Once we get home, David’s at the gates, waiting for us in his car. As soon as Richard spots him, he growls. “What the fuck does he want?”
Pissed off, he gets out of the car as soon as we stop and rushes over to David. I hear him shouting, wondering why he’s here, and then he opens the gates.
Frowning, I get out, thank the driver, and walk through the gates after David’s car. Once through, he gets out, frowning himself when he spots me in my dress.
“This better not be what I think it is,” David warns.
Richard’s soon up in his face. “What this is has fuck all to do with you. How dare you come to my house and start shit on me? Fuck off back home. You’re not family. You never were!”
Ignoring Richard, David looks towards me with a pained expression. “Scarlet, if he’s forcing you, then you have an out. I can take you away from him.”
Before I even have a chance to answer, Richard pulls his fist back. “Nobody is taking my Scarlet away from me.” He swings, punching David so hard, I hear bone crack. He grunts out in pain before stumbling and falling backwards onto the hard gravel. I think that’s it, but then Richard, in a blind anger, grabs David’s collar and starts hitting him over and over again in the face. David’s bleeding, and his eye’s already swollen up twice its normal size.
“Stop!” I scream, but Richard’s not listening. “Dad, please. Stop!” I rush over to him and when he pushes me out of the way, I stumble back, hitting the floor.
Realising what he’s done, Richard stops, looks back, and spots me lying on the floor. “Scarlet,” he shouts, rushing towards me with his swollen and bleeding hand. “You shouldn’t have gotten in my way,” he says, growling at me as he helps me up. “Is the baby okay?”
I should have known that would be all he cared about.
I nod anyway. “Yes, the baby’s fine. I had to stop you. You were going to kill him,” I snap, looking at David’s bloody frame on the floor. He’s passed out, and I don’t blame him after being hit so many times.
“I’ll kill anyone who gets in the way of us. You should know this by now.”
“And what if my mother or even Amber gets in the way? Then what?”
His face twists in frustration. “You know that’s never going to happen.”
“Oh yeah,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I forgot. I have to take this thing off every time we visit.” I point to the wedding band on my finger to get my point across. I still can’t believe what’s happened today. And now David. Poor beaten up David who only came here to rescue the damsel in distress. As tempting as his offer is, I know I will never be able to get away.
“Don’t be flippant with me, Scarlet. Fuck!” he shouts. “We’ve only just gotten married, and already you’re fucking nagging at me.” Completely ignoring David on the ground, Richard moves towards the front door.
“Nagging?!” I ask, chasing after him. “Dad, you almost killed a man. In fact,” I look back at David and see he’s not moving before concluding, “he could already be dead.”
Richard opens the door, glaring at me as we walk in. “He’s not fucking dead. Give him a few minutes, and he’ll be on his way. If not, I’ll finish what I started.”
As cool as anything, he walks in and heads towards the kitchen. Once there, he fetches a bottle of whiskey, some ice, and a glass. He pours himself a generous amount before placing some ice in a cloth. He wraps it around his bloody hand and starts to drink his whiskey like nothing’s happened.
I stand there dumbfounded. “You can’t just leave him there.” I start to move back outside, but Richard shouts after me.
“You’re not fucking going anywhere.”
I ignore him, heading back out, but once I’m there, David’s gone and so is the car.
“See. I told you,” Richard says from behind me.
I turn to face him and notice that he’s intimately close. “You’re a fucking prick, do you know that?”
“And you’re a bitch,” he answers with a snarl.
“Wanker.”
“Slut.”
“Bastard.”
“Whore.” He looks down at my lips before pulling away and drinking the rest of his whiskey.
“And who said romance was dead?”
Amused, Richard looks me up and down with a hungry stare. Despite having sex twice only some minutes ago, he’s still ready. He’s always ready. Just like me. As I gaze at him, I can’t believe how different his mood is now. Not ten minutes ago, he was murderous. Now, he looks like he’s just become king of the world.
“If I did romance, you’d soon get bored of me.”
Still frowning at his demeanour, I ask, “Why do you look so happy?”
“It’s my fucking wedding day. Why wouldn’t I be happy?”
I huff. “Yes, a wedding you forced your bride into having.”
He starts laughing. “I didn’t force you into shit. You may tell yourself that, but you still went and you still said the vows.”
“And if I hadn’t?”
He fixes me with his stern eyes. “That wouldn’t have been an option.”
“See. You forced me. Like you do everything.”
“And you fucking love it!” he growls. “Don’t kid yourself, Scarlet. You want this just as much as I do. You crave this just as much as I do. That’s why we’re a match made in Heaven.”
“More like Hell.”
Richard laughs. “A match made in Hell then. Whatever you want to call it, baby.”
I frown. “What’s with all the sweetheart and baby shit now?”
“You’re my wife,” he answers. “Now get upstairs, run us a bath, and get fucking naked.”
I fake shudder. “Ooh, you’re such a romantic.”
He points to the stairs. “Up. Now. I’ll be there in a few. I just need to make some phone calls.”
I offer him a salute, but can’t help but wonder who it is he might be calling. Once he thinks I’m gone, I get as close to the door as I can, so I can hear him talking.
“Chris, it’s me. That fucker was round my house. I sent him on his way, but he’s becoming a problem. Did you find anything on him? He’s already threatened to tell my family.” He pauses a moment and then says, “He needs to be stopped at all costs. I can’t have him going to Wendy or Amber and fucking this all up.” He pauses again before saying, “Yes. Just hurry. Call me tomorrow.”
With that last word, I run up the stairs as quickly as I can and start running the bath. Richard doesn’t come up straight away, leaving me to wonder about David. I know he’s trying to do what’s best for me, and I know my dad is shitting bricks that he’ll blab something to my mum. Worse still is the possibility he might say something to Amber.
Shaking my head, I start to undress, and all the while I think about how ludicrous my father’s being. He can’t hide us forever. I know he’s determined to, but he’s simply delusional. He wants it all—me, Amber, the baby. All one big fucking happy family.
He may be burying his head in the sand, but I know one day we’ll be caught.
And I can’t help the impish grin on my face at the thought.
Yeah. Payback’s a bitch.