‘Brady, stop,’ I cried. ‘You’ve hurt yourself.’
‘This? This bloodied hand? You think this hurts after what you did last night? This is nothing,’ he shouted, punching the wall again to prove his point. ‘I could do this all bloody day and feel nothing. But what you did … Fuck, Lisa. I don’t know if I can deal with this.’
‘Talk to me,’ I pleaded. ‘You said nothing would ever come between us, you said we’d drawn a line, that this was us, for life. We’re married.’
‘I honestly never thought anything could come between us. Hell, even if it had been Roger I’d have handled it, but … it’s my fucking dad, Lisa. My own dad. I feel so sick and disgusted right now.’
‘You think I don’t feel the same?’ I whimpered, my whole body shaking with nerves at what he was about to do.
‘You know what? I can’t think about how you feel right now. This isn’t about you anymore. I’ve always put you first, well today that stops. Put yourself in my shoes. If I’d fucked your mother, would you still want me? The next time we had sex would you be thinking about how I stuck my dick in her, sucked her nipples or fingered her backside? Would you be wondering if she was better at sex than you were? Always fretting and playing it over and over in your mind until it ripped you to pieces. Would you still want me to lay a single finger on you with images of that going through your mind? Because I don’t bloody want to,’ he shot back, his voice laced with venom. I cringed and shrank back against Mandy. This wasn’t Brady talking, I’d never seen him act like this, so cold and harsh. ‘Fuck. I’m sorry,’ he gasped. ‘That was … I can’t help how I’m feeling, Lisa. I just can’t … I’ll call you when I’m ready to talk. If I’m ready to talk. I need some space from this whole fucked up situation.’ He finally lifted his eyes to mine, a vortex of emotions swirling through his. For a fraction of a second we held each other’s gaze as I desperately tried to look for some sign that we were going to be ok, but then he was gone, the oak door swinging closed behind him.
‘Brady!’ I yelled, snatching my hand out of Mandy’s as my feet started moving to follow him.
‘Lisa, don’t. Leave him, he needs time,’ she called desperately behind me. I couldn’t. We’d just promised through better or worse and right now we were experiencing the worst. If we couldn’t hold it together, today of all days, how could we ever make it work? Him leaving me on our wedding day was a big flashing fucked up couple neon warning sign. I flung the door open, gathered my dress up in both hands and ran through the bar, shrugging off Simon’s hand as he tried to stop me, ignoring my parents who were standing with puzzled looks on their faces. Running through that orangery with tears streaming down my face, a hundred confused faces looking at me, was possibly the most humiliating experience of my life. I caught one of the slender heels of my shoe as I ran up the steps from the garden to the hotel and went flying, skidding across the marble floor. I lay there stunned for a moment, my wrists and knees aching from the impact as I’d tried to stop myself from planting face first into the floor. Proper sobs shook my body as reality started to set in. Brady was fleeing from me. He couldn’t get away fast enough. We always ran together, we were a team. He never left me behind. How was I supposed to run on my own? I heard the sound of shoes clattering on the floor behind me and hands suddenly grasping my arms to lift me up. This was my wedding day. It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. How had I ended up here? At what point did this heartache become inevitable?
‘Lisa, are you ok? What the hell’s going on?’ The voice snapped me out of my daze as Roger appeared in my blurred vision.
I wasn’t sure if it was my tears or shock from the fall. I shook my head, unable to form words. I shrugged him off and started limping along the corridor. I had to stop Brady from leaving. I heard raised voices behind me. Mandy, Roger and possibly Anita and my parents. I had no time for them. If I didn’t hurry, I had no time at all. I bent down, wincing as I tore off my heels and left them in the middle of the corridor. Ignoring the pain in my legs I started to run, like I’d never run before. If I didn’t stop him I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see him again. By the time I made it to the grand lobby, Brady was walking down the entrance steps, towards his car, the door of which was being held open by the valet. I powered through the pain, ignoring the revolving doors I burst through one of the side ones, before the doorman even had the chance to reach and open it for me. My heartbeat was erratic, my breathing harsh and unregulated, lungs burning from exertion. The valet had closed the car door and Brady was reaching for his seat belt. I had just seconds to stop him, I’d never make it down the steps to his car.
‘BRADY!’ I screamed, almost rupturing my vocal cords, not to mention the heart attack I nearly gave the old lady being helped out of a taxi and everyone else within ear shot. He slowly turned his head and looked at me sadly as I held my breath waiting for a response. I nodded and did my best to attempt a smile, trying to tell him that we were going to be ok, he just needed to come and talk to me. I frowned, he was looking at me like I was a total stranger. In an instant, he was wheel spinning out of the driveway without a backwards glance at me. My heart crumpled, at the same time as my body did. I sank into an inelegant heap on the top step, aware of all the eyes currently on me, from total strangers who had no right to be intruding on a very personal moment. I looked down at my dress, a dress I’d been so excited to be wearing only half an hour ago. A bright red stain had settled on it and was slowly growing, creeping across the expensive material. I let out a surprised grunt. I must have really messed up my knee for blood to soak through all of those delicate layers, which was odd, as I couldn’t feel any pain there anymore. All of it was centred on my heart. Had he really just left me? Had I just set a record for the fastest marriage breakup in history? Surely that wasn’t it? He’d be back once he’d had time to process his thoughts. He had to come back. We were Brady and Lisa. Mr. & Mrs. Collins.
