Chapter 35 - Elliot

“What the fuck did you say to her?”  I growl at him in a low voice.  “Do you get off on making people feel like shit?”

Stuart folds his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair.  He doesn’t seem the least bit worried or surprised at my outburst.

“I didn’t think you’d be the type to care about how others felt, Elliot,” he counters.  I can see him reading me like a book and I hate thinking he has the upper hand once again.

“Well I do.  Unlike you, I actually have compassion and I don’t just pretend to be a decent person.”

“That’s a bold statement, coming from you.”

“Fuck you.  What did you say to her.”  My blood is boiling in my veins.  I want to grab that grey mop on top of his head and smash his face against his desk.  I want to throw him through the wall, make him hurt a hundred times more than Emma is hurting right now.  

Stuart starts laughing and it only makes my rage intensify.

“Sounds like you got attached on that little romantic getaway last week.  What, did you think I wouldn’t find out that you two got.. comfortable.. with each other?”

My eyes widen.  How would he know that?!  He must have had someone watching me, the snake.

“What do you want, Stuart.”

“I want that bitch to mind her own damn business and stop snooping through our files.  Or did you not know that if this whole thing goes tits up, you’re the one that is going to take the fall?”  His voice is filled with hatred, and he slings the words at me.  I feel the spittle from his mouth hitting my face as he speaks.

My heart drops like a stone, and my anger dissipates.  I feel like he’s reached through me and grabbed onto my throat and is slowly squeezing the life out of me.  I may have thought our past was behind us but the look on Stuart’s face tells me it isn’t.

“What are you talking about?” I breathe.  He laughs again.

“Did you think I’d let you off the hook so easily?  You came to me seven years ago a broken man.  You needed my help and I gave it to you.”

“You blackmailed me.”  My blood is boiling.

“I did no such thing.  If the medical board discovers you’re a gambling addict there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“I was never an addict,” I spit at him.  “You know I was just scrambling for money for Chloe.  I was desperate.  I played poker with you, Stuart!”  Stuart waves his hand lazily.

“Potato, potato,” he says, pronouncing both words exactly the same way.  “The fact of the matter is that now you’re deep in this thing, and if anyone finds out, as far as I’m concerned you’re the only one who had any involvement.”

“What thing?!  What are you talking about?” I spit at him.  He laughs again, showing all his teeth.

“How do you think we settled your loan?  You’re a money launderer, Elliot.  Have been for seven years now.  You’ve syphoned millions through the practice, did you know that’s a felony?  And if anyone finds out, I’ll deny any knowledge.  As far as I’m concerned you’ve acted completely independently.”

His beady eyes bore into me and I feel a shiver of disgust travel down my spine.  The panic is rising in my throat.  What have I done!  I came to him for help when Chloe died.  I was buried in medical bills, trying stupidly to pay them off with gambling.  I thought I could play poker and get Chloe the treatment she needed without having my family go under.  Well, I ended up further in debt and Chloe’s treatment still failed.  

Stuart gave me a loan, and told me his accountant would settle it through the practice.  Less tax for him, and he would waive the interest on the loan.  Win-win, he said.  Put the whole tragedy behind me, he said.

He set me up.

“You’re a bastard,” I growl.  He smiles slowly, with his eyes staying dark and completely still.  He doesn’t blink.

“Get out of my office or I’ll call the authorities myself.  Looks like my brilliant new receptionist has just uncovered some fraudulent accounting.”

I turn around, breath coming out heavily from my nostrils.  That fucking snake of a man.  I stomp out the door and down the hall to my office, slamming the door behind me.  I sink into my chair with my head in my hands.  

Despair, panic, whatever you want to call it is overwhelming me.  I feel hopeless.  No one can know that I’ve done this, especially not Emma.  How will I fix this!  If anyone finds out, they’ll lock me up.  They’ll take Gracie away.  I’ll lose everything.  The tears start prickling at my eyes but I blink them back.  I need to figure something out.  I need to find a way out of this.

One thing is for sure, until I do, I have to make sure Emma stays far away from this entire thing.  The less she knows about Stuart, the less she knows about this whole mess the better.