Author: Teresa Mummert

“What is it?” I asked, swirling my spoon in my soup. He shook his head as he pushed the food around on his plate around.

“I know all of this is…fun, but it can really destroy someone’s life if you let it.” I knew he was reffering to Abby and my stomachtwisted in knots.

“William, look at me. I didn’t even know this part of your life exsisted. I don’t care about any of this. I love you.” I looked him in the eye as I told him exactly how I felt. He swallowed hard and looked back at his food. I knew he thought he had something special with Abby too, before she took the money and left him broken hearted. “Do you trust me?” I asked, smiling as I thought of the last time I had asked him that question.

“Of course I do.” He said, his expression softening. I smiled.

“I’m not her.” I whispered. He ran his hands through his messy hair.

“Let’s get out of here. I want to show you something.” I smiled and laid my napkin next to my plate.

“Where are we going?” I placed my hand in his as stood from the table.

“It’s a surprise.” He winked at me as he placed some money on the table.

Chapter Thrity-One

We drove out of the busy city onto a hilly, wooded road. The top was down and my hair swirled in my face as the radio blared.

“Almost there.” William yelled over the noise. I smiled at him, squeezing his hand. We pulled off the main road onto a dirt drive. After a few minutes of trees we came to a clearing. William put the car in park and grinned at me. “Come on” He said as he got out of the car and came to my side to open the door. He grabbed my hand and tugged me behind him. We stood on the edge of a massive hill, overlooking the city below.

“This is beautiful!” I smiled as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. I rubbed my hand over his. He leaned in and kissed my neck.

“This is where I go to be alone. I’ve never brought anyone here before.” His grip relaxed a little as he rested his chin on my shoulder.

“It’s amazing. Thank you for bringing me here.” He turned me around in his arms to face him.

“I know I have some serious trust issues but I am trying hard to work passed them. I hope you can see that.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, stoking his hair with my finger tips.

“I love you, William. I’m not going anywhere. No amount of money in the world could compare to this moment right here.” I reassured him. It was almost sad to see a man who seemed so strong and confident so incredibly scared. He pulled me tightly against him and kissed the top of my head. I felt like in his mind he was preparing for the worst. I just couldn’t understand why. After all we had been through, surely he knew I wasn’t about to run now. I pressed my lips into the crook of his neck, pausing to gauge his response. His hips pressed against me. I kissed him again, letting my lips trail up to his ear. He leaned his head into me, breathing out deeply.

“If you don’t stop that now, I’m going to have to fuck you right here.” His voice was low and I knew his mood had changed to the old William. I smiled and bit gently on his ear lobe. His fingers dug into my hips and he spun me around, laying me face down on the hood of his sports car. I spread my fingers out across the hood as I heard him undoing his pants. He hiked my skirt up to my waist and pulled my panties to the side. I bit my ip, bracing for what was coming next. His he shoved himself violantly inside of me, forcing me down against the hot metal. I cried out as he slammed into me again and again.

We made our way back to the massive house, both much more relaxed. The sun had set but the streets were lit up like daylight with all of the stores and restauraunts. William’s phone rang and he answered it, growing increasingly irritated with each word.

I could feel a difference in the air as William punched a sequence of numbers into the keypad and the gates slid open. We parked in front of the house and William tossed his keys to a man waiting on the steps as he pulled me inside.

He didn’t say a word as we made our way up the oversized staircase to the bedroom.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as he closed the door behind us, putting my hands on his chest. He glanced down at my hands but didn’t step back or attempt to remove them.

“I didn’t know they were coming. We can leave right now if you want, get a hotel room?” He ran his hands through his hair.

“Who?” I asked, growing scared by his sudden behavior.

“My parents.” His eyes locked onto mine.

“Oh” I let my hands slide off of his chest. He didn’t want his parent’s to know about me. It was like being punched in the stomach. I had finally convinced myself that we could be a normal couple and all of the air was sucked out of my lungs at once. “Just take me home.” I whispered, truning away from him so he wouldn’t see how badly he hurt me.

“Hey!” He grabbed my arm, forcing me to turn back and face him. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” I pulled my arm back from him, unable to hold back my anger.

“If you didn’t want anyone to know about me, why did you bring me to your home?” I asked, my jaw clenched tight.

“I didn’t know they would come. My father is supposed to be in Ireland on set for the next few weeks.” He looked confused by my sudden outburst. I crossed my arms over my chest. “It’s not that I’m trying to hide you, Emma. I just didn’t want to subject you to my father. He’s not a good man.” I looked him up and down. He looked scared.

“William?” A man called from below and his body went rigid.

“I love you , Emma. I’m not ashamed of you.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room onto the landing that connected the staircases.

“There you are.” He laughed deeply. A man stood in the center of the foyer. He looked like an older version of William.

“Dad” William nodded his head.

“Who is your friend?’ His father asked. William’s hands were gripping my waist painfully tight.

