Blackmailed by the Beast (12 page)

“Anything else,” she
asked.

Wayne would take her
baby away.

“If at any time you
wished to end your marriage, the child would stay with him, and
you’d have supervised visits once a month for an hour. Also, if you
divorced, you would remain attending to his wishes for the near
future.” Richard bit his lip, and Lily wiped the tears from her
eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“The polite term would
be remaining as his companion,” he said.

“I’d be forced to be
his whore!”

“I think that is a
horrid term.”

“Is there any way out
of this contract?”

Richard shook his head.
“I did warn you to get another lawyer to read it.”

“And suffer the
humiliation of what you’ve told me. Can a prenuptial agreement even
contain stuff like this?” Her cheeks shined red from the shame.

“It’s worded
appropriately, and I believe Wayne never intended for it to get
that far but as for it being possible, anything that can be written
and verified can be placed in an agreement. I mean I think I read
somewhere it was even illegal to eat a mince pie on Christmas day,
somewhere.” Lily knew he tried to make light of the situation, but
it didn’t help.

“Please leave me alone.
Thank you.” She rolled over staring at the bland cream wall,
wondering how many people had lain in the very same bed,
broken-hearted and alone.

The tears fell, and she
held her stomach.

“Wayne does love
you.”

The words failed to
help. She didn’t need anyone. She’d lived most of her life alone
and she could continue to live for the sake of her child.

Chapter
Nineteen

Wayne watched Richard
enter his wife’s room and thought about what she could want from
the good man to discuss. He followed Tony to the waiting room. A
nurse stood guarding a man.

“Mr. Brown, this
gentleman refuses to leave.”

He nodded for her to
leave him, and he gave his full attention to George Jones, Lily’s
father.

The man looked pale and
older since the last time he’d seen him, but after having Lily in
his life, he didn’t see the need getting in touch with the man
who’d hurt her and risked thousands of people’s jobs from his
carelessness.

“What are you doing
here, George?” He had no time to deal with spiteful families.

“I’ve just heard about
Lily. Is she all right?” The older man pulled off his cap to reveal
a full head of grey hair.

“As good as can be
expected in her current condition.”

Wayne was guarded. Her
father, for the first time in all of her life, was taking notice of
Lily.

“Thank God. I couldn’t
believe they wouldn’t give me any information,” he said
exasperated, pointing at the reception desk.

“I’m her next of kin. I
get to know everything.”

“Can I see her?”

“You’re responsible for
making her life a fucking misery, and you expect me to let you see
my wife who’s been through enough already?” Wayne knew they were
attracting attention but he no longer cared.

Fear and panic at the
possibility of losing the woman he loved surfaced, and now, her
snivelling shit of a father decided he wanted to be concerned,
which just didn’t cut it with him any longer. He was fucking sick
of the falseness of dealing with it all.

“I love my
daughter.”

“Fuck you. You didn’t
love her. You practically threw her at me when the debt collectors
started calling. Your family hate my fucking wife, and she’s the
nicest person to ever be born to shit like you. Now tell me why I
shouldn’t have you thrown on the street.” Wayne knew how to deal.
He may have been born around money, but he sure as shit made sure
he could handle himself.

“Maybe we could go
somewhere more privately to talk?”

“Come on, Wayne, you’re
really pushing it now,” Tony said, taking his arm.

Wayne pulled out of his
grip, squaring up to the older man.

“Tell me whatever I
need to hear and then leave.”

George stood
floundering for a few minutes, finally nodding. Some years ago,
twenty-two years to be precise, I had an affair with a sweet woman
who came and worked as a cleaner for me in my London office at the
time. You want all this. You can have it. A pretty woman only out
of her teens. She smiled at me and cleaned my desk, and one evening
I took it upon myself to ask her out. I couldn’t stop thinking
about her—”

“Maybe we should take
this somewhere private,” Wayne interrupted. He spun round and moved
to a private waiting area. “Continue.”

