Claiming Her Heart

by Lili Valente

  She’d seen Blake do something to his watch, but were they really online? She wished she’d been able to get confirmation from the guys in the van outside before she launched into this stage of the plan, but now there wasn’t time. Scott had made the first move.

  “Very well. Business is excellent, and Abby is getting so big.” Scott smiled, a nasty twist of his lips that made it clear he knew how it hurt her to hear Abby’s name. “She and Jill have really hit it off.” He turned to the woman behind him. “Jill, this is Erin, the biological mother.”

  Erin bit her lip, fighting the urge to fly at Scott and tear at his face with her fingernails. Biological mother indeed. She was Abby’s only mother, and there was no way in hell she was going to let another woman take her place.

  “Nice to meet you,” Jill said, her voice an octave higher than Erin had expected it to be. She sounded like a little girl, something Erin was sure Scott enjoyed.

  He loved feeling like a big man, and he needed all the help he could get from the sub in his life to get the job done. Scott only felt Dominant when everyone else around him was performing at less than their potential. He’d never had what it took to master a woman who was more than a two-dimensional Barbie doll. He wasn’t strong enough.

  The realization made Erin feel taller, stronger, and certain for the first time that she was going to win this battle. Her daughter would be in her arms by the end of the night and Scott would be on his way to a restraining order and maybe some time in a jail cell with men who would show him what it felt like to be an abused partner.

  “I wish I could say the same, Jill. But it’s not nice to meet you,” Erin said, maintaining the pleasant smile on her face even when Scott’s expression went from smug to dangerous. “I’m not in a nice mood. Scott has been keeping me from my daughter and it’s time that ended. Don’t you agree, Scott?”

  “I think you should watch your mouth,” Scott snapped. “And remember what we decided about this.”

  “No one tells Erin to watch her mouth. Except me.” Blake stepped closer, until he loomed over the much shorter Scott. “You’re not in charge here anymore.”

  “Erin, outside. Now. We need to talk. In private.” Scott barked orders with as much authority as ever, but Erin saw the spark of fear in his eyes. He saw there was a bigger dog in town, hence the sudden urge to get her alone. “Obviously your memory needs a little refreshing.”

  He was playing right into their hands. Erin’s pulse raced faster as she silently prayed everything was going to work out the way they’d hoped.

  “May I go, Master?” Erin turned back to Blake, lingering on the last word. Scott had always wanted her to call him “Master,” but she’d refused.

  She was a submissive, and she loved to be mastered, but for some reason, the term never tasted right in her mouth. “Sir,” she liked just fine, but “Master” made her feel like one of those male slaves who went around licking their mistress’s boots.

  Or the hunchback guy that worked with Frankenstein, which wasn’t a visual she enjoyed during sex.

  “She can go.” Blake put a hand at the small of her back as she turned to face Scott. “But if you hurt her, I’ll make you bleed.”

  Jill’s eyes widened into big blue saucers, but there was arousal in their depths, mixing with her fear. Erin couldn’t blame the other woman. Blake was irresistible, especially compared to a worm like Scott.

  “Touch me and I’ll have you thrown out of here so fast your head will swim, he-man,” Scott said, his voice shaking.

  Erin stifled the strange urge to giggle. He-man? That was the best insult he could come up with on the spur of the moment? This was the Dom she’d lived in fear of for years? He was nothing but a sad, insecure little man. She’d been a fool to fear him, but that was ending right now.

  It was payback time.

  “Make your threats,” Blake said, his tone still calm and even. “But make sure you listen to what Erin has to say and know that I back her up completely. You can’t get away with bullying her anymore.”

  Truer words had never been spoken. Even without Blake there beside her, Erin knew what he’d said would be true. She was different, tougher, and as ready as she’d ever be to finish this thing with Scott.

  “Come with me, Erin. Jill, wait at the bar.” Scott turned and headed for the front door.

  Erin took one last look back at Blake, drawing strength from the confident expression on his face, and followed.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Erin

  Erin’s heart raced as she tailed Scott back through the crowded lounge area. The bar and surrounding tables were packed and the alcohol flowing freely. It was only a matter of time before everyone would be loosened up enough to start heading back into the playrooms.

  She knew how it worked. She used to be one of those people who needed a few glasses of wine to be in the mood to start a scene, but not anymore.

  Now, a look from Blake and a few well-chosen words were enough to banish all of her inhibitions.

  “I’ll be coming back in,” Scott said to the bouncer at the exit before shoving past, not bothering to hold the door for her.

  But then, manners had never been his strong suit, and he wasn’t exactly a happy camper right now. She took a deep breath, hoping that unhappiness would work in her favor.

  “I’ll be coming back in, too.” Erin smiled at the large man working the door, and obediently held out her hand to get it stamped for readmission.

  “The door closes in thirty minutes, so be sure you’re back before then,” the bouncer said kindly before turning his attention back to the lobby.

  Erin nodded and pushed through the door, apprehension skittering across her skin. The nearby street lamps illuminated the sidewalk, but it was pretty deserted outside the club. Everyone was still going in, not coming out.

