by Dahlia Kent
“What are you doing?” Nicholas asked as I typed my address into the Uber app.
“Getting an Uber.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Come.” Without warning, he grabbed my hand, tugging me forward across the street where the black SUV was still parked.
Pulling my hand out of his grip was useless when his fingers were like steel vises around my wrist. At our approach, Andrew climbed out of the SUV. Greeting Nicholas with a short nod, he opened the backseat door.
“We’re taking her home,” Nicholas said to Andrew.
Reluctantly, I entered the SUV, hoping their definition of ‘home’ meant mine and not Nicholas’. Nicholas slid in beside me and Andrew shut the door behind him.
Once again the locks clicked shut. It bothered me that I was locked inside this small space with Nicholas.
I’m not a bad person, I felt compelled to say into the quiet as Andrew drove. But that wasn’t true. Regardless of the reason and the intention, if you did bad things, didn’t that make you bad?
When the car pulled up in front of my apartment building, I let out a breath of relief and undid my seat belt in preparation to leave. Andrew opened the door and I was about to swing my legs out to leave the car when Nicholas grabbed my hand again.
“Andrew, give us a moment,” he said as he undid his seat belt.
Andrew nodded and closed the door, shutting me in with Nicholas.
“What—” I began, but it was cut off when Nicholas pulled me closer, bent his head, and kissed me.
It was shameful how quickly the fight to get free from his grasp abandoned me. I gave in to his kiss, leaning into him as he claimed my mouth.
He pulled me on top of him and I went willingly, straddling his thighs. Our kiss turned hungry, desperate. My skin burned wherever his hands touched. His hands were on my shoulders, pushing the straps of my dress and bra down my arms, freeing my breasts.
He broke our kiss and pressed his damp lips against my neck where my pulse raced. One moment I was furious at him, and the next I couldn’t seem to get enough of his touch.
“Nick...” I gasped when his mouth came down on my nipple. I spread my thighs wider and pressed my pussy down on his crotch, feeling him hard and warm through his pants. I ground myself along his length and he groaned against my breast.
“You don’t know what you do to me…” His hands gripped my hips and he tilted his head to kiss me again, deep and hard, just the way I wanted him to fuck me.
In that moment I wanted to tell him I’d lied at the restaurant. That he was right. I did want him. More than I should. I was a married woman and I wanted someone else who wasn’t my husband.
I was a bad person.
As if the universe agreed, my phone started to ring and I immediately recognized the ring tone.
Robert.
The cold water of reality banked the flames of my arousal. I scrambled off Nicholas and hurriedly adjusted my clothing.
“I have to go.”
He frowned. “Grace—”
“I have to go, Nicholas.” I looked at him. “Please. I have to go.”
He stared at me for a moment then nodded. He tapped a button and said Andrew’s name. Seconds later, Andrew opened the door.
My phone’s ringing ended as I hurried out of the car. This time Nicholas didn’t stop me. As I entered the building, I glanced back to see the black SUV driving away.
I slowly took the stairs up, trying to calm myself down. I felt Nicholas’ kiss lingering on my lips, and his mouth and caress on my skin. My pussy still ached for him. Even his scent still remained on me.
Worried Robert would notice some telltale sign I was with Nicholas tonight, I hoped the party was still underway. I hadn’t been gone too long.
But no music or conversation came from the other side of our apartment door. I unlocked it and entered to find all the lights out. No guests. The party was over.
I flicked on the entryway light and kicked off my heels. I was passing the living room on the way to the bathroom to hurriedly check on myself when a lamp snapped on suddenly.
I let out a soft yelp of surprise. Robert sat in one of the armchairs. He had half a glass of amber liquid in his hand, idly swirling the alcohol.
My body stiffened with alarm. The last time Robert was drinking he threatened to hurt me. We stared at each other for a long, tense filled moment before Robert broke the silence.
“Where were you?”
“I went for a drive.”
“Went for a drive, huh.” He chuckled softly but it was dry and humourless. “I wonder how you managed that with your car parked in the garage downstairs.”
An icy feeling of dread crawled through me, as well as an unpleasant flip in my stomach for being caught in a lie. I didn’t know what to say, so I remained silent.
“You didn’t think I’d find out? See, your little hissy fit cost us another fifteen grand tonight. I was trying to win back some funds to replenish our savings, but my concentration was shot after you stormed out, and I lost. I wrapped up the party like you wanted and went downstairs to take a drive myself. That’s when I saw your car parked there.” He stood and approached me. He took a gulp of his drink, his eyes glassy and filled with contempt. “If you went for a drive, it certainly wasn’t in your car. So who did you go driving with tonight, Grace?”
“Nobody.” I licked my lips, edging away from his approach. Although I was furious he’d sunk us further into debt and tried to pin the blame on me, I said nothing on the matter. There was a tense, dark energy between us. It felt seconds away from turning violent, just like that night last week. “I was by myself.”
He pointed at my chest and sneered. “And I guess it was nobody who made your skin all red like that too, right?”
Shame and fear hit me. I touched my chest and remembered Nicholas’ kisses there. I had fair skin. Nicholas’ stubble must have made my skin red.