“I’ve not thought about
her in so long. I just shut it all out. Anyway, one thing led to
another, and I slept with her, and we started a relationship. I
know this sounds bad, but she thought I was just a manager of one
of the departments. She didn’t know I owned the place. It was a
great business then, and I ruined it.”

“Just get to it,
George.”

“She found out about my
real name and my marriage, and everything blew up in my face. I
loved her, not for her youth, or anything, I loved her. She was my
heart and soul. I decided to screw the protocol of our standing and
marry her. She was also pregnant with my child. I told Jessica I
was leaving her, and everything was in place. Anyway, at some
point, there were complications with her pregnancy, and I ended up
taking her back home to where Jessica and Stephanie lived. I needed
extra stuff to help care for her.”

Wayne watched as George
relived his moment of grief and unveiled the largest secret of the
Jones’s family.

“She gave birth in
January. It was complicated, and we couldn’t get her to the
hospital. Snow and everything that comes with that shit. Lily was
born, and her true mother bled out with no way of stopping. I can’t
remember what the doctors said. I was in shock. My Lily was
gone.”

Wayne frowned. “Your
Lily?”

“Her name, the love of
my life was called Lily. It was the only thing I fought Jessica on
with her upbringing. She had to have the name Lily.”

“Why did she live a
shit life?”

“Because, Mr. Brown, I
ceased to care about anything but the woman I lost. I stayed
married to Jessica, and she cared for Lily but now I look back I
see I was a horrid person. When Jessica told me to punish her, I
did and I took my loss out on her. She didn’t deserve the life I
gave, but I was too blind.” George allowed twenty-two years of
contained tears to spill over.

“What happened for this
change of heart?”

“I stood by the fire,
burning some pictures from my wallet, and I picked one Jessica
hadn’t found of my Lily. I saw her adoring face so much like young
Lily, and I woke up for the first time. My wife came in and handed
me a sandwich and sneered my whore’s daughter was in hospital, and
I finally snapped.”

Wayne listened,
understanding what he must have gone through. He only had to think
of losing Lily, and it brought him to his knees.

“Let’s just say I’m
done. I don’t want to be the monster of a man anymore. I loved Lily
with all my heart, and instead of cutting it up and dealing, I
should have loved the one thing that had been present of our love
for each other—our child.”

Wayne had two choices.
Number one, send the man off and never allow him near his wife, or
let Lily have something she truly needed.

“I want to warn you I
love Lily with all my heart and soul. You do anything to fucking
hurt her, and I’ll fucking kill you.”

George nodded and
followed him to the spare room. Richard stood outside pacing and
glanced at him as he walked closer.

Wayne let him go in and
watched the scene unfold. Lily reached out for her father, and
George went to her with open arms. He heard them talking and knew
he’d made the right decision.

“She knows about the
pre-nup, doesn’t she?” Wayne asked a nervous Richard at his
side.

“How do you know?”

“I know Lily, and I’ve
fucked up. I want you to get every single copy of that...contract
and bring it to me.”

“All of it?”

“Everything.”

Richard left him. Tony
went to get more coffee, and Wayne got everything ready so he could
take his wife home. Looking at the date on his watch, he noticed it
was a week until Christmas. He wanted to make her first year with
him special, but with all the ramifications rolling around, he
truly believed everything he tried to do would be a lost cause.

Wayne watched the love
of his life and prayed to the gods above to give him something to
take away the Beast and bring her the man she deserved.

Chapter
Twenty

They scattered around
each other on tender hooks. Lily worked at home, refusing to bring
anyone else in to do the washing and the cooking. The two jobs she
got pleasure from: cooking food and making her clothes clean. It
was almost therapeutic.

Wayne stayed at home in
either his office or following her around somewhere. He wouldn’t
leave her side no matter what she asked of him.

Her father came around
as much as he could. He was working for Wayne, trying to build his
life back up after the disaster of losing so much of his life
already. George has given her a few diaries and keepsakes he kept
hidden from her evil stepmother. The name still made her giggle.
Knowing Jessica wasn’t any relative of hers made her sleep easier
at night and having Stephanie as a half-sister was easier to
handle.

