“You were right, Connor,” Paul said as he walked into my office and threw the file on my desk.
I sat there and shook my head as I read the contents inside. “Fuck!” I yelled as I slammed it down.
“I can’t believe it either. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said as I paced back and forth.
Since I had taken my father’s place as CEO of Black Enterprises, I had never needed to ask for his advice, until now. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed him.
“Dad, I need you to come down to the office. I need to talk to you about a situation that’s going on.”
“All right, Connor, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
As I hung up the phone, I walked out to where Valerie sat. “My father will be here shortly. Cancel my meeting for this afternoon and do me a favor and order us some sandwiches from the deli down the street. Nobody, and I mean nobody is to disturb us, not even Phil, do you understand me?”
“What about Mrs. Black?”
“Well, of course her, but she usually just calls my cell phone.”
“Very good, Connor. I’ll get on those sandwiches now.” She smiled.
I walked back into my office and sat down at my desk. “I want you in on this meeting with my father, Paul.”
“I figured as much. Do you want me to call anyone else?”
“No, this is to stay between the three of us.”
About an hour later, my father came strolling into my office and Valerie entered with the sandwiches. We took a seat at the table and my father looked at me.
“What’s going on, Connor?”
“Take a look at this,” I said as I slid the file across the table. “Remember the conversation we had a couple of weeks ago?”
My father opened the file, looked at it, and then looked at me with an expression of shock. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I wish I was,” I replied.
“I’m at a loss for words, son. I don’t know what to think about this.”
As I got up from my seat, I walked over to the bar and poured a scotch.
“Connor, I can see the rage in your eyes and the first thing you need to do is to calm down. You won’t do anybody any good if you start acting crazy and out of control. Think of the situation and repercussions if you go off the deep end.”
He was right. I needed to calm myself and think this through very carefully. I sat back down and the three of us discussed the matter further, trying to formulate a plan of action. Once I was satisfied with what we came up with, my father and Paul left the office, and I made a couple of phone calls. One of the phone calls I made was to Denny to see if he was up for a visit; I hadn’t seen him since the first day he was released from the hospital.
***
“You’re looking better every day,” I said to him as I handed him a bottle of his favorite bourbon.
“Thanks, Connor.” He smiled. “How are Ellery and Julia?”
“They’re good. I need to talk to you about a situation and something that’s going on over at Black Enterprises.” I sighed as I sat down in the chair across from him.
Denny had always been like a father to me. He’d done things for me in my younge
r days that my father would’ve killed me for if he knew. He’d always had my back and was there when I needed him; a strong-willed man and a person who would give you the shirt off his back if you asked him for it. Nobody in this world, except Ellery, knew how important Denny was to me and that was because he’d become a father figure to her as well. We talked for over an hour, and as I explained the situation to him, he was shocked, just like Paul, my father, and I were.
“You know what you have to do, Connor. You better be careful and
, if I was strong enough, I would help you.”
“You aren’t doing a thing. I can take care of this. I need you to get better because driving in that New York City traffic is killing me.”
“Why don’t you hire another driver until I can come back?” he asked.
“I don’t want another driver, Denny.” I smiled. “I need to get home to my wife and daughter. Enjoy the bourbon, and I’ll see you soon,” I said as I walked out the door.
The drive home was terrible. As I stepped off the elevator and into the penthouse, I heard Ellery’s sweet voice singing to Julia. When I walked into the living room, I stood in the archway and watched as Ellery danced around the room with Julia. As I leaned up against the wall, Ellery saw me and smiled.
“Look, Julia, your daddy’s home,” she said as she turned so Julia could see me.
Julia screeched so loud that it was enough to pierce anyone’s eardrums. Ellery danced over to me and I took Julia from her.
“You are awfully loud, little girl.” I smiled as I held her up in the air. She continued to screech as drool came from her mouth and onto my face.
Ellery laughed as she handed me a cloth diaper. “You know she drools a lot when she’s teething.”
I didn’t want to ruin the moment, but I had to ask her. “Did you get any more texts today?”
Ellery nodded her head as she walked over to the table and grabbed her phone. I took the phone from her hand and handed Julia back to her. I stood, outraged, as I read the messages.
