Read other chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Epilogue

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Chapter 10

Sophie was on top of the world. The divorce was still proceeding according to her plan, despite Jack's ability make the first child support payment after losing his job. Even without Jack's waiver of parental rights, she was more confident every day she that could persuade Father Tate to lobby for the annulment of their marriage through the church. Then I can marry the man I should have married to begin with and put this whole, ugly ordeal behind me, she thought.

Things were going so well that Sophie had decided to venture back to church. She wore a conservative black dress, emulating a widow, and was given sorrowful greetings from her many acquaintances and friends. She'd made sure to have coffee with a few of the legendary gossips that week so the story of Jack abandoning her was widely circulated. It had proved to be a good return on her investment, as the story had been so well reported that everyone had just accepted it at face value.

After mass she stood in line waiting to greet Father Tate who had led the service. She saw Father Williams looking at her with an odd expression on his face. She waved hello at him and smiled, inviting him over to speak to her if he wanted.

"Hello Sophie. How was your trip to Disney?" Father Williams embraced her lightly with a warm smile. He had been one of the priests she had spoken to after filing for divorce to make certain it was clear to the clergy why she had done it. He had been very sympathetic to her story of Jack's gambling, philandering, arrest, and abandonment.

"It was fabulous. The girls had such fun we even stayed an extra week to go to another resort in Vero Beach and play in the ocean." Sophie smiled as she recalled Mike's body in his swim trunks. He might be a little older, but he had kept himself in deliciously good shape. The girls seemed to tolerate him without raising too much of a fuss, which boded well for her wedding plans.

"Say, I wanted to mention I ran into someone at the hospital where I volunteer who painted the mural in the girls' playroom."

Panic seized her heart. "Oh, that's Bonnie. She is such a dear and a real artist, despite the subject and medium. That reminds me, I need to give her a call when I get home." She wanted to shout, I told her not to mention it to anyone!

"Well, it sounded lovely! I hope you'll be inviting me over to see it someday."

"Oh, we just got back and the apartment looks like a bomb went off right now. Let me get the girls back in their routine and we'll set something up, OK?"

"Fine, Sophie, I'm looking forward to it." He paused for a moment and looked a little embarrassed before speaking again. "I hate to bring up a sore subject, but I'd really like to speak to Jack. Do you know where he is these days?"

The line of people was inching slowly towards Father Tate, but not fast enough to save her from having to answer. "We only communicate through our attorneys at this point, I'm afraid. I can give you his lawyer's name if you like. Let me see if I have his card." Sophie stalled as she dug through her purse pretending to look for a card she knew she didn't have.

"He's really been on my heart lately. I just wish I could speak to him and try and bring him around. He seemed like such a good father to me, I can't imagine what could have brought him to the point of abandoning you and the girls."

Sophie finally got close enough to Father Tate to brush him off. "I'm sorry, I can't seem to find it. Please let me look for it and I'll email you the information later, okay? Hello, Father Tate!" She turned her shoulder to Father Williams. He seemed to take the hint and left.

While she made small talk with Father Tate, her mind was spinning. If Father Williams continued to press, she might have to buy furniture for the apartment and get Bonnie to paint another mural there. She only needed to hold him off long enough for the divorce and annulment to become final. It would be expensive and time consuming, but surely Jack would capitulate soon. He never had a backbone that I couldn't break, she thought.

As she walked to the classroom where the girls had played during the service, she considered sweetening the pot. If Jack would agree to the termination of parental rights and play along with her plans for the annulment, perhaps she would allow him to still see the girls occasionally. Assuming he agreed to keep that white trash bitch who followed him home away from her girls.

When she entered the classroom she saw Father Williams sitting on the floor playing with Lisa and Jen. Son of a bitch, she thought. "Father, you certainly seem to get around." She tried to say it lightly, but she heard her voice quiver nervously.

"Mommy! Can Father Williams come over and see our princesses?" Jen asked excitedly.

"Oh, no Sweetheart, we need to pick up before we have anyone come over. Where is your sister's bag? We need to get going or we'll never beat the Baptists to lunch!" Sophie grabbed the bag with the spare pull-ups and clothes for Lisa and took both girls by their hands. "We'll see you next Sunday Father Williams."

On the drive home Sophie gritted her teeth as she considered what to do to Bonnie. "Of all the people to tell, why did it have to be someone on staff at the church," she asked under her breath.

"What, Mommy?" Jen asked, eating a pretzel from her snack bag.

