Page 75 of Sweeter than Honey

I heave a shaky inhale. How could I have been so stupid?

“You can’t let anyone see that, Dylan,” I say to him. “Please.”

“Oh, but Ican,” he says. “Look who has the power now. Doesn’t feel so good, does it?”

I shake my head. “Dylan, you don’t need to do this…”

“But that’s not even the best part.” His nostrils flare. There’s a deep red flush across his face. “Remember my friend, who’s a PI? I asked him to keep an eye on you. It wasn’t easy, especially since you never leave this stupid hotel. Except for Saturday night.”

“No…” I whisper.

This has to be a bad dream. This all has to be a bad dream.

“That’s right.” Dylan takes out his phone, and shows me an image. It’s Renata and I, leaving from the restaurant last weekend. It’sveryobvious that we’re together. Her hand is on my waist, and I’m leaning into her. “Don’t you think your HR department would find it interesting that you and your boss are going out for an expensive dinner together?”

The breath catches in my throat.

“Or better yet.” He raises his eyebrows. “Maybe thenewspaperswould find that interesting, huh? The CEO of the city’s most expensive hotel chain, and her personal assistant?”

My head is spinning. I put my arm to the wall so I don’t lose my balance.

Dylan looks at the image with malicious interest. “I have to admit, Lily, I didn’t expect that from you. You were always soboringin bed. Why didn’t you say you were into this sort of thing? I would’ve liked to see you with a woman. We could have had a threesome.” He takes another step toward me, so his body is just inches from mine. He towers over me, radiating heat. “It’s a nice picture. I’ve enjoyed looking at it over the past few nights, if you know what I mean.”

Ireallywish I didn’t know what he meant. I wish I could kick him out of my suite. I wish I could rewind the last twenty minutes, to back before my world fell apart.

But I can’t.

“Dylan…” I beg, my legs shaky, fear coursing through me at his closeness and the smell of alcohol coming off of his breath. “Please don’t tell anyone about what you found. I could get fired. Renata could get in trouble. Think about Eli…”

“Oh, but Iamthinking about Eli,” Dylan responds. “And I’m thinking about our upcoming divorce case. I don’t think that the judge is going to be very impressed when he finds out that you’re working for a mafia empire, and fucking your boss, do you? In fact…” a horrible, twisted grin mars his face. “I think in the light of this new information, I might even file for sole custody.”

This, more than anything else so far this evening, completely catches me off guard. In a matter of a moment, the fight completely leaves me.

“You…you wouldn’t, Dylan…”

“I think you know that I would,” he responds. Now he presses his face up close to mine, and I can really smell the stench of his cologne, and the humid, sticky warmth of his breath.

I can’t help it. I feel a hot tear roll down my cheek. “Youcan’t, Dylan. Please, please don’t…”

He brings a rough handto my face, and wipe it away.

“Well, you know I hate to see a woman cry,” he says. “So I’m willing to keep all of this a secret.”

I sniff, but I know that he’s not that generous. “What do you want?”

“I want you to come back and live with me. You and Eli. And I want you to quit this job. Everything was fine before you started working here. You come back and live with me, and drop the divorce. And I won’t say a word to the newspapers, or the police.”

Now the tears are properly streaming down my face. I brush them back with the sleeve of my shirt.

“I’ll give you two days to think about it,” Dylan says, tucking my laptop under his arm. “Two days, then I go to the police and the papers.”

Without another word, he exits the living room. He slams the door loudly as he goes, punctuating his threats.

Unable to stand for a second longer, I collapse onto the couch. I’m shaking uncontrollably. I can’t believe what’s just happened.

Iknewit was good too to be true. That my life here, at the hotel, with Renata…that it couldn’t last. Eventually, someone was going to find out and it would all come crashing down.

Heaving, choking sobs overwhelm me, and I hold myself tightly on the couch.