“This is Emma, my girlfriend. Emma, this is my father, Gerald Honor.” A light clicked in my head as I heard his father’s name. I had heard it and seen in printed on movie posters. He was an extremely successful director.

“Pleasure to meet you.” I nodded and smiled.

“I’m sure it is.” His chuckled and I realized what William was trying to warn me about.

“Well, come on down and greet your mother. She will happy to see you.” Just then an older woman with short curly hair stepped in from the front door.

“William!” She yelled and held out her arms for him. We made our way down the giant staircase and he gave her a long hug. I stood awkwardly off to the side, ignoring the fact that Gerald was looking me up and down.

“Who is this, dear?”

“Mom, this is my girlfriend, Emma. Emma, this is my mother, Martha.” I smiled nervously and held out my hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, Emma.” She smiled sincerely at me and I felt a little more at ease.

“Enough of this. Let’s go eat dinner.” Gerald said, walking away from us. I glanced up at William who shot me an apologentic look. I grinned, trying to ease his worry.

We sat at the oversized table in silence as servers brought us our food.

“This looks amazing.” I smiled at the woman who had placed a plate in front of me. She smiled back, but her face went blank when her eyes caught Mr. Honor’s.

“That will be all.” He said coldly to her and she looked to the ground as she quickly made her way back into the kitchen. He shot me a glare and I looked down at my plate.

“So, who did you two meet?” Martha asked, as she took a sip of wine from her glass. William slipped his hand under the table and rubbed my knee.

“At Kippling.” He responded. His father held his glass at his mouth for a moment before taking a drink and setting the glass down forcefully.

“Well, I think that is nice. Don’t you, Gerald?” Martha was silently pleading with him to be kind. His eyes danced back and forth between us.

“I guess I should get the checkbook.” He said coldly and began to cut his steak. I felt the blood rush from my cheeks as William’s hand gripped my knee tightly. I felt sick. I slipped my hand on top of his and rubbed it soothingly. He muscled flexed under his jaw and I knew it was only a matter of minutes before he lost control.

“That won’t be necessarry Mr. Honor. I, unlike some, don’t put money over love.” I smiled at William who looked positively thrilled I had stood up for myself.

“Playing hard ball, are we? What will it take, two…three million.” He grinned and my blood began to boil. I laid my napkin on my plate and pushed my chair back to stand.

“I apologize, but I need to excuse myself. Mrs. Honor.” I nodded at William’s mother before walking out of the room. I heard William yelling and it echoed off the walls as I stormed up the stairs to get my things.

“Emma” William opened the door and rushed to my side.

“Get me out of here.” I was shoving my things in my bag as tears started to roll down my cheeks. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest.

“I’m so sorry.” He rubbed over my hair as he rocked back and forth. A small knock came at the door.

“Please don’t leave like this, William. We haven’t seen you in years.” Martha begged. She looked on the verge of tears herself.

“She’s not Abby.” He said, squeezing me tighter.

“I know.” His mother smiled, but her eyes full of sadness. “My William is a special boy. Please take good care of him.” I nodded and she turned to leave, pulling the door shut behind her. William ran his thumbs over my cheeks to wipe the tears away.

“Let’s get out of here.” He said quietly, kissing me on the forehead.

We rode in slilence as we made our way to the hotel. I stared out of the window, watching the lights flash by me. William was in a much better mood, considering his fight with his father. I could only assume that part of him had still been worried I would take the money and run without giving it a second thought. I hoped after tonight, that he wouldn’t doubt my feelings for him again.

Crawled onto the bed and curled up in a ball. I was exhausted and my lunch hadn’t set well with me, not to mention I didn’t get the chance to enjoy my dinner. William slipped in behind me and kissed me softly on the shoulder.

“Are you alright?” He asked, his lips against my skin. I nodded and bit my lip.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, pulling me back so he could see my face. He was so concerned, so caring.

“My stomach.” I sighed as I rubbed my hand over my belly. His eyebrows pulled together as he scanned my face.

“I’ll run to the store and get you something for it.” He kissed me on the forehead and left the room before I could protest.

“Emma” William whispered in my ear, jarring me from my dreams.

“What?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“Get up” His voice was low and commanding. I waved my hand at him and buried my face in the blanket.

“I’m not in the mood.” I whined. His hand grabbed my wrist and squeezed as he pulled me up.

“Get up now.” His voice was steady but low and I could tell he was not in a good mood. He pulled me towards the bathroom of the hotel and flicked on the light. It was insanely bright and I had to cover my eyes from the harsh intrusion. William set something down on the countertop. It made a loud slap as it hit the stone, causing me to jump. He didn’t look at me. I glanced over to the counter and back at him.

“What is that?” I whispered. I was beginning to get scared.

He rubbed his hands through his hair and over his mouth. “It’s a pregnancy test.” My stomach began doing summersaults.