"Nothing, my dear, just thinking out loud. Go ahead and watch your video."

The problem was that once the fuse was lit, it would be nearly impossible to stop. She had to figure out just how serious of a problem Father Williams was going to be. She decided to speak to Bonnie first to find out how much she said. After that, if it was necessary she could go to Ikea to get enough furniture to make the apartment look lived in before the next weekend. She hated to do it, but she might have to speak to Mike about advancing her enough money to cover the unexpected expense.

She pulled into the circle drive, taking a deep breath as she gazed at the beautiful home she intended to spend the rest of her life in. It had been irresistible when he offered to let her and the girls move in. Besides, she didn't want to let the fish off the hook by being too careful as she reeled him in.

She had been able to seduce him easily enough, but some men had a very limited attention span. She felt like she needed to take advantage of his offer before his eye wandered. If he was discrete about it, she might let him wander off occasionally after they were married, but if he strayed too far the prenuptual agreement she intended he sign would provide enough to take care of her and the girls. She had come too close to falling below her standards with Jack. There was no way she was going to make that mistake again.

She herded the girls into the house and up into their playroom while she went down the hall into her home office. She kicked off her heels and stood for a moment on the thick, soft carpet, enjoying the sensation as she flexed her toes. Bonnie had done a good job with decorating her office and the kids' rooms, but there was no excuse for speaking about her private business.

She sat at the computer and pulled up Bonnie's website to get her phone number. Right on the front page of the site was a teaser image of the girls' playroom mural with a link to see more pictures. Sophie's mouth dropped open as she realized how easy it was to tell from the pictures that the room was not in an apartment. The high resolution images included a view out of the window showing part of the garage and Mike's home office. She dialed Bonnie's number in a panic.

"Baker Creative, This is Bonnie."

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" Sophie shrieked. "You posted pictures of the girls' room on your fucking website! Then you spoke to Father Williams at the hospital after I told you to keep this project quiet. Do you realize what you've done?"

"Sophie, I have no idea what you are talking about. I haven't been to any hospitals since Nancy died last year. As for the pictures, our website only gets about a dozen hits a month. Seriously, nobody has seen this. You are completely overreacting."

"Don't you talk to me about overreacting. Father Williams told me this morning that he spoke to you at the hospital this week and that you told him all about the mural you painted. He was very specific."

"Did he specifically say it was me?"

"Well... no. But you painted them, who else could it have been." Bonnie was quiet for a long moment. "Hello? Bonnie?"

"I wasn't completely honest with you." Sophie felt goose bumps raise all along her arms. "I found this lovely young woman who had painted a mural that was almost exactly like the one you described."

Sophie felt her mouth become slick and her stomach did a slow roll. "Was her name Julie?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Never mind. You're fired." Sophie was speaking calmly, but boiling under the surface. "I will poison anyone I speak to against you. Do not speak to me again. Ever. AND TAKE THOSE FUCKING PICTURES OFF OF YOUR SITE!" She slammed the phone and and stalked down the hallway.

She walked into the playroom where the girls were playing. They had their dolls out and were playing tea party with their little plastic tea set.

"Would you like some more tea?" Jen asked.

"Yes, thank you." Lisa replied.

"Mommy, would you like some tea?"

"No." Sophie stared around the room, looking at the mural with new eyes. There was nothing out of the ordinary. It looked just as it had before, but she felt like she was missing something.

"Jen, honey, what is your favorite part of the mural."

"I like the princess me a lot, but I like the secret message from Daddy best."

"What secret message, darling?" She felt her heart racing.

"At night the stars spell out Daddy Loves You right there!" She pointed above the prince and princess.

Sophie drew the curtains and turned off the lights over the protests of her girls. It was faint, but she saw the glowing letters made from the painted stars.

"See Mommy? It's right there above Daddy and Miss Julie."

"... What?"

"The prince is Daddy and he is kissing Miss Julie's hand. Why would he kiss her instead of you?"

She turned back on the lights and stepped slowly to the wall, examining their faces and poses much more closely. The princess was smiling down at her prince, her right hand at his lips and her left resting protectively against her stomach. The hair color was wrong, but the face was clearly hers. "That fucking bitch," she whispered.

Now that she knew to look for it she saw Jack's features subtly imprinted on the face of the prince. She looked for other hidden messages and saw a figure painted behind a window of the tall tower. When she looked closer she saw a green-faced witch with her hairstyle locked away in a cell. Her heart hammered in her chest as her anger grew.