‘Come on, Lisa. Let’s get you inside and cleaned up,’ came Roger’s gentle voice as one arm slid under my legs, the other supporting my back as he carefully lifted me up into his arms. Shock wore off as fast as it had set in and I burst into uncontrollable tears as I buried my face in his chest, craving some physical contact and reassurance that everything was going to be ok.
‘O, Lisa. He’ll be back. He just needs to cool down. It was a hell of a shock. It’s Brady. It’s you and Brady. You’re the most meant to be couple I’ve ever known,’ came Mandy’s reassuring voice, as her heels clicked on the marble floor as she followed us. I didn’t remove my face from Roger’s chest. I couldn’t face anyone right now. Even if I looked up I doubted I’d see from the salt water clouding my vision. My eyes were swelling from shedding so many tears in the last few days. I was aware that Roger was no longer walking, but we were moving at the same time. I deduced that we were in the lift just as it pinged and announced our arrival in my suite. ‘First bedroom on the right, Roger,’ instructed Mandy. I felt myself being gently laid down on the bed and a tender kiss on my forehead.
‘Try and calm down, babe. I’ll go and see if I can find him and talk this out. He’ll be fine when he’s had a bit of distance,’ Roger murmured, kissing me again. I shook my head. I wasn’t sure he’d ever be fine. Like he said, if he’d slept with my mother, I wasn’t sure I could ever look at him the same again, let alone allow him to touch me.
‘Get him back here as soon as you can, Rog. Can you go and get Anita to sort everyone out downstairs, she must have some contingency plan for things going wrong. I’m going to stay with Lisa. She shouldn’t be on her own right now.’
‘Look after her. I’ll ring you with an update as soon as I can.’
I heard a door close then a beeping noise.
‘Gaston, it’s Mandy. I need some medical supplies. My sister has hurt herself and is bleeding … O right, how long? … Great, master bedroom.’
I tried to look down at my weirdly numb knees to see what the damage was, but I didn’t have the energy to move. All
I could do was cry. Proper gut wrenching, bottom lip wobbling, gasping for air, ugly crying tears of hurt. Was it ever going to stop?
‘O God, please try and calm down. Gaston’s calling the in house doctor. He’ll be here in a few minutes and can fix up your knee. Let’s get you out of your dress and into your pyjama shorts set.’
‘No,’ I cried out, stubbornly wrapping my arms tightly around my pearl encrusted bodice as I rocked myself. Brady was supposed to be the one to take my dress off on my wedding day. No one else was going to touch it. Only my husband got to take it off.
‘Sis,’ Mandy sighed. ‘Please let me help, I feel so useless.’ She sat on the edge of the bed, stroking my hair as I continued to cry. Was this really happening? Maybe it was all a bad dream and I’d wake up soon. I shut my eyes, replaying everything from the moment Brady led me into that bar to reveal his surprise, over and over in my mind. I tried to imagine all of the ways it could have gone differently. It wasn’t until someone lifted my head and told me to take two pills and drink some water that I was even aware of the doctor in the room. I did as I was told in some kind of daze, before curling back up in the foetal position, gently rocking myself through the tears. I felt so empty and lost. I just wanted Brady to put his arms around me and tell me everything was going to be ok.
‘It won’t be long, the tablets should knock her out for a while. I’ve cleaned and dressed her knees, if she was walking then I’d say it’s just going to be bad bruising and swelling. When she wakes up make sure she keeps her feet elevated. Gaston will provide ice packs for them. I’d suggest getting her wrists checked at the hospital as soon as possible, in case of any fractures. The adrenaline and shock could be masking the pain right now. Here’s my direct number. If you need me anytime, twenty-four-seven, call me.’
‘Thank you,’ came Mandy’s distorted voice as I tried to fight my eyelids closing. It was futile and I gave up my struggle. Maybe sleeping through all the chaos was best. Maybe when I finally woke up, Brady would be sitting at my side, holding my hand. All would be forgiven.
We’d never lied to each other before. One of the strengths of our relationship was our honesty. But right now I knew I was lying to myself. If the shoe was on the other foot and he had slept with my mother, I’d never be able to stay with him.
He was never going to get over this.
He was never going to forgive me.
I felt like I was slowly dying as the realisation hit me.
He was never going to come back.
Just like that, in a split second, eleven years of history meant nothing. One unwitting mistake had turned my wedding day into a funeral, for the both of us.
My last thoughts, as the drugs took effect, was why did we put our orgasms over everything else we had? We could have got there on our own. In time we could have had it all, but now it was all gone.
Why did we ever make that stupid damn get out of jail free pact?
Did you enjoy The Domville 2?
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Thank you!
CJF x
Next Release
The Domville 3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ZSYA8FK
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZSYA8FK
Mandy Roberts isn’t looking to settle down. She’s single, financially secure and liberated when it comes to sexual conquest equal opportunities. As a makeup artist for a major production studio, she comes into regular contact with good looking celebrities and takes advantage of those connections for her pleasure. When she stays at The London Domville for her sister’s wedding, the hotel’s piano player catches her eye and it seems she has her weekend of frolics sorted. The groom’s best friend, Rampant Roger, who has secretly held a torch for Mandy for years, has other ideas though. Will he finally step up to try and claim her, or will Mandy bypass him in favour of her current sexual freedom?
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The Domville 2 (The Domville #2) Page 10