4: 4

Agatha's brows drew together, and the second she turned she saw the marketing manager rush in, panic all over his face.

"Ms. Henson, we've got a problem! Skyline Group's marketing manager just called. He says he'll be at the villa in ten minutes!"

Agatha froze for a beat.

Theo, on the other hand, stepped forward looking pleased with himself.

"They must have found out we're doing our team retreat by the shore and come out to find us. They might even want to bump up the order!"

The rest of them fell over themselves to flatter him.

"That's our Vice President Matthews for you!"

Agatha glanced at me in the pool, already a bloody mess, and something flickered in her eyes that almost looked like reluctance.

Theo was quick to read the room. He walked right up to her.

"Agatha, if Skyline's people see him in this state, it'll only hurt the company's image."

"Tell you what, let's pull him out first."

At his word, someone stepped up and hauled me out of the pool by force.

Then Theo came over holding a glass of liquor, mockery all over his face.

"Christian, drink this, and we'll call everything between us even. How about it?"

I looked at him with murder in my eyes.

"Theo, nothing between us will ever be even!"

Agatha's face darkened when she heard me.

"Christian, Theo's being kind enough to let you off. Don't make this harder on yourself than it has to be!"

My hands were clenched tight. I looked down at the wounds all over my body, and I didn't want to keep tangling with them. I forced my voice level.

"So if I drink this, you'll let me go?"

Theo nodded.

"Of course. We keep our word!"

Once I had the answer I wanted, I took the glass from his hand and drained it in one go.

The liquor slid down cold, and almost at once my body started to burn, like countless worms crawling over me, gnawing into my skin.

"What did you make me drink?"

The moment the words left me, my legs went heavy as lead, and I dropped hard to my knees.

Every one of them broke into wild laughter at the sight.

"Vice President Matthews doesn't mess around. He knew Christian wouldn't apologize, so he slipped an obedience drug into the drink. Now that he's had it, he'll do whatever you tell him, obedient as a dog."

I ground my teeth.

"Theo, your reckoning is coming, and soon!"

He gave a sneering laugh, then drew back and slammed his fist into my face.

"I don't know about mine, but yours is already here!"

"Now get down and kowtow. Apologize!"

As his voice reached me, my consciousness was eaten away bit by bit, and my whole body pitched toward the floor against my will.

I fought it, biting down hard on my own tongue, trying to hold on to a shred of clarity.

Blood ran red from the corner of my mouth, and still I couldn't summon an ounce of strength. All I could do was turn my eyes to Agatha, trying to wake some scrap of conscience in her.

She only watched me, cold.

"Theo, take it easy, all of you. Skyline's people will be here any minute. Don't let them walk in on something this bloody. He's still my husband, after all."

At her words, the crowd cheered and rejoiced.

"Since Christian took the drug, doesn't that mean we can make him do anything we want?"

"So we could even make him be our dog?"

They surged forward, jostling to get at me, barking orders one after another.

"Christian, I order you to take your clothes off right now. Let me see if you're really as bad in bed as Ms. Henson says!"

"Christian, give us a bark. Let me find out how good it feels having a CEO husband play dog for me!"

Just as they were dragging at me, there came a thunderous bang.

Then a wave of black-suited bodyguards smashed through the door and stormed in.

The instant Agatha saw the man at the head of them, her pupils shrank in shock.