“What are you accusing me of, Robert?”
“I’m not accusing you. I know you were with Vidal tonight.”
My heart leapt from horrified shock that he knew the truth.
“I wasn’t—”
“Don’t fucking lie!” he spat. He flung the glass across the room. I jerked when it shattered against a wall into a spray of liquid and shards. Robert charged forward and I scurried backward, hitting the wall.
He pinned me against it before I could move. He gripped my shoulders, his features twisted in fury.
“I was on the balcony when I saw his car drive up. I didn’t know it was his car until I saw the bodyguard get out. I watched for a while, wondering what was going on. Why the fuck were they at our home? And then I remembered you’d stormed out. So I called your phone and not a minute later, you were hurrying out of the car like the devil was on your heels.”
I swallowed, but fear was a thick ball in my throat, slowly stealing my air. Say something! My mouth worked to find words, to convince him he was mistaken, but I couldn’t even manage that.
“I’m curious what you two were doing in that car for so long.” He huffed out a hot breath, the scent of alcohol hitting me. His voice lowered into a menacing growl. “Were you fucking him? Were you fucking him right outside our apartment, Grace?”
His hand flew to my neck, seizing it in a tight choking grasp.
His fingers dug into my skin as he gripped me tight and slammed me hard against the wall, sending pain through the back of my skull.
“Let me go!” I choked out. Digging my fingernails into his hand while kicking out at him, I pried his hand from me and shoved him back. I turned and fled for the door, but he was on me in seconds.
His fingers sank into my hair, wrapping it around his fist. He yanked, more stinging pain flaring out from the back of my skull. I opened my mouth to scream but the cool press of a knife against my neck turned my scream into a sharp inhalation of horror.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said against my ear. “Not until you do something for me first.”
&nb
sp; He dragged me backward, turning with me and forcing me toward the living room. He shoved me to sit down in the couch. He loomed over me, one of our eight inch chef’s knife grasped in his hand. He pointed the sharp tip at me.
My voice wavered when I spoke. “Think about what you’re doing, Robert.”
“I have thought about it.” He dug his free hand into his pocket and took out his phone. “I’ve thought about how much heartache you and Vidal put me through and how I ought to be compensated for the trouble.”
With his gaze darting between me and the phone screen, he tapped rapidly on the phone then handed it to me. Then he leaned closer with the knife and bared his teeth. I shrunk away from him, my heart racing in terror.
“So you’re going to call that son-of-a-bitch and you’re going to tell him to bring me three hundred thousand dollars in cash. Or else I’m going to slit your fucking throat.”
Nineteen
—
Panic and shock swirled inside my chest. My hand was so heavy, it didn’t feel like mine as I held the phone.
A string of numbers was already loaded on the screen. I recognized it as Nicholas’ number from the last time he’d called me.
I could easily delete it and then punch in 9-1-1 instead. But Robert was watching me closely. The moment I did anything different other then hit the call button, he might hurt me.
He might actually kill me.
So I hit call and pressed the phone to my ear. Robert and I held gazes before I dropped mine to stare at the knife in his hand. He had such a tight grip around it, his knuckles were white.
The ringing seemed to go on for a long time before there was a click, as if it were answered. But there was no response—only silence.
“Nicholas?” I said into the quiet, my voice tiny.
“Grace?” His voice was laced with confusion and concern. Even through the phone his familiar voice filled me with relief. “Is everything OK?”
“You need to...” My voice broke and I swallowed. “You need to come over. Robert... Robert wants you to bring three hundred thousand dollars.”
I didn’t say what would happen if he didn’t do as Robert asked. His long silence indicated he knew already.
When he finally spoke, the concern was gone, laced with a cold anger.
“Put Robert on the phone, Grace.”
I handed the phone to Robert. He snatched it out of my hand and pressed it to his ear.
“What?” He scowled. “No, I’m not coming to you. I’m staying right here where I can keep my eye on her.” He paused. “I want it all in cash. Bring it yourself. Don’t show up here with any guns or cops or I’ll kill her.”
He ended the call and backed away with the knife. He claimed a seat on the coffee table in front of me. Sweat gleamed on his forehead and upper lip. He wiped his mouth, the contemptuous look on his face never leaving as he watched me.
A long stretch of silence went by. My thoughts weren’t as chaotic as before—only one stuck with me. A voice monotonously repeating the same thing.
He’s going to kill me.
I tried to shut it down, block it out, but it was too loud.
He’s going to kill me, whether or not Nicholas shows up with the money.
No. Robert wasn’t a killer. He was revealing a violent, nasty side of him I didn’t know existed, but he wasn’t a killer.
He was my husband. The man I’d known for ten years.
He has a knife pointed at me. He’s going to kill me.
He was only using it to intimidate me. I had to convince him not to use it. That whatever he thought was all a huge misunderstanding. That it wasn’t too late to stop this.
“You’re right.” My voice sounded so small and thready in the quiet. “I did see Nicholas tonight.” He snorted but said nothing, so I continued. “But I—I didn’t cheat on you.” I only kissed him. “We only talked.” We would have had sex in his car if you didn’t interrupt with your call. “But that’s it, Robert.”
