Taking Control (The Control Duet Book 2)

by Lindsey Powell

  Michael arches one eyebrow at me, waiting for me to come clean.

  With a sigh, I say what he wants to hear. “Okay, I thought that I could just say hello.” My voice is small and quiet, just how he likes it.

  He can sense the fear building within me at being caught out.

  I push the fear back down.

  He doesn’t get to do that.

  He doesn’t get to take satisfaction in the fact that he scares me.

  I’d been doing so well, so why am I starting to back track on all of the ties that I had secretly severed?

  Michael’s evil smile breaks out on his face, and his eyes flash with the look of the devil that lives inside him. I should know, I’ve seen it enough. It hasn’t been out to play for a while though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael is looking for an excuse to unleash hell on me. But then, he’s never needed an excuse, so I doubt it.

  “Well, if it’s just hello you want to say, then you can say it in front of me,” he says as he marches us over to Kim’s desk, his hand on my nape, holding it tightly. To anyone else, it simply looks like he is holding me affectionately. He’s a fucking good actor. “Just remember that I can get to your friends if I need to, Lucy. I can make them suffer too,” he whispers, and chills sweep down my spine.

  He’s fully aware of my suffering, and he’s prepared to unleash that on the people I love the most.

  I won’t let him.

  They mean too much to me.

  But his words leave me feeling colder than ever.

  Kim watches us as we approach, and I fight to keep my face from showing her everything that I am feeling.

  When we get to the edge of her desk, she leans back and folds her arms across her chest.

  “Kim,” Michael says with a nod of his head. She ignores him.

  “Hi, Kim,” I say quietly, feeling ridiculously awkward around the woman that is my best friend. Or should I say was my best friend?

  Kim looks me up and down before speaking.

  “Well, look what the cat dragged in,” she says, directing her comment at me. I laugh nervously, praying that she doesn’t say anything to set Michael off.

  “Uh… Yeah… Sorry I haven’t been in touch,” I mumble, wishing that I hadn’t bothered to come over here.

  I’ve never felt so fucking weak.

  “Oh, I never expected you to get hold of me,” she replies standoffishly. “I mean, let’s face it, Lucy, you have neglected our friendship for so long that I barely know who you are anymore.” Her words hurt me, striking like a hot iron.

  “Please don’t be like this, Kim,” I plead. Again, with the fucking pleading. It’s all I do. Plead for it all to end, plead for my life, plead, plead, plead. I’m sick to death of pleading.

  “Well, then how should I be?” she questions.

  “I don’t think this is the time or the place for this,” Michael interrupts.

  “I couldn’t care less what you think,” Kim hisses at him and I inwardly scream at her, begging her not to continue talking, but my silent requests are ignored. “You are the reason for Lucy not speaking to me.”

  “You better watch your mouth,” Michael says and my heartbeat races as he gives my friend the death stare, the same stare that makes my fucking lungs feel like they are closing up and leaves me struggling to breathe.

  “What are you going to do? Hit me?” Kim retorts and Michael steps in front of me, pushing me behind him.

  I desperately try to get Kim’s attention and try to convey to her that she needs to shut up, be quiet, keep it zipped, so that I don’t suffer for her words when I get home.

  She’s about to open her mouth, when she looks at me, watches me, gauges my reaction.

  Eyes wide with fear.

  Head subtly moving from side to side.

  Tears being held back by biting my tongue so hard that I draw blood.

  She sees all of that, and she clamps her mouth shut, her eyes returning to Michael and her shoulders slumping.

  “Let’s just go, Michael,” I whisper as I wrap my hand around his arm, trying to show him my need for him to get me away from here. I give his arm a gentle squeeze and he looks at me. Seconds pass before he visibly relaxes and puts his arm around my shoulders, dragging me to him once again.

  He turns us in the direction of the office doors, but Kim didn’t get the message as clearly as I thought as she says, “You two run along now. Don’t worry about the people who were left worried about you, Lucy. You just go and play whatever game it is that you started.”

  Game?

  A fucking game?

  I fight the urge to turn back and really show her how this is not a fucking game. Hell, I wouldn’t even wish my life on my worst enemy.

  I bite my bottom lip as Michael moves us to the doors.

  I want to tell her the truth. I want to let her in and make her see that this is the only way that I will ever be free. I want to scream and shout and tell everyone what an abusive asshole Michael is, but it’s not the time.

  Not yet.

  I just have to wait.

  Wait to get my happy ending.

  Wait to see if my friends will forgive me and wait to tell them that I don’t love Michael.

  Kim obviously believes that I do. She couldn’t be farther from the truth.

  “And just so you know,” Kim says, her voice a little higher now that we are a few feet away from her. “It’s no good crawling back to me when you realise your mistake, Lucy. I’m done, and so is Cal.”

  Chapter Five

  Tomorrow

  I run a bath. Lock the door.

  I don’t need Michael bothering me right now.

  I feel cold, a chill running down my spine.

  The warm water starts to make the bathroom steamy as I undress.

