Please don’t let him touch me. Please don’t let him touch me. Please don’t let him touch me.
He finally lay back and rolled away from her.
Daniella’s eyes flew open. There would be no sleep tonight. Her mind raced. She plotted out several ways to handle this. The first was obvious. Approach Cruz in the morning, inform him she’d heard the entire conversation. It would be ugly. He’d lie and tell her she was crazy, dreaming, emotionally charged. Pregnant. Then he’d turn the tables on her and accuse her of sleeping with? She knew the answer. Meg played the game to her own advantage. Cruz would believe Meg’s lie. He always believed her. Many ideas played out, but images of Cruz’s naked bum flexing as he thrust into that whore with her legs spread wide, begging and moaning for more, was like twisting a knife into her heart. Meg, who called herself a friend, a sister even, clouded Daniella’s thoughts, and she wept in silence.
Morning rolled around and the alarm sounded. Startled, Daniella reached out and pounded the snooze button with her fist. She closed her eyes. Less than five minutes had passed since the alarm went off, and last night’s phone conversation instantly roused Daniella. After shutting off the alarm, she got up, grabbed her purse and went into the bathroom. She made sure to lock the door. Cruz might rummage through her purse and find his phone in it.
19 - Deception
Daniella made her way toward the kitchen and stopped in the entryway. Cruz leaned against the counter, head raised, arms crossed, eyes staring at the tiled floor, brows drawn together—sounds of the coffee pot percolating behind him as he waited for his coffee to finish brewing. His beautiful eyes shifted and clicked with hers once he noticed her entrance. He gave a half-smile, but his eyes were cold, withdrawn.
Reaching for a glass, she hadn’t expected he’d step behind her and brush her hair seductively off her back and over her left shoulder. The warmth of his breath hit the back of her ear as he whispered, “Good morning.”
Frustrated, she tried to turn and push past him, but he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“What’s wrong, Daniella?” He kissed her neck. “Does this bother you?” His remark oozed with sarcasm and cut to her core. She wasn’t the guilty one, but he treated her as if she were.
“Stop it, Cruz. Just leave me alone.”
“Why, Daniella? Why should I leave you alone?”
“Things are different now. You—”
“Yes. Things are most definitely different, aren’t they?” With a slight turn of her head, she could tell his eyes were on her, probably looking for any signs of guilt she didn’t possess, making her feel unsettled. “Anything you want to tell me?”
She slammed her glass on the counter and ripped his hands away from her hips. Grabbing her purse and keys, she rushed toward the garage, hoping to keep her tears at bay. Too late, they were already cascading down her cheeks.
“I’m… I’m moving out,” she screamed. “I want a divorce.” Just saying the words made her stomach twist.
“Why? Why do you want a divorce? Is it because your guilt has caught up to you? Come on. You can tell me. Who are you sleeping with?” He sipped his coffee, watching her over the brim of his cup.
Did he really just ask me that?
“W-what?” she squeaked.
He set his mug down. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out? Really, though. I must commend you for playing it off so well.”
“Stop! You’re turning the tables, you asshole!” She stormed toward him and pushed her finger into his chest. “You lying piece of… you… I heard your conversation last night. You… you pig!” She sucked up the juices in her mouth and spat on him, stormed out to the garage, slipped into her car and fumbled with her keys in a rush to get away from him.
“Oh, we’re not done yet! We’ll talk about this when I get back, Daniella!” He dashed toward her car, but she was faster and burned rubber as she backed out of the garage.
He’ll be gone for a week, again. Probably with… ewe. What will I do? Why me?
~~~
Good thing she’d spent the week packing personal belongings and unpacking them in her new apartment. She was most certainly leaving now.
Today would be the last she’d spend in this house. Cruz would be back tomorrow and she had no intentions of sticking around.
Tears trickled down her cheeks as she walked through the house, knowing it would be the last time she’d see it. Once morning came, she’d get ready for work, leave a letter of explanation on the counter along with copies of the cell phone logs. Maybe he’d read all of it, maybe not, but she wouldn’t be there or anywhere within reach.
