3

§ LOUIS §

Mum put me to bed, kissing my forehead. I had silent tears rolling down my cheeks. I felt so embarrassed… so fucking ashamed of myself. I felt stupid for crying over a man I knew I couldn’t count on in the first place. Of course Steve was going to fucking disappoint me, over and over again.

I took a deep breath in as Mum stroked my hair, kissing my forehead again. “Mum, why did Steve let me down again?” I asked sadly.

“He’s busy with work, honey,” Mum said reassuringly. “I’m sure he’ll make it up to you…” She took a deep breath in. “He loves you to bits.”

“If he loved me so much, he would spend time with me,” I said, suddenly angry. “Whenever he comes over, something always comes up. I’ve had enough of it.”

“Cheer up, baby. Steve’s a busy man and there’s nothing we can do about it. I hate how he leaves, just as much as you do.”

“I hate him,” I said bitterly. “I never want to see him again. He always gets my hopes up for nothing, I’m done feeling like shit because of him.”

Mum cradled me in her arms as I broke down into fresh sobs.

At the end of the day… It had always been Mum and me. It was only me and my Mum that had each other’s backs. Steve never cared enough to let his personal life take a backseat for just once… I guess I knew where his priorities lay.

§ STEVE §

“Good plan, Boss,” said Abid. “We’ll call everyone and let them know our next steps now. We’ll ship in more product from the USA to make up for all the money we’ve lost, too.”

“You need to make sure we’re buying the best fucking bud there is, so the streets will know to buy from nobody but us,” I replied, and then looked at Bilal, lying beaten and bruised on the floor. “As for this motherfucker…”

“Yeah?” Trex asked.

“Slice the motherfucker’s neck,” I ordered.

“NO!” Bilal shouted. “P - p - please! I gave y - you w - what you wanted, p - please l - let me live, I’ll d - do anything…”

Trex stepped closer to me. “A - are you sure, Boss?” he murmured in my ear. “He gave us information, the prick could be useful…”

“Yeah, I’m fucking sure,” I said angrily. “The prick snaked us, and we ain’t got no room for snakes on our team, info or not. Get rid of the bastard, I got somewhere I need to be.”

“Got it, Boss,” said Trex.

Trex got the knife ready, walking slowly towards Bilal, who was lying and howling on the floor, begging for his life.

“Any last words, motherfucker?” asked Trex.

Bilal bellowed in tears, and Trex shrugged.

“Rest in peace.” Trex sliced Bilal’s neck as Bilal screamed, bleeding out as the colour drained away from his face.

§ MUM §

I stared at myself in the mirror, smoothing my hands over my ass and smiling at how I looked. I put some finishing touches to my makeup, adding lipgloss to my lips and another swab of mascara to my eyelashes. I was excited to finally go out. I deserved it… I worked too hard, and I spent so much time looking after Louis. Steve wasn’t here either, so it was the perfect night to relax and unwind with my friends.

My phone started vibrating in the pocket of my dress, and I started smiling to myself as I thought about who it could be. I took out my phone, hoping the name on the screen would be who I thought it was.

And the butterflies started hammering in my chest… Because I was right.

Matthew had texted me, “I’m gonna go pick up the lads and the girls, and then we’ll come down to yours and pick you up in about half an hour babe.”

I smiled and texted back, “That’s live babe, I just got ready. I can’t wait!”

I walked into the kitchen, pouring myself a glass of wine as I waited for Matthew to arrive. I started sipping on my drink, and then my phone started pinging again with another text from Matthew.

“I bet you look absolutely stunning babe, I can’t wait to see you.”

I started blushing. It felt like I was a teenage girl again, and Matthew was my school crush. I could feel the butterflies hammering in my chest. He made me feel so good about myself with just a few text messages.

We were just in early stages, just talking… We never kissed or anything, because I was still with Steve. I knew it was wrong to go behind Steve’s back and speak to another man… but I couldn’t help the way Matthew made me feel. And Steve didn’t exactly treat me so good either… He was always so angry, and it was so hard to keep him happy. I got frightened whenever I was around him.

