5. Lissie
Chapter 5
Lissie
“Tell me your dark and dirty secrets, and maybe I’ll share mine.”
“ I want a divorce,” I tell Cody that night as I walk into the house, carrying the bag of groceries. I wasn’t sure I was going to pick the bag up at first, but I had to because I was so fucking hungry. Cody raises his head and eyes me. His cock now back in his pants is my only reward.
“No.” Just the one word before he focuses back on his damn computer screen. I hear the sounds of porn coming from the speakers like before, only this time, he turns the volume up a notch.
Cody has been my husband for a long time, and for half of those years, I may have thought I loved him.
Now, I know I never really did.
Our relationship is nothing but a series of business transactions I don’t get a cent from, and I struggle to buy my own fucking food.
“Your sister called, and she’s on her way over. Clean up the kitchen,” he barks. I cringe as he looks up at me from his seat at the table.
Cody doesn’t even glance at the bag in my hand or ask me why I have it or how I afforded it—he simply does not care.
Walking to the kitchen, I pull out the contents of the bag Milo left me and place the bread on the counter. Then I pull out the peanut butter, which he obviously bought as well. Smiling, I go to throw the bag out when I spot one piece of candy sitting at the bottom of the bag. It’s the same brand of candy I’ve eaten numerous times at his clubhouse when I go over there to read to him.
Grinning at the single piece of white chocolate, I place it in my pants pocket and move to the toaster to toast myself some bread. My stomach is growling, and the need for food is overwhelming. I look up as Cody stands, shuts down his computer, and turns to face me. The look on his face is one of pure disdain, his eyes cold and unforgiving as he glares at me.
“I’ve ordered pizza,” he says, watching me. “We aren’t getting divorced,” he adds.
“Why not?” I question. “We don’t even love each other,” I remind him.
“Who cares about love? You owe me, Lissie. You are not leaving.”
“I don’t owe you shit. She does,” I snap.
He reaches for the closest thing to him and throws it across the room. The plate smashes against the wall, and I flinch, casting my gaze away from him.
“Would you like me to tell your sister where we got the money?”
“No.” I glare at him, my eyes burning with anger and defiance.
He smirks, reveling in his power while my fists clench at my sides, every muscle taut in response to his smugness. “That’s what I fucking thought. Now, act like a well-behaved woman and not a damn child,” he says.
I stand there, livid, as he walks off to his room down the hall. We live in a modest two-bedroom house—it’s nothing fancy, but enough for both of us. He says we don’t have lots of money, but he refuses to let me get a job so I can be available for Milo when he needs me.
I’ve been reading to Milo for a year. It started with just your average fiction books, which lasted for a good six months, and then we dipped our toes into fantasy. But recently, we’ve moved on to books that are heavier on romance.
I hate it as much as I love it.
When I leave Milo, I’m usually clenching my thighs together. The way he sits there quietly and listens to me, his demeanor mostly soft and attentive, makes me feel like I am being truly heard. Most of the time, his eyes are closed, but lately, they’ve been open and watching me.
It’s intimidating.
He is intimidating.
I know Milo from school. He’s older than me, and we never had any classes together, but he was never someone to be missed. The man was popular back then, and now? Well, he basically owns this town. I don’t think anyone would be stupid enough to go against him.
But my husband is pretty stupid.
A knock comes on the door, and I expect it to be the pizza, but when I open it, my sister is standing there dressed in her police uniform, smiling at me.
It’s amazing to me how she changed her life around, how she went from being reliant on drugs to now being fit and clean. It gives me hope that one day soon, I will leave this god-awful place and never look back.
“Gosh, you look good,” she says, reaching for me. Savannah looks so much like our mother. Her eyes are soft like Mom’s were, whereas mine are sharp. Her hips are perfectly proportioned, while I barely have any shape to mine. I let her wrap me in her arms and hug her back.
