Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
And therein lied the problem. All that money was nearly gone. Not only that, I needed that next installment to help pay for Adam’s rehab, which was going to be a pretty penny. I was between a rock and a hard place, and it seemed Nick was determined to make this hard on me. If I could survive last night, I couldn’t imagine him doing any worse.
I lowered my head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Won’t you please sit down and have breakfast? It physically hurt me to make my voice as docile as possible.
Though I was no longer making eye contact with him, I could feel the heat of Nick’s stare on me as his grip briefly tightened on my arms making me gasp.
“You have no idea how much I want to hurt you right now, do you?”
I forced myself to keep my head down and not answer. I would not allow myself the luxury of tears, nor would I let him see them. As the silence stretched, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Could you please let me go? I need to start cleaning up.”
For a moment, I didn’t think he would let me go, but finally he released me; no he basically pushed me away from him making me stumble backward. I barely managed not to lose my footing and remained upright.
When he finally sat down in front of his plate, I started putting the cooking utensils I’d used to make breakfast in the sink so that I could wash them.
“What the fuck is this?”
I turned to see a ferocious frown marring his face.
“I’m sorry, what is what?”
“This,” he answered in a way that made it seem like it should be obvious to me as he pointed to the plate.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Look.” He jabbed his fork into the eggs as if that actually provided an explanation.
Cautiously I approached the table and took a look at the food. It seemed fine to me. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Nick scooped up a bit of egg and shoved it inches away from my face. It was then I noticed a piece of shell.
I barely managed not to roll my eyes. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll take it out for you.”
“Make me more eggs and get it right this time.”
“But I could just—” The look he shot me cut my words off in mid-sentence.
“Apparently he was in a mood, and I had to get on his good side so that I could ask him about leaving the house to view a couple of rehabs facilities. Of course I didn’t plan on going into detail, but I needed that time.”
I took his plate and dumped the eggs but left the bacon and toast since there was no point in getting rid of those which seemed to already be cooked to his satisfaction.
It took me five minutes to whip him up some more scrambled eggs, and this time I took great care to ensure that no shells had gotten past my inspection.
I placed the food in front of him, and I waited with bated breath while he inspected what was on his plate. He took a few bites of his eggs and said nothing. I stood and waited, in case he found fault in anything else.
My wait wasn’t long before he tossed the bacon back on his plate. “Too chewy. Can’t you fucking get anything right?”
I balled my fists at my sides and took a few calming breaths. He was deliberately pushing my buttons, but I wouldn’t fall for this trap. “I can make you more bacon.”
I didn’t get a chance to rectify the situation because he wiped his arm across the table and sent the plate flying to the floor with a crash.
“Oh my God!” I yelped in surprise at his action. “Why…why did you do that?”
“Because you can’t fix a simple breakfast. Now pick that shit up.”
“But you….” I trailed off knowing it was pointless to argue with him. If he was trying to make me cry, he was doing a damn good job of it because tear stung the back of my eyes. I don’t care what he thought I did; no human being deserved to be treated like this. Part of me wanted to refuse and tell him to pick it up his damn self, but I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t doing this just for me. If I were, I would have walked away after last night.
I walked to the utility closest to retrieve the broom and dustpan when he shook his head.
“No, I want you to get on your hands and knees and pick it up by hand.”
“Now, you’re being ridiculous, Nick. I don’t see why I can’t just—”
“If I have to toss your ass on the ground myself I will. I said pick the goddamn mess off the floor, on your fucking hands and knees!” he roared. If his face had gotten any redder, he would have been the color of a ripe tomato. Placing the broom against the wall, I took the dustpan and dropped to my knees as he requested. I quickly wiped away a tear that slipped out of the corner of my eye hoping he didn’t see.