Claiming His Wife

Chapter Sixteen

She was on the verge of calling a search party when the delivery came. The man on the doorstep wouldn’t leave until she read the card.

I’m an ass**le, but I love you. Please, forgive me. T x

Opal smiled as she read the card with the white roses once again. Tony was turning out to be a true romantic, and she overlooked the ass**le part. She placed the flowers in a vase. He’d been working hard just recently. Spending more time at the office over some new take-over bid or something. She didn’t know everything about his work, but it could explain the reason he had gone off the deep end the day before.

Changing out of her house clothes, she picked a floral pink dress with no underwear. He loved it when she did what he liked. She guessed most men enjoyed it. Taking the directions to where he was staying from the card he had sent, she called a cab.

The drive was a short one. She’d been up early for the delivery at seven. Rubbing her hands together, her heart rate increased as she saw the sign for the hotel he’d told her to go to. She thanked the driver, paying him a tip before she got out.

The man at the hotel desk smiled at her. She took the key card then went over to the elevator.

“Penthouse suite, please.”

The bell pinged, and they were travelling up the lift. Opal smiled and brushed a lock of her hair out of the way. Tony had asked for her to leave it long.

“Are you sure you want to stop here, Miss?” the man asked.

“Yes. Thank you for your time.” She tipped him and went through. She pressed the key card through the door. Opal knew in her heart she should be angry from his outburst the night before. How could she be mad at the man she’d been in love with half her life? What had started out as a school-girl crush had quickly developed into the all consuming love she felt for him now.

The door opened. She walked inside, closed the door. When she turned to view the room, she was shocked by what she found. Small liquor bottles covered every surface. The entire sitting area was a mess. He must have been upset from the way he’d treated her.

Licking her lips, she picked up the nearest bin and began filling it with the empty shot glasses. Some snacks had been thrown around. The files he’d once shown her about his possessive side were littered everywhere. These were the documents where updates were made on her whereabouts. He’d always been there in the background looking out for her.

Opal came to a stop when she saw his clothes leading out of the room. What made her heart stop were the other clothes mingled with his.

The last time she checked, Tony didn’t have a thong fetish. Still in her coat, she moved closer to the room where the clothes ended.

She stood outside the white panel door, her heart practically beating out of her chest, the nerves making her hand shake. She reached out and pushed the door open. The quality of the hotel meant no noise was made from her opening the barrier.

Frozen still, she glanced at the bed and died on the spot.

Every loving word meant nothing when she saw who lay on the bed. Were the card and the flowers a sick joke?

Tony lay in the bed, and so, too, did Rita Brooke. The woman he’d been seeing before her. The model who was everything she was not. His arm lay on the woman’s breast. His knee between her legs. They looked happy in sleep.

A cry broke from her lips. Tony moaned.

“Opal?”

He moved and looked at her, then at the woman at his side. “Opal, please.” He got out of bed walking toward her. She couldn’t do it. Her whole world crashed around her. The man she loved was in bed with another woman. He’d gone from her bed to another woman.

She turned and walked away.

His hand on her shoulder stopped her dead. “Opal, please.”

“This is the monster you are, Tony? Going from one woman to another?” Opal turned, and before she could contain herself, she raised her hand, slapping him across the face. “You bastard.” She pummelled his chest as his betrayal broke her.

What hurt more was he was allowing her to hurt him, which proved he had betrayed her.

“I love you. How could you do this to me? I love you.” The tears turned into heart breaking sobs.

“I love you, too,” he said. Any other day she would have loved to hear the words. They sounded hollow and meaningless to her now.

“This is more painful than anything you could have done to my body.” She stormed out running from him. She didn’t wait for the elevator she took the stairs. Tony followed. He’d pulled on a robe and was charging after her.

“Opal. Don’t go.”

She refused to listen. When she got to the bottom floor, her eyes blurred by the flow of her tears. People stared at her. She didn’t care.

“Opal,” he shouted, catching everyone’s attention.

“I don’t want to know,” she said.

A taxi was waiting at the bottom. She opened the door but Tony stopped her from getting in. “Don’t leave. It’s not what it looks like.”

“I don’t care. I gave you everything, and you’ve given me nothing. You couldn’t even tell me you loved me until seconds ago. It’s over, Tony. No more hiding. You did me a favour, and now you’re free.”

“I don’t want to be free. I love you.”

“I don’t believe you. I’ll get Richard to start the divorce proceedings. You won’t have to worry about your annulment.”

****

Tony watched her get in the car and drive off. The pain he’d seen in her face had killed him inside. He noticed the odd stares, and he walked back to his suite. Rita stood in his shirt, with a smile and a bottle of champagne.

“Thank the Lord she’s gone. How about we celebrate getting rid of fatty?” she said.

He saw red. The events of the night before were a little hazy, but he was sure he had gone to bed on his own. He would never break his vow to Opal. The love he felt for her wasn’t something that could be broken by a quick f**k.

Walking to where she stood, he took the bottle from her hand and threw it against the wall. Using the force of his body, he pressed her against the wall, putting a hand around her throat. He didn’t tighten his hold even though he wanted to.

“I hate violence against women. I would rather f**king kill myself before I hurt a woman, but the way I’m feeling right now, for you, I’d make an exception. What the f**k are you doing here?” he growled.

“Baby, you invited me.”

His fist slammed against the wall. “Answer me. The person whom I love more than anything in this world is gone. Answer my question, or I will hurt you.” Tony wouldn’t have hurt her. But he knew how much she liked to manipulate a situation. He needed to show her the threat. The whole sorry tale was brought out.