Page 93 of I see you Beauty

Chapter Sixty-Two

Itake another deep breath before leaving my car and walking up to Kelly’s house. There's no sense in delaying it any longer. Besides, I’ve already taken too much time, and I’ll need to sell my excuse convincingly if I want to keep this situation from escalating.

I press the doorbell with shaky fingers, and within seconds, Thomas yanks the door open, standing before me with flaring nostrils, like an enraged bull facing down the matador who dared to provoke him.

“Thomas? What… are you doing here?” I play dumb because that’s precisely what Kelly told me to do in her texts.

I walk past him and hand the bottles of wine to Kelly. She gives me a brief, assessing glance but then nods slightly, indicating that I don’t look too out of place and that nothing seems amiss. I might be dressed a bit too provocatively for a casual visit with my best friend, but Kelly has a plausible excuse for that as well.

“Where the hell have you been? You are not dressed for a cozy evening at home! Cora, tell me what’s going on right now, or else!” he growls, and I know that if Kelly wasn’t standing next to me right now, watching him with a critical eye, I would have already caught one.

I swallow dryly but try not to let my nervousness show.

“I went to buy wine. Didn’t Kelly say anything? We were going to go out, but her babysitter canceled, so we decided to stay in. But not without wine… What are you doing here? Are you seriously spying on me?” I ask, trying to shift the focus back to him.

Although I am curious about what led him to show up here and create a scene like this…?

“Don’t turn this around on me! This is all complete bullshit! Where have you been, Cora? And don’t you dare lie to me!” he yells, stepping close and piercing me with a threatening look.

“Mom, are you okay?” suddenly comes the voice of Kelly’s oldest son, who looks back and forth between us all with a worried expression.

Thomas takes a deep breath, creating some distance between us as he turns away, likely trying to calm himself down.

“Yes. It’s all right, darling. Go back to your room,” Kelly replies to her son, sending him back upstairs with a friendly smile.

His skeptical look remains, but he is probably satisfied with his mother’s statement and goes back up the stairs to disappear into his room. We hear his door close.

“We’d better go and sort this out at home,” Thomas growls quietly, grabbing me by the arm so I can go with him.

“Cora?” Kelly interjects anxiously and gives me a questioning look, wondering if she should intervene.

I know what I’m in for. But with June at home, I don’t think I have to worry about him completely forgetting himself. So I give Kelly a reassuring nod and leave her house with my husband.

“I’ll see you at home, and I hope the drive helps you calm down a bit!” I admonish him with a raised eyebrow before getting into my car and driving off.

I drive ahead and see Thomas in the rear-view mirror, following close behind me as if he’s worried I might pull out just before he does. Are you kidding me?

When I get home, he slams the front door shut with a loud bang and is at my side in a few quick steps, grabbing me by the arms.

“Thomas! Stop it! June is home!” I hiss in a warning and look up.

But only then do I realize there’s no light on upstairs. My head jerks toward him, but his palm is already on my cheek, burning. Only his iron grip keeps me from falling to the floor. I let out a startled gasp before I grab the burning spot and look at him in horror.

“Thomas,” I whisper, stunned.

“June went to campus with Linda to preview some of her new classes tomorrow. She’ll stay the night there. That means we have all the time in the world to sort this out between us,” he murmurs in such a dark voice that it sends a fearful shiver down my spine.

“We will not talk about anything! Because I’m leaving you! That was… that was too much! And now let go of me before I call the police and they take you out of your own house!” I reply, not trying to stop my disappointment and the tears streaming down my cheeks.

This is not what I wanted. But I won’t let him hit me again! Ezra is right. I deserve better.

“What… what did you just say? YOU’RE LEAVING ME? FOR ANOTHER MAN, OR WHAT??” he yells at me in a rage before he lashes out again, only this time with the back of his hand, and slaps me right in the face again.

An exploding pain sweeps through my skull as first, his hand hits my cheek, and then my head hits the floor because Thomas has let go of me. I hit the tile floor, gasping for air as it is squeezed from my lungs.

“You think you can just leave me? ME?” his angry voice sounds close behind me, causing me to spin around and crawl backward on the ground away from him so I don’t get hit any harder.

“Thomas, please stop!” I beg him through my tears, hoping there is still enough empathy left for me somewhere deep inside him. Praying he won’t hit me again.

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