Veiled Obsession(38)

“It’s only one bowl,” I muttered, and instantly clamped my mouth shut. The words were not meant to be said aloud.

“You just don’t learn, do you?” In a flash Jude lifted the bowl and threw it at me. I ducked before it hit my face. It smashed against the wall behind me.

“Clean up here and go and get washed up. I have a potential business partner coming over in an hour.” He pushed his hands into his pockets. He was back to being impeccably dressed. “For God’s sake, put a damn smile on your face. Stop fuckin’ sulking all the time. Life is not that bad. You have it better than most.” He walked out and a moment later, I heard him slam the door to his office.

I gazed out the window at the guards, wishing desperately for an escape.

I was trapped in a jail of luxury with no escape. So, this is what modern day slavery felt like?

I heard his muted cough and I straightened up. As I bent down to sweep away the shards of glass, I could almost hear my bones crack with exhaustion. I held up one that was so sharp and perfect it resembled a mini sword. Not for the first time the thought of suicide crossed my mind, but I killed it.

Once the floor was clean and I had checked to make sure the whole house was as he liked it, I walked with difficulty up the stairs to our bedroom and into the bathroom. I wished I could lock the door behind me, to enjoy being alone for just a few minutes, but it was against the rules. He liked to come and go as he pleased. To check on me in person, even though he had installed cameras that helped him do just that. As I stripped off my dress, I gazed up at one of the cameras in one of the corners. My face grew hot as I felt his eyes on me. The urge to show him the finger raged through me, but I swallowed it.

I turned on the shower and waited the few seconds it took for the water to heat up. Stepping under the warm jet was like walking into the arms of heaven. I sighed with pleasure as the water cascaded down my body, soothing the aches for a moment. I closed my eyes and raised my faced toward the shower rain, wishing I could stay forever. But I never stayed in the shower more than five minutes anymore. Watching me shower aroused Jude and he could just decide to come up for mid-afternoon fuck. Just thinking of him inside me made me feel sick to my stomach. His hands on my body left goose bumps of disgust, his tongue in my throat made me gag. His penis in my mouth made me want to bite it off, to show him what pain felt like.

I walked out of the shower and dried myself off quickly. It took me ten minutes to get dressed. Just as I walked out of my walk in closet, Jude entered the room. He studied me for a second, his gaze sweeping me from head to toe and then he shook his head.

“Don’t like it,” he said. “Wear the black dress I bought you yesterday. The man I’m meeting today is someone I’ve been trying to get into business with for a while. I want us both to make a great impression.”

I returned to the closet and stepped out of my jeans and white top.

The dress he bought me was pretty flattering to my curves, tight at the bust and flowing from my waist to my knees. And the way the material slipped between my fingers, he had to have spent a fortune on it. But the days I got excited about wearing beautiful clothes or having my hair done were dead and gone. I didn’t even feel beautiful anymore. I’d lost lots of weight and my eyes were hollow and devoid of light. As far as I was concerned, all I was dressing was a skeleton. The dress was actually fitting to the occasion. It would have been perfect for a funeral. And I was mourning myself, the man I thought I loved, and my life.





CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

I didn’t see the guest arrive because I was in the kitchen making tea and warming scones for them. I would see him later because Jude always showed me off to his business partners. But only when my bruises were well hidden.

I heard voices in the hall, but they eventually died as Jude and his partner headed to his office. If only that guest knew the kind of monster his business partner was, that he was a killer and wife basher. He would come out of this house running.

With the tray filled with everything Jude had wanted, I sat on one of the cream leather stools at the island and switched on the TV that hung from one wall. Finding nothing but advertisements, I flicked through the channels in search for news. News always reported terrible stories of people suffering. That was good for me. Hearing about other people suffering enough to end up as a news story made me feel better about my situation, reminded me that it could be worse. I was alive.

As Jude had said earlier, “you have it better than most.”

I had no choice but to stay put and wait. To wait for something to happen. Anything.

My mind went on alert when I switched on to a local station. I watched as several men pulled a burlap sack from a lake. Breaking news updates scrolled across the bottom of the screen.