“Dearest Ellery, I want you on your knees, in front of me, sucking me off until I explode inside your mouth.”
“You have no idea what a sexual creature you are to me, Ellery. You don’t know what it’s like to crave something you can’t have.”
“I want to tie you up and whip you until you bleed. Then I’ll make your wounds better with my tongue as you come from the pleasure you’re going to feel.”
My skin grew hot and my pulse started racing, but I stayed calm, for Ellery’s sake. She looked at me with tears in her eyes as I handed her the phone back. I took Julia from her arms and set her amongst her toys on the floor. When I turned around, I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly.
“You’re a rock. You have more strength over this than I do, and I’m so proud of you, baby.”
“You and Julia keep me strong,” she whispered.
As I broke our embrace, I told Ellery that I needed to talk to her as we sat down on the couch.
“I need to take a business trip, and I need to leave tomorrow. It’s something urgent that came up with the Chicago office and I need to be there to straighten it out.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“As much as I want you to, you’ll be safer here. I’ll be tied up in meetings and I won’t be able to keep an eye on you. I won’t be gone long, only a couple of days.”
“But I’ll miss you,” she said.
“I’ll miss you too, baby. It’s only one night.” I hated leaving her, but I had no choice.
As I packed Julia’s diaper bag, Connor walked into the nursery, holding her.
“I can’t believe you and my baby aren’t going to be here tonight.” I pouted.
“Just think of the fun you and Peyton will have. You can watch scary movies, make popcorn, and do whatever it is you women do,” Connor said.
“I guess,” I sighed as I handed him the diaper bag.
Mason was downstairs and eagerly waiting for Connor to hand over Julia. “Come here, princess. We’re going to have so much fun! Ellery, don’t worry about her. You and Peyton have a fabulous time tonight,” he said as he took the diaper bag, kissed me on the cheek, and stepped into the elevator with Julia.
I kissed her goodbye and, as soon as they left, I said my goodbyes to Connor. “Have a safe trip, darling.”
“I will. You behave yourself while I’m gone and don’t forget that Justin will be outside the door.”
“I’ll try.” I winked.
When the elevator came back up, Connor stepped into it and pushed the button. Just before the doors were about to close, he stopped them.
“I forgot to tell you that Phil is stopping by tonight to drop off some papers.”
“Okay. I’ll set them in your office.”
As Connor let go of the doors and they started to close, he stuck his hand in between them to stop them from closing, stepped out, and hugged me.
“I don’t want to go, Ellery.”
“Honey, it’s only for one night. You said yourself not to worry. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I just hate being away from you,” he said as he kissed my head.
“I hate being away from you too, but you have to go. Now come on. Put your big boy pants on and go; you’re making things harder,” I said as I broke our embrace and patted him on the chest.
“No, Elle, you’re the one making things harder.” He winked as he looked down at the bulge in his pants.
“Get out of here, Black.” I laughed as he stepped onto the elevator.
A couple of hours had passed, and I took a nap. It had been forever since I took a nap without having to worry if Julia was going to wake up. I took the stairs down to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator for a bottle of water. After checking my phone to see if I had any messages, I walked into the living room, turned on the fireplace, and sat down on the couch with a magazine. Being alone and not knowing what to do wasn’t sitting right with me, so I grabbed my keys and headed to my studio. When I stepped out the door, I told Justin that I was going down to my art studio. He nodded his head and followed me.
I set a blank canvas on the easel, took out my paints and brush, and started painting how I saw my alternate world. Each brush stroke helped me escape the dark reality of what was happening in my life. I looked at the clock and I’d been painting for two hours. It suddenly hit me
that Phil was coming over to drop off some papers. I put my brush down and stepped outside the apartment. Justin wasn’t at the door, and I didn’t have time to look for him. I took the elevator up to the penthouse and as I unlocked the door, Phil walked up and startled me.
“I’m sorry, Ellery. Did I startle you?” he asked.
“Just a bit.” I laughed. “Come on in. I’m just going to go to the kitchen and wash up. I was painting.”
“Oh, that’s fine. Please take your time.”
I walked into the kitchen and, as I was washing my hands, Phil walked in. “So, do you have the place to yourself tonight?” he asked.
