with fury. “But you had to have her, you son of a bitch p>
“I cherished that girl for years, treated her like a princess, and you married her only to… what? Treat her like nothing p>
“Three years of marriage, and you never touched her once! Frank, you’re not a man, you’re a goddamn monster. You have a real talent for humiliation, don’t you p>
Rowan slammed another fist into Frank’s face, but it did nothing to ease the feeling of a dull knife twisting in his gut.
Yes, Elissa was still a virgin. As a man, he should have been pleased.
But Elissa was more than just a woman to him; she was the love of his life. He couldn’t even bear to imagine how his sensitive, gentle girl had endured it all. She must have cried herself dry.
Compared to her happiness, her virginity meant nothing. All he had ever wanted was for her to be happy, even just a little. He never imagined that the years of her wholehearted love wouldn’t be enough to awaken a single shred of humanity in Frank.
At Rowan’s words, Frank’s own sanity snapped. That bastard really had touched Elissa.
Seizing a moment of distraction, he flipped their positions, landing a solid punch on Rowan’s cheekbone. “I didn’t touch her because I was afraid I couldn’t give her the future she deserved p>
Elissa was beautiful, with a figure to match. Of course he’d had those thoughts.
Rowan sucked in a sharp breath, ignoring the pain in his cheek. His eyes were cold, like he was staring at a dead man. “Were you afraid you couldn’t give *her* a future, or that you couldn’t explain it to Marcia Carson p>