Dark Layers (Volume 3), page 20
Elijah points a firm finger at her. He edges closer to her with his back hunched over at her. "I do not give a fuck whether we are married or not, Adriana. Who the hell told you where I live?"
Shit, that's his first wife! What the hell is she doing here?
"Your brother, that's who. He called me a few months back and wanted my help."
Elijah quickly grabs her arms and throws her against the wall. I jump back in horror. Bloody hell! First Sophie, and now, Adriana! What's he trying to do? Take on the female race?
"So it is you, you are the person that has been releasing stories to the press?" He screams right in her face.
"You don't scare me Elijah." She says firm.
He instantly throws her onto the floor. I hear her hit the deck - her landing echoes throughout the living area. He starts to storm towards her like a wild animal and I know I have to stop this.
"Elijah, stop!" I scream in the archway.
His eyes come towards me; he looks angry, really, really angry. He starts to edge towards me at lightning speed. I back up to the wall just inside the archway and say nothing.
"Princess, why are you here so early?" He says tenderly once he reaches me.
I look away from him because I'm terrified. I clutch at my trousers because I don't know where to put my hands.
"Don't be scared of me Anile, I would never hurt you - you know this." He says.
He's just inches away from my face. He raises his hand and gently strokes my left cheek; his touch still ignites me, even in a situation like this.
"Elijah, what were you going to do to her?" I whisper.
He grits his teeth and looks uncomfortable. He retracts his hand from my face and places it flush against the wall, just beside my head.
"Someone has been pulling our strings Anile - not just Sophie."
"It isn't me Elijah, I came to warn you." She pleads.
None of us look at her.
"What were you going to do to her, Elijah?" I say once more.
I'm no longer frightened, I'm mad, and getting madder by the minute because of his silence.
"Don't fucking answer me then!" I snap.
I duck beneath his arm and rush over to Adriana. She's still on the floor, she's clutching her left knee.
"Are you okay?" I say soft while I kneel down to her level.
She shakes her head. "My knee hurts, I think it's broken."
"Can you stand?"
"I think so."
I take her arm and pull it over my shoulders. I help her get to her feet.
"Ouch, oh it hurts." She moans.
Oh I feel so bad for her, my tummy is literally churning in tune with her panting breaths.
"How did you get here? Have you got a car?" I ask.
"No, I took a taxi. I don't drive."
"I'll take you to the hospital." I say tenderly.
"You will not, Anile." Elijah snaps.
"You can piss off!" I shout. "How dare you man handle a woman! I forgave you of Sophie but I will not condone you hitting women, Elijah!"
I help Adriana move at a slow pace; she's limping so badly that I only wish I could carry her.
"Anile, all the stories that are in the papers are because of her! She's the only person who's still alive that knows such personal things about me." He insists.
"No they are not in the papers because of me! Castor is using one of Anile's friends - that is what I came to tell you Elijah." Adriana sobs.
I shake my head - it has to be Sophie that Castor is using. I bloody knew it!
"After all these years, after everything that I have forgiven you of, you actually believe I would do this to you? I publically saved you after I lost our child. I nursed you back, I fed you, helped with your business - I protected you Elijah, from the media - from everything!"
"I never did anything wrong, I never needed protecting! Everything we did was your ideas. And you couldn't even state who you were, Jane Doe." He snaps sarcastically. "You were protecting your fucking self, not me!"
My tummy falls through my body and towards the centre of the earth. Jane Doe is his ex wife! And he was going to be a father! Oh my God! I release Adriana's arm and edge her towards the sofa. I urge her to take a seat and turn my attention solely to Elijah.
"Elijah, you never ever told me you were going to be a father." I whisper.
"What does it matter? The baby died, it's as though it never existed." He sneers.
"Don't be so damn cruel Elijah." Adriana snaps.
I lower my head in shock. I do understand why Elijah blocked it out, it's his way of protection and his means of salvation. Losing his child must have been so painful for him.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" I ask softly.
He narrows his eyes at me. "This is not up for discussion." He snaps.
"Okay, okay." I hold my hands up in defeat. "You also never told me Jane Doe was your wife. Why?"
He says nothing, he's just staring impassively. I turn around and stare Adriana right in the eye.
"Why didn't you want the public to know who you were? What happened to you after you left the hospital?"
She's still holding her knee; she looks uncomfortable. Her head is rocking from side to side; tears are dressing her eyes.
"I just wanted to be free of the Darks family. I lost my child and just wanted to break free from them all. It may seem silly to most people but no one truly knows what the Darks family are like. They are controlling, possessive, and secretive. I didn't want the press all over me, I didn't want to humiliate Elijah, I just wanted to leave London." She sobs. "Anile, if you marry Elijah, it will all happen to you too."
"Shut your mouth, Adriana." Elijah snaps.
I feel for her, I know all too well how overwhelming Elijah can be - and his shady family. I take a seat next to her and wrap both my arms around her. I cup the back of her head and just allow her to cry in my arms.
"How could you let this happen?" I sneer at Elijah.
"There is more to this than you know Anile - I lost my child too!" He snaps. "I helped her leave, I was the one who told the press that she was a nobody, just like she asked me to - I did it for her."
