by Sam Crescent
Wayne accepted her and kissed her on the head. “It looks beautiful.”
“Well, while you’re earning millions in your office, I’m making Christmas all special for us.”
“I’ve got you, angel. I don’t need anything else to make it special.” Lily smiled, her heart catching. The desire to rush and tell him how she felt so close on her tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak the words that would change her life forever.
How had it happened? How had she fallen in love with a man known to many as the Beast? Lily didn’t know, but somehow it happened, and all she could do was wait for the right time to tell him.
The following few days went by uneventful. Lily ordered some presents for her family and Wayne, but what did you get a man who had everything?
She settled on a new pen signed with his name. A week before Christmas, she was pulling in the shopping. She’d settled on a frozen turkey rather than risk waiting to order one. It was too late in the ordering season, so she wouldn’t get a decent bird anyway. Lily frowned seeing a van and Wayne’s car in the driveway. Ignoring the shopping in the back, she put her car into park and went to in search of the problem.
****
“What the hell have you done?” she screamed. The pain inside her, breaking her heart and soul.
Men with music contracts and bands and shit stood and watched her having a complete melt down. Lily couldn’t cope. She struggled to breathe against the feeling of being trapped.
Wayne took her by the elbow and led her away from their prying eyes and into the privacy of his study, the same study she’d decorated over a week ago. The same study where he’d taken her, made love, and forever cemented his way into her life and heart. He was about burst her euphoric bubble.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest and doing his businessman face.
No, she wasn’t having any of it.
“Those men, I want them out of my house.” Lily pointed at the closed door.
“Why? You’ve got a beautiful voice—”
“Exactly. It’s my voice. One I can choose to share with whomever I like or not. I’m not doing it, Wayne.”
“This is ridiculous.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the door. “You have real talent, and I’m not letting you squander it.”
“Let me go!” Lily turned in his arms and slapped him full across the face. His betrayal and the pain inside was too much for her to deal with. Wayne let her go and placed a hand against his cheek. She could see he was angry. He did nothing except look at her. “I told you my singing was for me and no one else.”
“I wanted you to share it with the world.”
“Either get rid of them, or I’m leaving.”
“I don’t do ultimatums.”
“And I no longer take orders from people who don’t know me.”
They stood off, neither moving, but the tension could be cut with a knife. Lily knew she looked a mess, her eyes red and puffy, nose running, but she didn’t care.
“I can’t just get rid of them.”
“You don’t get it, Wayne. I won’t sing for anyone else but me, and I see it was a mistake to even let you in. I was fucking stupid to think you’d leave it all alone.”
“For God’s sake, Lily. Singing is a fantastic career choice, an opportunity for you to really shine.”
“Why? Do I embarrass you? Does my lack of ambition make you the laughing stock of all your posh political parties?”
“Stop it.”
“No. I told you what I wanted. You asked me so many times what I wanted out of life, what I craved. All I want is a family and now that isn’t good enough for you?” With every passing word, the tears gathered, and the pain increased.
“I never said that.”
“But it’s what you’re thinking, right?”
Wayne was interrupted by a knock on the door. He went to answer it, and Lily turned away from him, not wanting to see who was behind the wood.
“Hiya, Wayne. I really got to get moving so if she could just come and sing.”
“No, there’ll be no singing,” Lily spun and shouted at the man.
“Just give me a minute. She’ll be out in a minute.” He sounded so assured in his ability to change her mind that Lily was astounded by him. After what she said moments ago, he was still determined to change her mind.
No. No more would she be told what to do or how to live her life.
Their wedding photo on the ledge above the fire caught her attention. Moving toward the picture in the silver plated frame, Lily ran her thumb along her laughing face. Wayne looked down on her, with a smile.
What was he thinking? Feeling?
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered? Without thinking, Lily hurled the picture at the wall just off from his head. The sound of the glass shattering and the frame falling to the floor caused both men to turn and stare at her. Perfect, she gotten their attention.
“I said, no,” she calmly said, walking toward them.
Lily glanced at the man and then at her husband and pushed past them to leave the room. Placing the envelope on the dresser in the hall as Wayne and the man in charge with the music contracts followed her. “Happy Christmas,” she said to her husband, taking the keys from the hook as she left.
Wayne followed her, as she knew he would. Lily knew Wayne wouldn't be able to resist and demand to have control with the final word.
“Where are you going?” He spun her around and pressed her against the car. Any other time, she’d be aroused. If anything, she felt empty.
“I told you I was leaving.” She pushed him away and got in the car.
Lily started the engine and drove out of the drive. She chanted to herself what she was doing was the right thing.
Tears misted her eyes, and she didn’t watch what she was doing, going round a curve, and then through town. She stopped the car to get out and clear her thoughts. Her grief was so bad. Darkness claimed her as someone shouted from across the road.
Chapter Seventeen
Wayne did nothing to stop her from leaving. He glanced at the man he’d contacted to try and get his wife’s voice onto a tape or a demo. He’d do anything to make his wife happy. How could she even think he was ashamed of her?
