“You’re offering me money? Did your mother put you up to this? You’re both out of your minds. I love Ryan. He loves me. We’re getting married.”

Something that looked like genuine regret flickered across Jarrod’s face. He fidgeted nervously and then pinned her with his stare. “I’d hoped you’d make this easy. It’s not a small amount of money we’re offering.”

The “we” in that statement confirmed Kelly’s suspicions that Ryan’s mother was indeed the mastermind of this operation. She was about to tell Jarrod exactly where he and his mother could get off when he took another step toward her. The look in his eyes had her hastily backing away.

“I think you should go now,” she said even as she reached for the phone.

Jarrod lunged across the bed, knocking the phone from her hand. She was so stunned by the sudden attack that for a moment she didn’t—couldn’t—defend herself.

He shoved her down on the bed, his hands moving roughly over her body, pushing at her shirt, pulling at her pants. She drew her knee up, trying to catch him in the groin, but he dodged and then rolled her underneath him.

She cried out in pain at the rough mauling. She was furious and terrified. He fully intended to rape her in Ryan’s bed. Had he lost his mind? Ryan would kill him for this.

His hands moved over her skin with bruising force. Knowing if she wasn’t able to fight him off that he’d assault her in her own home, she began struggling with renewed force.

She finally managed to land a blow between his legs, which had him doubling over, clutching at himself. She rolled, falling to the floor, her hands desperately grabbing at her clothing.

She got to her feet, her hand clutching her bruised throat. “He’ll kill you for this,” she gasped. “How did you think you’d get away with it? My God, you’re his brother! You bastard.”

She started for the door, her only thought to get to Ryan, but Jarrod’s words gave her pause.

“He’ll never believe you.”

“You’re insane,” she choked out even as she ran for the door.

But Jarrod had been right. Ryan hadn’t believed her. Jarrod had called his brother from Ryan’s own apartment before she could arrive at Ryan’s office. He’d given Ryan his own accounting of what happened, and the genius of his story was that he told Ryan exactly what Kelly would tell him. Only Jarrod told Ryan that Kelly had been the instigator and that when Jarrod told her he was going to tell Ryan that Kelly had cheated on him, Kelly concocted a smug story that Jarrod had assaulted her.

Jarrod played his part to the hilt. That he was the victim of Kelly’s lies and manipulations. So when Kelly ran to Ryan’s office and related the exact story that Jarrod warned Ryan she would tell, Ryan had been coldly furious.

He’d written her that damn check and he’d thrown her out of his life.