“Yeah. Connor’s on that business trip and Julia is spending the night at Mason’s. My friend Peyton is coming over and we’re having a girl’s night,” I said as I dried off my hands.
“Sounds like you’ll have a great night. When is Peyton coming over?”
A strange look overtook my face, as I couldn’t imagine why he’d ask or even care. “She’ll be here soon. Do you have those papers for Connor?” I asked.
“Oh, I left—umm—they’re in the living room,” he said nervously.
“Okay. Well, thank you for dropping them off, Phil. Peyton’s going to be here shortly, so I better get ready,” I said uneasily.
Something didn’t sit right with me. Phil was acting weird. I’d always thought he was strange, but Connor always defended him and said he’d had a bad childhood.
“No problem, Ellery. It’s always a pleasure to see you,” he said. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
I stopped, turned around, and looked at him as he slowly walked towards me. “No, of course not. Why would you make me uncomfortable? We’ve known each other for a long time.”
“Yes, we have, and it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve grown quite fond of you,” he said as he took a strand of my hair between his fingers.
Something wasn’t right, and now wasn’t the time to freak out. I needed to remain calm and think clearly. My heart started racing, and I started to sweat. “Peyton is on her way. You really need to go.”
“I don’t want to go, Ellery. I was hoping that with Connor out of town, we could get to know each other better.”
“I think I know you well enough, and it’s time you left,” I said nervously as I began to walk past him.
He grabbed my arm. His grip was tight as his fingers dug into my arm. “Did you enjoy my text messages and the roses? I wanted to send you more, but I couldn’t run the risk of Connor finding out it was me who wanted his wife.”
“You—you were the one who sent me all those text messages?” I asked in disbelief and shock.
“Yes, Ellery.”
“But, why?”
A sick feeling arose in my stomach
, and I needed to sit down because I felt like I was going to pass out. “I need to sit down,” I said.
“Of course. I’m sure this is overwhelming for you. You asked me why. The answer is simple; you’re beautiful, sensitive, loving, and giving. Do you know how hard it is to find someone like you in this fucked up world we live in? Do you know how I’ve searched for that special woman my whole life? To think of all the whores I’ve fucked, trying to find out if there was anything special about them. Then, all of a sudden, there you were. The more I watched your interaction with Connor, the deeper I fell for you.”
I began to shake as he walked over and sat down next to me. “Look at you, you’re trembling,” he said as he tried to pull me into him.
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed as I flew off the couch.
“I need to touch you. I want to touch you. I want to know what it feels like to be inside you. I want to feel your come all over my cock and I want to hear you scream when I fuck you.”
“You’re crazy!” I said as I tried to run to the door.
He followed me and grabbed me from behind, covering my mouth with his hand. “Now be a good girl and do as I say. Connor will never have to know about this, because if you say a word to him or the police, you’ll never see that precious baby girl of yours again.”
My eyes widened when he said that
, and I struggled to get out from his grip. “That’s right, Ellery. I know she means the world to you, and your love for her is stronger than any other love on this Earth. Do you promise not to scream?”
I nodded my head as I tried to formulate a plan. He slowly removed his hand from my mouth and ran it down my cheek. Suddenly, I went ballistic.
“You mother fucker! There’s one thing you don’t do and that’s threaten a mother with her child!” I screamed as I rammed my knee into his crotch. He doubled over in pain, and I ran to the door. As I tried to open it, he slammed it shut.
“Please, Ellery, don’t make this difficult.”
“You’re crazy.” I started to cry as I slowly backed away from him.
“Not crazy; just in love. You know that it’s a proven fact that love can make a person crazy. Look at what it did to Ashlyn. Now, she’s one crazy bitch. But I didn’t blame her after everything Connor did to her. The way he led her on, took her out, and then fucked her brains out every chance he got. No wonder the girl was messed up.”
I could barely swallow. It felt like my throat was closing up. I needed to get to my phone that was in the kitchen. As I turned around and tried to run, Phil grabbed me from behind and threw me on the floor.
“Please stop struggling and enjoy what I’m about to do to you. I promise you’ll love it and t
hen all this struggle would’ve been for nothing.”
