“Get out. You’ll never touch my son again.” She slinks off, and Jerome has no idea what is going on.
I sit with him for an hour and play before it becomes dark, reveling in his presence and resenting how much I’ve missed. Once it gets closer to bedtime, I bathe and tuck him in, pressing a kiss to his head. I’m just about to leave him for the night when he asks if I’ll read him a story. And that question has my heart feeling just the slightest bit of relief.
Despite my hate for Scott, I know he does love his son.
He just sucks with women.
“Dinner’s ready. Come to the table, Adora.”
“I ate when Jerome did.”
“You did not. Now move it.”
I kiss Jerome’s head once more and leave his room. Some nights I sleep in there with him for the comfort of knowing he is all right.
He’s sitting at the head, and two of his closest men sit on either side of him. He nods for me to take the seat at the other end of the table.
“I’ve given you time. Now we talk.”
“Time?” I ask, lifting a brow.
“Yes. You are my wife, Adora, and here, that means something. A lot, actually.”
“Not to me.”
“Yes, I heard you were fucking women again. Would you like to do that here? Maybe we can arrange for a woman to join our bed for the night?”
“You can fuck whoever you want.”
“I can, indeed.” Nodding, he cuts the steak on his plate before he puts a large piece into his mouth. “I want to fuck you more. I always did enjoy fucking you.”
“You seem to want those who don’t want you.”
His men smile around the table, and Scott tells them to leave. They get up and walk out without argument.
That was always his problem—he got told no.
Until me.
And then he thought it would be cute to have me, fuck me, impregnate me, then marry me. He was married once—most men in this life are. It’s what glues families together. But he killed her after her third miscarriage. So she was useless to him. And then he got infatuated with me.
Only I didn’t want him.
I never wanted him.
He was someone my father gave me to. He didn’t fuck me straight away, choosing to wait until I thought I could trust him. And when I did, he had me. It only took once, that’s all it was. One time, and I knew I was fucked. Then, a year or so later, I was pregnant.
My father immediately told Scott to wed me, which he was more than happy to do. My father took a real nice payment for our pairing.
And then, for years, I was trapped here with him.
My life was normal, I guess you could say. I had a baby, and I was young with no help. I saw my father on the odd occasion.
But the day that set it all in motion was when I heard them talking about Abigail.
“She isn’t like Adora.She will be…” I hear my father’s voice, “… easier to tame.”
I hear Scott laugh.