Blackmailed by the Beast (11 page)

Running his fingers
rapidly through his hair, he walked over to his liquor collection
and poured himself a healthy shot. He downed the dark burning
liquid in one gulp, pouring another glass and then another before
glancing up in the mirror and finding the Beast staring back at
him.

Wayne couldn’t handle
it anymore. His wife had walked out. Broken-hearted, and instead of
running after her, he was drowning his sorrows.
She’s too good
for you.
Plagues of the past came to haunt him. The heel of a
boot landing on his back, the sharp sting of a slap across the
face, the snap of a belt. The people who were supposed to love him
had turned him into the man he was today. A vicious, blackmailing
monster.

Lily never got a chance
with him. He’d taken her from her home, stolen her virginity, and
almost took her voice away. What kind of person did that?

With a cry, he threw
the glass at his reflection. Growling after the surge of violence
didn’t help. He upturned the table holding the potent liquid.
Nothing went untouched in his rampage to destruction.

Glass smashed. Picture
frames crushed. The computer on his desk landed on the floor not
surviving the fall.

The rage he kept
contained for so long unleashed. All the anger from being an abused
little boy to growing up as a man closed off from his emotions came
storming out. He couldn’t even tell the woman he loved how much he
loved her, the anger at himself unleashed. Crushing the angel, he
loved by his own need to take.

He lifted the
handcrafted vase in his hand, prepared to smash the small trinket
she’d made for him. The final part in his need to destroy all love
and connection with Lily. Until their wedding photo twinkled from
the broken picture frame on the floor.

Wayne glanced at the
picture to the vase in his hands, and he slumped to the floor,
cradling the vase against his chest, trying to protect the small
treasure of hope.

“What have I done?” he
asked.

Mindless of the
slithers of glass, he picked up the photo and sat with his back
against the wall.

Lily smiled out at the
camera, and Wayne too busy gazing at his wife to care about
glancing at the camera. Lily and her smile held his attention.

In all the time they’d
been together he could have spoken the three simple words “I love
you,” but for some reason he’d kept them back afraid to let himself
go.

Running his thumb along
her beautiful face, he began to cry. The woman he loved was gone,
and it was all his fault.

The despair clawed at
him making him immobile. He sat in the spot staring at her photo
and hugged the vase until the sun went down.

The distant ringing of
the telephone alerted him to the passing of time. Getting up from
his spot, he went and answered the phone.

“Hello,” he muttered,
his voice hoarse from the crying.

“Is this Mr. Brown? Mr.
Wayne Brown?”

“Yes.”

“Hi, I’m Denise Sutton
from the community hospital. We’ve got a Mrs. Lily Brown here, and
we need you to come down right away.”

His heart dropped out
of his chest. Wayne held the phone tighter, praying with all of his
might there was nothing seriously wrong with her.

****

Wayne looked at his
wife in the hospital bed, and he wanted to throw up. She’d been
attacked on the street with a knife and knocked to the ground. His
fingers curled around the metal bedpost.

Tony coughed making him
aware of his presence, and Richard followed close behind him.

“We came as soon as we
heard. How is she?” Tony asked.

Wayne nodded at both
men and then turned his attention back to his wife—pale,
unconscious, and in danger of never waking up. Stress, the doctor
had said. Too much too soon and his delicate wife couldn’t handle
the stress, and her body conked out to help her deal. A small nick
on her cheek, the only indication of the attack of the knife but
the lump on her head and the black eye was evidence of something
much worse. Once the man punched her to the floor, she’d been too
weak to defend herself. Wayne was thankful the thug hadn’t caused
any more damage to her after she went down. He was told the only
thing missing had been her car. Wayne couldn’t believe it, Lily
attacked for her car.

“She’s doing okay. They
keep checking but it’s just a case of waiting for her to wake up.”
No matter how long he sat and stared, she didn’t move or make any
sound she could hear him.

“What happened?”