She shut her eyes and tried to slow her heart before it burst. If Julie knew about her living here, so did Jack. If Jack knew weeks ago, then he must be planning something big. She impulsively pulled out her cell phone and scrolled to his number, pressing the screen to place the call. As she listened to the phone ring she realized that Jack had stopped calling her around the same time that Julie had accepted the job. When his voice mail picked up, Sophie hung up.

After scrolling through the list again she called Consuelo. She was the girl's part-time nanny who Sophie used when had things to do during the week.

"Hello?"

"Hello Consuelo? I need you to come over right away. I've had something important come up and I need you to watch the girls."

"Miss Sophie? I can't come right now. We have some cousins visiting and my..."

"Would you like to have a job on Monday?"

After a long pause Consuelo answered, "Yes, Ma'am. I'll come now."

The girls were trying to get Sophie's attention, as children always do when their parents get on the phone. They called her name, pulled on her pants, asked her to watch as they did some trick. "Would you both please shut up?! Can't you see Mommy is busy?" She stalked out of the playroom with the girls trailing behind, crying at her sudden outburst.

By the time Consuelo arrived with an insolent look on her face, Sophie had changed into more casual clothes. She knew wearing yoga pants made Mike more cooperative, and the tight sweatshirt over her favorite bra would make him even more pliable.

"I need to go speak to Mike and then I will probably have to go out for a few hours. Please don't call me unless someone is bleeding."

"Yes, Ma'am." Consuelo looked angry, but Sophie didn't have time to deal with her attitude just then.

As she walked up the stairs to Mike's office Sophie adjusted her bra, ran her fingers through her hair, and made sure her yoga pants were tight against her mons and ass. Mike was sitting at his desk facing the door when she walked through. He looked up with a sly grin.

"You look good enough to eat." His Australian drawl made everything he said sound exotic.

"That is certainly an option," she purred back at him.

"To what do I owe this timely distraction." He sat back in his chair and put his arms behind his head.

"I would like to go shopping for furniture for the apartment."

"For the empty apartment you assured me wouldn't cost me a thing?" He seemed slightly annoyed.

Sophie put on a little pout. "It's like buying insurance. If you don't need it, it's a waste of money. If you do, it's priceless."

"How much insurance am I about to buy."

Sophie lifted off her sweatshirt and kept her shoulders back to show off her expensive breasts. She rolled her yoga pants down over her hips and licked her lips.

"That much?"

She slid her bra straps down her shoulder and unhooked the clasp between her breasts, letting it slide off her arms to the floor. She stood in the center of the room in her silk panties, her hands clasped behind her back, smiling at him with a seductive grin.

"I don't know, Sophie. You tapped me out with that extra week of vacation. Sometimes I wonder if you want me or my wallet."

"I want all of you."

"Then I want all of you."

"And here I am," she said raising her hands slowly above her head.

"I don't think you understand." He stood up and began to unbutton and unzip his shorts, pushing them down with his underwear, his erection springing up as the elastic band went past. "I want all of you. I've had your mouth. I've had your cunny. Now I want your arse." The way he said it made her shiver.

"No." Sophie suddenly lost her playful sexuality, her arms crossing her body to cover her nakedness. She lost her temper and said, "I don't do nasty things like that. It was bad enough you made me choke down your foul cock, there is no way you are going to do that to me."

"You're assuming I'm giving you a choice. If you want to spend another dime of my money that is what it will cost you. I am not negotiating." He opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a tube. He squeezed a handful of clear gel into his palm and began to slide it along his shaft. "We both know you are going to do it. Why don't you just bend over the desk now and save us both some time."

Sophie stared at him, her stomach clenched in knots. Jack had been bad enough with his constant begging for her to put his freakish dick into her mouth. She had to do certain things with Mike to get her way, but there were some lines she couldn't bring herself to cross.

She tried to regain control over the situation by speaking seductively. "Why do you want that? It is a nasty, dirty place to put yourself. Why don't you put it here where we can both enjoy it." She slowly lowered her panties and rubbed her fingers on her mons, spreading her lips and opening herself with a sigh.

"I can have that anytime. You want something that costs me. I want something that costs you. Simple as that. Come here, I'll take it slow. You might find you like it after all."

He put his right hand behind her neck, pulling her towards the desk while his left hand continued to spread the lubricant along his shaft and head. She didn't fight, just tried to slow him down long enough to think of something, but he was so strong. She began to cry as he pushed her face closer to the surface of the desk.