  Don’t worry. The boys in the van are watching. You’re safe.

  But the thought didn’t give her much comfort when Scott ducked into the shadowed alley beside the club and spun to face her, fury distorting his features.

  It was darker here than out on the sidewalk, but she could still see him clearly, still see the way he had been transformed by rage. It made her mouth run dry with fear, even though she knew she shouldn’t be surprised by the strength of his response.

  She’d never defied him. She’d talked back and gone against his wishes when it came to Dom-sub stuff, sure, but she’d never said a contrary word when it came to big decisions. Scott had always been the walking boss in their relationship, and he obviously didn’t take well to having his authority questioned.

  “What exactly do you think you’re trying to pull, Erin?” he asked, the vein on his forehead pulsing unhealthily.

  “I’m not trying to pull anything,” she said, hating the way her voice trembled. “I just want to see my daughter. I deserve to be a part of her life.”

  “You don’t deserve shit.” He stepped closer, and she had to fight the urge to back away. She couldn’t give him an inch or he’d take a mile. She knew that, but it was still hard to stand her ground with her knees beginning to quake. “You violated our contract the day you walked out. I don’t owe you a dime.”

  “I’m not asking for money. I just want to be Abby’s mother.”

  “You think you’re fit to be Abby’s mother? A slut like you, out getting her ass spanked at some club by a stranger?” Scott moved nearer still, until she could smell the alcohol on his breath. “I saw you on the bench. You were grunting like a pig when you came. It made me sick to think my daughter came from that diseased hole between your legs.”

  “I am not diseased,” Erin ground out, but the insult still hurt. “And if going to clubs is a problem, I’ll stop. Though I have to say, it seems pretty hypocritical that you get to do whatever you want while I—”

  Her words ended in a shocked gasp as Scott’s hand snapped out, catching her across the face.

  He’d hit her.

  He’d finally done it and as he
r hand came to cup her stinging skin she realized she’d known he would. Eventually. When his words stopped getting the job done. Her right cheek burned and her ears rang from the impact, but she still refused to back away.

  Instead, she stood up even straighter, glaring up at Scott, hoping the camera was catching every second of his abuse. “You can’t bully me anymore. And any man who would hit the mother of his child isn’t fit to be a father.”

  “Watch your mouth, bitch,” he panted, his breath coming as fast as if he’d just stepped off the track. He was weirdly out of breath for a man who worked out three times a week. But maybe he’d given up the runs along the beach. He certainly looked thinner than he had just a few weeks ago. “I don’t take orders from whores.”

  “I’m not a whore. I never touched another man while we were together. I was faithful,” she said in a calm, even tone. “I know you can’t say the same. So in my book that makes you the whore.”

  Erin was prepared for the blow this time, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Stars danced behind her eyes and her cheekbone throbbed and she had a feeling that strike was going to leave a bruise.

  Good, more evidence against the bastard.

  The thought made her smile. “Do you hit Abby, too, Scott?” she asked. “Is that the kind of father you are?”

  “I treat Abby like a princess,” he snapped.

  “Keeping her away from her mother isn’t treating her like a princess,” Erin said, mind racing, trying to figure out what to say next.

  She had to get tape of Scott threatening Abby, not just slapping his ex-wife around. She needed to prove to the court that Scott was a danger to his daughter if she wanted a shot at getting sole custody.

  “She needs me in her life,” she continued. “I was home with her every day since she was born. She must miss me. It must scare and upset her to—”

  “I’m going to say this one more time—Abby is better off without you. Stay away from her, or you’re going to be very sorry. I can promise you that.”

  Oh, God. This was it. This was it.

  “Nothing could make me more sorry than being kept from Abby another day,” she said, the tears in her voice as real as the words she spoke. It had only been three weeks since she’d seen Abby, but it felt like a lifetime. “She needs me, and I need to be a part of my daughter’s life.”

  “Your daughter won’t have a life if you keep this up, Erin.” He smiled, a cold sneer that made her heart ache. This was the bastard she’d chosen as the father of her child. Abby deserved so much better. “I wasn’t making idle threats when I said I’d kill her before I’d let her be raised by a slut like you.”

  “Scott, listen to yourself,” she said, heart pounding in her chest. The words still scared her to death, even knowing there was a plan in place to get Abby out of Scott’s house and keep her safe. “That’s our baby you’re talking about, an innocent child. How can you even—”

  “If you don’t sign the divorce decree in the next week, or if I find out you’ve hired a lawyer, Abby will have a horrible accident.” He paused, eyes drifting to a place above her head.

  He sniffed and swiped the back of his hand across his nose. “I was thinking the pool out back. She’s crawling so fast now. If the nanny were to leave the door open and turn her back for a few minutes…well, it doesn’t take that long for a child to drown.”

  Erin’s throat grew tight and tears stung at the back of her eyes, but she didn’t cry. What Scott said wasn’t going to happen, she wasn’t going to let it happen. “You’re a monster.”

  “Maybe.” He shrugged, and his smile returned as his eyes met hers once more. “But I’d rather Abby be raised by a monster than a penniless whore. At least she’ll have a chance at a future, to grow up to be something more than a tramp who takes her clothes off for money.”

