Instead of playing along like I should have, I instinctively shook my head.
His eyes bulged almost right out of his face with rage. “What? You think you’re too good for me now?” he snarled. His hand went around me and grabbed my ass. He slammed me against his cock and rubbed himself against me.
Nausea swirled in my stomach as I tried to get away from him.
“Can you feel how hard I am for you? You must miss how I used to fuck you. If there’s one thing I remember about you Ella, is that you love cock. A real whore, you were. Remember that one time I forced you to keep my cock in your mouth like a baby’s pacifier until I fell asleep? I still haven’t found a woman that would do that for me.” He chuckled.
Tears spilled from my eyes when I remembered the pitiful creature I was when I’d been with him.
A sound came from the entrance of the changing rooms.
“I have to go now,” he whispered. “But if you know what’s good for you and the child, you’ll keep this little visit to yourself. Okay?”
I nodded quickly. I just wanted him to leave.
He grinned, exposing a front broken tooth and as quickly as he had come—he left.
I covered my mouth to stifle the scream. I took a few terrified breaths, then I quickly stripped off the dress and got back into my own clothes. Pulling open the curtain of the changing room, I raced out of the shop.
I found Ruby and Molly by the escalators.
“What happened to you?” Ruby asked with a frown as she studied my face.
I almost burst into tears, but managed to contain myself since Molly was looking at us. I wanted to tell Ruby everything, but she would insist that we go to the police. Stan’s words replayed in my mind.
…if you know what’s good for you and the child, you’ll keep this little visit to yourself.
I wouldn’t do anything to put Molly at risk. I didn’t know what to do but I wasn’t going to go to the police.
At least, not yet.
Luke
I'd been working in the office the last couple of days due to an important project proposal. I whistled as I wound up for the day, knowing that in the next few minutes I would be on my way home to my girls.
A knock came on my door.
"Come in," I said.
My secretary Janice peered in, her eyes wide. "Uh… Mrs. Meyers is waiting to see you."
I frowned. I couldn’t understand why Penelope insisted on keeping her married name. “Send her in.”
She came in, her heels clicking on the floor. Penelope did look smart and pretty, if you didn’t know what was behind the beautiful facade. "Hi, I hope I'm not disturbing you," she said sweetly. This woman was so utterly narcissistic she had never cared about anyone else's time, or whether she was disturbing them.
"What is it?" I asked rudely.
"Thank you, yes, I will," she said sarcastically, and sat down.
I sighed tiredly. God, how I hated playing games. "What do you want, Penelope?"
She twisted her fingers in her lap. "I just want to let you know that I may be going away soon. On a long cruise, actually. To see the world." Her eyes sparkled as she spoke.
I stared at her incredulously. "What about Molly?”
She thrust out her chin. "Of course, I love Molly. She’s my daughter, but I deserve a life too. Jack loves me and I love him and we want to get to know each other better without distractions."
"Molly is a distraction?" I asked her, doing my best to reign in my anger.
"That's not what I said. You always do that Luke! Put things in my mouth," Penelope accused.
"How long is this cruise?" I asked her.
"Three months," she said in a barely audible voice.
"You've only just come back into her life and you want to leave?”
She glared at me. "Don’t lay that guilt trip on me! I have to live my life too," she said. "You're busy fucking the nanny and what do I have?"
Penelope could say what she wanted about Ella and me. It didn’t matter. What mattered was what we felt for each other.
"Jack said that when we get back from the cruise, we'll get married," she continued.
I guessed it must be the boy who’d been in her bed at the hotel. She must have fallen really hard for this Jack boy if she was contemplating marrying him. "How old is Jack?"
Her face colored. "Old enough to know what he wants and he wants me."
"Can't you go sometime next year? Give Molly a bit more time with you?" I pleaded.
She shook her head. "I can’t keep Jack waiting for that long.”
"But you can keep Molly waiting!” I exploded.
Her face closed up and her mouth became a thin line of rebellion.
I could tell by the tilt of her chin that she had already made up her mind. I would even bet she had already paid for the cruise… with my money.
There was no point in getting angry. I don’t know why I’d thought Penelope would change. That she could stick it out this time and be there for Molly. She was selfish and that would never change. "What will you tell Molly?" I finally asked her.
"I was thinking that maybe you could tell her—"
I banged on my desk with my fist. "No! You are going to do it yourself. And you're going to let her know how much you love her, and that you'll call her every day."
Penelope bowed her head and when she looked up, tears were in her eyes. "I'm sorry that I'm not the kind of mother Molly deserves. Maybe…” She sniffled. “Maybe… you should marry Ella. She'd make a good mother for Molly."
All the air left my lungs. I leaned forward to make sure this was actually Penelope speaking. Her words rendered me speechless for a while.
