A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Elissa stepped back, putting space between them as she wrenched her collar from his grip.

The staff finished setting the table and slipped away into the kitchen, leaving just her and Slate in the dining room.

She fixed him with a cold, mocking look. “What’s wrong? Planning to run off to another country and lie low again?”

“Elissa!”

Slate’s hand shot out, clamping around her throat. His jaw clenched as he spat, “You stubborn bitch. You think I’m falling for your games again?”

“If you’ve got what it takes, go ahead–strangle me,” she hissed, forcing herself not to flinch from the pain. “If not, let go. Don’t just bark like a dog.”

He let out a short, ugly laugh, eyeing her up and down. “You’ve gotten bolder these past few years. Shame I didn’t get to be your first before I left the country–Frank lucked out there.”

He released her and gave her cheek a patronizing pat. “Still, a married woman has her own appeal…”

Crack!

Elissa’s slap was sharp and precise, silencing him mid–sentence.

The sound was so crisp that a few people in the parlor looked up. But with the partition in the way, they couldn’t see what had happened.

Karol Murphy called out, “What’s going on in there?”

Slate shot Elissa a furious glare, about to lunge at her again.

He was, after all, the second son of the Murphy family. He’d never had a woman stand up to him like this–let alone humiliate him twice.

Elissa met his glare with defiance and spoke in a low voice, “Go ahead, try

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Chapter 51

something. Oh, and did I mention? I’ve got plenty of photos of you–naked.”

She watched with satisfaction as his expression fractured, then added sweetly, “I bet your enemies would love to get their hands on those.”

“Slate? Elissa?”

Karol’s voice grew closer, footsteps approaching. “What are you two doing in here?”

Slate, fuming, forced a bright smile. “Aunt Karol, there was a bug on my head. Elissa tried to help, but she ended up hitting me instead.”

“Oh my―”

Karol’s eyes landed on the vivid handprint on his cheek. She scolded Elissa, though her tone was mild. “You really need to be more gentle. Slate just got out of the hospital, you know. If you hurt him, his grandmother will be heartbroken.”

“Out of the hospital?”

“You didn’t know?” Karol explained, “A couple of days after our last family dinner, he managed to get himself into trouble–again. Barely set foot off the plane before he was nearly killed.”

Elissa’s brows rose in surprise

Slate had always relied on the Murphy family’s power to do as he pleased–rotten to the core. But he was still a Murphy, and Rowan’s influence was at its peak.

Even a rabid dog was protected if it belonged to the right master.

Seeing nothing else amiss, Karol returned to the parlor.

Slate glared at Elissa, jaw tight. “When did you take those?”

She answered lightly, almost airily, “The night you passed out after trying to rape me.”

He’d had his eye on her for years.

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Chapter 51

When Rowan cast her aside and sent her back to the matriarch’s house, no one was happier than Slate. He’d harassed her in every way

imaginable.

But whenever punishment was handed out, it was always Elissa who paid the price.

So she stopped fighting him directly, played the innocent, and strung him along for two whole years–claiming she was too young.

Her sweet, angelic face had always made lying easy.

She was eighteen at Matriarch Paige Murphy’s seventieth birthday party. She wore a white dress that hugged her figure–a vision of youth in full bloom. Slate forgot himself and dragged her into an upstairs guest

room.

But as he closed the door, he suddenly collapsed.

Elissa screamed and flung the door open. Guests rushed upstairs to the

commotion.

She stood there, dress rumpled and eyes wild with fear. It was obvious to everyone what had nearly happened.

Attempted rape. What else could it be?

Matriarch Paige Murphy had always loved to boast that she doted on Elissa more than her own granddaughters.

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