“She just broke up with me,” Matthew hissed. “So don’t expect anything from me.”
Stinger sniggered. “I think she’s got everything she wanted from you, Matthew. A job from Blair Robertson… access to Joseph Quinlan… I’m hardly surprised she’s ditched you.”
Matthew fumed. “You’re forgetting I’m Joseph’s manager.”
“What’s your offer, Stinger?” Eleanor asked, ignoring her ex.
“You get the full story on this Ivan Quinlan thing… everything – all the details. You credit it to me and I’ll keep your – ahem – personal involvement out of the papers.”
“What personal involvement?” Matthew asked, suddenly realising something had been going on behind his back.
“How can I trust you?” Eleanor asked Stinger.
“How can I trust you?”
She stood tall. “Fine, okay. I’ll get you the story. I’ll dig around into Joseph’s family history and give you all the information you need. I’ll even write it and give it to you fully formed. And – in return – you keep my involvement with Joseph out the papers.”
“Good girl,” Stinger said. “You’re going to be the editor of our paper one day, I can feel it. You just need to keep using your devious feminine charms to seduce information out of stupid men, and you’ll go far.”
Eleanor glanced at Matthew. His irritation suddenly cracked and he stood up. “What the hell does he mean by ‘using your feminine charms to seduce stupid men’?”
Eleanor opened her mouth to deny any seduction, but Stinger pulled out his phone. “Glad you asked that, Matthew. I’ve got a recording of how much Eleanor loves her job. Perhaps you’d like to hear it?”
The walls suddenly closed in on Eleanor – crushing her into a tiny cube. “No! There’s no need for that. Let’s just agree that you won’t play that recording to anyone, and I’ll give you my Joseph Quinlan / Ivan Quinlan story.”
He smirked and pressed ‘play’ on his phone. “Tell me, Matthew,” he said. “Did Eleanor ever make noises like these with you?”
“No, please!” Eleanor shouted.
But it was too late. She heard her own voice – recorded less than an hour ago – streaming out from the tinny phone speaker. She wilted internally as she heard herself groaning… she was climaxing on the recording and calling Joseph’s name. She glanced at Matthew who was standing in front of her, looking ready to kill.
“Do as I tell you,” Stinger said. “Or else the world gets to hear this.”
Eleanor’s heart pounded painfully in her chest with humiliation. But suddenly it wasn’t Stinger she was afraid of. Matthew’s furious stance told her it was time to leave, but the air was as thick as molasses.
She glanced at the door. “I’ll be in touch soon, Gerald… Matthew, I’m sorry.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Matthew lunged at her, grabbing a handful of her hair and making her scream with fear and pain. “I made you the success you are, Eleanor – everything you own is because of me!”
Eleanor struggled as he wrapped his arms around her, gripping her tight. Stinger sat back and watched in amusement. She twisted in Matthew’s strong grip and threw her head back frantically, hoping to head-butt him, but instead she hit the back of her head against his bony shoulder, sending dizziness through her already clashing mind.
He released her from his arms, making her stumble backwards, but before she could dart away he grabbed her shoulder and wheeled her around. He pulled back his fist, and Eleanor tried to dodge, but he swung like a prize fighter, slugging her heavily on the cheek. Her body flew backwards, as if she was on a sudden-braking bus, and she twisted in mid-air, landing on her hands and knees, with a thump. She rested there for a moment, trying to recover, desperate to stop her body from shaking. She realised her nose was trickling with hot blood, but she didn’t have time to recover, because Matthew was now standing over her, looming and pulling back his fist, ready to punch her again.
“No!” Stinger shouted. “Don’t, Matthew. Let her go.”
Eleanor breathed heavily and gazed up at Matthew, suddenly afraid he was going to kill her.
Stinger stood up. “And Matthew won’t be blabbing about any of this either. Not unless he wants the world to know he’s been cuckolded by Joseph Quinlan. You don’t want that, do you Matthew?”
“Get out,” he muttered, not taking his eyes off Eleanor. “Get out before I throw you out.”
She wasn’t sure which of them Matthew was talking to, but her trembling legs scrambled beneath her and she hoisted her frantic body up to standing. With her vision blurring she sped past Matthew before he changed his mind, and fled towards the front door. She panted to get her breath back outside on the doorstep, safe now in the pouring rain, with her cheek stinging with the force of his punch. She heard shouting within, and her heart lurched with the terrifying prospect that Matthew might follow her and beat her to a pulp. She ran to the waiting cab, which was suddenly as appealing as a paradise island.
“You okay, ma’am?” the driver asked as she climbed in.
She whimpered, refusing to cry. “Yes. Can you take me to where you picked me up from?”
“Sure.”