Marta made supper, and I sent her away. I wanted the house left to just Drew and I.
I excitedly went to the door when I heard it open, but it wasn’t Drew. It was Derik. He stopped as dead in his tracks as I did.
“You don’t live here. Do you think maybe you could knock on the door?” I protested. I didn’t want him there. Drew would be there any minute, and I wanted him to leave.
He smirked, and walked toward me as my heart picked up about twenty extra beats. He didn’t speak, and I knew it was because he knew that Drew could hear anything that he said. Instead, he walked around me. I jerked and shoved his hand when he brushed his thumb over my nipple. I knew my nightmare hadn’t been a nightmare at all, and he had hurt me.
I’m not sure if my accident had given me a new sense of heroism or what, but I shoved him as hard as I could. He did stumble back a couple of steps, but I was no match for his muscular physique. He hit me so hard I flew clear across the room. I think that I may have even blacked out for a second because when I opened my eyes he was on top of me, and then he wasn’t.
Drew threw him off of me and had him on the floor.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he screamed at him.
Derik came to his feet. “What the fuck are you doing?” he retaliated. “She’s trailer park trash. You’re going to let her ruin everything.”
“Shut the fuck up, Derik,” he demanded.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Drew? She’s nothing, she’s a piece of meat, and you know it. Put the little bitch back in her place and open your fucking eyes before you blow everything.”
“Get the fuck out of here, Derik,” Drew demanded, forcefully moving him toward the door by his jacket.
I wasn’t excited to see Drew anymore. What did Derik mean? Drew hurt me too. I knew it. I’ve known it from the beginning.
Drew helped me up after slamming the door in Derik’s face.
“Are you okay?” he asked, running his thumb over my battered lip.
“What the hell was that, Drew? What did he mean by all of that?” I asked, pulling away from him. He didn’t feel so safe and secure anymore.
“What happened? Why did he hit you?” he asked, ignoring my question.
“Because I shoved him after he grabbed my boob,”
I said, angrily.
“He did what?” Drew asked. I could see the veins popping in his neck.
“I’m almost certain that wasn’t the first time. I think he did other things before.”
“Why do you think that?” he asked. He seemed like he really wanted to know, and I almost felt like he was defending me.
“I keep having nightmares about it, but I don’t really think they are nightmares at all.”
I had a new plan. Derik was going to be out of the picture one way or another. I didn’t know how, but I would figure something out. I wanted him dead. I had a good idea of what I was going to do. It might get me killed, but I would take that chance.
“Where is Marta, have her get you some ice,”
Drew said. I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to comment on my suspicions. He didn’t.
“I sent her home.”
He raised one eyebrow and looked down at me.
“Why?”
“I didn’t want her here, but now I guess I really don’t care.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, Drew. I’m going to get some ice.”
Drew let me walk away and disappeared to his office. I wiped the blood from my lip but didn’t use the ice. It wasn’t as bad as it felt. I walked into Drew’s office.
He only shook his head at me not knocking. I didn’t bother him and sat on the sofa across from him while he led a conference call. I flipped through my new magazine. After almost an hour of him still being on the phone, I scooted down on the sofa and curled into a little ball. I wished I had a blanket. It was freezing in his office. I dozed off waiting for him to be done working.
I’m not sure how long I slept, but when I woke, I was covered with a soft, warm blanket, and Drew was on another call. I stared at him, and his eyes met with mine.
He continued to talk, something about a new cut. I didn’t care what he was saying. I cared about the feeling I got when he looked at me the way he was. I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, feeling the puffiness from stupid Derik’s knuckles.
I sat up and ran my fingers through my tangled hair that I had worked so hard on for him. I got up and walked over to him. He ran his hand up the back of my leg. I kissed the top of his head and left him.
Chapter 17
I went to the kitchen and got our plates ready for Marta’s prepared meal. I didn’t set the dining room table and set them on the bar in the kitchen. I set two wine glasses by our plates and took out a bottle of chilled wine.
I was just putting the food out when he joined me.
He picked up the wine and twisted the corkscrew into it.
“Do I like beer, Drew?”
“Excuse me?” he asked with a frown.
“Beer. Do I like beer? I was just thinking that I would like to have a cold beer, but there isn’t any here.
Did we drink beer?”