Chapter 24 #2
My cheeks turn hot instantly. “Oh, well…uh…”
Stacey laughs. “That’s what I thought. So things are going well with you two?”
I think back to the conversation I just had on the phone with Elliot, but then instantly veer to last night when Rhonan fucked me over the arm of my couch after he got home from his shift and earlier when he delivered lunch to me. My body heats up now from the memory. “They are.”
“Does this mean you’re sticking around? Word on the street is that we have two teachers retiring, which means there will be openings here. Not that I need to explain that to you, but it doesn’t happen often in small towns like this.”
“Oh.” Excitement mixed with uncertainty builds in my gut. “Well, I would definitely be interested.”
“Ms. Lewis!” A student named Sadie comes running up to me, yanking on my shirt.
“What’s going on, Sadie?”
“There’s a guy on the other side of the fence with a camera.” Stacey and I both look in that direction, my eyes landing on the man she’s referring to.
Wait. Is that…
“Ugh,” Stacey says before I can finish my thought. But even though I’m pretty far away, I recognize the man’s build and black hair with gray at the temples from the day he walked into the office at the school after our staff meeting. “This creep is back?”
“What do you mean, back?”
She crosses her arms over her chest, shaking her head. “He was here last week taking pictures too. I’m going to call the sheriff’s office and see if they can send someone down to get rid of him.”
A spike of awareness races up my spine, so I turn my back to him and fight to get my breathing under control.
This can’t be a coincidence. That’s the man I spoke to. He made me feel uneasy and now it’s happening again.
Cole must know that I’m here.
I reach for my whistle hanging around my neck and blow on it. “Kids, it’s time to go inside.”
“What? Why?” Johnny yells from the top of the slide.
“Because…”
Stacey can sense the panic in my voice, so she interjects, “We’re gonna watch a movie and eat popcorn!”
The screams of excitement are extreme, but her bribe does the trick. Little legs race to the buildings where the classrooms are, but Stacey stays behind with me, wrapping her arm around my shoulder while the other teacher lets the kids back inside. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Placing my hand over my stomach, I say, “I—I just got really nauseous.”
“Did you eat something different than normal?”
“Uh, yeah actually. Maybe it just didn’t agree with me?”
Stacey nods. “I get it. Happens to me all the time. I have a delicate stomach too. Why don’t you go to the bathroom, take your time, and I’ll keep all of the kids in my room. I have some antacids if you need them.”
“I have something, but thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Of course.” She enters the building right before I do, glancing over my shoulder once more to see if the man is still standing outside of the fence.
But he’s nowhere to be seen.
Did I imagine it?
No, Vienna. Sadie came up to you and told you about him. If a child saw him, he was there.
Just relax. There’s nothing to stress about.
Cole is going to know where you’re at sooner than later, and he’s not the type to make a scene. It would ruin his precious reputation.
A United States senator can’t have anything make him look unfit in the eyes of the public—including a wife who wants to leave him.
And yet that’s the thing that I’m the most afraid of.
I might have left but I’m definitely not free. Not yet anyway.
But now I want that more than anything.
I just hope the price isn’t too high to pay.
***
“This isn’t working for me anymore, Cole.” I’m proud of how strong I sound right now, even though I know his temper is simmering beneath the surface and one more word could make him begin to unravel.
He lifts his scotch to his lips. “Not the first time I’ve heard that one,” he mutters.
“Well, this time I’m serious.”
The asshole laughs at me. “You? Serious?” Standing from his chair, he crosses the room and gets within an inch of my face.
“You think you won’t change your mind tomorrow and then everything will be fine again until the next time you try to tell me what a shitty husband I’ve been?
” He shakes his head. “How about owning the fact that you’re a shitty wife who can’t get pregnant with my child? ”
The only thing I want to tell him right now is how grateful I am that I’m not having his baby, but I know that’s the last thing I should say. And honestly? The fear of not being able to get pregnant at all haunts me every day. If I can’t have children, I don’t know how I’m going to handle that.
“So if you feel that way too, don’t you agree this isn’t working anymore?” I say instead, trying to get him to see reason.
But this man doesn’t know the definition of the word. “Well, we made vows, Vienna. And I made a promise to serve my country, which means you are obligated to that promise as well.”
“You don’t need me to be a senator, Cole. All I am is a trophy and pawn to you anyway.”
He chuckles. “Well, trophies and pawns help me win elections. Eye-candy and appearances show people that I value family and marriage.” He swallows the rest of his scotch. “Which is why we need a family of our own, but you can’t even seem to get that right.”
“I’m done, Cole.” Hoping that if I utter the words enough he’ll start to hear them.
He reaches forward and grips my chin, squeezing my jaw tightly.
Pain radiates up to my temple, but I fight off showing him that he’s hurting me.
“You’re mine, Vienna. The second you signed that marriage license, I owned you.
You can never leave me. You promised me forever, Vienna…
and that’s not something I’m ever going to let you forget.
You may think you can be done with me, but that will never happen, and that’s a fucking promise. ”