Wedding pictures in crystal frames reminded Daniella of the happy times they’d spent together. She reached out and touched Cruz, traced his smiling lips that once spoke happy thoughts. Suddenly, she felt like a wet rag, twisting in two different directions. A sob escaped from her constricted chest and she ran upstairs, two steps at a time. She collapsed on the bed.
Music played in the background. She must have forgotten to shut the stereo off. Sarah McLachlan’s ‘I Will Remember You’ turned Daniella into shuddering wreck. She sat up and screamed, “I freaking hate you. I hate you, Cruz.” Her voice softened. “Why, God? Why did this happen to me? Why did I have to meet him, whyyyyy…”
She threw a pillow. It felt good. She threw a few more. She tore the bed apart, ran into the closet, ripped his clothes off the hangers, pounded the walls with her fists, and finally collapsed. She crawled back to the bed and climbed into it. Glancing at the clock on her nightstand, a picture of her and Cruz taken at Arbor Lodge, at the Whispering Bench, stared back at her. Memories of Cruz asking her to marry him came flooding back.
Something about that picture bothered Daniella. She sat up, snatched it off the stand, and pulled it from the frame. After several minutes of staring at it, she tucked it under her pillow and went to sleep.
Daniella briefly woke, thinking she’d heard the garage door, but never fully awakened.
“Goddd… dddammit! FUUUCK.” Cruz’s shouting and a pounding noise instantly woke and startled Daniella.
Crap! He came back early!
Sliding out of bed, she tiptoed down the steps. Cruz was sitting on the couch, his back to her, and she wondered what preoccupied and pissed him off. She nearly tumbled down the steps when he jumped up. He had a yellow mailing sleeve in one hand and pictures in the other. The way he shook his head told her something in those pictures set him off.
Cruz flipped around and she instantly stilled. His eyes blazed with fury. There were pictures in his hand and he threw them at her.
“What is th—” Daniella’s jaw dropped. The pictures. What they were. How it looked. “No. This isn’t right. I was with Meg,” she whispered.
There were pictures of a black SUV in front of the house, in the driveway, the same black SUV that sat in her driveway when Cruz was out of town.
Pictures of the black SUV parked near her mustang at the outlet mall. Pictures of…
“Oh my god.” She covered her mouth and shook her head. Pictures of Blake leaving the mall. Pictures of her leaving the mall. The date and time coincided with each picture, making it appear as if…
She glanced at Cruz.
The vile look in his eyes, the way he accused her without words caused her great panic.
“That’s impossible! Meg asked me to go to the mall those days. I swear!” She cried. She couldn’t believe this. This was her life? This insanity!
He shook papers at her. “Then explain why your phone log shows his number. Not once, but many, many times. And my favorite… these texts right here!” He threw several sheets of phone logs at her.
Anxiety built in her stomach as she read the logs.
Blake Sheldon: Hey, babe. Your hotel key is taped on your front door… Just come on in. Tonight’s gonna be a good time. A really good time. You’re all mine. Damn. I’ve got a boner already! Haha.
Daniella Canton: Really? Since when am I your ‘babe’?
And I didn’t know you were capable of popping a boner! I think I’m afraid… really, REALLY afraid!
Blake Sheldon: Tonight you’re my babe :}. And darlin’, I’m warnin ya, I’m a gonna be poking and probing you all night long. Ahhhhhh!
Daniella Canton: I’ve never seen this side of you. Dang! You’re dirty!
Blake Sheldon: You have no idea just how dirty! Love ya. Can’t wait. Gotta work now.
“It was her. Meg. She called and texted me from that number!”
“Right!” he spat. “And she just happens to be buddies with your ex, Blake? Meg doesn’t know anything more than you’ve ever told her about him, Daniella. And you did all of this sneaking around when I was out of town. To think I trusted you!”
This was so easy—so easy for him to pin it all on her. Hell, there was evidence, though false, but convincing nonetheless. What about his own infidelities?
“Lying. Me.” She shook her head. “No. That’s you. That’s Meg. This is all about you two. I know what you’re doing, you bastard. You two had this all set up. All planned and—”
“Bullshit! You’re twisted.”
