Page 86 of Resisting Mr Black

I shrug. I’ve no idea but I’m not about to admit that to him. “I’m not staying here. And you can have your gift back as well.”

“Please, don’t do this, Sophie.”

“It’s over. Please, leave.”

I see him take a step towards me and I shift a few paces forward out of his reach. He can’t touch me. I can’t allow it because if he does, I’ll crumble. I need to stay together.

My vision blurs with fresh tears and I fight to control the tremor in my voice. “You let me fall in love with you and everything I knew about you was based on lies. What sort of man does that?”

He drops his head; he’s got no comeback.

“I believed you when you said no one would ever hurt me again now I was yours.” My voice cracks. “And they have. You have.”

“I can’t let you go,” he whispers. “I won’t.”

I shake my head. “You need to.” I draw in a deep breath and fire the last two words out from between gritted teeth. “Get out.”

“Sophie… please.”

Tears cascade down my cheeks as my heart breaks in two. “Get. Out!”

I stare through the window at the river below and I don’t know how much time passes before I hear the front door slam shut, jolting me back to reality. I lift my eyes to see his reflection has gone and my legs give way from beneath me as I curl up into a ball on the floor.

I wake with a start and for a second, I don’t know where I am. I peer down and see a fluffy cream throw has been pulled over me as I lie on the sofa.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asks. She’s borrowed one of my grey t-shirts and a pair of jogging bottoms and sits in the corner of the L-shape sofa scrolling through her mobile.

I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again.

I push myself up on the seat and pull the blanket off me. “What time is it?”

“Half twelve. You were exhausted and dozed off about an hour ago.”

I perch on the edge of the sofa and hang my head in my hands as the events of the evening filter back into my thoughts, bringing with them the horrid feeling of emptiness.

“I don’t understand why he owns a strip club. Why couldn’t he have owned a normal club?” I mutter angrily.

“You’ll have to ask him.”

“He says it’s ‘business.’ That’s his explanation for everything.”

Lucy tilts her head thoughtfully. “He is a businessman. It could just be business.”

I flop back into the sofa. “Why the hell didn’t he tell me?”

“That’s pretty obvious. Not many women are going to want to hear that their boyfriend owns a strip club.”

The thoughts swim round and round in my head like fish in a bowl. “I just don’t understand him. He hates me wearing anything remotely skimpy, yet he owns a strip club where women are employed to show off their body.”

“Yeah, double standards. Typical bloody man. I dunno.” Lucy shrugs. “You’ll have to ask him.”

“He said all the right things. He made me think he’d fallen for me. But I never even knew him, not really. The whole thing’s a lie.”

“I think he has fallen for you.”

“How can he have?” I snap.

“You didn’t see his face when he left.” Lucy sidles up next to me on the sofa. “He looked like his world had ended.”

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