  Erin swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue. He didn’t care to make the distinction between a model and a stripper or he would have done so. Arguing with Scott was a waste of time. Besides, she had what she needed. Scott’s threats were captured on tape. If all was going according to plan, Rafe was already on his way to the house to get Abby.

  She could walk away right now and never say a word to this creep again.

  Instead, she stood her ground. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized how much unfinished business there was between the two of them. But now, all the questions she hadn’t dared to ask in the last two pain-filled years flooded to the surface.

  “Why do you hate me so much?” she asked softly, genuinely curious.

  His bloodshot eyes widened before narrowing once more. “I don’t hate you. I feel nothing for you except disgust.”

  “Then why didn’t you ask for a divorce sooner?” she asked. “Obviously our marriage wasn’t what either of us—”

  “Our marriage was fine,” Scott said, the emotion in his voice surprising her. “Everything was fine until you up and left with our daughter.”

  “Scott, our marriage was not fine,” Erin said, baffled that even he could be that deluded. “Nothing I did seemed to please you. Not since I got pregnant with Abby.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not true.”

  “You didn’t even want to touch me,” she said. “We hadn’t had sex in almost two years by the time I left. How can you call that fine?”

  “So you wanted to get fucked? Is that it?” he asked, taking an aggressive step forward. “I’ll fuck you right now if that’s what you want.”

  “No, it isn’t.” This time, she took a step back. A slap or two she could handle, but if Scott tried to touch her intimately she’d take Blake up on the offer to make him bleed. “But when I was pregnant with Abby, and just after, I wanted to be close to you. And sex is a part of that. It’s part of a good marriage, surely you can’t disagree.”

  Scott’s eyes dropped to the pavement between them, and he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. For the first time, Erin noticed that it was thinning on top. Scott was twelve years older than she was, but she’d never really thought about the age difference until now, when he suddenly looked far older than his thirty-six years.

  “I just…” His voice trailed off, but Erin didn’t push. Pushing Scott only made him angry.

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Several uncomfortable seconds passed before he finally spoke again. “By the time Abby was born, it seemed like we’d lost our place. You were so focused on the baby. I felt like you didn’t need me anymore. It hurt.”

  Of all the things she’d thought she’d hear tonight, Scott opening up about his feelings was the very last. She was stunned.

  “I needed you more than ever,” Erin said, then pushed on, refusing to let Scott play the victim. “But it seemed like you hated me. I mean, talk about hurt. Every time you told me how unattractive you found me, it felt like I was being cut open. It hurt. So much.”

  He finally lifted his head, facing her with uncertain eyes. “What if I said I didn’t mean it? That I’d made a mistake?”

  “What?” She could safely say she’d never been more confused. What the hell was he saying?

  “What if I said I didn’t mean all those things I said, or the stuff about Abby?” He paused, licking his lips, the words obviously far from easy to speak. “Would you think about coming back?”

  “You want me back.” Erin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or both. “But you’re the one who filed for divorce.”

  “That’s only because you left me. How could you just leave like that, Erin?” he asked, anguish clear in his voice. “I came home from work and you were just gone. I thought someone had kidnapped you. I was scared out of my mind.”

  “I was scared, too,” she said. “I was afraid you’d do something to me or Abby if I told you I was leaving.”

  “You should have known I’d never hurt you. Never,” he said, the passion in his eyes making it clear he believed every word. He reached for her, but she stepped away again, shaking her head in disbelief.


  “Scott, you hurt me with your words for years,” Erin said. “You tore me down until there was nothing left of my self-esteem. And you just hit me—twice.”

  He scowled. “I was angry. And I have every right to be. You don’t know what it did to me, seeing another man’s fingers inside my wife. It made me crazy.”

  “Crazy enough to threaten to kill our daughter? Was that something you didn’t mean, too?” Erin held her breath, wondering if the men in the van were still recording, and how all the strange, unexpected turns in this conversation would impact their case against Scott.

  If he confessed to lying about intending to kill Abby, would that make a difference to the judge who reviewed their case?

  Had she endangered her future with her daughter because she didn’t know when to keep her big mouth shut?

  “Come back to me,” Scott said softly. “Come home with me right now, and you’ll never have to find out.”

  Erin shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can. Ditch that caveman and come home. We’ll send the housekeeper over to your apartment to get your things tomorrow.” He paused and a smile stretched across his face, reminding her of the man he’d been when they were first married. The man she’d thought she loved, until she’d reunited with Blake and remembered what real love felt like. “You could be holding Abby in half an hour. You can even bring her into the bed to sleep with us if you want, the way you wanted to do when she was teething.”

  “No,” Erin said, hoping he heard the finality in the word. “I’m never coming back to you. I don’t love you anymore. I’m not sure I ever did.”

  His smile faded, and the terrifying Scott returned. “Is it that man you’re with? Are you in love with him now?”

  “Yes, I am. I love him with all my heart,” she said, the words out of her mouth before she could think better of them.

  It only took a few seconds for her to realize the error of her decision, but by then it was too late.