  I take a look at myself in the fogged-up mirror. I look pale, as I usually look nowadays, almost ghostly. Dark bags circle my eyes. My skin looks sallow, like its lacking nutrients. My eyes haven’t sparkled in a long time. Dull, grey pools that look dead, lifeless, miserable.

  Kim was right. I am beyond recognition of the woman that I used to be.

  I stop running the water and climb into the tub, the warmth almost stinging my skin. I need to wash away the pathetic doormat that I have become.

  I need to find myself again.

  I need to get my friends back, not to mention my life.

  I need to show Michael that I am no longer going to be a pushover.

  I need to start taking control.

  I need to embrace that I am a fighter, that I can do this and make him pay for all that he has done to me.

  It’s always easy to put it off for another day, convince myself that I need more time to think of a plan.

  I don’t need more time.

  What I need is to exert some fucking self-importance.

  I don’t want to be weak.

  I don’t want to live in fear.

  I don’t want to lose everyone that I love.

  Tomorrow will just be another day to some, but for me, it’s the beginning of the end.

  Tomorrow, I will embrace the woman that I used to be.

  Take control.

  Put me first.

  Tomorrow, I will be better.

  Tomorrow, I will be stronger.

  Tomorrow, I start.

  Chapter Six

  Something Different

  I am up and ready for work early. I have make-up on and Michael has said nothing. In fact, he hasn’t spoken to me since we left the office yesterday. A welcome relief for me.

  I am wearing a smart suit, and I feel good. Well, maybe not good, but better than yesterday, more determined, more in control.

  Yesterday made me realise that I need to act fast. I can’t wait for Michael to give me alone time because that will never happen.

  I’m also starting to see that maybe I’m not the weak one here.

  I’m not the coward.

  In fact, I’m probably the stronger one.

&nbs
p; I would have to be to put up with Michael’s reign of terror.

  I just have to figure out how to use my new-found strength to my advantage.

  Walking to work in silence, I listen to the birds singing, signalling another day.

  I reflect on Michael’s reaction to Kim. I expected him to be angry with me, I expected him to lash out, call me a fucking parasite, and make me cower. He did none of those things. Instead, he seemed pleased, joyous, smug.

  I guess Kim acting the way that she did has reaffirmed some belief inside of him that no one is there for me anymore. He thinks that he has achieved what he set out to, isolating me from my loved ones.

  Well, he’s in for a shock because I will get Cal and Kim back, even if it is the last thing that I do.

  Entering our main office, I look for Kim, but she isn’t sat at her desk. Michael leads me to the small project room and Tyler joins us a few minutes later.

  “Lucy, good to see you,” Tyler says as he comes over and gives me a hug. I’m a little taken aback by his familiarity but I also welcome the warmth. Michael’s eyes are blazing, but I ignore him, intent to show him that things are going to change.

  “Shall we get on then,” Michael grunts out, abruptly causing Tyler to let go of me and hastily sit down in one of the seats placed around the table. I notice that he chooses one of the seats away from me as Michael continues to glare.

  I roll my eyes, unable to help myself and Michael clenches his jaw. It’s funny how I’ve been a woman living in fear for months, and today, I couldn’t care less.

  He broke something inside of me, and I’m ready to put it back together.

  “Right, guys, you two have a lot to catch up on,” Tyler says as he produces some papers from his work bag, putting them on the table.

  Two coffees and a couple of hours later, Michael and I have been brought up to speed and we all decide to break for an early lunch. My brain has been overloaded with information, so I am grateful for the unanimous decision.

  “Shall we nip back home and get some food there?” Michael says, phrasing it as a question that I’m not expected to answer. I don’t have time to do anything as he grabs the top of my arm and marches me out of the office and out of the building. His long strides mean that I have to almost jog to keep up with him, otherwise he would be dragging me along behind him, and his grip is so firm that I know he isn’t about to let go.

  It only takes five minutes to reach the apartment. I’m sure that he is looking forward to spending the next fifty minutes of our lunch break teaching me about how Tyler’s hug this morning was totally unacceptable.

  We climb the stairs of the apartment block, and when we reach our front door, Michael unlocks it, thrusting it open with a kick of his foot before he pushes me in front of him. I keep myself upright and walk as casually as I can into the kitchen, but my whole body is tense, on alert.

  The front door slams shut.

  I stay rooted to the spot in the kitchen, keeping my watchful eyes on Michael as he walks down the hallway. Before I can process anything, Michael grabs me and slams me against the kitchen wall, causing me to yelp out loud as pain bursts all across my back. He presses the front of his body into the front of mine, pinning me, using his hands to hold mine by my sides.

  “Do you enjoy embarrassing me?” he says, inches from my face, making me feel flustered. Adrenaline pulses through me, but the fear is taking over, stopping me from trying to show him that I am done with this bullshit. “Have a thing for Tyler, do you?”

  “Of course I don’t,” I reply, my voice sounding stronger than I feel.

  Michael shakes his head from side to side. “I thought that you had learnt from your past mistakes, Lucy.” His tone is cold, and I know that I am going to have to try and persuade his fucked-up brain that he is being unreasonable.

  “I have, Michael. I’m sorry if I have upset you, but please, I don’t want to argue, not after the last two weeks with you have been like they used to be.” I prise one of my hands free, lifting it and placing it on his cheek, gently running my thumb along his slight stubble.

