“It’s not what it seems,” I say, pointing at the photos.
“You’re caught red-handed, but yet you continue to lie!” he shouts.
“You need to listen to me,” I say pleadingly. “We ran into each other on the street, and he asked me to join him for lunch. That’s all.”
He moves past me and plucks a photo from the bed. He holds up the one with Adrian caressing my face. “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
“In this case, it doesn’t tell the whole truth.”
“Is the baby mine?”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“How can you ask me that?”
He strikes, quick as a snake, and circles his large hand around my throat in a painful hold. He effortlessly takes the coffee pot from my grasp and places it on the floor. “Once a whore, always a fucking whore,” he sneers, slamming me onto the bed.
I cough, struggling to pull oxygen into my burning lungs.
“A paternity test will be taken immediately after birth. I swear I’ll fucking kill you if I’m not the father.”
“This is your baby!” I croak.
He grabs my wrists, using the rope to bind them tightly to the bedpost.
“You can’t spank me.” The coarse material digs into my flesh. “You could harm the baby.”
“Physical pain is too good for you.” He kisses my forehead. “You deserve mental anguish.”
“You’ll regret this later.”
“I fell for you hard. Fuck, eight damn years later and I’m still falling.”
A scantily dressed woman walks into the room. “Are you ready for me?” she asks seductively.
“Perfect timing.”
“Who is she?” I ask, alarmed.
“Come.” Art beckons her. “Get on the bed.”
“Your wish is my command, Daddy.”
“Get on your hands and knees, facing her.”
“I’ll hate you forever if you do this,” I threaten.
He takes a condom from the nightstand and tears it open with his teeth before sheathing himself.
“Watch her while I fuck you,” he instructs the woman, moving behind her.
“No!” I wail as tears flood my eyes.
He begins fucking her and the anguish he spoke of fills my soul, breaking me. I squeeze my eyes shut, but it doesn’t lessen the agony. Every grunt and moan is equivalent to a gunshot to the chest.
“Open your damn eyes!”
