I already know that he will be worrying about what he can do with me if he isn’t here to keep an eye on me. For me, the separation will be a welcome relief.
“I suppose, but I don’t want to leave you on your own.”
“I’ll be okay,” I say with a shrug, not wanting to make too big a deal out of it.
“I don’t think that you will, so I have arranged for you to come with me and we can have our own private office to work in.”
He looks as pleased as punch with this news, whereas I must look aghast. For months I have hated the fact that I work with Michael, because it means I never get a break from him. Working together, living together, sleeping next to a man that has become my enemy.
But I have never hated it as much as I do in this moment.
“It’s a bit soon, isn’t it?” I say hurriedly. “I mean, I’m still not feeling great.”
I feel fine, but I have to think of something. I need him to think that I am still suffering.
“All the more reason that you should be with me, so I can keep an eye on you,” he says with a smirk.
“Of course,” I respond robotically.
Any hope that had flared up within me is quickly snuffed out.
How stupid of me to think that he would have left me here on my own.
Chapter Three
Face the music
“Lucy, it’s so good to see you,” Mr Collinson says as Michael escorts me into his office. “Please, take a seat.”
“Thank you,” I say as I sit down, Michael sitting on the chair next to me, his hold on my hand tightening slightly.
“How have you been? Are you sure that you’re ready to come back to work?” Mr Collinson asks, a look of deep concern on his face.
“Lucy is doing much better than she was,” Michael answers for me.
I watch as Mr Collinson’s eyes divert to Michael, quietly assessing him and wondering why Michael has answered instead of me.
Mr Collinson looks back at me, his eyes softening. “I’m glad that you’re doing better, Lucy, but I don’t want you to feel like your job is more important than your healing process. I can’t imagine what you have been through,” he says, and I feel my brows furrow.
Why is he acting so concerned?
I don’t understand the pity that settles in his eyes.
“You are a strong woman, Lucy. Lord knows how it feels to lose a child,” Mr Collinson says, and if I weren’t already sitting down then I would definitely have collapsed from his words.
A child?
A fucking child?
My eyes dart to Michael’s, his bore into mine, and his grip on my hand tightens in warning; a warning for me to say the correct thing.
The bastard has told everyone that I lost a baby?
A miscarriage?
Fucking asshole.
I don’t voice my thoughts, and Michael needn’t have bothered tightening his hold on me. I know what is expected of me, I know the drill.
I plaster a small smile on my face, unable to make it reach my eyes as I speak. “Mr Collinson, thank you for your concern, but I need to come back. I’m a little restless being stuck at home, so I’m looking forward to returning and getting back to my daily routine.”
Michael smiles and I know that I have fulfilled my role, done my job, fooled another person.
“And we’re very pleased to see you back, Lucy,” Mr Collinson says as he gives me a heartfelt smile.
Guilt at going along with Michael’s lie rears its head, but I push it down.
I can’t allow the guilt to consume me.
I have a plan, a focus, and that is the only thing that I can allow myself to think about.
I’m going to get away from Michael.
I’m going to make it out of this toxic relationship.
And I am going to take him down doing it.
“Now,” Mr Collinson continues. “Seeing as you were working on a project with Michael and Tyler, I have made arrangements for you to solely be based in the small project room for the foreseeable future. I don’t expect you to take phone calls or deal with complaints. Just focus on the project, and if you find it too much then please, let me know.”
“She won’t need to, she has me to look after her,” Michael says shooting me a look that suggests that I don’t argue with him.
I nod my head and smile as I wonder how the hell I am going to begin the process of separating myself from him.
Chapter Four
Ties are severed
Walking back into the main office, my eyes connect with Kim’s, and boy does she look pissed off. I gulp and try to wrangle my hand free, but Michael doesn’t let me go. Instead, he pulls me closer, drawing me into his side, and leans his head down to whisper, “Don’t even think about it.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything, Michael,” I say, but it sounds pathetic and he knows that I’m lying.
Fuck’s sake, Lucy, don’t let him in.
Don’t let him see past the walls that you’ve been building.
Michael arches one eyebrow at me, waiting for me to come clean.
With a sigh, I say what he wants to hear. “Okay, I thought that I could just say hello.” My voice is small and quiet, just how he likes it.
He can sense the fear building within me at being caught out.
I push the fear back down.
He doesn’t get to do that.
He doesn’t get to take satisfaction in the fact that he scares me.
I’d been doing so well, so why am I starting to back track on all of the ties that I had secretly severed?
Michael’s evil smile breaks out on his face, and his eyes flash with the look of the devil that lives inside him. I should know, I’ve seen it enough. It hasn’t been out to play for a while though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael is looking for an excuse to unleash hell on me. But then, he’s never needed an excuse, so I doubt it.
“Well, if it’s just hello you want to say, then you can say it in front of me,” he says as he marches us over to Kim’s desk, his hand on my nape, holding it tightly. To anyone else, it simply looks like he is holding me affectionately. He’s a fucking good actor. “Just remember that I can get to your friends if I need to, Lucy. I can make them suffer too,” he whispers, and chills sweep down my spine.
He’s fully aware of my suffering, and he’s prepared to unleash that on the people I love the most.
I won’t let him.
They mean too much to me.
But his words leave me feeling colder than ever.
Kim watches us as we approach, and I fight to keep my face from showing her everything that I am feeling.
When we get to the edge of her desk, she leans back and folds her arms across her chest.
“Kim,” Michael says with a nod of his head. She ignores him.
“Hi, Kim,” I say quietly, feeling ridiculously awkward around the woman that is my best friend. Or should I say was my best friend?
Kim looks me up and down before speaking.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” she says, directing her comment at me. I laugh nervously, praying that she doesn’t say anything to set Michael off.
“Uh… Yeah… Sorry I haven’t been in touch,” I mumble, wishing that I hadn’t bothered to come over here.