Chapter 6 #3
“Maybe a little bit too much fun by the looks of it,” Daniel adds, unable to help himself.
He’s never been so outwardly controlling of me in front of my family, and I can’t help but think that maybe he has been affected by our time a part.
While I’ve been out enjoying my new-found freedom, it seems that Daniel might be struggling to come to terms with the fact he no longer runs my life.
I’m staring at him with narrowed eyes when Tony pipes up again.
“What exactly are you insinuating?” Tony’s voice is unusually cold, and I turn to look at him. He’s looking at Daniel as if seeing him in a new light. Tony might take the piss out of me when I turn up to lunch with a hangover, but he doesn’t hold the same traditional views as my mother.
“Nothing,” Daniel drawls, spearing a tomato with his fork. “Just that Gianna and I are still married and I don’t know that I like my wife going out getting drunk in the city with a known hussy.”
“Excuse me! I’m sitting right here!”
Tony goes to speak on my behalf again, but I cut him off.
“My family don’t need to be okay with what I’m doing,” I snap, slamming down my fork.
“I can do what-ever the hell I want to do. No one owns me, I’m twenty-eight years old for Christ’s sake!
And don’t speak about Anna like that!” My chest heaves.
“We may technically be married, but that went out the window for me when I found out you were fucking someone else!” I stab my finger towards Daniel’s chest, as if there’s any question who I’m talking about.
“I guess in your eyes I’m the only one of us that has to abide by our wedding vows! ”
I’m so angry right now I can barely think straight.
Mum chooses that moment to re-enter the dining room. “Gianna, what are you yelling about in here?”
I look past her to see if Dad is joining us, but he doesn’t show, which makes me even angrier.
Daniel’s driven my father out of his own family lunch!
Mum, sensing this reunion isn’t going as well as she hoped it would, tries to diffuse the situation by dragging Tony into a conversation with Daniel.
I stare at my plate and attempt to calm down.
But how dare he come in here like he owns the place and practically call me a slut in front of my family!
Tony doesn’t even pretend to make an effort as Mum directs the conversation towards football, which was previously a pretty lively topic amongst the two.
After a few minutes of stunted conversation, the only noises in the room come from forks scraping across plates and the news anchor’s voice floating in from the tv in the kitchen.
I don’t speak another word as I continue to seethe over Daniel’s audacity to accuse me of being a cheater.
Tension hangs so heavy in the air I can taste it.
“That was delicious as always, Mrs M,” Daniel says when he’s finished, having reverted back to his pleasant facade.
He places his cutlery down neatly on his empty plate.
This was always the part where the boys would retire to the couch to watch whatever football game was on TV while Mum served dessert and I helped clean up.
Today, no one moves an inch, except Mum, who pats Daniel on the hand in thanks for his compliment.
“Tony, help me clear the table,” Mum says, standing to collect the plates.
Tony doesn’t move and I realise he’s waiting for my go-ahead.
While I appreciate his support, I know I have to face Daniel alone at some point and it may as well be now while there’s other people in the house.
I nod my head in silent approval and Tony picks up a dish and follows Mum out of the room, throwing Daniel a warning glare before he disappears through the door.
Daniel and I stare at each other for a few moments, and I see his mask slipping now that we no longer have an audience. I’m reminded of the last time we were alone together, and a cold shiver runs down my spine.
You’re not alone. He can’t touch you here.
“I can see you wasted no time slutting yourself about,” he leers, leaning back in his seat and stretching an arm across the back of the empty chair next to him.
“Should have known Anna would stick her claws in at the first chance possible.” He then casts his gaze around my face once again and wrinkles his nose in disgust. “You look like a dirty whore.”
Ah, there’s my Daniel.
“Even if I was a dirty whore,” I retort, surprising even myself, “I wouldn’t touch you again with a ten-foot pole.”
I never would have said that to Daniel six months ago. I would have taken his insults quietly. In fact, I’m actually surprised I had the courage back then to leave him.
“Who are you fucking, then?” he asks with a menacing grin that doesn’t touch his cold eyes.
That grin, so familiar, makes my hands tremble.
I shove them in my lap. Daniel notices and grins wider, getting a kick out of knowing he still affects me, no doubt.