  “We’re getting back to how we used to be, Michael, so please, let’s not ruin all of our hard work.” I sound pathetic, and nothing like the strong woman that I vowed to be this morning.

  But then, maybe that’s the point?

  Flip the switch.

  Play a different game.

  Something different.

  “I want that too,” Michael says as his eyes soften, and his grip on my other hand loosens. He moves his hand up my side, along my collarbone and places his fingers around my neck. My pulse quickens, but I stop my eyes from going wide. He enjoys my fear, I won’t let him feed off it anymore.

  His fingers grip my throat, not tight enough to really hurt me, but tight enough to let me know that he isn’t fucking around. “You have to understand that I still worry that you’re going to leave me. I’m never going to let that happen, Lucy. You’re mine, and if I can’t have you then no one will.”

  His words chill me to the bone and I stop myself from gulping down the lump that has formed in my throat. Instead, I cup his cheek, move my other hand to the one around my throat and gently pull it away. He complies, and I pray to God that this is enough to keep him from losing his cool.

  I move my head forward slightly until I place a light kiss on his lips. “I don’t want anyone else. Only you.”

  His eyes light up from my words, and if I ever needed a moment to clarify to me that Michael is a fucking lunatic, then this was it. Despite the beatings and the cruel words, his enjoyment at trapping me is insane. It makes no sense to me. Why would anyone want to trap another person?

  He runs his tongue along the bottom of my lip and I control my body, stopping it from shuddering like it wants to.

  “I’m so glad that you’re finally learning, Lucy,” he says as he nuzzles my neck and wraps his arms around my waist, holding me close to him.

  Michael will kill me if he can’t have me, and I’m not prepared to live this life anymore.

  One of us won’t recover from this, and I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that I’m no longer a victim.

  Michael wouldn’t know true love if it smacked him in the face.

  No, the only type of love he knows is the one in hell, and I’m tired of feeling the heat.

  Chapter Seven

  Learning to dodge

  The week has passed by in a miserable blur. Work has been the only thing that has kept my mind occupied from thoughts of everyone that I love hating me. Kim has shot daggers my way whenever she has seen me, Michael has looked more joyful than ever as the week has gone on, and I have had no way of contacting Cal.

  My resolve to embrace my inner-strength is waning, rapidly.

  I have been racking my brains for a way to see Cal, so that I can explain what I am doing, but so far, I am drawing a blank. I desperately want to talk to him even if it is selfish of me. His parting words, “I fucking love you, Lucy,” have been at the forefront of my mind. He came back from travelling the world to be swept up in my shit-show of a love life, and now he thinks that I have cast him aside.

  I don’t want him to think that.

  I need to put this right.

  As the clock ticks closer to five o’clock, I know that I don’t have long left to try and speak to Kim. It’s my only chance, and I’ve been building up to it all week long.

  “I just need to nip to the toilet,” I say, standing up from my seat before Michael can say anything, and before I lose my nerve. I swiftly leave the project room, my heart pounding as I walk straight past the toilets and enter the main office. Rushing over to Kim’s desk, I start to speak before she can tell me to fuck off.

  “Kim, I know that things haven’t been great between us recently, and I am so sorry for that,” I start, getting my words out quickly. I don’t have long in which to say what I need to. “I can’t explain to you what is going on, I just need you to trust that I am doing the right thin
g. I miss you, Kim, and I hate the thought of you wanting nothing to do with me.”

  I look at the clock, realising that a couple of minutes have passed since I left the project room. I need to go back before Michael comes looking for me.

  “Please, Kim, please just trust me,” I plead, quickly taking two letters out of the waistband of my trousers and placing them on her desk. I folded each letter small enough so that Michael wouldn’t see them.

  “Just read the letter with your name on, I beg you. The other letter is for Cal, please, could you give it to him for me?” I desperately hope that she will pass that letter on.

  “I have to go,” I say before turning and scurrying from the room. I run to the toilets and lock myself in one of the cubicles, trying to calm my racing heart and trembling body.

  A few minutes pass and I let myself out of the cubicle, going to the sinks, running cold water and splashing it on my face. I grab a couple of paper towels and pat my face dry before tossing them in the bin.

  With a deep breath, I leave the toilets and come face to face with Michael, just as I knew that I would.

  He’s becoming predictable.

  Either that or I am becoming more in tune with his way of thinking. I don’t want to be in tune with the bastard at all, but this is all I can do right now.

  “What’s taken you so long?” he asks as he peers into the ladies’ toilets before the door shuts.

  “I felt faint and took longer than expected,” I reply, my voice quiet and shaky.

  Michael places his palm on my forehead and makes a “hmmm” sound.

  “You do feel a bit hot, and you’re clammy. I think that we should leave a few minutes early and get you home,” he says, putting his arm around my shoulders and holding me close. I stifle a sigh of relief at having pulled off the lie.

  “That sounds good.” I smile, and he navigates us back to the project room to collect our stuff.

  I feel so damn pleased with myself that I have managed to get one over on him, and this is only the beginning.