Fuck, it’s been so long since I’ve had physical contact with anyone. Cody doesn’t touch me, let alone hug me. I hardly have any friends, and the only other person I speak to more than Cody is Milo, and he usually just sits there and demands words from me.
Somehow, that man demands that I speak, and when he does, it feels like my voice is actually worth listening to.
We pull apart, and I shut the door behind her as she steps inside.
“Sorry, I came straight from work,” Savannah says. She moved a few towns away, and it takes her over two hours to visit, so she doesn’t come often. But I know she feels obliged to since Cody helped her out all those years ago.
“How are you?” she asks, looking around for Cody. “Happy?” Her voice is a little quieter on the last word.
“There you are, just in time. The pizza is almost here,” Cody says as he appears from the hallway.
Another knock comes on the door, and Cody walks past us, pulls out cash, and hands it to the delivery guy before he takes the pizzas. “I have to head out. Work stuff,” he says, placing the pizzas on the table. He comes up to me and leans in, his mouth dangerously close to mine. “Behave,” he whispers.
Savannah doesn’t know half of what goes on. Actually, I’m unsure if she knows anything.
Cody’s lips touch my cheek instead, and he pulls back, offering a wave to Savannah, before he nods and leaves.
“Sister time,” Savannah says. “This is…” she glances around, “… unusual.” The smell of the food hits my stomach, and it grumbles loudly. Savannah laughs and heads straight for the pizza. “You didn’t have to wait for me to eat.”
I didn’t, but she doesn’t need to know that. Sitting opposite her, I grab a slice and take a bite, not waiting for her to grab her own.
“So I was wondering, do you have a spare change of clothes around here I could wear?” I look at her, confused. She nods to her uniform. “I want to take you out, and Cody isn’t here to tell you no.”
“I’m tired,” I tell her around a mouthful of pizza. “I don’t want to go out.”
It’s a lie.
I want to run.
Far, far away.
Away from the torment of my unbearable life.
But I stay where I am.
Because my asshole husband has information on her. Information that could ruin her life. Just when she’s finally sorted it all out for the better.
He has videos of Savannah using drugs. He even recorded her taking the money to pay the debts back.
She is the only family I have left.
So I have to stay.
I have to protect her.
Cody wasn’t always an ass, but he has his ways of keeping me tied to him. And he knows it.
What if Savannah found out?
What if I walked in to find her the same way I found our mother?
I’m not sure my heart could take that again.
I was so lost the first time that I know the second time I’d be a wreck. And a complete slave to Cody, of that I am sure. More so than I am already. Is that possible?
“Lissie.” I peer up at her and smile. It’s forced, which I’m sure she knows. “Why do you stay?”
Words are on the tip of my tongue—the words I can’t tell her. “S-sorry, what?” I splutter instead. She has never asked me about my relationship. Not once. I know she knows I’m not happy here, but again, she has never asked me about it either.
“Cody, and you. Why do you stay?”
I wipe my mouth and place the rest of my slice of pizza down.
“I’m married,” I remind her.
“Yes, but you aren’t happy. So I ask again… why do you stay?”
“How do you know I’m not happy?” I challenge, raising a brow.
“Rumor has it that Milo has someone he pays to keep him company. I was asked if it was you.”
My mouth drops open in shock, but I quickly recover. “This isn’t even in your jurisdiction,” I reply, my face heating up.
“Yes, but the Savage Villain’s MC are known statewide.”
I bite my lip and sit back.
“Why are you at Milo Savage’s, Lissie? You know who he is, and how dangerous he is.”
“I still live in this town, Savannah. And he may be scary to some, but not to me,” I say, shaking my head. It’s only a half-truth. Milo does scare me, but not in the way she might think.
She tsks. “That’s probably your first mistake, thinking that man isn’t dangerous.”
She picks up a slice of pizza and sways it around before she says, “Stay away, please. Tell Cody to keep an eye on you, or I will.”
This time, when I bite my lip, it bleeds.