My cell rings and Reggie holds out his hand for it. I pass it to him and he grins when he checks the caller ID. He answers as he takes my hand and pulls me towards his office.
“Riggs. Twice in one day. How privileged.” He presses the speaker button and Riggs’ curse words fill the silence. “If I could just stop you there,” says Reggie calmly. “Anna came of her own free will.” He closes his office door, locking it. He places the cell on his desk and smiles. “Anna called me to tell me she was ready to come home. Did you upset her?”
“You’d better not have hurt Michelle,” Riggs yells. His concern for Michelle over me burns my heart. I give my head a shake. How dare I be jealous of his feelings towards her when she’s the mother of his child.
Reggie checks his watch and laughs. “Of course, it’s past noon. I didn’t get a chance to follow out my threat because my wife came home, and now I have her, well, I guess I won’t need to.”
“Put Anna on,” yells Riggs.
“Let me check she wants to speak with you first,” says Reggie, and then he flicks his hand, indicating for me to talk.
“I’m here,” I mutter.
“What the hell were you thinking? I was sorting it!” yells Riggs.
“I’m sorry,” I begin to cry. Today has been so emotional that it catches up with me hard and I can’t stop the tears as they flow. “I was trying to help.”
“Did you go back because of what I said?” he growls.
“No, of course not. I wanted him to give Michelle and Ziggy back,” I say.
“Why don’t you ever just talk to me first? You make these stupid fucking decisions and for what?” he yells. “You cause me more trouble!”
“You never wanted to talk, remember! But won’t happen again, will it,” I snap. “I’m not your problem anymore. We’re over. Done.”
“This is all very lovely.” Reggie sighs, reaching for me. I resist, but he tugs me hard and I fall against him. “Lovers break-ups are always interesting, especially when they involve my wife. But I’d like to get reacquainted with Anna now, so . . . ” His fist hits my stomach and I double over, coughing hard. “We’ll discuss the docks in an hour.”
“What are you doing to her?” yells Riggs. “Take the docks. Have what the fuck you want and return what’s mine.”
“Oh, you can have the crack whore and the kid, but Anna is mine,” smiles Reggie. He shoves me hard with his foot and I fall onto my side. “An hour.” He disconnects the call and then smiles down at me. It’s not the nice smile he saves for important business associates. It’s not even the same smile he saves for the people he hates. This smile tells me that he wants to hurt me. He wants to hurt me bad.
I swallow two pain killers. My ribs ache. I watch Malia sleeping soundly in her old bed in her old room. She was pleased to see all her toys and spent hours playing while I lay on her bed watching. A shadow creeps up and Reggie peers into Malia’s bedroom. “She looks happy to be home,” he whispers. “Come and have dinner.”
I’m not hungry, but what’s the point in telling him that? He’ll still force me to eat. I wince with each step and grip my ribs. The pain is making me feel nauseous. I sit at the dining table and one of the house staff brings out the evening meal. “Did you let Ziggy go home?” I ask quietly. I can’t stand the thought of Ziggy being distressed.
“That’s not your concern. You are home where you belong, and I don’t want to hear another word from your mouth about Riggs or anything to do with him.”
“I just want to know that Ziggy is okay. He’s Malia’s friend and . . . ”
Reggie grips my hair and tugs my head closer to him, and I wince as pain shoots through me. “Anna, don’t push me,” he warns.
A tall blond enters the room. She smiles confidently and doesn’t seem at all put off by the scene before her. Reggie releases me and stands, greeting the woman with a kiss to each cheek. I’ve never seen this woman before, but even I have to admit she looks good standing next to my husband. They speak quietly to one another and Reggie gently strokes his thumb down her jawline. It’s a gentle move and one I’ve not seen from him for some time, especially towards me. “Go to bed, Anna,” he says dismissively over his shoulder. He takes the woman by her hand and leads her from the room.
I give it a few seconds and then rush after them, peering around the door to see them head upstairs. When they’re out of sight, I creep towards the downstairs office. I press my ear to the door and listen for any signs that someone is inside. When I’m confident it’s empty, I sneak in, careful to close the door as quietly as I can behind me. I rush over to the telephone and sigh with happiness when I hear the dialling tone. I call Eva because it’s the only cell number I know by heart. It rings a few times and then she answers.
“Eva, it’s me,” I say quickly. “Has Riggs got Michelle and Ziggy back?”
“Anna, thank god, you’re okay. Where are you? Did he hurt you?” she asks.
There’s a rustling sound and Eva curses. Riggs’ voice fills the line. “Anna, where are you?”
“That doesn’t matter right now. I don’t have long. Is Ziggy home?”
“No. Reggie said he’d call with a location, but we’re still waiting.”
“Okay. He’s going to be preoccupied for a short time. I’ll look around here and see if I can find them. There’s a basement.”