I lay there, kicking and trying to hit him before he held my wrists above my head with his hand
, and he fumbled with the button on my jeans. The tears were falling from my eyes as I looked around the room. While I was struggling, thoughts of Connor and Julia flooded my mind. Suddenly, the door flew open and Connor pulled Phil off of me and punched him as hard as he could. Phil went down and Connor got on top of him. He grabbed Phil’s shirt and continuously punched him in the face, again and again as he screamed.
“You son of a bitch! How dare you touch my wife?” he said with each punch.
Detective James ran in and pulled Connor off of him. Justin followed behind and handcuffed Phil.
“You’re nothing but a piece of shit, and I’m going to make sure you rot in jail
for the rest of your life for what you’ve done!” Connor yelled.
He turned and looked at me and was instantly by my side, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tightly. “Are you okay, baby? I’m so sorry we weren’t here earlier. Did he hurt you?” he asked as he looked me over.
I stood there, shaking, unable to wrap my head around what had happened as I stared at Connor in a daze. The only words I could muster up were, “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Chicago?”
He looked at me and pulled me into him, holding my head against his chest as Justin escorted Phil out of the penthouse. Detective James walked over to me and asked if I was okay. I nodded my head as I looked at him.
“You can relax now, Mrs. Black. He won’t be bothering you anymore.”
Connor led me over to the couch and continued to hold me. “Baby, I’m so sorry he did this to you,” he kept saying as he kissed my head. “Why didn’t you tell Justin you left your art studio?”
“I was going to, but he wasn’t there,” I said, still shaking.
I lifted my head from his chest and looked at him as I began to calm down. “How did you know I was in my studio?” I asked.
Connor stared at me and started to speak with apprehension. “There never was a business trip.”
“What?” I said in confusion. “I need a drink.”
Connor got up from the couch and walked over to the bar. He took out a glass and poured some whiskey in it. He couldn’t hand it to me fast enough as I grabbed the glass from his hands and threw it back, letting the soothing burn take over my body.
“I found out Phil was the one responsible for sending you the messages. That night he came over to have me sign those papers, he was acting strangely
, and I could tell by the way he was looking at you and watching you, something wasn’t right. The next morning, I had Paul do some investigating, and he found the phone Phil used to send you the messages. Apparently, he bought it and had it activated in Chicago so it couldn’t be traced here to New York. I called Detective James and showed him the evidence. He said it wasn’t enough to put him away for a long time, and if he physically tried to harm you, he’d go away for many, many years. So, we came up with this plan to get him here alone with you, knowing he’d try something. But it wasn’t supposed to get as far as it did, Ellery, and I’m so sorry.”
As I sat there and listened to how Connor and Detective James set this up, tears started pouring from my eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me or warn me?” I asked.
“Baby, please, don’t cry,” he said as he sat down and grabbed my hand.
I pulled away and got up from the couch. “Don’t touch me.”
“I couldn’t tell you because if you knew, you would have acted differently, and we couldn’t run the risk of him catching on. It was bad enough he was suspicious of the emergency Chicago trip and that he wasn’t going.”
“So you were just going to let him rape me?” I screamed.
Connor got up and started to walk towards me. “NO! I wasn’t. How the hell could you say that?”
“Because he damn well got close enough! What the fuck, Connor? You didn’t think I deserved to know what the hell you and your boys were planning. This is my life, my f
ucking life, and you should’ve included me,” I screamed as I broke down and fell to my knees.
“Ellery, please try to understand,” he said as he kneeled down in front of me.
“Understand what?!” I screamed. “I need time away from you so I can think.”
“Don’t say that, Ellery. Please, don’t say that,” he begged as a tear fell from his eye.
I got up from the floor and wiped my eyes. “You keep things from me, even though you promise you won’t. I need time away from you because if I don’t get it, I
will
hurt you.”
“Baby, please!” he yelled as I tore up the stairs.
I slammed the bedroom door shut and locked it. I took a suitcase from the closet and started throwing some clothes in it. When I was packed, I called a cab and took my suitcase downstairs. Connor was sitting on the couch with his face buried in his hands. When he heard me, he looked up.