Chapter Seven
She should have known her parents had another agenda when they invited her to dinner. No one changed their mind that quickly. When she got the call early in the morning, she’d been excited to have dinner with her family. Her mum had mentioned Richard and Scarlet making an appearance. What she’d found instead were malicious stares with Charles waiting for her.
In no time at all, he had her alone. His touches repulsed her. She wanted Tony to rescue her.
Don’t be stupid. Richard has probably started the divorce proceedings, and your so-called husband won’t want anything to do with you.
“Can’t you see how right we are for each other?” Charles asked. He knelt down in front of her, his hands running from her knee, under her skirt. She stopped him from moving further up her knee.
“We weren’t right for each other. I would have made you miserable, and you would have made miserable. Can’t you see that? We’re better this way,” she said.
“And you make Tony Hunt happy?” Opal heard the taunt in his voice. The statement cut her deep. She watched as he walked over to her father’s desk and picked up the magazine with the comparison between her and another woman. “This is making you happy? Seeing the woman you could never be?”
“I don’t have to listen to this.” She made to stand, but Charles placed a firm hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. A cry escaped her as her ass hit the handle of the chair. She slipped down. A painful throb in her left ass cheek made her wince.
“You do have to listen. Do you think Tony is going to come and save you now?”
“Why do you want me, Charles? You had your own mistress at the time, and you didn’t want anything to do with me. What’s changed?” she asked.
“You were promised to me, Opal. You were supposed to be my wife.” She didn’t like the tone of his voice, the almost hysterical need she saw on his face. There was more to this than she’d ever thought.
“What’s going on?” she asked. Charles hadn’t looked upset on the day she’d announced she wouldn’t be marrying him. What had changed in the last two years?
Opal stared at Charles as he circled her dad’s study. She wished she’d ignored the invitation to have dinner with her parents. The moment she walked through the door she’d been unable to leave. She hated it. Her old groom was circling her as if she was some prey he wanted to take a bite from.
“You humiliated me, Opal. But I’ve been talking to Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, and we’ve decided it will be good for us to brush it all aside and start again.”
“No. That’s not going to happen. You tell me now why you suddenly want me?” She stood up and faced him. “Don’t you fucking touch me,” she said as he went to push her back down again.
“It was all right for you. You’ve got a rich husband to keep you,” he said.
“You’ve got rich parents and an entire empire waiting for you. Why me?” she screamed.
“Because we thought it was a joke. We all thought Tony would dump you as soon as he could. Seeing you around with him, he’s not going to drop you. My parents have disowned me until I bring you back as my wife,” Charles said.
Opal would have laughed. Tony had practically dumped her the day after their marriage. If only his family knew. “What do you want me to do about it?”
“Unless you marry me, I’ve got to work from the ground up at my dad’s company. I refuse to start that low. I’ve fucked half the women on that floor, and most of them I’ve treated like shit because I’m better than them,” he said.
She glanced at him then at the floor. “I don’t want to marry you.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to marry you.”
“You don’t have a choice. You’ll do as you’re told. You’re a woman, and no one listens to women anyway.”
“Are you even hearing yourself? I’m married to Tony, and I wouldn’t leave him for you.” Coming to her parents’ was a huge mistake. The moment she left she would never return. From this day forward she wouldn’t depend on anyone but herself. She cut off her other thoughts about Tony. The only person she would want to be held by was the one man who didn’t want anything to do with her.
“But the arrangements have already been made.” His hands landed on her shoulder and pushed her back down into the chair.
She closed her eyes and prayed for herself to wake up at home in her own bed. When she opened her eyes, she wanted to scream and cry out. The unfairness of her predicament was killing her.
“You will be mine, Opal,” Charles said as he leaned down, his face right next to hers.
There was some commotion outside. Shouting, slamming, and then the door to the study was thrown open. She turned, and never had she been so grateful to see Tony before. He stood in the doorway looking every inch of the menacing man he was.
“Step the fuck away from my wife,” he growled.
Goosebumps erupted along her skin. The possessive way he stared at her and turned his anger on Charles. With Tony here, she would be safe. At least she would be safe from everyone that wasn’t him.
“Excuse me, but this is a private conversation,” Charles said. He didn’t pull away from her body.
“There is no reason for you to be talking to my wife. Step the fuck back from her.”
Charles stood. He ran his hands down his suit jacket. “Do you really want to fight for her, or do you use your fists to keep her in place?”
Opal jumped at the opportunity to be away from him. She got up and walked to Tony’s side. His gaze remained fixed on Charles. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she got his attention.
“What?” he asked.
“Let’s go. Coming here was a mistake,” she said.
“Go and get in the car. I won’t be a moment.”
Opal stared at him. She knew what would happen if she left him. “He’s not worth it.”
“I said go and get in the car. Don’t question me on this, Opal.”
Why did men always tell her what to do? Shaking her head, she moved past him, through the door to the front door.