A moment of silence passed before Robert responded.
“You know how I know you’re lying again?” He gestured at me with the knife, a sneer on his face. “You call him Nicholas. You’re on a first name basis with the fucker.”
“But that’s his name—”
“It’s not the same!” He stood abruptly and I shrank back in my seat. “You say it with this... this voice! Like when you say it you think about him.” His features darkened. “I will always hear how you moaned it when he was fucking you. Ever since that night, I can’t close my eyes without that image of you and him on that bed.”
It wasn’t the right time to remind him once again that night happened because of him. That he had to witness that event because of the selfish choices he made.
I couldn’t form words because he came to stand over me again, pointing that dreadful knife in my face. His features contorted with a rage and hatred so potent, I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide from it.
“If you’re telling me that ridiculous story about how you didn’t fuck Vidal tonight, then you must think I’m some dope to believe it.” Without warning, he backhanded me across the face, sending me tilting sideways in the couch. I yelped and brought my hand up to my cheek as stinging pain and heat raced across it. Robert hovered over me, the knife coming closer, and I shrank away from it. “Let me be clear, honey, I’m no fucking dope.”
He stared at me for a while then retreated to the coffee table.
Slowly, I sat up. The pain in my cheek pulsed for a while but ebbed as we waited for Nicholas to show up with the money. The clock on the wall said it was almost midnight as it ticked away the seconds left of the day.
The last day I was alive.
Because there was no doubt in my mind anymore.
Robert was going to kill me.
Unless I killed him first.
But how, when he had a weapon and I had none?
“You know, the day you said yes when I asked you to marry me was the happiest day in the world for me,” he said suddenly. “I thought, ‘How the hell did I get so lucky? This must be some kind of sick joke. There’s no way she wants to be with someone like me for the rest of her life.’ But then you stuck around, Grace. Years went by and you stuck around. I got scared. I knew someday you were going to wake up and realize marrying me was a mistake. You were going to leave me.”
He shook his head. “So to make sure you never left, I had to give you everything you wanted. And sure, my salary was decent as an accountant, but it wasn’t enough. I saw the way the cards were stacking. Your sewing business was growing. Pretty soon you’d be successful and then you’d leave. So I had to make more money. That’s what women want, right? Men with money. And now look where we are. Look at the mess we’re in. All because of fucking money.”
I swallowed and spoke the truth this time.
“I never wanted more than what we had.”
He stood again, coming toward me. I trembled again and started to pull back. I hated when he got close. It meant he was going to hurt me. He loomed over me, his gaze fixed on my face.
“Well, tonight, you’re going to get just what you deserve.”
Twenty
—
The hatred in his gaze dimmed, and a new look took its place.
A hunger, one that disturbed me.
“Can you believe one night with you was worth one hundred and sixty grand to Vidal?” He touched my face and I jerked away from his fingers. He dug his fingers into my hair, pulling me forward to him. “Now he’s coming here with three hundred grand more to make sure you stay alive.”
I smacked his hand that was digging into my hair and pulling at my scalp. “Stop it! You’re hurting me!”
“If I’d known, I would have whored you out sooner. We could have made a killing.” To my surprise he relinquished his hold on me, but my relief was short lived when his hand fell to his crotch and he rubbed the small bulge there through his pants.
The bastard was turned on from treating me badl
y.
“How about a parting fuck for old time’s sake while we wait for Vidal?”
“No,” I said with as much disgust I could muster in my voice. I didn’t have to fake it at all. I was sickened and furious he treated me this way. That he said and did such awful things to the person who’d pledged her life to him. The person he was supposed to love.
He didn’t love me.
If he did, he wouldn’t treat me like this.
You don’t love him either.
“Sluts can’t say no. They take what they’re given.” He dropped the knife onto the coffee table. It was my chance. I immediately lurched to my feet but he blocked me from getting past him. Despite my struggle, he wrestled me face down into the couch.
Terror and panic filled me. I screamed, but he pressed my face into the couch cushions to muffle my voice as he shoved the skirt of my dress up, exposing my underwear.
“No! Stop!” I squirmed and bucked, but his weight was heavy on me, his meaty fingers yanking my panties down then digging into my flesh, spreading me open vulgarly.
“I wonder if you let Vidal fuck your ass yet?” He wedged his hand between us and I heard his pants zipper pulling down. Hot, angry, shameful tears leaked from my eyes.
I was powerless to stop what he was going to do to me.
A knock sounded on the door and he froze on top of me. Silence disturbed only by our heavy breathing filled the room. Another knock came, harder than the first.
Nicholas’ muffled voice came through from the other side.
“It’s Vidal.”
Robert animated, rising up off me hurriedly to grab the knife from the coffee table.
“Get up!” His fingers clamped around my arm, he yanked me to my feet.
I stumbled then righted myself. I managed to pull up my underwear with my free hand. As soon as I straightened, he pulled me against him and pressed the knife to my neck again.
He walked me forward to the door. “Open it.”
I reached a shaky hand out to turn the door handle. It swung inward to reveal Nicholas standing there with a black gym bag looped over his shoulder. He still wore the suit he had on at dinner.