For a short while, she
truly thought she’d end up like the spiteful duo who got pleasure
out of tormenting her.

The question she’d had
for so long was answered: why everyone hated her. She was living
proof of her father’s love and the infidelity with another woman.
Lily took another item of clothing out and saw the lipstick mark on
the neck of one of Wayne’s shirts. After so long of being empty,
the mark jolted something inside her. Closing her eyes, she tried
to calm her nerves. It had been a few weeks since she’d done the
washing. Disgusting, but after everything she hadn’t got round to
cleaning.

Screwing up the shirt,
she put it on top of the machine and tried to blank out everything,
to process her thoughts.

It doesn’t mean
anything.

Wayne is cheating on
you!

It doesn’t matter. I
don’t love him. I never have.

Oh really, so you call
mourning his loss in bed at night and craving his attention and
wishing just once he’d turn around and tell you how he felt, hating
him?

This was ridiculous.
Grabbing the shirt, she charged down to his office. The door was
shut, as usual before lunch.

Turn back around and
pretend it doesn’t mean anything.

Nonsense, go in and
confront him. Be a woman and take matters in your own hands.

Two voices were arguing
amongst themselves. The child and the adult.

A child would skulk off
and let it be. A woman would fight for her love.

Did she love him?

Do I have to do
everything for you? Why do you think it hurts so damn much? You’re
breaking inside, pregnant with his child and all you want is to be
loved. Go in there and get him, tiger.

Nodding, she put her
hand on the doorknob and froze.

More pain, is that
what you want?
Voice number two whispered along her brain.

Lily prayed. Other
women had these moments, otherwise, she was putting herself in a
sealed room with lots of fucking padding.

Lily jumped back as she
opened the door. She screamed and tripped over, landing on her
back.

“Lily!” Wayne took her
in his arms and escorted her into his study, placing her gently
down on the sofa she’d put in for his comfort. “I don’t want you
hurting yourself. Why didn’t you just come in?”

“Hurting myself or the
baby?” she growled.

Wayne jerked as if
she’d burnt him with her words.

“Never mind, forget I
ever said anything.” Lily moved out from under him. Having him so
close and not thinking about touching him was too difficult to
process.

“Lily, wait.”

“You know I don’t want
to do this.” She flapped her hands above her head and moved
away.

“Lily?”

“Actually, you know
what I think. I’m sick, Wayne. I’m sick of you and everything you
stand for.” Lily had no idea what she was saying, but she kept on.
“You blackmail me with family that isn’t even mine to become your
wife. I don’t even know you all that well! I have no honeymoon
besides the cottage trip, which was lovely, but then you blurt out
about the baby and that heavy contract and now all this
and...and....” Lily took the shirt, stormed over to him, slapped
him on the cheek, and pressed the lipstick mark right up in his
face.

“What’s this? Another
one of your floozies?”

“Lily, you’re not
making sense.”

“Don’t give me one of
your excuses. The shirt has lipstick on it. I don’t wear make-up,
shithead.”

“You just called me
shithead?”

“Yeah, and I’ll call
you worse before the end of the day. I won’t have you....” Whatever
she was about to say stopped as his lips took possession of her
mouth, melting the coldness and shooting a spark to her heat.

Lily moaned and dropped
the shirt to the floor. Her breasts ached, and her cunt was
swimming for more of this man and his hard cock.

She stopped. Shit,
she’d given in too soon. Pulling out of his arms, she shot him a
fierce look, wiping her mouth.

Wayne picked his shit
from the floor and looked at the lipstick. “It’s your
sister’s.”

Lily saw red. How many
other women would brush off a statement like that?

She charged at him,
lashing out, and punching his chest. Her hormones were out of
whack.

“Listen to me,” Wayne
ordered. He grabbed her hands and thrust her up against the nearest
wall. “Your sister came to my office and tried to seduce me. Do you
think for the world I would fuck a bag of bones when I have you
here and wanting me?”