"Wait... wait... not yet. I have another idea... wait... let me take you in my mouth again. I'll like it this time... I promise."

"Breathe easy, just relax." He began to stroke her along her ass, sliding his slippery fingers all around her puckered hole. He reached over for the tube again, putting the threaded tip just inside her opening and squeezed the cold gel into her. She began to cry in earnest.

"I'll stop anytime you say you don't want to buy that furniture. All you have to do is say it."

He slid a finger in first, slapping her ass hard when she tightened up. "Keep it loose. Don't tighten up or it will hurt. Push out like you need to crap."

She did what he said, but couldn't stop crying. She also couldn't admit she had to buy the furniture or everything would be ruined. She hated the fact that her body seemed to like the sensation of his finger stretching her out. She decided to try and push hard enough to make a mess so maybe he wouldn't want to to keep going. All it did was make him chuckle. "Yeah, that's it, push harder."

At some point he pulled out his finger and pushed the blunt, soft head of his cock into her opening. "Last chance!"

She tensed up again, but he slapped her ass so hard she knew it would bruise. "Stop tensing up, God damn it!"

She pushed out again, then cried even harder as he squeezed his head into her. She was so slippery from the lubricant that once the head was in he was able to slide easily with only a little discomfort. True to his word, he moved very slowly, allowing her body time to adjust to the unfamiliar intrusion. Part of her mind was screaming in disgust, but another part, long ignored, started pushing her hips back against his slow thrusts.

Her tears dried as she began to get wetter. She wasn't going to let him be right about this. She tried to convince herself that she was being raped, that she didn't want this, but as he increased his tempo and pushed her harder against the desk, she found herself giving voice to her rising passion.

"No, no, not this. Not like this, no." But her wet slit was saying yes, yes this, this exactly. Her hand began to slide along the desk against her will, squeezing under her stomach. The sweat made the desk surface slick as her fingers stretched to reach her nub. She finally reached it as he rocked back, then she began to stimulate herself as he started to grunt towards his release.

He was holding her hips in a tight grip, pushing hard to keep her against the desk. She felt his sweat fall against her ass and lower back as he bent over, his release finally upon him. "Oy, I love your arse! Here it comes, yeah, right in there!"

She pushed hard against his last trust, her knuckles knocking against the table, too close to her own release to stop. As she brought herself the rest of the way she heard him chuckle. She felt her traitorous muscles squeezing hard around his shaft, giving him undeniable proof that her protest was meaningless. "I hate you!" she shrieked in shame and disgust. "I fucking hate you, you Aussie prick!"

"Naw, you don't," he said as she pushed his softening shaft out with her contractions. "You just need a man you can't push around. It's no mystery to me why you left Jack. He's too nice. You thought he was a pussy because he loved you enough to try to do what you wanted. Well darlin' I ain't Jack and now you are going to pay with that sweet arse for every dime of mine you spend. And now that we both know you like it, we'll cut to the chase next time. Right?"

Sophie lay on the desk crying as he walked away, the disgusting mess draining out and down her legs. The shower in the small office bathroom started as she slid to the floor to begin picking up her clothes.

He came back up and gathered her up in his arms, kissing her hair as he lifted and carried her to the bathroom. "You know what I find ironic? Jack probably genuinely loved you... and I probably never will. Yet here you are."

He stood her up, placed her clothes on the counter, then pulled her into the small shower. She stood numbly while he soaped her down, carefully cleaning around her sore, swollen hole. She felt like he was washing her the same way he would a horse who performed well in the polo field.

After he rinsed her with the handheld shower head, he stepped aside and washed himself, pissing a hard stream into the drain. "Gotta get the shite out!" She turned away and covered her face, fighting the sudden nausea at the thought of his urine on her feet. After he rinsed them off again, he opened the door and pushed her out. "Get me a towel."

She gave him a towel and started to dry herself, wincing at her sore hole and bruised ass. "I'm going to make you regret this."

"You can't make me regret anything. I own you now; I know you liked it."

She couldn't think of anything to say against him; she actually had liked it, part of her anyway. Sophie dressed quickly, then started towards the door.

"I'm not going to give you any money for furniture."

"What?" she whispered, pausing with her hand on the doorknob, unable to look up at him.

"Yeah, I don't care about your reputation. I don't care about your church, or whether you get your annulment. I don't even care if you get divorced, because I don't know if I want you now."

Sophie felt cold enough to shiver, her wet hair hanging in her eyes.

