Page 17 of Hawk

“And what did you tell them, Savannah?”

“I fell. Don’t worry, I kept your dirty little secret safe.”

Lloyd growled as he pushed me into the wall. “Good. Now get this house fucking clean.”

I quickly gathered my purse and ran down the hall to change. Slamming the bedroom door, I collapsed on the floor in tears.

Why the fuck did I stay with him? I should have left years ago. Now I was trapped in this domestic hell and put everybody who cared about me in danger. All because I wasn’t strong enough to leave.

Wiping the tears away, I stood and changed my clothes, then headed down the hall to clean. Lloyd was sitting in his office with the door open. I could hear him clearly flirting with another woman as I swept and mopped the floors.

An hour later, the floors and house were sparkling clean, and I was drenched in sweat. I leaned on the wall when Lloyd came around the corner.

As he passed me, I boldly reached out and grabbed his arm. He whipped around and glared down at me.

“Where were you, Lloyd?”

He laughed and ripped his arm away from me. “None of your fucking business, Savannah. Now get dressed and try to look presentable. My father is coming over.”

I sighed as he pushed past me down the hall. Turning toward our bedroom, I got in and headed to the bathroom.

Whenever Lloyd’s father, Eckhart Wiedermann, came by, it was pure misery. He was an evil old man who made my life even more miserable than it already was.

He would always make comments about the way I dressed or my hair. I was dirt in Eckhart’s eyes.

I finished my shower and got out to blow dry my hair. Eckhart and Lloyd would lose it if I showed up to dinner with wet hair. I carefully curled the bottom like Lloyd liked and picked out a nice dress.

Make-up was minimal, but still enough to show a bit. I put on my dress and a pair of lower heels, then grabbed the pearl necklace Lloyd had bought me one year after he put me in the hospital and claimed ‘I was drunk and fell out of the car.’

I hated these clothes. I hated this whole thing. I felt like a Stepford wife and that wasn’t who I was. I wanted to wear sundresses and go barefoot through the yard. But Lloyd would lose it if he ever caught me like that.

Sighing as I tucked the stray hair behind my ear, I made my way down the hall. I ducked into the kitchen before Eckhart and Lloyd could see me. The kitchen was my joy and I would never let either of them take that away from me.

I grabbed my apron and tied it around, then got to work. The oven was set to on, ingredients were taken out, and I started to cook.

The smells quickly filled the air, and I smiled as I sauteed some vegetables. I set the plates in the dining room and came back to finish up the appetizers.

Lloyd and Eckhart expected a full five-course meal whenever he came over. I never minded though because I loved to cook.

As I heard the men come into the dining room, I took the tray of oysters out to them. Lloyd smiled at me as I placed them down. Eckhart refused to look at me. I headed back into the kitchen to work on the next course.

When they finished the oysters, I brought out the butternut squash soup with cinnamon croutons. Lloyd grabbed my arm before I could escape back to the kitchen.

“You look beautiful tonight, Savannah.”

I softly smiled back at him. “Thank you. I’ll have the next course out soon.”

Play the game and I’ll be safe tonight.

I rushed back to the kitchen before Eckhart could say anything to me. I waited until I could hear them pushing their bowls away to bring out the small portion of seared bluefin.

Eckhart glared at me as I served the fish.

I wish I could just poison both of them.

I shook my head at those thoughts as I made my way back into the kitchen. The main course was coming up, and I was expected to sit and eat with them before disappearing back into the kitchen.‘Where a woman belonged.’

I could hear the men talking as I took the main course out. Eckhart was going on about business and how much money he had made. That’s all that man cared about; money.

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