I clasped my phone to my chest, smiling as Matthew’s messages replayed themselves to me in my head. I turned around the cupboard to find more alcohol, and then I heard the sound of my phone pinging again. I could feel my cheeks going red.

Suddenly, I felt some big, strong arms snake around me from the back, and I jumped at the sudden touch, swallowing. I had no idea who it was.

I turned around slowly to see Steve, and I blew a small sigh through my lips. What the hell was he doing here? I was going out soon… I didn’t need to deal with him right now.

Steve rubbed my ass up and down, and I shifted about uncomfortably, wanting to get this over with and for him to go home.

“Hi, baby,” I said awkwardly. “Where did you go?”

“I missed you,” said Steve.

I giggled nervously, and Steve started kissing my neck. He withdrew his hands from around me and then took a few steps back to stare at me. I was wearing a turquoise bodycon midi-dress that teased my cleavage and had my legs on display. This was the last thing I wanted Steve to see me in, I knew he always behaved iffy when he saw me wearing revealing outfits.

“Who’s my baby looking all sexy for, eh?” Steve asked. “A bedroom date with me?”

He laughed and pulled me close to him, and I bit my lip nervously, not knowing what to do. He grabbed my ass aggressively, kissing me again. I slowly moved away from him uncomfortably.

“I’m going out with some friends tonight, babe,” I said, swallowing. “I can’t stay in tonight.”

Steve’s facial expression fell as I said this, and my heart started thumping against my chest in fear. All I could do was pray… Pray that he wouldn’t react the way I thought he was going to, or do what I thought he was going to do.

“You’re going out dressed like that to see friends?” Steve asked calmly. “You’re only allowed to dress like that for me.” He said this assertively, like it was a statement, and he wanted me to get changed straight away without any arguments.

“Babe, it’s just clothes…” I tried. “I can’t go to a bar wearing a tracky…”

I knew he wouldn’t listen, but I was so tired of him pushing me around. I don’t know what came over me. How stupid would it look if all my friends were glammed up and I came to the bar wearing baggy jeans and a sweater?

Steve’s anger started to boil, and I immediately started regretting what I said. I wrapped my arms around my chest, trying to disguise how much I was trembling at this point.

“Don’t answer me back babe, just change your fucking clothes,” Steve hissed. “You look like a slag, and I don’t want no man looking at my property.”

I swallowed. “But if you know I’m yours, why be so worried about my clothes? I’m not hooking up with anyone, I need a night out, I haven’t had one in so long…”

“Listen to me or you’re fucking going nowhere and staying with me for the night,” Steve shouted.

Steve took steps closer to me and I backed away, terrified. He grabbed me aggressively, kissing my mouth and groping my breasts. The kiss was so hard, I could feel my lip cut and start bleeding. I started struggling, and wriggled free from his grasp, wiping the blood and saliva from my mouth.

“Steve, I love you, but you can’t control me,” I pleaded. “I want to go out with my friends.”

Steve’s anger really started to boil and he grabbed me aggressively, unzipping my dress from the back.

“Steve, please!” I cried. “Stop it, you’re hurting me.”

“From the day you married me, you became my property and you do as I say,” Steve yelled. “You can’t leave me and you can’t say the word no to me. Now relax and let me do what I’m doing, I’ve had a stressful day and I need some relief.”

He leaned in to kiss my shoulder and tears started pricking in my eyes, smudging my makeup. I was trying my best not to break down in sobs. Steve tore the sleeve off from my dress and by now, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I was pleading with God in my head to get me out of this situation. I was pleading with God that Steve wouldn’t rape me.

My phone began to sound with notifications and I froze to the spot in fear, as I realised it was probably Matthew. He was probably waiting for me outside, and he couldn’t see me like this. He couldn’t know what was going on…

“Who the fuck’s ringing you, goddammit?!” Steve roared.

“It’s probably my friends,” I said shakily. “They’re coming soon…”

“You disobeyed me and now you ain’t seeing your fucking friends. Switch your fucking phone off.”

