Page 107 of Fracture

Just like my father had.

My lip trembles, and Oswald reaches across the table to take the phone back.

“I’m so sorry to upset you, dear.” He puts the phone back in the pocket of his waistcoat, his eyebrows drawn down. “That footage, it was hard to watch.”

“How did you find that? I didn’t… I didn’t even know they filmed it.”

“No, I suppose you didn’t.” He exhales through his nose, clasping his hands over his rounded belly. “I know you made some terrible choices, Stella. And I would hate for those choices to be visited back on you.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, not at all.” He holds his hands up. “I’m merely saying that no one’s past should ruin their future. And that it would be a shame if this, and the other records of your transgressions, were to become public.”

“A video of a woman being raped doesn’t ruin her reputation anymore, Oswald, this isn’t 1950.”

Oswald laughs indulgently, and shakes his head. “Oh my dear, you are so sweetly naive. Have you seen what happens to women like you when these things become public? What people will believe about you? It’s no secret you were a mess after the boys went to prison, and this, along with the fact that you’re taking two men to your bed, and one of them being your stepbrother, well…” He raises his cup back to his lips, taking asip and shrugging lightly. “It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine what sort of damage all of this could do to your reputation.”

“What do you want, Oswald?” My throat is threatening to swell shut and stop any words coming out at all.

“I want you to break it off with Levi and Dylan.”

“No.”

He ignores me, breaking off another piece of his croissant. “I want you to publicly announce that Gloria was nothing but supportive, that she was an exemplary stepmother, and that any accusations against her made by the media are nothing but lies.”

“No.”

“You will do all of this, and then you can have your life back.”

“I don’t think so.”

The old man shrugs, taking off his glasses to clean them with the white tablecloth. “You will do as you’re told, and I won’t have any arguments over it.”

“And what if I’m pregnant?”

Oswald wasn’t expecting that. His eyes flash to mine, narrowing dangerously. “I beg your pardon?”

I smirk, leaning on the table. “What? You know where babies come from, Oswald. And Levi, Dylan and I have been doing a whole lot of that.”

“You have an IUD in place, I know that from your medical records.”

I adopt the ruse, and shake my head, mirroring his own laugh from just a moment ago. “Oh Oswald, you old men really know nothing about anatomy, do you?” I lean on my elbows on the table. “It fell out with my period, a while ago, and I just didn’t bother replacing it. And those two men, well, they’ve left enough cum inside me to populate all of Europe.”

“Don’t be vile.” Oswald’s face is anything but friendly now.

I’m startled at how easily I’m lying to him, and I’m not even sure why this is the lie I chose. But I can see I’ve gotten right under his skin.

“So, Oswald, you might be a great-grandfather soon.”

“You filthy whore,” he snarls, his face menacing under the overhead lights. “Get rid of it.”

“No.” I rise to my feet, taking my purse with me. “And if you ever threaten me again, I will make sure everyone knows exactly how involved your family was with what happened to me. Do not test me again. Do you understand?”

Oswald says nothing, just regards me with a lethal gaze.

“Thanks for the coffee,” I say, before heading out of the cafe and into the sunshine. The man by my car is gone, and I panic for just a split second that he’s planted a bomb or something in my car. My reason takes over, and I give myself a shake as I start the engine. He can’t have done that in broad daylight.

Every car that drives behind me is a tail. I’m convinced of it. I take the term defensive driving to a whole new level, weaving in and out of traffic to avoid anyone following me for too long. By the time I get home, I’m sweating and shaking, and desperate to wash this feeling off me.

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