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‘He’s not included,’ Murphy cut me off. ‘There’s no records of your son even existing. I had the birth certificate and the adoption papers removed from the state office when you started cleaning my money, just in case I ever needed to blackmail you, babe.’
Was he lying? I couldn’t tell. The sick thing was, he knew exactly what to say to get me to pay attention, whether it was the truth or not. I wanted to see my son more than I wanted anything in the entire universe.
I’d kill to see him. Die if it meant I could touch his face one more time.
‘What do you want me to do?’ I asked dully. Dornan’s face loomed large in my mind, so distracting I could barely concentrate on what Murphy was saying.
He smiled, and it was like he knew he had me hooked on his bait. Now, to reel me in.
‘You’re gonna move some money for me, sweetheart,’ he said. ‘Some of Emilio’s money. Don’t worry, I’ll let you keep a little to get yourself set up. But the bulk of it goes into my personal offshore accounts, are we clear? It costs money to hide.’
I nodded. ‘And that’s it?’
He nodded, chewing slowly.
‘Well, I guess we’re done here, then. You need help packing your shit up?’ I was acting nonplussed, but inside I was a quivering mess. I needed to be alone so I could figure out what the fuck my next move would be. Some vague feeling in the pit of my stomach told me I had to bring Dornan in on all this, but the urge to investigate a little further myself was too tempting. I still had the burner phone John had gifted me with, and I needed Murphy to leave so I could make some calls.
He threw his fork down, and it made a high-pitched ting against the china as he pushed his plate away. Hurriedly, I closed all of the cardboard boxes and shoved them back into the paper bag, thrusting it at Murphy. He rolled his eyes and removed the lo mein, setting it on the table for me to keep. How thoughtful.
‘I can’t leave without cracking open the fortune cookies,’ he said, standing slowly. ‘That would be rude.’
I took a deep breath. ‘Open them in the car. With your girlfriend.’ I snatched up the two fortune cookies – the romantic motherfucker had brought one for each of us – and stalked towards the front door.
‘I’ll call you,’ Murphy said, knocking his shoulder against mine as he passed me.
‘Can’t wait,’ I threw back, tossing the fortune cookies at him. He caught them easily, a look of amusement on his face. Bastard. I hated him. I hated him almost as much as I hated Emilio.
He pocketed the plastic-wrapped cookies and reached for the door handle but drew back at the last second. ‘I almost forgot,’ he grinned, looking back at me as he held up the stack of photographs.
I wanted them. But I knew if I showed how much I wanted them, he’d raise the stakes. I held my jaw rigid and slipped the tip of my tongue between my front teeth, biting down until I tasted blood. Don’t react.
He held the stack out to me, a smirk on his face. ‘You want them?’
I reached for them slowly; too slowly. He yanked them back just as my fingers were about to close around them, dropping the paper bag full of leftovers on the floor as his other hand wrapped around my throat. Squeezing tight, he pushed me back into the wall. My head hit the plaster with a dull thunk.
I gave him a sour look, my voice coming out in a rasp as his fingers hovered at my throat. ‘I knew there’d be a price. What is it?’
He chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully, watching my mouth with great interest.
‘You want to kiss me, Murphy? Is that it?’
He grinned, letting go of my throat and grabbing a chunk of my hair as he pressed me harder against the wall. He pushed his greedy lips against mine, nine years worth of his pent-up frustration crushing against me. It was bad, but not so bad, until he stuck his tongue in my mouth. Gross. I stilled for a few moments, thinking it was a small price to pay in the scheme of things. When his hand started travelling from my waist up towards my chest, I shoved him off me.
‘I think I threw up a little in my mouth,’ I deadpanned. ‘This was fun, we should do it again never.’ I snatched the photos from his hand, and he made no attempt to stop me this time.
Murphy sniffed, wiping his wet mouth with one finger. Still sampling the goods, no doubt. I knew he was excited about finally laying one on me after all this time, but his pupils were pinpricks. There was something bubbling in his veins, and I was betting on coke.
‘You forgot your fortune cookie,’ he said, tearing open the packaging and cracking the cookie in half before holding it out to me. ‘Read it.’
‘No.’
‘Then no more photos for you.’
I snatched the broken fortune cookie out of his hand and pulled out the piece of paper, letting the cookie pieces fall to the ground as I read it.
‘Fortune favours the brave.’ I dropped the piece of paper, and it fell lazily to the ground.
‘How brave are you feeling today?’ he asked, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. I pulled away sharply. He’d touched me all he was going to touch me today. My skin was already screaming for me to get in the shower and scrub his prints off of me.