“NO CRUZ, you are! You and Meg—”
“You’re such a great liar!” Cruz interjected. “Too bad there’s video footage to discredit you. Pinning this on Meg? Or me? Take a fucking look at the two of you and then lie to me again.” He grabbed the controller, flicked on the television and slipped a disc into the DVD player.
Soundless video footage showed… Blake Sheldon?… entering a room at the Hilton.
“I met Meg there, when you were out of town.” Her heart skipped frantically. Why was
Blake there? What is happening!
“Then explain this.” Cruz’s tone was flat and he didn’t bother to look at Daniella.
The next clip showed her entering the same room! But it was the room Meg had rented.
In the dark room lay two bodies entwined together. And then she recognized him. No! Not— Blake Sheldon! He was naked and a naked female lay under him. He glanced directly at the camera and smiled. It was a smile just for Daniella that said: Remember? I told you you’d be sorry! And you’d regret it. Mark my fucking words! And then turned back to the female. She wrapped her legs around his waist, making it obvious as to what they were doing.
Why is he showing me this? He can’t possibly believe…
“So, what’s your point?”
“So? So what’s my fucking point? You’re screwing him and you have the nerve to say SO!” His face was beet red and veins popped along his temples.
“That. Is. Not. Me!” She grabbed his arm. “Do you hear me? That’s not me!”
Cruz reached up, pried her fingers off his bicep and roughly pushed her away. “Then why is that your wedding ring I see on that hand?” He stilled the screen, clenched Daniella’s arm, and dragged her in front of the television.
Her jaw went slack as she stared at the video. What could she say? It was clearly her wedding ring, but it wasn’t on her finger. Daniella knew it would be pointless to say it wasn’t her hand, or her naked body beneath Blake. Hell. It was pretty convincing, and if she were Cruz, she’d probably believe it was her too, but it was too dark to discern. The only thing clear, when pointed out, was Daniella’s wedding ring on fingers attached to a hand clenching a fistful of black hair belonging to the naked man, who was most certainly Blake Sheldon.
Cruz had already passed his judgment. She was guilty beyond any reasonable doubt that he might have had before. Tears stung her eyes, but as the video changed to a different scene, her anger brewed.
How and why would anyone capture her stomping toward the dumpster at work with that stupidly wicked bouquet of roses? And then it clicked. Meg. Meg knew all about her history with Blake. Meg encouraged her not to say anything to Cruz because men didn’t take kindly to anything involving an ex. And with Cruz’s own past history of breakups, she was stupid enough to never mention it. But she’d never told Meg about the SUV in the driveway when Cruz… He was out of town… every picture, every incident… Oh. My. Gawd!
“Meg set me up!”
“Sure she did. Go ahead and blame her for calling you out. How convenient, Daniella. Who were the flowers from? Because we both know they didn’t come from me.”
“Blake Sheldon. A crazy ex that—”
“What the fuck ever. Get the hell out. You’re nothing but a whore.”
She raised her hand to slap him, but he caught her by the wrist and shoved her back. “I hate you. I. HATE. YOU.” She kneeled, grabbed the photos, balled them in her fists and threw them at Cruz. “HATE YOU!” She ran up the steps, into the room, slammed the door, and locked it. After catching her breath, Daniella stepped into the walk-in closet, unzipped the plastic bag covering one of her dresses, pulled out the letter and phone logs.
Bang, bang, bang! Cruz beat on the door and hollered, “Let me in!”
“Go. Away! Go run to Meg since you have so much faith in her. I heard it. All of it. You. You and Meg… I can’t believe this! And she said you got her pregnant! And—”
He laughed. “Bloody hell. You’re mistaken. It was all about you… and him!” he said hysterically. “Come on, Daniella. She told me all about it. And to think you could get away with this. Passing off Blake’s child as mine. Are you crazy?” he hissed.
“No! Blake must be screwing her. Yep. OH gee! How dumb of me for falling right into her trap! Shit. She had you then… she’s always had you,” she cried and rocked herself back and forth, attempting to ease her aching heart.
