Page 76 of I see you Beauty

“Thank you so much! I promise you; I’ll certainly do a good job. First, I’ll need to see inside your house and make a rough sketch of the space. Just let me know when is convenient for you,” she says excitedly and sits down opposite him again, beaming at him from ear to ear.

“Any time,” he replies with a friendly smile.

A strange pang spreads through my chest. I should burst with pride and happiness for my daughter, who has her first job before even starting her studies. But the way he looks at her and she at him feels strange. Just as my thoughts threaten to overflow and I can no longer follow June’s excited words, I unexpectedly feel a hand on my thigh.

In the corner of my eye, I see Ezra’s hand slide under the tablecloth and feel his fingers slowly and gradually move under my dress as he listens attentively to my daughter’s ideas. This is so wrong!

And yet, it’s not my fault that I automatically open my legs for him so he can move higher. I want to feel him so badly, even though it makes me the worst mother and wife ever. I’m going to hell because of you, Ezra King! And damn it, I want to burn for you.

Chapter Fifty-Three

The rest of the evening is quieter and ends with June persuading Ezra to let her have a look at his house so she can make a first-draft sketch.

“Come on then,” Ezra agrees with a grin, eliciting a squeal of delight from June. “Mr. Shepherd, Mrs. Shepherd. It was a pleasure to have dinner with you today. Thank you very much. Mrs. Shepherd, it was incredibly delicious,” Ezra says goodbye to us and gives me a dashing smile, which he immediately hides behind his friendly expression so my husband suspects nothing.

“You’re welcome. It was nice having you with us. And thank you for giving June a chance,” I reply politely and nod to both of them.

Thomas stands up to shake Ezra’s hand, which he holds out to him to say goodbye. He says nothing to him, though, and just nods grimly. I’m sure that if June hadn’t been sitting at this table, this evening would have turned out completely different…

“Don’t be late, Pumpkin,” he chides June, and she gives him an embarrassed look. Then, she looks apologetically at Ezra, and they leave our house together.

I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about Ezra being alone with June in his house. Any normal mother would have been worried about her 19-year-old daughter going with an older guy for fear of something happening. I’m worried too, but not that Ezra would ever hurt June—because that’s nonsense. I know Ezra would never lay a hand on a woman or do anything against her will.

Instead, I worry that she might throw herself at him, which is completely the wrong thing to think—I’m aware of that. But I can’t shake the feeling, and the idea of June making a pass at him doesn’t sit well with me at all.

“I think we have some unfinished business here, Cora,” my husband’s angry hiss snaps me out of my jealous thoughts.

My head snaps in his direction, and I can see just how upset he is. We've been arguing for weeks about his dislike for Ezra and his insistence that I stay away from him. And now, here I am, sitting him down at the same table without any warning.

If it were up to me, this dinner would have never happened with this particular group. Especially since I'm now feeling jealous of my own daughter, which is utterly twisted. But that’s exactly how I feel right now.

Of course, I can’t tell my husband, so I just tilt my head slightly as I stack the plates on top of each other. I’d avoided having to go back into the kitchen before because I was worried that Ezra would have selflessly helped me put the dishes away, and I don’t know how much longer I would have resisted his hot game.

“I’m sorry, darling. Ezra came by unexpectedly and wanted to borrow some ingredients, and June invited him over for dinner. Should I have uninvited him?” I ask him as I take the plates to the kitchen.

Usually, that would have been the end of the matter, and Thomas would have sat down in his TV chair and watched the sporting results while drinking a glass of wine. But not this time. He follows me into the kitchen and seems to have much more to say.

“Yes, that would have been great,” he snorts.

“Thomas. That’s rude,” I reprimand him and give him a stern look.

His features harden, and he takes slow, angry steps around the kitchen island until he reaches me, takes the plates out of my hand, and sets them down on the counter with a loud clatter. My gaze falls first on the dishes and then back to him with furrowed eyebrows. But as soon as I look up at him again, he raises his hand, and I can only watch it speed toward me and land on my cheek with a loud and painful smack.

“I told you; I don’t want him anywhere near you! And you have the audacity to invite him into my house?! Do you think I don’t notice how you adore him? Right in front of my face?” Thomas shouts angrily at me as I fear for my balance.

I stumble into the kitchen counter, barely catching myself to avoid collapsing to the floor. One hand instinctively flies to my burning cheek as I hold it, my eyes wide with shock. Slowly, I turn to Thomas, my expression a mix of disbelief and horror as I meet his gaze.

“Don’t look at me like that, Cora! I don’t approve of you disobeying me! You knew I wouldn’t like it, and yet you invited him here. Spending time alone with him! What am I supposed to think of that, huh?” he spits angrily at me and grabs me brutally by my upper arm to pull me close to him again. “And now this sleazy jerk is making a pass at my little daughter, and you have nothing better to do than stand by and encourage it? Oh, Cora, you have no idea how angry I am with you right now!” His voice is so dark that I’m terrified of him.

Especially since he’s completely missing the point, even if nothing was going on between Ezra and me, and he was just here by chance, June would have invited him anyway, and I wouldn’t have been able to stop it because it’s rude to refuse. But there’s no point arguing with him when he’s like this. As much as I hate backing down and letting him win again, I’ve learned over the years that it’s easier to keep my mouth shut in situations like this. Let him think everything is going his way—for now.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, Thomas. But please…” I whisper and can’t stop my body from trembling.

My cheek is throbbing with pain, and I’m sure I’ll need a ton of makeup over the next few days to cover up the bruise so June doesn’t see it.

I hate that I’m so powerless in this situation. Sure, I could fight back—I’ve done it before—but it always ends the same way. It only gets worse until he apologizes the next day with an enormous bouquet or some other gift, as if that could make everything right in his world again. But not in mine. Every blow, every bruise, leaves another dark stain on my soul, deepening the scars that never seem to heal.

Thomas pulls me close to him once more with a dark growl and leans way down toward me as his fingers dig painfully into my upper arm.

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