"Is that true?" I whisper into Adriana's ear. She smells so sweet, like lemon. It forces my tummy to double over. I try to hold my breath but it's just too strong a scent.
"It is, he did help me - but he was so damaged, there was only so much he could do."
Her words hurt my soul - Elijah is damaged, too damaged. The last few months he has been okay - more than okay - but it does not change the problem. He has too many issues and I wonder what it would take to tip him over the edge again?
"I, I -" I don't know what to say. I'm broken, vocally, emotionally.
Elijah pulls his phone free from his pocket. He stares impassively at the screen for a few minutes. Risking more frown lines on an extremely crowded forehead, his frown deepens.
"Elijah, are you okay?" I ask. I have a bad feeling that he's hiding something.
He shoots me a narrowing glare and it causes me to feel worried for some reason. He puts his phone to his ear.
"Jonathan, you need to come inside and take Adriana to the hospital." He snaps down the phone.
"No, I will take her - I am not leaving her with your bloody driver, Elijah!"
He points at me, phone still in hand. "You are going nowhere. I am not fucking finished with you!"
What the hell? What's his problem? His order forces me to react badly; Aries is on my side and I am ready for war! I am not having him speak to me like a piece of shit!
"You cannot order me around! I am not staying here!" I snap.
I get to my feet and charge towards him. I point a firm finger right in his face. I am full of rage!
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" I scream.
He grabs my wrist and pulls me around, forcing my back against his front. He covers my mouth with his hand and holds me tightly in place. I dig my nails into his hand and stamp on his toes but it does not affect him.
"Let me go!" I scream through his hand.
Jonathan appears in the archway to Elijah's living area.
"Take Adriana to the hospital." Elijah orders.
Jonathan strides past us in his powerful black suit and picks Adriana up in his arms. He practically runs out of the living area with her, and the last thing I hear of them both is the front door slamming shut.
Elijah slowly releases me but I don't relax, I get madder.
"Don't fight me Anile because I will just hold you down again."
I swing my entire body around and face him. My fists are formed into balls, my body is shaking! I am so damn angry! How dare he hold me down!
He raises his eyebrows at me. "Why should I wish you congratulations from my brother?"
I freeze in place. I squint my eyes to try and evaluate what he might be guessing.
"Answer me Anile, answer me now." He snaps.
I turn from raged to a shrinking violet within seconds.
"I don't know, how would I know?"
I shrug my shoulders, I'm trying to act unaffected by his question - that's all I have. This is not the right time to be telling him that he's going to be a Daddy.
"Please do not play dumb with me. I know when you are lying - you excessively tap your fingers against your legs," he points to my idle fingers, "and you squint your eyes. Now fucking answer me, now!"
"That's not true, I don't do all that!" I gasp.
He narrows his eyes at me. "Answer me at free will or I will force the truth out of you."
"And how would you do that?" I challenge him.
He smiles viciously. "So there is something."
Fuck! My heart starts pounding hard against my rib cage - the sneaky Bastard played me!
"You have, five seconds." He warns.
"Or what?"
"Or I will lock you in my bedroom until you tell me the truth."
"You wouldn't dare." I say wide-eyed.
He unexpectedly lunges for me and grasps both my wrists with too much effort.
"I'm pregnant." I blurt out without permission from my brain - holy fuck!
He releases me. He raises his eyebrows; his mouth is set in a firm o. He says nothing, he just gazes at me.
"Say something." I urge.
He starts to blink rapidly and slowly backs away from me.
"Elijah, say something."
"Who have you slept with? Who's the fucking father?"
Shock, the after affect of a physical or mental collision. It forces the nerve system to either overreact or freeze - I have frozen.
"Is that a trick question?" I say while frowning.
"I have had a vasectomy Anile." He tells me through violent gritted teeth. "Who the fuck have you slept with?"
"No one - I mean, you, only you!" I plead.
"It's that wanker, Gerard, isn't it?" He snaps.
"Whoa, who, who is Gerard?" I ask confused.
He starts to edge closer to me and now I'm starting to panic. He looks wild, like something is possessing his body. His eyes are huge and almost black; his body stiff.
"Something must have gone wrong - I have not slept with anyone else. How can you think that of me?"
He leans his face right in on me; he's hunching his neck. He looks fucking scary and I fear if I say one more thing he will lose it. He doesn't say one word, he's just staring at me like a wild animal. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone again. He dials someone.
"I want to speak with Dr. Alexis, now!" He snaps.
He's still in my face. I try to back away from him but he grabs my arm.
"Do not move, Anile!" He orders.
I obey like a weak son of a bitch. I am trying to emit Athena but I'm shrinking by the minute. I'm trembling, blinking rapidly and I suddenly feel dizzy. I try to inhale enough air to sustain my brain but I'm struggling, big time.
"Dr. Alexis, can my vasectomy have stopped working? - Don't give me all the percentages, just give it to me straight. Could it have stopped working? - I see. - I will be with you in twenty minutes."
He slams down the phone and eyes me wryly.
"Get in the car, we are going to see my doctor."