“The police said it was
some random attack. Took a knife to her and then punched her to the
floor.” The police had told him they had a suspect in custody from
the few eyewitness reports but they needed Lily to confirm identity
of her attacker.

“What kind of animal
would hit a woman?” Richard growled in disgust, and Wayne couldn’t
agree more. If he found the guy before the police, he wouldn’t
leave him alive.

“She’s pregnant. They
reckon she’s over two months pregnant, give or take.” The doctor
had given him the news. What was he supposed to do? Laugh? Cry?

“We’re here if you need
us,” Tony consoled, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Wayne nodded but was
grateful when they left him alone. He sat at her side and took her
slight hand in his.

“Hey, baby, it’s me.
Your shithead of a husband.” He spoke and caressed her lifeless
hand. Wayne wanted to shake her, do anything to wake her up.

The tears gathered in
his eyes, and for the first time, the Beast felt fear and
loneliness.

“I’d do anything for
you to pull your hand away right now. To show me the woman you’ve
become.” He loosened his grip and waited to see if she’d pull away,
but her hand remained still.

One tear fell from his
eye and the ice around his heart smashed to smithereens. With Lily
in his life, he had some semblance of control over his emotions.
The thought of losing her and never seeing her smile, or to even
hear her sing, was breaking him more than any gold digger could his
bank balance.

A sob escaped, and he
kissed her hand. Not caring about protocol, he lay down on the bed
and gathered her in his arms.

“I know I’m a shit but
don’t leave me. I love you, Lily Jones. I’ve loved you from the
first moment I saw you, even when you didn’t see me. I’ll love you
till the day I die and then keep on loving you.” The tears ran down
his face. He didn’t wipe them away. They were a beautiful thing.
“Please, wake up. I want that family, and I’ve never been ashamed
of you. I love you. I love you.” He kissed the top of her head and
held her tight. Any thoughts of keeping everything in his heart and
remaining the bastard he’d become were gone. Lily could still be
lost to him, but he’d keep telling her how much he loved her.

****

Tony and Richard came
back with cups of coffee and saw their friend broken and sobbing in
the neck of his wife.

“Wow, I never thought
I’d see the Beast lose control like that,” Richard said.

They moved out of the
room and glanced through the slats in the window.

“He’s in love, and it
looks like the stupid asshole just realized what he could’ve lost
by not telling her, too.”

Richard frowned at his
friend. “What do you know about love?”

Tony sighed and moved
away from the heart-breaking scene. “The usual. I’m a bastard and
let the girl get away...that kind of crap.”

“Sounds a little cliché
to me,” Richard joked.

Both men had
experienced love themselves, but neither was willing to talk about
it. Watching Wayne almost lose his wife made them open their eyes
to the bitterness within their own worlds. Maybe it was time for
them to start finding love for themselves before ending up alone
and bitter.

Chapter
Eighteen

Someone was stroking
her hair and whispering words of love in her ear. The sound kept
fading, and she didn’t know if she was imagining the sound.

“Come on, baby. Wake
up. I love you.” She knew that voice, but the fogginess in her mind
couldn’t place the soothing sound, or at least, she didn’t accept
what that particular voice was saying to her.

Her whole body ached
and the pain in her chest the worst.

“Please, baby, come
back to me.”

No, I don’t want to
come with someone who doesn’t love me.

Lily couldn’t pretend
any more. She opened her eyes and was immediately pulled to Wayne.
Shaking, she allowed him to kiss and touch her but her heart wasn’t
there, but completely empty inside.

“They said you’d wake
up eventually.” He kissed her on the head, lips.

“Please stop,” she
asked, her voice hard.

Instantly, he withdrew
from her. He lay on the bed wrapped around her. The heat radiated
off him. Closing her eyes to contain herself, she took a deep
breath before opening them. Lily needed the extra time to compose
herself.

“I thought I’d lost
you,” he whispered.

His words and
tenderness hurt even more, now he knew about the baby inside her,
about the future heir she was carrying. All she ever wanted to do
was get through this world with someone to love her. Her family
hated her. Once she’d love to be someone’s number one, to be the
first thought on their mind.

