Poisoned Ivy
Page 15
I snatch my hand from his as if it were on fire. I swallow hard and stare.
He is Mason.
Is this how monsters begin? It’s like all the superhero movies. Some characters get their powers and immediately do good, I guess because good is inside of them. While others turn to the dark side and want to hurt people, conquer or rule the world. Obviously, the darkness was always inside of them. And here I sit, next to the man I thought I loved, and I’m seeing him for the first time. Thomas is shrouded in darkness. But I still love him—it’s not that easy to turn love off.
I wipe my face with the back of my hands. They shake as I bring them up to my face. When I look into his eyes they are alight and expectant. He is so sure of his plan. The background noises return and I glance around at the patrons of this beautiful establishment. I’d bet all the money Mason paid me that none of the other women here have boyfriends that believe they are whores. I could simply stand up and walk away. I’m sure Daddy could be here in less than twenty minutes, and the second I tell him what Thomas wants his precious youngest daughter to do he would promptly kick his ass. I stare at the rolling sea, I give attention to the wait staff bustling around, anything but the monster at my table. After eons pass, I finally turn my attention to Thomas, and try to appeal to his senses.
“What you’re asking me to do is illegal.”
He scoots closer to me, taking his hand and running it up and down my thigh. A motion twenty minutes ago I would have counted as romantic, but now, is making my skin crawl.
“We’ll be discrete, only top tier clientele, and we don’t have to do this forever, just until I get on my feet,” he says.
I look down at the table. The tears come back. I couldn't stop them if I wanted to. My heart physically hurts from beating so hard and fast. My stomach is in knots. Come to think of it my head hurts too, the pain slamming against my skull. This is what I couldn’t wait to come back to? Is this how everyone sees me? My family? My friends? After everything I went through, this is what I’ve been reduced to?
“Why are you so upset, eh?” he has the nerve to ask.
It takes everything I have not to shout, create a scene. “Are you serious? You thought I’d love this idea? Did you think I enjoyed my time being passed around from man to man? I was kidnapped, Thomas. I didn’t join some sex club.” I throw my hands to my face and take deep breaths before continuing. “You thought I’d come home and jump at the chance to screw the entire island?” I pause, trying to catch my breath. “I’m seeing a therapist because of what happened to me. I’m in a trauma survivors group, Thomas. I have nightmares, almost every night.”
I stare at him with pleading eyes. I need him to see me differently, to love me the way I imagined he would. I beg him to be the man I came home for.
“Can you do this for me? For us?” he asks, ignoring everything I just said.
My attention switches focus from his eyes, and drifts across the table to the little blue box. I can’t believe how excited I was moments ago. The box held with it the promise of love and happily ever after. Now I realize it is only the start of a dark and twisted fairytale, where nothing but heartache happens in the end. Why did I think I deserved more?
A heavy sigh escapes me. I am mentally exhausted. If the man who is supposed to love me sees me this way, maybe this is all that I am, all that I have left. A chambermaid forever. I look up at Thomas, into his hopeful eyes. “I’ll do it.”
Thomas’ face registers surprise. “Really?” He beams. “You’ve made me the happiest man alive. I can’t wait to marry you.” He kisses me on the lips. It isn’t sweet or gentle. He slides me a room key, wasting no time.
Wow, I don’t even get dinner.
“He’s waiting for you upstairs. Baby, thank you. This is the start of something big.”
I’m sick to my stomach. I stand on shaky legs, reach for my champagne glass and down it, pour another and down it. I take the room key in my hand and start to walk away.
Thomas grabs my hand. “Baby, I love you.”
I don’t respond. The champagne is hitting me and I need it right now. I walk away. When I’m almost out of the restaurant, I glance back at Thomas to watch as he orders from the menu. My stomach heaves a couple of times, and it’s all that I can do to make it to the ladies’ room to deposit what little I have in my stomach. I stand in front of the mirror, rinse my mouth out and stare at my reflection. My hazel eyes look like Christmas, sharing the space with the red that has clouded them from crying.
I can’t believe I held hope for coming home to him. How could I have been so stupid to think he was worth coming home to? He doesn’t love me. He never did. If I give him this we will never be together, I know that. And even if we made it through this nightmare, will I even want him? I don’t know if I want him now.
But what if he’s the best that I deserve? What if no one else wants me but him? I’m all used up, what do I expect? How do you tell someone that you spent a year locked away, being passed around by thirty-five different men? No regular, normal guy is going to want me after all the hell I went through.
“Maybe crazy deserves crazy,” I say to my reflection. At least I wouldn’t be alone. I splash water on my face taking care not to wet my hair. I grab the room key from the counter and head up to the sixth floor.
Continue reading Eclipsed Sunshine
Also by D.W. Marshall
Read More of The Seven Chambers Series
Stolen Flame
Weeping Violet
Shattered Sapphire
Poisoned Ivy
Eclipsed Sunshine
The Men of the Chamber series
Dominic
Door-To-Door Sales Series
Keep up with D.W. Marshall
Acknowledgments
It is an amazing experience to create a fictional world. There are days when I have felt overwhelmed on this journey, and a couple of times when I wanted to quit. The reason I can’t quit is because writing is a part of me, it is in my soul. The pen has saved my life on many occasions growing up, giving me a safe place to express my fears, my dreams, and even pain. What I’m thankful for is the support of so many people on my journey.
Of course, my husband, mom, my nieces and nephews, my friends, my son’s, and my readers are all crucial in keeping me happy and focused. My Las Vegas chapter of RWA for sharing the highs and lows of this indie writing world. Specifically, I would like to thank Heidi, thank you for designing another beautiful cover. Danylle Salinas and Danielle Acee, for making sure my I’s are dotted and my T’s are crossed. Dang, I would not make it through the maze that is indie publishing without you, thank you for putting your time and faith in me.
About the Author
D.W. Marshall is a graduate of Tuskegee University. She is a native of California, but grew up in Las Vegas. If you opened her purse you'd find too many pens for one person, lip balm, and the dreaded receipts that never seem to go away.
D.W. loves to read dark and sweet romance, fantasy, YA, thrillers, and lives in Las Vegas with her husband, two sons, niece, and her one-eyed Bichon, named Sadie.
https://linktr.ee/dwmarshall