Chapter 35
No One
A few codes, some cropping and film editing, and bam! Perfection. And it only took two weeks of working on it here and there. The detective was going to love my homemade movie of his poor, little Anna. That would teach him to fuck with me. Bad father. He thought he could hurt me, but I was about to hurt him so much more.
“He’s going to love seeing you get fucked by me. You just wait. Stupid detective. He has no idea who he’s messing with.”
Silence.
Send.
“Does that upset you, Annalise? Did you not want the love of your life to witness my cock in you?”
Nothing but wincing. My bitterness and jealousy increased as she held her attention from me. “Too bad, he will. I just sent it to him and hope it eats him alive. Speaking of eat…eat.”
I growled the command, watching Annalise from the chair I was sitting in. For almost a week, she had been quiet again. Unnervingly so. It irritated me like nothing else. Her eyes spoke of murder and revenge—her silence all but promised it.
“Did you forget how to stuff that mouth of yours?”
She didn’t take the bait and argue back like she seemed to like lately, and it had me frowning. The part of me that depended on her attention, that loved her, had me calculating what I should do. I softened my voice, trying to keep enough anger in my tone so I wouldn’t sound weak.
“I’m five seconds away from shoving that lettuce down your throat.”
Brown eyes rose and her lids narrowed. “What’s the point of eating? For who? Me?”
“For my child. I could care less about you.”
“Your child isn’t well! I barely feel it move. Something is wrong. You hurt it! You…hurt me. I hurt.” Tears rolling down her cheeks, she used her free hand to pick up the plate and send it sailing across the room. Lettuce flew in all directions and the white salad dressing splattered the wall not far from me. The act had me launching to my feet as rage grew.
But with the anger also came an odd sense of fear I hadn’t experienced in as long as I could remember. She had been groaning here and there over the last day. And the expressions. I had thought she was thinking, but they could have resembled pain.
“The baby sleeps. You’re still somewhat early in your pregnancy. That’s all.”
“Is that all? Since the baby started moving, it’s always been quite active. It’s not anymore. It might already be dead. Murderer!”
“Don’t you dare fucking say I did that to my child.” My teeth ground together as I began to pace the length of the bed so I didn’t pound my fists into her again. Heat intensified within, but an answer as to what I should do wasn’t there. I couldn’t take her to the hospital. I couldn’t have her seen by a doctor with fancy equipment.
“If the child is hurt, it’s your fault. You’re the one who fights. You’re the one—”
“You! I’ll kill you for this, I swear it! I’ll. Kill. You!”
Annalise went wild, planting her feet on the mattress to crouch and jerking at the cuff with everything she had. Within seconds, a loud pop had me rushing toward her to tackle her back down. Loud cries shook her body as I pushed into her shoulder, putting it back in the socket.
“You dumb bitch. Do you not see how unstable you are?”
I slapped against her bruised cheek. Not enough to injure her, but enough to try to get her attention. She was getting worse as time went on—more desperate in her attempt to fight back.
“If you want the child, you can have it. Just let me go. You have to let me get the baby medical attention, or so help both of us, it will not last long enough to be born alive. Not here with you like this.” At my mouth opening, she brought her hand up. “I will not say a word of who you are or what I know of this place. Cut out my tongue so I can’t speak. I don’t care. Just let me leave. The moment this child is born, you can take it and finish me off. I have nothing left to live for except seeing my son or daughter survive. It won’t if you don’t take me in right now. It has to be now. I think it’s coming. I…hurt!”
The deep yell had me stepping away from her. I didn’t know what to do. I thought I had time, but I wasn’t so sure. And I couldn’t let her die. Not like this. Not right along with my child. Then what would I do? I’d lose her and the one thing I let myself get attached to.
“You lie. If I let you leave and my child is okay, they will have you both taken and hidden from me. You’d run right to your detective and disappear.”
“No,” she said, breathing heavily, lying down again to roll back and forth. “I give you my word. Please. If you won’t let me leave, take us to get help. If I say one wrong thing, you have my permission to end me on the spot. I just want to see if my baby is okay. Please! The pain. I beg you. Plea—”
Sobs cut off her words and she stayed on her side, curling protectively around her stomach, screaming.
“I can’t do that, Annalise.”
“You have to! Do you not care for our baby? Please! Maybe if it’s hurt, there’s something they can do. I’m b-begging you. Something is…not right. I can sense it.”
“Shut up!” My voice boomed through the room as I began to pace. “We’re not going anywhere. You’re fine. You’ll see, in a few days, everything will be okay. It’s sleeping or growing or…” I couldn’t continue as I saw the red smeared along the back of her inner thighs.
Bad father. Bad father. The fucking words started, cutting their way into my mind. I was not going to be a bad father. Yet…she was bleeding for reasons I couldn’t begin to understand. I hadn’t hit her in the stomach, so why was this happening?
It didn’t matter. Something was wrong, and that left me with only one of two options.
Slowly, I walked, glaring down at Annalise’s tense state. She was rocking in her fetal position, groaning louder by the minute. For someone who never cared much about anything but the wrongdoings that had plagued him, I wasn’t sure how to handle the emotions. At the moment, I wasn’t handling much of anything. This whole situation had gone entirely wrong. So, what did I do about it?
I grabbed Annalise’s arm, jerking her to sit.
“You gave your word, and you’ll keep it.”
Whack!