“So,” Gris said, his voice grating against Elle’s nerves. “When are you going to bring this little charade to an end and come back home where you belong?”
Elle shook her head. “Don’t you get it, Gris? This isn’t the dark ages. I’m not coming home with you, and you can’t make me.”
Gris just smiled. “Dark ages?” he said. “That’s very rich coming from someone like you. I mean, you’re the only person I ever heard of who was actually sold to another person.”
Elle’s cheeks flushed. Gris knew that was her most sensitive, most painful memory.
“Don’t do anything you’ll regret,” Elle said. “If anything happens to me, Gracie and Kelly will go straight to the police.”
“The police? The police in this town are a joke. I’ve got them wrapped around my finger.”
“What do you mean?”
Gris threw his hand up, as if brushing away her comment. He looked annoyed at himself. He’d made a mistake. He shouldn’t have mentioned the police. Elle made a mental note to go check with them about Forrester. Maybe they knew something she didn’t.
“Look,” he said. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your little friends, Elle. You’re coming home with me, whether you like it or not. One way or another, it’s happening. Now, you can make it easy on yourself and come willingly, or you can chose to make it more difficult than it has to be. Either way is the same to me.”
“Gris, I’m never coming home with you.”
Gris looked her up and down. The way his eyes crept over her made her skin crawl.
“Why not? It was good enough for you for the last three years.”
“It’s not good enough anymore, Gris.”
“What do you know? You’ve only been gone a few days.”
“A lot has happened in those few days, Gris. I’m not the same person I was when I was with you. I’m different now.”
“How much could have happened in such a short time?”
Elle sighed. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me,” Gris said, forcefully.
“Well, I met someone, okay. I know there are better men then you out there. Men who don’t make me feel like shit. Men who don’t try to make me weaker all the time. I know I have options, Gris.”
“What options? You’re not talking about that little prick I saw hanging around the other day, are you?”
“Who?”
“You know who I mean? The pretty boy with the tattoos and that piece of shit pickup truck.”
“What do you know about him, Gris?”
“Nothing?”
“Don’t lie to me. You know something.”
Gris sipped his coffee. There was a leering smile on his face that gave Elle the creeps. “I know he’s never coming back for you, Elle. He had enough of you already.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Because I know you, you little whore. I know how worthless you are. I know how unloveable you are. You’re disgusting, Elle. No man in his right mind would want more than a quick fuck with you. You’ve never been loved, and you never will be loved. That guy you were with is proof. If he loved you so much, where is he? Why the hell did he skip town on you?”
Elle felt the blood rising to her cheeks. She tried to stay calm, she tried not to show emotion, but she knew she was letting Gris get to her, and she knew he could tell. She’d never been good at hiding her feelings. She wanted to cry, she wanted to burst into tears in despair, and Gris could read it on her face like a book.
“You know it’s true, Elle. Even your own mother gave you away. And she didn’t just put you into care like a normal person would, she didn’t give you over to child services. No. She sold you to some pimps who would make a sex slave out of you. If that’s not hate, then I don’t know what is, Elle. Hate. That’s what the world has in store for you. Not love. So get your head out of the clouds and stop trying to be something you’re not. You’re a sick little bitch. A worthless little whore. No one has ever loved you, and no one ever will. Even your new boyfriend has dumped you already.”
It was only then that Elle remembered Grace and Kelly were standing by her side.
“I think you’ve had enough coffee, mister,” Grace said.
“I agree,” Kelly said.
“Now get out of here before I kick you out.”
Gris laughed. He wasn’t afraid of them. Elle knew he’d spoken to the police already. That’s why he was so cocky. She’d seen him do things like that before. He was very adept at influencing, or blackmailing, people to do his bidding. Nevertheless, he got up from his seat. He’d said what he’d come to say.
Elle waited until the door slammed behind him before collapsing to the floor.
“Elle,” Kelly yelled. “Are you all right?”
Elle was on the tiled floor of the diner. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there.
“Come on, child,” Gracie said. “You had a little spin. You fainted. Let’s get you home to bed.”
Chapter 33
Forrester