Instead, he pulled her out of their luxurious walk-in shower, still dripping and furiously thrashing in his grip. "Listen. To. Me." It was the terrifying emotionless delivery that made Lauren pause, still and alert like a cornered rabbit. One hand slowly reached out for a towel but Thomas briskly pulled her away and into the middle of the chilly room. "I expect you to take tonight as a lesson to the continued good health of that lovesick idiot."
Lauren stared at him, open-mouthed. It took her a minute to realize he meant Miles. "H- how does- well, you treating me like- like your whore have anything to do with the charity award?"
With a snarl, Thomas yanked her closer, her wet breasts brushing his chest. "Do not pretend to be stupid, little girl. Iownyou- and you will not disrespect me or my position by throwing yourself at infatuated boys, no matter how pretty they might be."
Lauren knew that her mouth kept gaping open, but she couldn't seem to close it. "Pretty? Wait, what are you-"
"Do you think it reflects well on you - on us - to haveSaintMiles fawning over you in front of The Corporation's entire workforce? What kind of wife are you?"
The girl was furious, she was shaking with cold, and dripping naked in the middle of their bathroom. But the rage was clearing enough for her to understand that she was the only rational one in the room at the moment. Her normally cool, collected husband was gritting his jaw so tightly she was amazed he hadn't cracked a molar. His eyes were burning with a cold fire and she doubted he knew how hard his grip was on her upper arms. "I would never do anything that showed disrespect to you or your position at The Corporation," Lauren said evenly, precisely. "I have always been very well aware of the consequences of such a thing. It has never even occurred to me. I don't know why you think I've been flirting with Miles. That would beinsane- I know Chuck reports everything back to you, and I'm sure you've reviewed the footage from the charity meetings." She laughed bitterly, "Believe me, I'm very aware that there's not a moment of my day that isn't reported back to you. So you know how I behave. You had no reason to humiliate me like that tonight, that disgusting Kingston leering at me-" her voice broke for a minute, and Lauren paused, furious at herself for not controlling her tears. "Treating me like a whore. Maybe that's who you're used to hanging out with," she said defiantly and unwisely, "but I'm not! I'm your-"
"You're whatever I tell you to be!" Thomas roared back, pushing her against the wall and to her shock, cupping her center with his other hand. "This is mine!" His face pushed close to hers watching her look away. "And you are mine! And you will do nothing that indicates in any way that you are not my dutiful wife." He couldn't understand why this stupid, ridiculous child was still defying him! Why Lauren wasn't crying and begging his forgiveness? Maybe a sound spanking from her Sir for this disobedient behavior was what she needed.
Thomas was halfway into hauling his naked bride across his lap when he stilled. She was trying to talk to him, make him listen. "T- t- Thomas, stop! Please stop! You're out of control and you're not thinking you know I didn't do anything wrong and if you hit me I can never forgive youwecan'tcomebackfromthatplease!" Setting Lauren back on her feet and backing off abruptly, he watched blankly as she grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself and clutching it there with her arms tightly wound around her, like how she'd held her wedding dress to her body on their pitiful wedding night.
Ah.
It all came back in a searingly cold rush of clarity, his terrified, weeping wife and putting her to bed, feeling mildly nauseated that the new Mrs. Thomas Williams thought her husband was animal enough to rape her. And now tonight, backing away from him and angrily pushing tears off her face with the heel of her hand, lavender eyes gone gray and bleak as she watched him carefully, waiting for him to... What? Rape her? Hurt her? Running his hand distractedly through his hair, Thomas took in a deep breath, letting it out carefully. What the fuck had just happened to him? "Lauren, just go. Go to bed. I have work to finish downstairs." She nodded briefly but didn't move, staring at him until Thomas turned sharply on his heel and left the room.
Hearing the door to his study shut faintly, Lauren's breath left her in a rush, along with the strength in her legs, sliding abruptly down the wall and sitting on the floor, still clutching her towel. It was good, she nodded firmly, lips pressed together so that no sobs escaped, it was good to see the beautiful, composed mask peel off and show her the face of the monster she married. It was good to remember that.
To her deep relief, Lauren woke alone the next morning, the bed next to her cold and undisturbed. She'd laid awake most of the night, stiff and unmoving on her side of the bed, balanced just on the edge of the mattress to be as far away from her husband's side of the bed as possible without actually falling off. The house was silent as she hastily showered and dressed, not wanting to be caught bare or defenseless again. But the only person there when she finally, reluctantly descended the stairs to the main floor was her bodyguard, perched calmly on his uncomfortable chair in front of the stairs where he could see the entire house.
"Hey, Chuck." Lauren managed. "What's up?"
Putting his phone away and regarding her calmly, the older man replied, "Good morning Miss Lauren. Mr. Williams has tasked me with informing you that he will be away on business for some time."
Folding her arms awkwardly, the girl huffed out sort of a chuckle, shocked that she felt equal parts relieved and heartsick.
It was, in fact, over two weeks before the Second in Command of Jaguar Holdings was set to return home again. Lauren did all the things she would normally do. Run in the mornings. Practice. There was plenty of time to practice, no distractions to interrupt her. Her sore undercarriage healed, no more little gasps when she sat down too quickly. Sometimes, she would get Chuck to sit with her at the cafe and drink his black coffee. Thomas only called once, about ten days after he'd disappeared "on business."
"How are you, darling?"
Lauren's hand tightened on her cellphone. He sounded just the same, her husband. Calm, composed, almost indifferent. "I'm fine. Where are- um, how are you?"
"Quite well, thank you," Thomas was politely distracted, she could hear the shuffle of papers and a few murmured instructions before he returned to their conversation. "Negotiations are taking longer than expected, I will be here another week or so."
Waiting a moment for him to mention where he was, Lauren's mouth tightened when she realized he wasn't going to tell her. "Oh. Okay."
There was silence, she could hear the faint crackle of their connection, his breath. "Your... performances," Thomas said finally, "the next series begins in a month or so, correct?"
Lauren thought of what she wanted to say to her husband, her beautiful, terrifying, unsettling, and addictive lover. "I miss you? I miss you in bed with me? Were you really going to hit me that night? Are you sleeping with The Corporation prostitutes?" Instead, she said, "Yeah, Rachmaninov. It's really beautiful work."
More silence, then Thomas let out an exhausted grunt. "Excellent. Chuck is looking after you?"
"As always." She just managed to keep the bitterness out of her tone.
"Very good." Another shuffling of papers. "Then I'll see you soon."
"Thomas? I..." it slipped out before Lauren could stop it.
"Yes?" his voice, his lovely, sonorous voice was flat, almost professional.
"Um... have a safe trip back." Lauren hung up the phone before Thomas could hear her cry.
Chapter 26 – How I Feel Safe
In which Thomas knocks some sense into his own, thick skull. Lauren meets the Grey Man. Arabella meets her reckoning. Chuck drinks coffee.
