Fucking bitch! I pulled as hard as I could, tearing at my skin. But I was still stuck to the chair. Fuck!
James groaned again.
He’s drugged. He doesn’t know it’s not me. He doesn’t know what’s happening.
“I knew he missed me,” she said and smiled at me. “He used to groan like that all the time when we were together.”
“Stop.”
“You should have seen the way I kissed him when I snuck into his room when you left him all alone. It was probably a foolish move when I could have had someone else mess up his ventilator, but it was so easy that I couldn’t resist. Besides, I just needed to see my husband.” She smiled at me. “I needed to taste him.”
“Stop,” I said more forcefully.
“You know what my favorite thing used to be?”
“Please stop.” I continued to struggle with the restraints.
“The way his fingertips dug into my skin when he’d fuck me. He knew just how to make my toes curl. I think that was his favorite thing too. Punishing me. Being in complete control of me. God I loved that.”
My whole body felt cold. I loved that too. I was letting her get in my head. I was letting her win. Focus. I pulled on the restraints again. I almost cried out at the pain.
She laughed. It was cold and cruel. “Everything he’s done with you, he’s done with me first. You know, I think I actually want him to be a little more alert for this. I want him to experience the same amount of pain he’s caused me.” She plunged another needle into his arm and his eyes flew open.
He immediately closed his eyes and shook his head. He opened his eyes again and stared at me in horror.
“Honey, take it slow. You’ve been heavily sedated.” She ran her finger across his collarbone.
He closed his eyes again.
“We were just having a discussion, James. Penny doesn’t think that you’re addicted to her. I think it’s time that you told her the truth.”
“No.” His voice was croaky.
“James, it’s only fair that she knows the truth. Tell her.”
I could tell he was trying to move. But his body wasn’t responding. He opened his eyes again and gave me a pleading look.
Isabella walked toward him and put her hand on his shoulder.
He grimaced at her touch.
“Tell her,” Isabella said.
He shook his head. “I’m not addicted to her.”
“James.” My eyes were filled with tears. This wasn’t the time for him to finally realize that. I shook my head. Lie to her. Tell her what she needs to hear.
Isabella frowned. “Baby, you know that’s not true. Tell me the truth.” She ran her hand down his bare chest.
“I’m addicted to her.” He wasn’t staring at me. He was staring at her.
I knew it was a lie. But it still stung. And it hurt to see them together like this. With her hands on him. With his eyes on her.
“Don’t tell me, James. Tell her.”
His eyes darted toward the button to call the nurse.
“Tell her, James.” She grabbed his chin and turned his face toward me.
James’ eyes slowly met mine. “I’m addicted to you, Penny.” He lowered both his eyebrows. Almost like he realized how truly wrong it was. Like he understood that it was more than that. This couldn’t be the last thing he ever said to me. I couldn’t let this be how we ended.
“And the only way to get rid of your addiction is to get rid of the temptation, to kill the root of the problem. In this case, Penny.”
“No. Isabella, no. Let Penny go. Do whatever you want with me. But don’t hurt her.”
“We’ll get her out of our way. We can be happy again.”
“We were never happy.”
“Of course we were. Before life got in the way. Before your problems became bigger than both of us.”
“My problems? You ruined our marriage.”
“You ruined me, James! As soon as you said you were in love with her, you ruined my whole reputation.”
“You ruined your own damn reputation when you screwed around behind my back.”
“But baby, you never complained about how much better the sex got. All the new techniques.” She put her hand back on his chest.
“Don’t fucking touch me!”
Isabella didn’t remove her hand. “Look at me, James. Don’t look at her. For once in your life, focus on me!”
James’ eyes left mine. Originally Isabella had said I’d be dead in ten minutes. But it seemed like more time than that had passed. Maybe James’ sedative would wear off soon. Maybe someone would show up and help us. My world was filled with maybes. But maybes weren’t going to save me. I pulled my arms as hard as I could and accidentally let a whimper escape from my lips.
“Penny.” The agony in James’ voice brought tears to my eyes.
“This isn’t about her!” Isabella yelled. “This is about us!” She pulled out a gun from her purse and pointed it toward me.
“Isabella, please just let her go. And we can talk.”
“Is this about the baby? If you want a baby, I’ll give you a baby. We were always good at practicing.”
“What are you talking about?”
Isabella turned toward me with a smile on her face. “He really doesn’t know?” She laughed. “This just got so much better.”
“Know what?”
Isabella slid off his bed and walked toward me. “She didn’t tell you? She’s pregnant.”
The moment I had planned in my head for telling him about the baby had been ripped from me. This would be his last memory of me. Me not telling him something. It would tear him apart. If Isabella didn’t kill him, that would.
James just stared at me. He didn’t say a word. The color had drained from his face. And I realized he wasn’t really staring at me. He was looking past me. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. I had it all planned out.
Look at me. Please look at me. “James, I was going to tell you on your birthday. I…”
“That’s quite enough.” Isabella pressed the gun against the side of my forehead.
Oh God. My heart was pounding. It was all I could hear. And all I could think about was how mad I’d been the past few days. And how it was such a waste of time. Such a horrible waste of time to have anger in my heart. I should have been counting my blessings. I should have been with him the whole time. I should have been savoring it.
“Isabella, stop!” James yelled. “Please stop. You win. You win, okay? I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I want you to be with me. I want us to be what we used to be. I want everyone to be jealous of me again. I want my fucking life back!”
“Okay. Me too. I want it all back. I want you back.”
“But what about the baby?”
“I never wanted kids. And I don’t want that one. She knew that. She knew that and she got pregnant anyway. I don’t want anything to do with her or that child. You know me, Isabella. You’re the only one that really knows me. You’re all that I want. It’s always been you.”
James! Look at me! I struggled against the duct tape.
Isabella pressed the gun harder against my temple. “You’ll go back to her.”
“No. I’ll never want her as much as I want you. You know that, baby. I’ll file for divorce. We can go wherever you want. Just… please come here.”