"What - why? I have my own doctor Elijah."
He grits his teeth again and practically growls at me. "Get in the car otherwise I will drag you into it by your fucking hair, Anile."
He grasps my arm. Surprisingly his grip is tender - not as I thought it would be. I frown while peering up at him - I'm confused, is he mad to the point of hitting me or just mad with himself?
He pulls me next to him and ceaselessly leads me out of his house and quickly into my car. I am so damn nervous that I hope I will just pass out and wake up at home, remembering all this as a bad dream. I cannot believe he is treating me like this, I am utterly shocked and saddened.
He pulls out of his driveway at a dangerous speed. He's crazy mad and I don't really blame him, I understand why he thinks' I've laid with another man.
"Elijah, can we talk, please?" I say in a weak voice.
"Just shut up, Anile." He snaps.
His harsh words instantly silence me. I suffer the enduringly long drive quietly with no music, no words - nothing but a spiking atmosphere.
WE ARE IN A stony car park. It's dark outside and we are hidden around the back of an old Victorian house - which I presume is Elijah's doctors. The fences are six foot high and surround us. I'm scared, scared for myself and also scared for Elijah. I know I have not slept with anyone else but it still does not change the fact that he is taking this badly to say the least.
I peer to the side and sneakily eye him. He's pained; he's gripping the Mercedes steering wheel to hard; his unlit eyes are just gazing out of the window.
"I'm sorry Anile, I'm sorry you had to witness what just happened between Adriana and I. I'm also sorry for the way I have just treated you." He lowers his head in shame.
I say nothing. I already forgive him - it comes with the territory. I know he's damaged and I know he hates it when he cannot control a situation. I am just so frightened right now - not of him, of what will come of us when he realizes I am carrying his baby.
"If you have cheated on me, I will be broken." He whispers deadpan.
"Elijah, I haven't - I wouldn't!" I implore.
Tears threaten my eyes while I try to make him see that I only have eyes for him. I reach out to touch his arm but refrain.
He swallows hard. "Come."
I get out of the car on weak legs. My tummy is doing overtime, folding over and over. I feel sick, dizzy - extremely uneasy.
We walk into the back of the house through a dark blue door. The hallway is lit up so I can see what I am walking into. It's a clear doctor's surgery. The walls are all pastel blue and the beige carpet is thin and hard wearing. The lights are long and cheap and stretch across the ceiling, they are a dull yellow. We slowly walk down the hall and pass four dark brown doors.
We reach the reception area in the room just off of the hallway - it was once the houses living room I think. Elijah throws a massive wad of cash onto the desk. The desk is low and white with three different height surfaces; one for the computer and the other two are filled with tons of paperwork. It's a little cramped in here, the desk is squished into the corner of the room to my right.
I cannot actually believe this is his doctor's, I thought he would be registered somewhere that costs too much money and gives you whatever you want for the right price.
An old lady with short silver white hair appears in front of us from the hall the other side of the room. Above the archway where she is standing, I see a green sign saying, exit.
"Mr. Darks, please go into room three," she points to behind us, "it's in the hall you just came through. Please provide me with a seamen sample so I can test it."
"Thank you for seeing me at such late notice, Alexis." Elijah says steely.
"You are very welcome Mr. Darks - Miss, would you like to come with me so I can check you over?" She says tenderly.
She holds out her hand to usher me in the right direction.
I peer up at her. "I have a doctor. I can see him tomorrow."
She looks kind - old - but kind. She has tons of wrinkles and looks like she's had a hard life. She's dressed completely in white - a hard white jacket and loosely fitted trousers. This sparks me to think this is why Elijah likes her.
"It won't take long, Miss." She says.
I frown. "My name is Anile." I say almost in a whisper. I really wish I could call my father, I don't feel safe here for some reason.
"It's okay Sweetheart, follow me so I can perform an ultra sound and check everything is okay with your baby."
"No." Elijah says from behind us. "I want to come in with her, I want to see the ultra sound, I want to see the baby."
I take a steady step back as worry washes over me. I don't know if I want him in there!
"But Mr. Darks, if it does not work out in your favour -"
I cut her off immediately. "It is his child, I have not slept with anyone else." I snap.
"Miss, please calm down." She raises her eyebrows. "This is just precaution."
"I don't care if it is not mine. I will come in with her - we will work this out Anile." Elijah gazes over at me with sad eyes. He looks like he's on the verge of breaking down.
Oh God! I take a huge gulp. A small of plasters mixed with bleach hits my nose - it makes me feel sick. My tummy feels tight. I'm so sad, so upset. I just want to fall apart and know that someone will take care of me.
"Okay Mr. Darks. I'll be in my office - door number one. Just knock on the door once you have a sample of your seamen. A clear pot is provided for your sample, it's in the room."
He nods his head firmly at her.
"Wait over there Princess, I won't be long."
Elijah disappears inside the solid oak door and I walk towards the burgundy seating area just across from the reception desk. I lower myself into the middle seat. I really feel like I have done something wrong - why? I have absolutely no idea. I want my father, I need him now more than ever. I decide to call him quickly.
