Chapter 9
"Charmed couple, the dashingly handsome multi-billionaire pub owner Oscar O'Sullivan and historical romance writer, Kiara Landan are expecting! This reporter has it on good authority that the couple who were very much in love are having twins! Two for the price of one. The couple met when Landan dropped into one of O'Sullivan's pubs to have a drink and the rest as they say is history. One cannot help but wonder what's next for these two? Wedding bells, perhaps? Stay tuned for more in the lives of our favorite couple."
The unearthly screams rent the air, reverberating around the soundproof room.
"No. No. No. No."
Each denial was punctuated with stabbing motions aimed at the paper. Ed felt as if his head was exploding.
"Bitch! Whore! Cunt!"
He slashed at the photo of the couple as they exited the metropolitan theater, holding hands.
"I thought you were special."
He was frothing at the mouth, saliva dribbling down his chin. His hair was in tufts and spikes where he had chopped at the strands with the dull scissors. His hands were red and bruised. He was going to kill her. Both of them. He was going to find them and destroy them.
Yes. He laughed gleefully, the madness gleaming in his eyes.
He would kill her in front of him, make him suffer. Sliding to the floor and ignoring the insistent ringing of the phone, he allowed the tears to slide down his cheeks.
It was his fault. That whoring bastard. He had forced her to lie with him and now she was pregnant. He was going to pay.
Picking up the shreds of paper, he smoothed out the tattered pieces, trembling fingers moving over the beloved face of the woman he had come to adore. She was lost to him now. She was no longer pure and had to be punished. He had loved her so, he thought, the sickness curdling his stomach.
Would have done anything for her. But she had chosen to be with a heathen, a man who used and discarded women at will. He would have cherished her. But she had chosen him for his looks and his money. She would pay and pay dearly.
Swiping a hand over his wet cheeks, he forced himself to be steady. He had to think and plan.
He had been gentle with her, too forgiving. When she had left her home to go and shack up with the bastard, he had been understanding, thinking the passion would run its course.
But now it had gotten more complicated. She was carrying his babies. Two! Pain arrowed straight into his heart, making him weak. Leaning back against the bed, he rocked himself, eyes wild with grief.
The phone rang again and he snatched it up.
"What!" he screamed.
"How dare you speak to your mother..."
"I hate you! You pathetic piece of garbage. Leave me alone."
Hanging up, he burst out crying, the sobs echoing around the room. When he was spent, he laid on the floor and started praying for forgiveness and guidance.
It was in the early hours of the morning that clarity struck. First he was going to have to get rid of the millstone hanging around his neck. He would get rid of his mother first and then set about punishing Kiara and that bastard she was hooked up with.
But before that, she needed to be taught a lesson and to know that it was a sin to toy with someone's emotion.
Placing a hand over her bump, Kiara gazed off into the dense surrounding of trees, an enraptured expression on her face. It was times like these she wished she could paint. The sky was a blush rose, streaked with white and a faint hint of blue.
It was sunrise and she was happy she had decided to come out for her early morning walk.
Oscar would not be pleased that she was taking the trek by herself, but he wasn't here, was he? He was all the way in Ireland to visit his sick grandmother and would have hauled her along with him, if the doctor had not advised against it.
Shaking her head, she continued to walk, her feet sliding into the dew of the grass. She had seen the torment on his face and howtorn he was. Gran Irene meant the world to him and there was no way he would not have gone to see her.
So, she had reluctantly compromised, hadn't she? By agreeing to have Eric stay at the house until he gets back. The man had not been two minutes on the plane before he started calling to check on her.
She felt confident and peaceful. The stalker had not reached out for a few weeks, leaving her to believe that he had gone on to someone else. Hopefully.