Part of me wants to throw my night with the stranger in his face, but a greater part of me wants to keep that night to myself.
That night wasn’t fuelled by revenge, but Daniel will paint it that way. Also, I admit, a part of me is actually scared about how Daniel would react to me being with another man. Even though we’re separated, and I’ve done nothing wrong, I know Daniel won’t see it that way.
“If I was sleeping with someone, my ex-husband would be the last person I’d swap notes with,” I reply as casually as I can.
Daniel’s brows rise marginally as he inspects my face. It hits me then that he was expecting an outright denial. He doesn’t think I would touch another man. Both fear and satisfaction surge through me.
“Ex? Don’t remember signing any divorce papers,” he drawls, cocking his head to the side. Yes, because I haven’t had my meeting with the divorce lawyer yet. But I need there to be at least ten kilometres and a locked door between us when Daniel finds out about that.
“Which means,” he continues, interrupting my thoughts, “that if you were to fuck another man, it would be cheating.”
A barking laugh escapes my throat before I can stop it.
How dare he! The absolute nerve on this man, to accuse me of cheating when was the one burying his dick inside other women while I was at home crying over endless negative pregnancy tests!
Anger curls hot and unstoppable in my gut, but I swallow it down, desperate not to let even a drop of it free.
He doesn’t deserve my anger, or anything at all from me anymore.
“We’ve been separated for six months,” I say through gritted teeth. There’s no way he’s been celibate since I left either, but I guess his logic only applies to me, as usual.
“We’re on a little break, not divorced. You’re still mine, Gianna.”
A spark of light catches on Daniel’s wrist. As my gaze zones in on the familiar gold Rolex, I feel the heavy, cold touch of its weight pressing against the hollow of my throat.
My hand flies to my neck, grasping at the pressure that isn’t really there.
Daniel, tracking my movements and reading the sudden flare of panic on my face, smirks with cruel understanding.
I push air past the tightening of my throat.
You’re not alone. He can’t touch you here.
“What the hell are you doing here, Daniel?” I manage to gasp. “Trying to get to me through my mum won’t work. I’m done with our marriage. I’m done with you.”
Daniel rests his forearms on the table and leans in towards me. The smirk vanishes from his face, forcing a fresh wave of panic through me. His blue eyes bore into mine as he regards me coolly.
“You don’t get to tell me when this is done,” he says, voice low and menacing. “I’ve given you time to get over what happened, and now it’s time to come home before you really do something stupid. Enough is enough.”
I pull back in shock. Does he actually think I’m going to come back to him? That this time apart is some kind of cooling-off period, and I’ll eventually forgive him and pick up where we left off?
“What do you mean by ‘do something stupid’? Sleep with someone else? Would that be unforgivable to you?” I spit, exasperated. “Or perhaps you mean get a lawyer?”
Because I’ve done both! I finish in my head. He doesn’t speak, just continues to glare at me.
“I’m not coming back to you, Daniel,” I continue after I regain some sense of calm. “Not now, not ever. No matter how you say it, and no matter how much you try to brainwash my mum. It’s over between us.”
Daniel looks at me with icy contempt. He isn’t used to hearing the word no, especially not from me. He leans in closer, and I instinctively sit back in my chair.
“You will come back to me, Gianna, one way or another,” he says, his calm voice a deadly promise. Shivers erupt down my spine. “No one else would ever want you. You belong to me. You always will.”
Useless. Dumb. Nothing.
His gaze remains locked on mine. Cold, blue eyes burning their mark as the seconds slowly tick by.
“And if I don’t?” My voice is now barely a whisper. All my bravado from earlier has faded into non-existence.
“If you don’t,” he says, low and certain, “I will make sure you have nothing.”
Daniel’s words have barely settled between us when Mum bursts back in the room with a tray of tiramisu.
“Dessert is ready!” She beams, placing the dish down between Daniel and me.
Daniel leans back in his chair, all the malice on his face from just mere seconds earlier replaced with the charming smile he usually reserves for the media, instantly winning Mum over.
She places a hand on his shoulder and gives him a warm smile, before turning to me.
I’m still processing Daniel’s closing statement, hands wringing in my lap.