SWNOVELS Class Act: Chapter 25
I frowned at the breakfast laid out on the island and the woman smiling at me. The wonderful aroma had lured me into the kitchen, but now that I was there, I hesitated. I didn’t trust her smile.
“Good morning, darling,” she said. “How’d you sleep last night?”
Fretfully.
Although Emery had assured me he would get in touch, he hadn’t called or texted me. Did he have second thoughts about our precarious situation and decide he didn’t want to be with me after all? Or worse, what if he’d been in another altercation with his father?
He hadn’t answered my “good-morning” text either, which was strange. If he didn’t show up at my office this morning, as was our routine…
“Abe, I asked how you slept last night.” Teresa scowled.
“Okay.”
“Why don’t you come back to our bed? It can’t be comfortable for a man your size to sleep on the sofa.”
“The sofa’s fine.”
She sighed and gestured at the island. “Well, I made breakfast. Are you going to sit and eat or leave and let my efforts go to waste just to avoid me?”
It seemed silly to leave, since she’d gone through all the trouble. With a sigh, I pulled out a chair and sat.
“I made you a croissant breakfast sandwich. I remember how much you loved when I made them for you.”
“And then you became too busy.”
“I know, but I’m trying to make it up to you now.”
“It’s a little too late, Ter.” I placed a hand on hers to stop her from filling a plate for me. “Sit and eat. You have work too. I can help myself.”
“I don’t understand you.” She tugged her hand away and poured herself a cup of coffee. “You complain if I ignore you and still complain when I don’t. What do you want from me?”
“You know.” I stood and got myself a cup of coffee as well. Today I definitely needed it. “I have a meeting with my lawyer on Thursday.”
“You’re still going through with that?”
“It is going to happen.”
I returned to my seat and sipped my coffee. I didn’t feel hungry anymore.
“You can eat your breakfast,” she said. “Unless you think I’d rather poison you than let you go.”
I scowled. “Now, why’d you have to say something like that?”
“Don’t be so dramatic. I was joking.”
“That’s not something to joke about.”
Mandy came into the kitchen, her eyes darting from me to Teresa, and smiled a little too widely for my peace of mind. I’d noticed her matchmaking efforts, but they’d been so subtle I had let it go. From the look on her face, she had something else up her sleeve. Whatever it was, must have something to do with the book she had clutched to her chest.
“Happy anniversary!”
Shit. Was that today?
My head had been filled so much with Emery and getting out of this marriage that for the first time ever, I’d forgotten the date. Teresa was smirking. Was this what the lavish breakfast was all about?
“I think your father forgot our anniversary, sweetie.” She pouted. “And after I went through all this trouble to make him a wonderful breakfast. Luckily, I got us reservations for dinner later. I even booked a trip for all three of us this weekend.”
I glared at Teresa. What the hell was she doing? Lynn’s words came back to me. About Mandy taking sides. Was this what Teresa was trying to do? To make me out to be the bad guy?
“That sounds romantic,” Mandy said. “But you should go, just the two of you. I wouldn’t want to get in the way. I’ll have Emery stay over with me, so I’m not alone.”
“Is that your way of saying you want some alone time with your boyfriend too?” Teresa asked.
My whole body went stiff. She knew Emery was gay.
Mandy laughed. “Emery’s not my boyfriend. He’s gay. Why would you think that?”
“Are you sure, honey?” Teresa asked. “You two are extremely close, and you’d make a beautiful couple. He could be bi.”
What the hell was she playing at now? How could she thrust Emery at her wealthy associates one week and Mandy the next? It was almost as if she wanted to get Emery hooked up with someone. Anyone. It didn’t matter who. Did she suspect the two of us were involved?
“Doesn’t matter, Mom. He’s G-A-Y.” Mandy smiled and placed the book she held on the table. “I made this for you yesterday. It’s from me and Emery, since he helped me pick out some of the photos from the family albums. Too bad he had to leave before I finished it.”
