“Okay, this time I’m leaving.” His gaze is so intense, I can’t look away. He opens the bathroom door before either of us cracks and we carry on where we left off.
“Make sure you lock up,” he says once he steps out into the hallway.
“I will. Let me know when you get home.”
He nods and waves me back inside before walking away.
Those three little words sit heavy on my tongue, trying to break free. I’m desperate to say them out loud, but I won’t for fear of rejection. When we are together, I have no doubts at all—he completes me in a way I never could have imagined, but knowing he also has the power to destroy me is too much.
I pull out my duvet and collapse on the sofa, willing my tears away. What am I going to do? I need to tell him how I feel, then if he wants to end this, I can at least be ready for the fallout.
Chapter Fifty-Four
OLLY
Rachel has been jittery and short with me for the past few days. As much as I’m trying to be understanding, it’s hard when she’s taking shit out on me. Molly is with her dad, and yet, she’s more wound up than ever.
“What’s going on?” I blurt out.
She sinks onto the sofa, unable to meet my eye. “It’s Marcus.”
Always fucking Marcus. Why doesn’t he fuck off to Dubai already? “What about him?” I don’t want to know, but at the same time, what choice do I have? Being with her means accepting that he’s part of their lives.
“He wants me and Molly to go to Dubai with him.”
I already know this.
But she’s not finished—there’s more. “He keeps asking me to marry him.”
My heart thunders in my ears. “What the fuck?” She flinches from the boom of my voice. “Shit, sorry.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t be. Those were my sentiments exactly.”
“Why now? What does he think he’ll achieve?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know, but he keeps threatening to fight for custody of Molly.”
“You have got to bekidding me.”
“No, and the thing is, with his money and his connections…I’m worried he’ll win.”
I shake my head. “No fucking way.”
“Olly, I can’t put Molly through a custody battle.”
I’m listening to what she’s saying, but I also hear what she’s not. “It’s because we’re together, isn’t it?”
Her eyes fill with tears, and she nods.
I stand and pace the room, trying to sort this all out in my head. “So, what? You marry him, move to Dubai, and play happy family?”
She’s in front of me, shaking her head. “What, no!”
“You said you couldn’t put Molly through a custody battle. And this is the same guy, I might add, who left drugs in your fucking bathroom.”
Her body is tense, her eyes wide. “Don’t you think I don’t know that, Olly? But he feels threatened, you don’t understand.”
I clench my fists. “And what exactly don’t I understand? Please fucking enlighten me.”
