Shaking my head, I tell him, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Well, I know Brant lost his temper and killed that girl he dated in high school for fucking around on him, so he must not be too fond of faithless women. I know he has trust issues out the ass, and it probably wouldn’t be real hard to make him start suspecting something. Maybe he witnesses a whisper, a little caress between former lovers at a family function. Maybe he catches you locked inside a barn with the man you used to fuck in secret.” Gesturing toward the bed, he says, “Maybe he smells that man on your bed sheets when he comes home late from work one night.”
Since he takes another step toward me, I take another step back. “Get out of my house,” I tell him, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
“Maybe it’s clearer than that.” He takes a step a closer to me. “Maybe big, bad Brant comes home to find that another man’s been using his wife’s pussy.”
I’ve backed myself against a wall, but he’s not Brant and I don’t want to be cornered by him, so I quickly scoot back toward the bed and my nightstand. “Theo, I’m serious. You need to leave right now, before I call the police.”
“You can’t call the police. How would you explain that to Bri? Face it, Alyssa, that’s nothing but an empty threat. I can stay as long as I want, do whatever I want, and you’re not gonna tell a damn person a damn thing about it.”
Fear claws at my insides and I shake my head. “You’re wrong.”
“Am I?” he asks, cocking his head. “Then how come you never told Brant I touched you in the barn that day?”
He’s not listening to me and he keeps moving closer. Rather than argue with him, I turn around as fast as I can and lunge for the nightstand by my bed. If I can just grab my phone, if I can call Brant…
Theo grabs me around the waist and yanks me back before my fingers can close around it. He pulls so hard on my stomach, I panic and stop fighting. “Okay! Stop! Stop, stop, stop,” I say, each time a little quieter.
“You gonna behave yourself?” he asks, squeezing since he noticed that was what drained the fight right out of me.
“Yes. Let me go. Let’s just talk, okay? You said you had a fight with Bri—why don’t you tell me about it?”
He keeps his arm locked around my waist, but doesn’t apply any additional pressure. He just leaves it there to keep the threat alive, to let me know he’s a heartless monster, and he won’t hesitate to hurt my baby if I piss him off.
“Apologize for being a bitch,” he says coldly.
I suck in a breath. “I’m sorry for being a bitch.”
“There we go,” he says, his voice much more amiable. “Man, you are easy to control, aren’t you? I bet Brant loves that.”
I couldn’t give fewer fucks what Theo thinks about me; I just need him to let go of my stomach. Slowly and gently, so he doesn’t think I’m fighting him, I wedge my fingers beneath his arm and try to pry it away, but he doesn’t budge.
“Please, Theo,” I implore as calmly as I can. “We can talk. We can sit down and talk.”
“No,” he murmurs, releasing his locked hold on my waist, but only so he can slide his hand lower, frighteningly, over my swollen tummy. “I don’t want to talk anymore, Alyssa.”
I feel like my soul is melting inside me and trickling down into a disgusting puddle in my lower gut. My skin crawls as his hand stops on my abdomen in the same spot Brant rubs every night, waiting for Mackenzie’s kick. “What do you want, Theo?”
“Just a little relief.”
I squeeze my eyes shut as his hands travel up and he grabs one of my breasts.
“One more fuck, Alyssa. Just one more.”
I shake my head, keeping my eyes squeezed shut and my lips sealed.
“There’s something about you belonging to Brant now that makes it more exciting,” he tells me, leaning his face so close I can feel his breath on my cheek. “Finding the meanest guy in the room and then fucking his wife—that’s fun, right?”
He is the fucking worst. “Doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment to me,” I fling back. “It’s not like I want to fuck you. Any coward can threaten a defenseless baby to get her mom to do what he wants.”
“Her?” he questions, as if this is news to him. “It’s a girl?”
“Bri didn’t tell you?”
“No,” he murmurs. “Well, that’s probably good. I haven’t had a daughter yet… maybe yours won’t take on quite so many of my features.”
One can hope. I don’t want to further escalate his anger if I can help it, so I don’t say anything, but it’s never been so hard to bite my tongue.