“What photos?” I snatched up the scrapbook and opened it. She’d used glitter and markers to decorate the inside cover with a Happy Anniversary greeting. Below in her handwriting were words that sank in my stomach like lead.
To my amazing parents. I know this year has been especially rough, but I admire how much you love each other to work through the tough times. I hope one day I’ll find someone to love me the way you love each other. Happy anniversary from your favorite daughter.
“You always said gifts from the heart are the best, Dad, so I hope you like it.”
I flipped the pages and stared at the photos of Teresa and me. Teresa came over to stand next to me.
“Emery helped to pick out the photos?” I asked.
“Yeah. Right before he had to go home.”
So that was it. That was what had driven him away. He’d looked so hurt and defeated when he left. I should have insisted more that he tell me what happened.
“This is beautiful, honey,” Teresa said, then wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “Didn’t she do a good job earmarking the key moments of our twenty-three years together, Abe?”
“Stop it.” I slammed the book shut and got to my feet, shrugging Teresa’s hands off me.
Mandy gasped, her eyes open wide. “Dad?”
“I’m sorry, Mandy, for not telling you earlier, but—”
“Don’t do this, Abe,” Teresa cried. “Don’t ruin our family.”
Mandy took a step back. “What’s going on?”
“We need to talk,” I tried again. “Please sit.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Teresa hurried over to Mandy and cupped the girl’s face. “Your father’s having an affair, and now he wants to divorce us and be with her instead.”
“No, I don’t believe that.” Mandy pulled her mother’s hands away from her face. “Dad, tell me that’s not true.”
“This has nothing to do with who I’m seeing.” I ignored Teresa and focused on Mandy. “You said it yourself that the past year has been difficult. Only it hasn’t just been the past year. It’s been years of our marriage deteriorating, and I can’t do this anymore—pretending to be happy with your mother. I’ll always love and support her, but it can’t be like it was before. We’ll all be much happier in the end.”
“How can we be happier?” Teresa snapped. “You’re ruining our lives.”
“Teresa, enough!” In our time together, I’d raised my voice to her so few times, but I was tired of her manipulating the situation. “Stop capitalizing on the situation to make me out to be the bad guy.”
“But you are! You’re the one breaking up our family.”
“Our family won’t be broken up. It will be different. That’s all. Our divorce has nothing to do with my relationship with Mandy, and if you’d stop making everything difficult, we can still be friends.”
“I don’t want to be friends. I’m your wife!”
Closing my eyes, I gritted my teeth and inhaled deeply.
“Dad, you’re not really serious about this. Are you?” Mandy whispered.
I opened my eyes, and the confusion and hurt on her face pierced my heart. I reached for her, but she stepped back. “Honey, what your mother and I have left isn’t how love is supposed to feel.”
“Is it true, then? You’re cheating on her with someone else?”
“It’s complicated.”
“There really is someone else?”
I nodded.
“Who is it? Do I know her? Is she a teacher from school?”
“All valid questions, but I can’t answer them right now. For one, I don’t want the details to make our divorce messy, but as soon as it’s safe for me to do so, I’ll let you know.”
And hopefully, she wouldn’t hate me or Emery.
“I can’t believe you.” Mandy stormed out of the kitchen, stomped up the stairs, and slammed a door.
“Are you satisfied now?” I asked Teresa. “You got what you wanted—our daughter involved and hating me.”
“You saw how she’s hurting. If you really love her, you’ll stop this nonsense.”
“I’ll move my things out and into the spare bedroom until I’ve got another place to live.”
“Abe!”
I spun on my heels and climbed the stairs to the bedroom to get ready for work. While putting my clothes on, I checked my watch. A twinge of guilt stabbed me. After everything that had happened in the kitchen, all I could still think about was whether Emery would show up at my office at the usual time.
I snatched my keys, shoved my wallet into my pocket, and strode from the bedroom. Now that Mandy knew the truth, there was no reason for me to keep traipsing in and out of Teresa’s room anymore. If only I’d told her sooner. Now that everything was out in the open, relief flowed through me.