“Take your men and get out,” he growled. Out of all the responses he’d expected, the ultimatum had been the least of his worries. Gratitude, love, possibly even a little bit of lust, but his plan had backfired. All he wanted was for her to tell him she loved him. Once or twice, he’d been sure she was on the verge of telling him, but she would always stop and look away.
Running his fingers rapidly through his hair, he walked over to his liquor collection and poured himself a healthy shot. He downed the dark burning liquid in one gulp, pouring another glass and then another before glancing up in the mirror and finding the Beast staring back at him.
Wayne couldn’t handle it anymore. His wife had walked out. Broken-hearted, and instead of running after her, he was drowning his sorrows. She’s too good for you. Plagues of the past came to haunt him. The heel of a boot landing on his back, the sharp sting of a slap across the face, the snap of a belt. The people who were supposed to love him had turned him into the man he was today. A vicious, blackmailing monster.
Lily never got a chance with him. He’d taken her from her home, stolen her virginity, and almost took her voice away. What kind of person did that?
With a cry, he threw the glass at his reflection. Growling after the surge of violence didn’t help. He upturned the table holding the potent liquid. Nothing went untouched in his rampage to destruction.
Glass smashed. Picture frames crushed. The computer on his desk landed on the floor not surviving the fall.
The rage he kept contained for so long unleashed. All the anger from being an abused little boy to growing up as a man closed off from his emotions came storming out. He couldn’t even tell the woman he loved how much he loved her, the anger at himself unleashed. Crushing the a
ngel, he loved by his own need to take.
He lifted the handcrafted vase in his hand, prepared to smash the small trinket she’d made for him. The final part in his need to destroy all love and connection with Lily. Until their wedding photo twinkled from the broken picture frame on the floor.
Wayne glanced at the picture to the vase in his hands, and he slumped to the floor, cradling the vase against his chest, trying to protect the small treasure of hope.
“What have I done?” he asked.
Mindless of the slithers of glass, he picked up the photo and sat with his back against the wall.
Lily smiled out at the camera, and Wayne too busy gazing at his wife to care about glancing at the camera. Lily and her smile held his attention.
In all the time they’d been together he could have spoken the three simple words “I love you,” but for some reason he’d kept them back afraid to let himself go.
Running his thumb along her beautiful face, he began to cry. The woman he loved was gone, and it was all his fault.
The despair clawed at him making him immobile. He sat in the spot staring at her photo and hugged the vase until the sun went down.
The distant ringing of the telephone alerted him to the passing of time. Getting up from his spot, he went and answered the phone.
“Hello,” he muttered, his voice hoarse from the crying.
“Is this Mr. Brown? Mr. Wayne Brown?”
“Yes.”
“Hi, I’m Denise Sutton from the community hospital. We’ve got a Mrs. Lily Brown here, and we need you to come down right away.”
His heart dropped out of his chest. Wayne held the phone tighter, praying with all of his might there was nothing seriously wrong with her.
****
Wayne looked at his wife in the hospital bed, and he wanted to throw up. She’d been attacked on the street with a knife and knocked to the ground. His fingers curled around the metal bedpost.
Tony coughed making him aware of his presence, and Richard followed close behind him.
“We came as soon as we heard. How is she?” Tony asked.
Wayne nodded at both men and then turned his attention back to his wife—pale, unconscious, and in danger of never waking up. Stress, the doctor had said. Too much too soon and his delicate wife couldn’t handle the stress, and her body conked out to help her deal. A small nick on her cheek, the only indication of the attack of the knife but the lump on her head and the black eye was evidence of something much worse. Once the man punched her to the floor, she’d been too weak to defend herself. Wayne was thankful the thug hadn’t caused any more damage to her after she went down. He was told the only thing missing had been her car. Wayne couldn’t believe it, Lily attacked for her car.
“She’s doing okay. They keep checking but it’s just a case of waiting for her to wake up.” No matter how long he sat and stared, she didn’t move or make any sound she could hear him.
“What happened?”
“The police said it was some random attack. Took a knife to her and then punched her to the floor.” The police had told him they had a suspect in custody from the few eyewitness reports but they needed Lily to confirm identity of her attacker.
“What kind of animal would hit a woman?” Richard growled in disgust, and Wayne couldn’t agree more. If he found the guy before the police, he wouldn’t leave him alive.
“She’s pregnant. They reckon she’s over two months pregnant, give or take.” The doctor had given him the news. What was he supposed to do? Laugh? Cry?
“We’re here if you need us,” Tony consoled, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Wayne nodded but was grateful when they left him alone. He sat at her side and took her slight hand in his.
“Hey, baby, it’s me. Your shithead of a husband.” He spoke and caressed her lifeless hand. Wayne wanted to shake her, do anything to wake her up.
The tears gathered in his eyes, and for the first time, the Beast felt fear and loneliness.