I broke down into fresh tears, but Steve was boiling with rage. My crying only made him even angrier than he already was.

“Stop crying, you fucking whore!” Steve roared. “I’ll answer these pricks myself, give me your phone!”

“It’s okay Steve,” I said desperately. “I - I’ll l - let them know I’m not coming…” I couldn’t let him look at my phone… If he saw the messages I exchanged with Matthew, then I was a dead woman walking. He would probably kill me right here.

“I said give me your fucking phone!” Steve screamed, snatching my phone out of my pocket.

I froze to the spot, my face going white in fear. The room went eerily quiet as I watched Steve’s blood run cold. The name Matthew was blaring on the phone screen. Rage boiled over Steve’s face… He looked like he was about to murder.

“How could you do this to me?”

“What did I d - do?” I could barely speak. I was scared for my life.

“You’re seeing someone else,” Steve said flatly, the veins pulsing on his skin.

“N - no I’m not! How could you think of such a thing, I love you baby…”

I leaned forward and touched Steve’s arm desperately, wanting him to calm down. He slapped it off hard, and stared into my eyes.

“Who’s Matthew?”

“W - what?”

“WHO THE FUCK’S MATTHEW?!” Steve roared.

“Babe, he’s j - just a friend, I - I promise…”

“A friend that wants to get in bed with you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Steve started flicking through my phone as my chest heaved in and out in fear. “Look at all these text messages,” Steve said quietly. “Babe, where are you? Babe, why aren’t you answering? Are you okay?” He screamed angrily, throwing a plate on the floor and I watched my life flash before my eyes.

“And then there’s the older messages, too,” said Steve. “I bet you look stunning babe, I can’t wait to see you.”

Steve started punching the cabinets until his knuckles were sore, swollen and bloody. “I’ll kill the bastard!” he screamed.

“He hasn’t done anything!” I cried. “Steve, you’re scaring me!”

“Ain’t no ‘friend’ talking to my fucking wife like that,” Steve roared. “You’ve been seeing him behind my back!”

“He’s just a friend!” I sobbed. By now I was so frightened, I had no idea what was going to happen next.

Steve grabbed my arm aggressively, making me jolt back in shock.

“How do you explain these text messages?!” he demanded.

I remained silent. I didn’t want to say something that could warrant more abuse from Steve; I didn’t want to dig my own grave. I was terrified. Steve drew through his breath, like it was taking him all he had not to kill me right here.

“Are you fucking him?” Steve asked quietly.

I pushed him off in rage. “No!” I shouted.

Steve knocked my wine glass to the floor and grabbed me by my neck, so tightly it was hard for me to breathe.

“ARE YOU FUCKING HIM?!” Steve roared.

I sobbed uncontrollably as he let go of my neck and I gasped for air. He threw me to the floor aggressively and started punching me repeatedly. I could feel my surroundings go blurry, I felt so fucking dizzy. I’d never felt pain like this in my entire life.

Being dead would be better than living a life like this. I never felt any glimmer of hope, never saw any light at the end of the tunnel. All I could see in front of me was a miserable life… and that’s not a life that I wanted to live.

“You need to be taught a lesson for playing with my feelings,” Steve said quietly.

He kissed my cheek softly and then slapped my face to the side, as my hair drenched in wine. His voice was soft.

“So beautiful...” Steve moaned. “Yet such a fucking trashy whore.”

The monster in him came back to the surface, as he stood on his two feet and started kicking my belly as I wailed in pain.

“This will teach you who the fucking boss is!” Steve screamed. “How could you do this to me?!”

He smashed my head against the floor and I felt so dizzy it was like I was stepping in and out of unconsciousness. By now, I was crying and bleeding uncontrollably. He punched me repeatedly and then squeezed my face in his hands, kissing my mouth.

“Oh Linda…” he moaned.

§ STEVE §

I spat on her face, and then walked out of the room with her phone still in my hands.

I pulled out Matthew’s name from her contacts, and then opened the keypad to write him a message.

“You won’t be seeing Linda again.”

***