When I backed out of the garage, Mandy’s car was still in the driveway. It gave me a moment’s pause. She was alone with Teresa, and I had no doubt her mother would try to gaslight her, but what could I do about it? Hopefully, when she calmed down, she would remember who had been there for her all the times Teresa put her associates’ needs above ours. Her career was all her mother had ever cared about.
As I walked through the school, I checked my phone. Still no message from Emery. What was going on with him?
I unlocked my office door and entered, holding my breath. Sweet relief flooded my system. He was stacking the files I’d left on my desk on Friday in the file cabinet.
“Abe! You still keep leaving—oh!”
I set my laptop bag down on the floor, spun the lock on the door, and hugged him from behind, practically lifting him off his feet. Emery made a choked sound and recoiled.
“Emery, what’s wrong?” I kissed the back of his neck over and over.
“Nothing. My body is just a bit cramped this morning.”
I tried to turn him around, but he stiffened up. Something was definitely wrong. “You didn’t answer my messages or my phone calls. Emery, turn around.”
“Just let me get these filed away for you. And my cell phone broke yesterday.”
“I’ll get you a new one. I don’t like not hearing from you.” This time I forced him to face me and shoved the drawer of the file cabinet shut. I took the files from him and dropped them on top of the cabinet. “What the hell, Emery.”
“Abe, it’s not as bad as it seems.” He held up a bandaged palm.
“Son of a bitch.” I cupped his bruised cheek gently and brushed it with my lips. “He hit you again.”
“I survived.”
Not good enough.
A hand in his hair, I guided his head to my chest. “I’m going to beat the shit out of him, Emery.”
A shudder ran through him, and despite the bravado he’d shown me, he sniffled. “I don’t want to get your shirt wet.”
“I don’t care about that.” I stroked my fingers through his hair. Emery cringed again. I carefully touched him again and felt a bump at the back of his head. Heat flushed through my body. That bastard. “This has gone on long enough.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“I’m going to confront him about it.”
Emery tightened his fingers in my shirt. “Please don’t. It’s already bad enough what I did to him.”
“What do you mean? Come. Tell me everything that happened.”
I walked to my office chair, sat, and pulled Emery down on my lap. Grimacing, he wrapped both arms around my neck and settled his head under my chin.
“If only we could stay like this,” he said with a sigh. “You’re the only person in this world who makes me feel so safe.”
His words broke my heart. He deserved so much more—to be loved and cherished. “Tell me what happened.”
“I had several thousands saved up in my account from the camboy shows. I’ve been frugal. Yesterday, when I discovered Dad had withdrawn all the money from my account, I confronted him at home. You can guess the rest.”
“Why didn’t you come back?”
He shook his head.
Mandy.
“I’m so sorry, Emery. I had no idea what Mandy had planned.”
“But I could’ve made up some excuse to be alone with you and kiss you till you have no doubts about us.”
I stroked his back, and he tensed. No doubt he had bruises there as well. “Emery, let me see.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
He eased up away from my chest, and I caught the hem of his shirt and pulled it up his arms and over his head. His back bore the worst of the bruises. I skimmed my hand gently over the purplish skin, rage building inside me.
This ends today.
No one had the right to hurt anyone this way, even less so the person I loved.
I placed gentle kisses along his back. “He’s going to regret this.”
“No, Abe.” He pushed his arms in his shirt and tugged it over his head. “You have to listen to me. It’s sweet you want to protect me, but you confronting him will do neither of us any good. It’s just been him and me since my mom left us when I was little. I barely remember her, but I sure as hell remember all the beatings he gave me. It wasn’t so bad until he found out that I was gay, but he’s vindictive and will out us. He’s been this way for as long as I can remember. I can lose my money, friends, even my place here at this school, but I refuse to lose you, Abe.”