“What happened?” she
asked. Lily knew she lay in a hospital bed. She remembered the
betrayal of his trust and her running out but everything after was
a little fuzzy.

“After you left, you
must have travelled through one of the roughest parts of the city.
You were attacked, and witnesses said you were punched to the
ground for your car. I should have been there.”

Punched to the ground?
It explained the massive headache she got. Why should he have been
there? Wayne was the reason for her leaving the house in the first
place.

“My turkey was in that
car.” She sobbed, the tears welling up from the uselessness of it
all.

“We’ll get another
turkey.” He stroked her face. All she wanted to do was lean toward
his strength and take what he had to offer.

How pitiful was she?
She was in love with a man who blackmailed her and hurt her by
trying to force her to become something she didn’t want. What was
wrong with wanting to have a family?

“I don’t want another
turkey.”

“What about our family?
The baby?”

Lily closed her eyes
remembering the pregnancy test she’d taken that morning, her gift
for him. Her intention had been to have a lovely romantic meal
before making love, and she planned to tell him her feelings about
the new life growing inside her.

Instead, she came home
to hell. It wasn’t her home, not really. It was his.

“Wayne, I’m sorry to
interrupt but someone’s here.” Lily turned toward the door to see
Tony leaning around the private room. “Hi, Lily, how are you
feeling?”

“Fine, like I’ve been
punched,” she said not bothering to smile.

“I’m going to go and
see about this. Will you be okay on your own for a little while?”
he asked.

“Of course, could you
send Richard in? I want to ask him something.” Lily couldn’t look
at him in case he knew what was in her mind.

“Yes, I’d do anything
for you, baby. You should know that.” He left seconds later, and
Lily watched him go.

Why should she know
that? Why should she even think he cared for her at all?

Lily pulled herself up
into a sitting position, ran her fingers through her knotted hair.
She wanted a shower and a toothbrush. She felt like absolute
shit.

“You wanted to see me?”
Richard came through the door and closed it behind him. She went to
mess with her hair but stopped and glanced over at him.

Lily nodded. “I wanted
to talk to you about the prenuptial agreement I signed.”

He looked visually
uncomfortable. Lily knew in her heart she wasn’t going to like what
was about to be discussed.

“I think this is
something for you to discuss with Wayne,” he suggested, edging
closer to the door.

“Please, Richard, I’m
asking you.”

“I don’t think I should
tell you in your condition.”

“You know I’m
pregnant?”

“Wayne couldn’t keep it
to himself. He’s very much in love with you.” Lily snorted at the
comment. She knew she shouldn’t, but with all the revelations
unravelling, she thought it was necessary to take facts head
on.

“Just tell me what is
going on.” Lily rubbed a hand over her face, trying to clear her
groggy thoughts. They stared at each other for several seconds
before he nodded and looked everywhere but at her. Richard paced
the small room.

“The prenuptial
agreement is something Wayne has been drawing up for some time. I
don’t even know if I can tell you everything, but I’ll try to give
you the facts and the basics.” He was nervous. Lily was sure of it
now more than ever.

“Please, just tell
me.”

“Okay. Erm...right, the
basis is the usual stuff—money, and securing his wealth in case of
divorce, and settlement figures for you and your family in case of
any long term problems that can’t be fixed.”

“He was going to pay me
and my family off?”

“If this marriage
didn’t work out, you, in your own right would become a very wealthy
woman but with the understanding you wouldn’t use it on your
family.”

Lily smiled, touched by
the sentiment of his caring.

“There’s more. Wayne
wanted you so badly....”

“Don’t make excuses,
just tell me.”

“If there was a baby
born during this union then Wayne automatically has sole custody
and responsibility for the child and, indeed, for any other child
born from this union.”

“But I’m the
mother.”

“You signed your right
away on the day you were married.”

Lily lost her breath.
The wind knocked out of her. Placing a hand against her neck, she
tried to calm her nerves.