“I’d do anything for you to pull your hand away right now. To show me the woman you’ve become.” He loosened his grip and waited to see if she’d pull away, but her hand remained still.
One tear fell from his eye and the ice around his heart smashed to smithereens. With Lily in his life, he had some semblance of control over his emotions. The thought of losing her and never seeing her smile, or to even hear her sing, was breaking him more than any gold digger could his bank balance.
A sob escaped, and he kissed her hand. Not caring about protocol, he lay down on the bed and gathered her in his arms.
“I know I’m a shit but don’t leave me. I love you, Lily Jones. I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you, even when you didn’t see me. I’ll love you till the day I die and then keep on loving you.” The tears ran down his face. He didn’t wipe them away. They were a beautiful thing. “Please, wake up. I want that family, and I’ve never been ashamed of you. I love you. I love you.” He kissed the top of her head and held her tight. Any thoughts of keeping everything in his heart and remaining the bastard he’d become were gone. Lily could still be lost to him, but he’d keep telling her how much he loved her.
****
Tony and Richard came back with cups of coffee and saw their friend broken and sobbing in the neck of his wife.
“Wow, I never thought I’d see the Beast lose control like that,” Richard said.
They moved out of the room and glanced through the slats in the window.
“He’s in love, and it looks like the stupid asshole just realized what he could’ve lost by not telling her, too.”
Richard frowned at his friend. “What do you know about love?”
Tony sighed and moved away from the heart-breaking scene. “The usual. I’m a bastard and let the girl get away...that kind of crap.”
“Sounds a little cliché to me,” Richard joked.
Both men had experienced love themselves, but neither was willing to talk about it. Watching Wayne almost lose his wife made them open their eyes to the bitterness within their own worlds. Maybe it was time for them to start finding love for themselves before ending up alone and bitter.
Chapter Eighteen
Someone was stroking her hair and whispering words of love in her ear. The sound kept fading, and she didn’t know if she was imagining the sound.
“Come on, baby. Wake up. I love you.” She knew that voice, but the fogginess in her mind couldn’t place the soothing sound, or at least, she didn’t accept what that particular voice was saying to her.
Her whole body ached and the pain in her chest the worst.
“Please, baby, come back to me.”
No, I don’t want to come with someone who doesn’t love me.
Lily couldn’t pretend any more. She opened her eyes and was immediately pulled to Wayne. Shaking, she allowed him to kiss and touch her but her heart wasn’t there, but completely empty inside.
“They said you’d wake up eventually.” He kissed her on the head, lips.
“Please stop,” she asked, her voice hard.
Instantly, he withdrew from her. He lay on the bed wrapped around her. The heat radiated off him. Closing her eyes to contain herself, she took a deep breath before opening them. Lily needed the extra time to compose herself.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered.
His words and tenderness hurt even more, now he knew about the baby inside her, about the future heir she was carrying. All she ever wanted to do was get through this world with someone to love her. Her family hated her. Once she’d love to be someone’s number one, to be the first thought on their mind.
“What happened?” she asked. Lily knew she lay in a hospital bed. She remembered the betrayal of his trust and her running out but everything after was a little fuzzy.
“After you left, you must have travelled through one of the roughest parts of the city. You were attacked, and witnesses said you were punched to the ground for your car. I should have been there.”
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Punched to the ground? It explained the massive headache she got. Why should he have been there? Wayne was the reason for her leaving the house in the first place.
“My turkey was in that car.” She sobbed, the tears welling up from the uselessness of it all.
“We’ll get another turkey.” He stroked her face. All she wanted to do was lean toward his strength and take what he had to offer.
How pitiful was she? She was in love with a man who blackmailed her and hurt her by trying to force her to become something she didn’t want. What was wrong with wanting to have a family?
“I don’t want another turkey.”
“What about our family? The baby?”
Lily closed her eyes remembering the pregnancy test she’d taken that morning, her gift for him. Her intention had been to have a lovely romantic meal before making love, and she planned to tell him her feelings about the new life growing inside her.
Instead, she came home to hell. It wasn’t her home, not really. It was his.
“Wayne, I’m sorry to interrupt but someone’s here.” Lily turned toward the door to see Tony leaning around the private room. “Hi, Lily, how are you feeling?”
“Fine, like I’ve been punched,” she said not bothering to smile.
“I’m going to go and see about this. Will you be okay on your own for a little while?” he asked.
“Of course, could you send Richard in? I want to ask him something.” Lily couldn’t look at him in case he knew what was in her mind.
“Yes, I’d do anything for you, baby. You should know that.” He left seconds later, and Lily watched him go.
Why should she know that? Why should she even think he cared for her at all?
Lily pulled herself up into a sitting position, ran her fingers through her knotted hair. She wanted a shower and a toothbrush. She felt like absolute shit.
“You wanted to see me?” Richard came through the door and closed it behind him. She went to mess with her hair but stopped and glanced over at him.