He laughed furiously. “Oh, the bullshit. You sure know how to spin some shit up, I’ll give you credit for that, Daniella. Now let me the fuck in!”
“I can’t believe this. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS. I CAN’T. I won’t. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!” She stood and paced the room, her hands fisted in her hair, yanking harder with each pull. “Just. Go. Away.”
He refused to let up. “You were supposed to be inseminated, remember?” Cruz’s voice escalated. “You waited until I was conveniently out of town and slept with him! I get it. And now I know why you had to follow through with the procedure! You were already pregnant. Meg saw it when she performed the procedure. She was too stunned and afraid to tell me because she cared about you!”
“Then why did she go ahead with it?” Daniella whispered. It didn’t make sense. She was not, could not have been pregnant unless there was some immaculate conception going on. It’d been at least six or seven weeks since she and Cruz had been together. She wasn’t pregnant before. All of this was a lie, she just needed to figure it all out.
“You acted out the part very well, Daniella. Bravo!” Cruz clapped and continued to kick the door. He didn’t stop kicking until the frame cracked and the door swung open. It slammed against the drywall causing the doorknob to catch inside the hole it created.
He stormed toward Daniella and pushed her back on the bed. He pinned her arms at her sides and held her legs down by sitting on them. “I’m not letting you off that easy! You can’t run and hide behind a door and think it will all go away. What you did… did you enj—”
“Screw you! You’ve already made up your mind and accused me of something I didn’t do! I hate you! Get off me!”
“The pictures and footage tell the story, Daniella. You were already pregnant by him. Meg showed me what she saw on the screen the day you were supposed to be inseminated. I was shocked to see this little creation inside of you, and I know Meg was. Christ, Daniella. How could you? And don’t tell me it’s mine. From the time I left, and up until the procedure, we hadn’t been together. Six or seven weeks of no sex between us doesn’t explain a two to three week pregnancy. It could have only happened one way. How the hell will you talk your way around it? Humor me, please.” He forced a smile and she wanted to claw it off his face.
“See! There you go, fuckstick. You’ve already accused me.” She bucked her hips. “Get. Off!” She reared her hips again causing Cruz to release one of her hands to bra
ce himself. The sound of her knuckles cracking against his cheek stilled them both. Cruz’s eyes widened, he slid off Daniella and walked out of the room with his hand against his wound.
“It’s not his! I was not pregnant when she did the insemination and believe me, she inserted that plastic inside me because I felt it. You… you just wait and see! And I promise you there will be no bringing me and your baby back!” Daniella cried. She broke down into a fit of hysterical sobs, followed by desperate urges to inhale oxygen.
There were no words. No rash words to counteract what he was saying. Meg was getting what she wanted all along. Cruz. And he was letting her take him. Damn, she was good. The way she set the stage for this whole charade worked nicely in her favor. Daniella was convinced this wasn’t a game she’d win. Hell, she’d already lost. Cruz sided with Meg before the game even began. Add Blake Sheldon and there you go. A perfect disaster just for Daniella.
A new terror ripped through her. A realization of what Meg was capable of and presumably what she had already done. No. The insemination. NO! It’s a lie. Has to be. No. I’m losing it. I must be going crazy. This isn’t my life! It can’t be!
It was time. Time to leave this life behind and move on. Daniella said her farewells. Goodbye to the memories of their first time in the bed they’d shared, and goodbye to her once perfect life. Too perfect. She slipped out of the room and halted just inside of the nursery. Her dreams of a happy family—destroyed. Cruz was nothing more than good looks and charm on the outside, but how quickly she learned what his true inner person really was. This was all a set up. It had to be. He was okay with it because he must have wanted Meg. He was part of it, for Christ-sake. She choked back all emotions, turned away from the room she had poured a heart full of love into, and slowly made her way down the steps.
Cruz stood in the kitchen; his hands fisted on the counter and his head dropped, until she rounded the corner. He raised his head, eyes moistened, he said, “I-I... I’m not understanding. You’re killing me. Can’t you see, Daniella? Your words, your reactions, what you did, all of this is tearing me apart.” He drew a palm to his chest and approached her.
Of Love and Deception Page 21