I stare at him with startled, terrified eyes.
‘I know you like big cocks. I’ve watched you take it all into your dirty cunt. All of it being stuffed into Ella Savage’s greedy, greedy cunt,’ he says in a sing-song voice.’
‘Please, Sir,’ I say automatically, my mind and eyes unable to believe the transformation of the man I knew for more than a year to this dirty, crazed man and the hateful words that are pouring from his mouth. How could he have hidden this from me? From all of us?
His eyes widen mockingly. ‘You don’t have to beg, Ella. You’re a dirty bitch but I’ll fuck you.’
I shake my head to clear it, but it causes a flash of pain to stab at my temples. I’m too confused to be able to comprehend my situation. I look at him pleadingly. ‘Why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything bad to you.’
‘You know,’ he says evenly. ‘You are the most self-absorbed bitch I have ever had the misfortune to meet. I was in love with you, you shameless slut.’
‘What?’ It is like being in the twilight zone. Nothing makes sense. Rob was in love with me!
‘Unbelievable! She didn’t even notice,’ he notes in wonder.
‘How was I to know?’ I cry defensively. ‘You were always rude and cold to me.’
‘If I had not been rude and cold would you have loved me back?’
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I’ll never be able to reason with him. ‘Maybe.’
He walks up to me and viciously kicks me in the stomach. The wind is knocked out of me. I gasp for breath and automatically curl myself protectively, but there are no more blows. I need a strategy. I need to keep him from getting angrier. I need to calm him down.
‘That’s for lying. No more lies.’ He stands over me. ‘Have I made myself clear?’
Unable to speak I nod.
‘You haven’t answered the question.’
I turn my face and look him in the eye. ‘No.’
He explodes with laughter, a bitter sound that rings around the empty flat. ‘I thought so. Too good for me, are you?’
‘No,’ I try to explain. ‘You were my boss. I never even thought about you like that.’
He turns his back to me, his palms clasped over his head, before suddenly swiveling around to face me, grotesquely angry. ‘You didn’t think of me like that,’ he shouts. ‘Do you know that I’ve been taking care of you and protecting you from the moment you appeared for the interview all round-eyed and dewy faced. You were never good enough for the job, too weak and indecisive, but I took you in, taught you everything, and gave you a chance. And what do you do? At the first opportunity you turn your back on me for that stinking gypsy brute.’
He spits on the ground.
‘By the time I came back from the toilet it was already too late, wasn’t it? You were itching for his dick. All the way back to the office in the car, I could smell your arousal. Disgusting.’
My mind scrambles around wildly. I have to pacify him. ‘It’s not like that,’ I tell him, my voice trembling with emotion. ‘I didn’t turn my back on you. I quit my job because I found out we were wrong about everything. We’ve all been manipulated and tricked into demonizing the wrong sections of society. The real cheats, the truly rich, are always going be out of our reach, and all we are doing is squeezing the ordinary person.’
He narrows his eyes. ‘How convenient! As soon as you landed yourself a loaded boyfriend, you’re no longer interested in protecting the poor, taxpaying public anymore, and become more concerned with not demonizing the section of society he belongs to.’
I exhale in frustration. ‘You don’t understand. I truly believed we were helping the ordinary hard-working British public, preventing them from having their pockets picked by people who didn’t pay their proper taxes, but he showed me that I was wrong.’
He pushes out his jaw aggressively. ‘I can’t believe I wasted all that time on you. You’re just a stupid bitch.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I honestly didn’t mean to hurt you,’ I cry out.
He stares at me, his face hard. ‘It’s great that you’re sorry, but it doesn’t change a damn thing for me. I’ve got nothing because of you. Did you know I was happily married? She used to make steak and kidney pies for me on Sundays. And then you came, batted your eyelashes, made me want you, and ruined everything.’ He runs his hands through his hair distractedly. ‘I’ve done things for you. I even took care of Michael for you’
‘You did what?’ I gasp.
‘Yes, I broke into his house and made those phone calls so you could actually have the necessary proof and get your restraining order.’
My mouth drops open. ‘He never stalked me, did he?’
‘He didn’t have the brains to be a stalker,’ he scoffed. ‘That was me. It was always me. I was always loyal to you.’
‘Where is Michael now? Have you done something to him?’
‘Of course not. I’m not a killer. Well, I wasn’t. You are the only one capable of driving me to murder.’
He squats next to me. His crotch is so close to my face I can smell his odor: an unwashed, stale, cheesy smell. He flicks open a switchblade and brings it close to my face. It catches the light and inspires dread. Averting my gaze from it, I realize that he’s just trying to frighten me, but I can’t help the terror that floods my entire body. He’s a man who has driven himself to the edge of madness. And he’s holding a knife.
‘Look at you. You thought you could say sorry and all would be forgiven.’ Reaching out a hand he puts it on my bare knee.
I flinch. ‘Please. Please don’t,’ I beg.
His eyes are cold. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t have a big cock. I will fit beautifully in your ass.’
I shake my head with terror.
He bends closer, his eyes widening menacingly. ‘Don’t you like it up the ass? Didn’t the slimy gypsy stuff his dick up your bottom?’
‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you,’ I cry.
‘No, I’m sure you didn’t mean it. However, you did. And now you can compensate me for my suffering,’ he says, and slowly runs his hand up the inside of my thigh.
I squeeze my legs shut and trap his hand. He laughs, an ugly sound. He wrenches his hand out from between my thighs and continues upwards on the fronts of my thighs. His progress is relentless. His fingers have already reached the edible panties that I wore especially for Dom. I stare at him desperately. His fingers suddenly pinch my pussy lips together and I jump with horror.
At that, lust filters into his eyes. With both hands, he tears my skirt right to my waist. He sees the chocolate arrows and a light comes into his eyes.
‘My, my, what do we have here?’
He bends his head and licks an arrow.
I start screaming, but he suddenly slaps me so hard my jaw feels like it has been dislocated. Stinging tears fill my eyes.
He grabs my panties.
My head and jaw are throbbing so bad I can hardly open my mouth. ‘Wait,’ I cry, a sharp pain shuddering through my face.
His hand stills.
‘Yes, my thoughtless actions brought you terrible pain. But are you better than me if you rape me?’
His eyes flicker. ‘I’ll pay for my sins. But now it’s your turn. Don’t worry I’m kind enough to use butter.’
I draw in a shocked breath.
‘I don’t want to tear you. I want to use you many times before I discard you.’
‘And after you’ve raped me, what will you do? Kill me? And then what?’
He takes his hand off my thigh. ‘Don’t you get it? The only thing left for me is the satisfaction of knowing you will get what you deserve.’
He turns me roughly onto my front.
‘Pleeeeease,’ I beg.
He hooks his fingers into the top of my flimsy, edible panties. At that moment there is a massive bang and the door of the dingy flat flies open and hits the wall hard. Both Rob and I freeze. Dom charges through the door followed by Jake. Even through the fear and shock my brain notes that they look so big and ferocious compared to Rob. Before I know it, I feel the cold, sharp end of Rob’s knife pressing into the skin of my throat.