“If you step out of this house, don’t even think about coming back,” her mother called. Opal stopped with her hand over the door knob. This was her childhood home. A place she at once loved and hated with the same amount of passion.
Turning round she stared at her parents, the two people she’d hoped would come to love her for who she was. “This has never been my home. Only a prison.” She opened the door with a sigh and walked out. No longer would she look back. Only moving forward.
****
Tony waited until he heard the front door close behind her. He had no desire to fight this bastard, but he would if he ever laid a finger on his woman again.
“You always chose the bad moments to interrupt. Can I get you a drink?” Charles asked.
“No,” Tony said.
He watched as the other man filled a glass to the top and began to take huge gulps out of it. Seeing the way his father was on alcohol, he tried to keep himself under control. Whenever he wanted to lose control, he did so away from everyone. No way would his downfall into drinking affect anyone but himself.
“So how much will it take to give Opal up?” Charles asked him.
“She’s not for sale.” He wouldn’t give his woman to this fucker if he was down to his last dime.
“Everyone has a price. What’s yours?”
“Opal. Is. Not. For. Sale,” he said each word slowly.
“She will be mine. After all, you’ve got Rita Brooke. Surely she’s more in your league than an innocent like Opal.”
He’d had enough. Tony knocked the glass out of the guy’s hand and slammed him up against the nearest wall. “You come near her, and I’ll make sure you’ll never father children again. I mean it.” To add to his threat he threw a punch at his face and watched in satisfaction as Charles went down in a heap.
He didn’t stay around to clean up the mess. Opal sat in the car waiting for him. He got into the driver’s side, threw the car into gear and was out of there. Once they were on the road he slowed the car down.
“What did you do?” she asked.
“Don’t talk,” he said. His knuckles hurt. Looking at them he saw they were red and sore. Biting his lip, he let out a bunch of curses and slammed the steering wheel. He hated when his anger got the better of him.
Opal sat as far from him as possible. Tony saw the tense way she sat. Trying to stay hidden from his temper. As if she was afraid he would start on her.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” he said. “I would never hurt you.”
She relaxed slowly. Thankful for small mercies, he drove straight to the hotel which housed one of his penthouse suites. He got the valet to park his car while he escorted Opal up to his room.
He closed the door and pulled her along to his sitting room. Pacing the room, he ran his fingers through his hair. Glancing at her, he saw her staring back at him. Her blonde hair was in disarray around her shoulders. She wore no make-up. The skirt looked crinkled as well.
“Did you let that fucker touch you?” he asked. Seeing Charles near her had sent alarm bells ringing through his head. He didn’t want any other man touching what was his.
“No. He was there, and I didn’t know he would be. I thought my parents wanted me to have dinner with them,” she said.
He saw the confusion on her face. He had never acted like this in front of her. It had been only recently that he’d started making demands from her.
“I don’t want any other man touching you,” he said.
“Why?”
“Do you really need me to answer that?” he asked.
“You’ve never shown an interest in me before. The kisses and whatever that was at the charity ball has been the only kind of attention. What’s changed? Why don’t you want any other man touching me?”
She had a valid argument. “Because you’re mine, and I intend to keep what’s mine.”
She glanced at him and then looked around the room. “You keep saying that, and I don’t know what you mean by it.”
Tony stared at her across the room. She looked innocent and perfect. His control was breaking, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he’d lose the battle.
“I don’t know what you want from me, Tony,” she said. “First you tell me we’re not going to have the proper kind of marriage other couples have, and I accept that. When I serve you divorce papers you come and manhandle me out of my home. Now I’m here, and you’re telling me you want me to be your wife?”
He didn’t offer her an answer. Taking the few steps forward he stood in front of her. “I want you,” he said. “And what is killing me is you don’t know how much I want you.”
“You said....”
“I don’t give a fuck what I said before. That was over two years ago. My God, I didn’t want to be attracted to you, but I was.”
He heard her gasp and ignored the sound. “Do you have any idea what it’s like wanting your best friend’s sister? Not only are you Richard’s sister, Opal. You’re fucking younger than me.” Tony had never said anything to her about the attraction he felt. “I feel like a dirty old man. You’re twenty-two years old. You should be out dating and screwing around with men your own age. Not married to me.”
She stood frozen where he’d put her. Tony wanted to hear her screaming back at him. To hear how disgusted she was with him.
“But I can’t do it. I can’t let you leave me. I won’t sign those divorce papers. You’re the one thing I refuse to give up in this life.”
Tears slid down her cheeks. He hated being the one responsible for putting them there.
“Don’t cry,” he said.
“What do I say?” she asked. He closed the distance between them. Tony wrapped her in his arms and breathed a sigh of relief. Her arms stayed by her side.
“Tell me you don’t want the divorce. Give us a chance,” he said.
“What about Rita Brooke?”
He hated that woman’s name. Since their affair had ended all she did was plague him for something more. “She means nothing to me. The only woman I want is you. Please, Opal. Give me a chance to show you how good it can be for us.”