“You can’t possibly expect me to ignore this any longer, Emery. I can’t. I won’t. Don’t ask me to.”
He placed his forehead against mine. “You can’t afford to. We can’t afford for anyone to find out about us right now.”
“So I sit here and do nothing about it? Do you think I’ll be able to sleep at night when I’m worried sick about what new bruises you’ll wear next when I see you?”
“He won’t hit me again.”
“That’s what you’ve said before.”
“And this time, I promise that it’s so. He won’t ever touch me again, Abe.”
“And what if he does?”
“Then you can beat the shit out of him.”
I kissed him lightly. “You promise? You can’t take it back.”
“I promise, but we’ll have to face the consequences together of people finding out.”
“Don’t worry. He won’t dare say anything when I’m through with him.”
“I bashed him over the head with a plate, and now he’s avoiding me.”
“You did?”
He nodded and grimaced, then threw his arms around me again and hugged me tight. “Oh, Abe, I thought I’d killed him. When I saw him lying there on the floor, I wanted him to be dead.”
“Shit.” He shouldn’t have to go through this.
“He was behaving like a monster. He ruined my things. Smashed my laptop and my cam equipment. Threw all my toys in the garbage and even cut up my skirts, blouses, and dresses.”
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you at that man’s house, Emery. Will you grab some stuff and stay with us? I’ll find a way to get the son of a bitch to return your money.”
“I can’t.” He shook his head. “I would love to, Abe, but if I do, we’re going to sneak around, and then we’ll get caught. And Mandy, she’s going to be hurt if she finds out that way.”
“She knows about the divorce. I told her this morning.”
Emery sat back. “You did?”
“Yes.”
He swallowed hard. “How did it go?”
“Honestly? It could’ve gone a lot better if Teresa hadn’t told her I was leaving because I was having an affair.”
“That was a bitchy thing for her to do.”
“Yeah, I’m trying to be understanding. Trying to put myself in her shoes and being gentle with her because I know she’s hurt.”
“Abe.” He placed a hand on my cheek. “You know she’s manipulating you to stay with her, right?”
“I know.” I kissed the palm of his hand. “But it won’t work. I’ve already moved on.”
The smile on his face melted my heart. “With me?”
“Yes, with you. What should we do about your father stealing your money?”
He shrugged. “What can I do? His name’s legally on my bank account.”
“Let me confront the bastard.”
“No. Everything between us is too much right now.”
“And you won’t take your things and stay with us? You know Teresa and Mandy won’t mind.”
“Until they catch you sneaking into my bedroom at night? I’d rather not have your wife or daughter walk in on us while we’re in the middle of having sex. Because I honestly don’t know if I could stop. You fuck me so good, Abe.”
My cock twitched, and I groaned but didn’t give in to his smug grin. “Naughty boy. Do you want your ass to be sore when you’re in class?”
“Yes. Please, please, please.”
“Not here.” I put my finger on his lips before the full pout could form. “I swear when we have our own place, I’ll put you over my lap and spank you until you can’t take it anymore.”
“We’ll get our own place?”
“I’ve been giving it some thought. Christmas is close, so I’ll stay at the house to spend the last one with Mandy before I move out. Of course, we’ll have to keep quiet about it when we move in together. What do you think?”
“I think you’re a thoughtful man to consider how tough the holidays might be for Mandy without you and to stay with her until then. I’ll try not to be impatient.”
“Maybe we should do it sooner, since your dad’s such a fucking tool.”
“I want you to. I dream about it a lot, just the two of us in a new apartment. But I know Christmas is Mandy’s favorite holiday, and I don’t want to ruin that for her this year, so yeah, I’m okay with this.”
I caught his eyes with mine and held his stare. “I still think I need to have a word with your father about abusing you, but I don’t want to make it harder for you. Men like him rarely change. Emery, promise me if he hits you again, you’ll come to me. I don’t want to see your face like this ever again. You hear me, baby? If he touches you again, I’m going to smack his head off.”