"If you keep acting like you don't like what I want to do with my foul cock, then I just might want to keep looking until I find someone who does." She could hear the smile in his tone, knowing he was toying with her. She tried to get her mind moving again to take advantage of his mood, but he had knocked her completely off balance.

"I want to do that again," she heard herself say, but couldn't look at him when she said. "Let me go shopping and we'll do it again tonight."

"There's my girl. You can spend $15,000, but no more. Bring me the receipts. All of them this time."

"Ok"

"Say, yes sir."

Sophie gritted her teeth and glared at the doorknob. "Yes sir."

"Have fun!" He laughed as she hurried out.

She ran down the stairs to the garage and got into her black Suburban, shaking from the humiliation and pain. She had lost control of the situation and had found herself at Mike's mercy. It was an especially uncomfortable feeling for her, and one she was not used to experiencing.

Her mother had taught her how to manipulate men as she nursed. Her father was a born sucker, but a rich one. Jack was just like him, faithful as a lap dog, but didn't have the family money or drive to achieve like her father had. She had tried for years to get him to see how important his success was to her, but he simply wouldn't try as hard as he could have.

The comment Mike had made burned in her mind. Jack had loved her, she knew that well enough, because that was where she put the hook in to pull until he did what she wanted. She had cared about him in her own way, and enjoyed doing her wifely duties with him most of the time, but she had never respected him. Now she realized that perhaps her situation had been better than she knew, especially when she felt the nasty result of Mike's hard lesson leaking into her silk underwear.

She put the Suburban into gear and blasted out of the garage, driving recklessly toward the Ikea on I-10. I paid the price, so now it's time to go shopping, she thought as angry tears rolled down her cheeks.

The afternoon passed swiftly as she quickly bought rooms full of furniture, paying extra for their staff to deliver and assemble it in the apartment. She pretended she was going to live there with Jack and the girls, so she picked out themes and colors she knew they would like. When she would bend or twist the sudden jolt of pain would remind her that she belonged to someone else now.

She called the manager for the high rise to make certain the apartment would be opened for the furniture delivery. Since there was nothing in the apartment anyway, she authorized the manager to sign for it on her behalf. By the time she was done, she had spent her allowance and it was almost dark.

She hadn't eaten all day, but had no appetite for food knowing that Mike was going to expect her to spread her ass for him again. She shivered in disgust, suppressing the memory of her pleasure with a shout of frustration. The staff in the store looked at her curiously as she stormed out, her ass cheeks still sliding together from the slippery leakage.

Now that she had the furniture taken care of, she could think about the next thing she needed to do. After she slid into the Suburban's drivers seat, she hit the steering wheel in frustration. She'd fired Bonnie, so she couldn't ask her to paint the mural again in the apartment. Then she remembered that Bonnie hadn't even painted it and shrieked in rage at the person who seemed to be everywhere she turned. "Fuck you, Julie, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!"

Julie had painted the first mural that made the girls go crazy, she had found out about Mike when she painted the second, she had told Father Williams about... she stopped with her mouth open as her next thought made every hair on her body stand up. "She told him everything..."

Panic gripped her heart as she started the Suburban and drove wildly toward Bigger Bounce. She had told him everything she knew, not Jack, Father Williams. That low class, white trash bitch had ruined everything! She had made Jack stronger somehow. She had made the girls happy. She had created the situation Mike had used to force her to submit to that disgusting act. And now she realized Julie had probably ruined her chances for an annulment and may have even screwed up her chances of getting sole custody of the girls. The thoughts circled around in her mind, winding her up tighter and tighter.

There were still two cars in the parking lot at Bigger Bounce, so she parked under a broken parking lot light to wait. It wasn't long before two girls came out and locked the door behind them. She was breathing fast and shallow as they walked toward their cars, laughing and talking. She recognized Julie as she put her purse and jacket down on the hood of the car. Bonnie decided to follow her home and confront her without witnesses. "Maybe I'll teach you to keep your fucking mouth shut," she snarled to herself.

Then Julie did a strange thing. She lifted her shirt to expose her stomach and the other girl bent down to rub her hand on Julie's exposed belly.

Sophie felt cold chills all over as she realized what it meant. Julie was going to have a baby. Julie was going to have Jack's baby. Sophie began to shriek, her hands gripped the wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. The engine roared and the Suburban shot forward, but Sophie closed her eyes before it hit. The last thing she saw was Julie's frightened face in her headlights.

Continued in chapter 11