Chapter 71

Chapter 71
Florence's POV

The tap tap of my feet was all I could hear around me since I got here. The place was pretty crowded, but it wasn't enough to get my mind off it. No matter how hard I tried, my stomach only seemed to sink lower and lower to the sole of my feet. 

My anxiety levels shot up as I snuck a glance at my surroundings. I was in a restaurant, a pretty basic one at that too. A couple of patrons milled about, some of them crowded around tables with the others placing an order or walking out with bagel bags and all that. 

My first instinct was to order something, to at least blend in,but for the life of me, I just couldn't bring myself to do so. Not that I didn't have any money, right now, I had money, a lot of it, and the very thought of it was heavy enough to shatter my heart into pieces. Even if I had ordered something, I wouldn't be able to stomach it. Not with the intense amount of guilt that snaked all round my body. 

I wanted to get this over with, and fast too. 

I snuck a glance at my wrist watch and sighed. I'd been here for approximately thirty minutes now, and there was still no sign of him. I picked at the invisible dirt between my fingers. Was I really going to do this? Could I really do this and not feel guilty afterwards? 

I still couldn't believe he had asked me to do it, but even that wasn't as surprising as what I'd done myself. Despite knowing how wrong it was, I'd done it successfully too. What was I turning into? 

I shook my head as I pulled out my phone from my purse. I dialed the first number that popped up on my screen and waited for him to pick up. 

“Hello?” It took a while, but after the third ring, he picked up. At the sound of his voice, a dreary feeling washed over me immediately. “Who is this?”

“It's Florence, dad.” I croaked. Didn't he have my number saved? Did he delete it? I pushed all those thoughts out of my mind as I continued. “It's me. I've been waiting for you at that restaurant for a while now.”

“Do you have it?” His voice was icy and it sent literal chills down my spine. “If you don't have it, then I can't….”

“I do.” I cut him off immediately. The guilt was threatening to suffocate me at this point so I wanted to get it over with. “I have it with me.”

“Good.” He quipped and the line went dead. 

Good? His monosyllabic response rang in my ear. That was all he had to say? He felt no remorse, nor gratitude for what I'd just done for him. Was he aware of what I'd gone through just to get this?

I found my fingers trailing my bag. I still couldn't believe I had such a huge amount of money with me right now. As I traced the shell of my purse, my mind went to a particular someone. If I was being honest, he didn't exactly leave my mind. 

Dominique. 

My stomach churned as I thought about it. He'd done nothing to deserve this, and yst I'd just stabbed him in the back, even though he probably had no idea about it yet. I didn't want to do it, but my hands were tied and I honestly didn't see another way out of this mess. Now that the deed had been done, what was I going to do now? It was already too late to go back. Dad was already probably on his way and there was no way I could go back to Dominique. 

He'd probably thought I had gone to make breakfast for him or something. I remembered him stirring awake a bit in the early hours of the morning. I'd planned on leaving without a sound, but I guess fate had other plans for us. When he'd woken I froze in my spot on the bed. I'd barely pushed the duvet from my body when he pulled me back into his grip. 

“Stay.” He'd mumbled. “Just a little longer.”

Nothing, had prepared me for that, and in that moment, I felt my heart sink to my feet. Like he hadn't tortured me enough, he'd peppered kisses on the side of my face, before dozing off again. For a moment, I almost went back on my plans of actually stealing from him. 

How could I do that, after last night. Last night was a total bliss and even as I waited in the restaurant for my dad to walk in, I still hadn't gotten the thought out of my mind. How Dominique's lips had moved over mine with so much passing and fervor. How he'd praised every inch of my body, whilst peppering a million kisses on each of my sides. How he'd talk me through taking it all in. I couldn't give that up, any of that. There was no way I would let my mistakes come in the way of I and Dominique's happiness. 

I was going to confess to him the moment I got him. I would tell him the tight spot my father had put me in and apologize profusely. There was no way I could let my father ruin what we had, not because of dad, or anyone for that matter. 

“I'm here.” Someone's gruff voice filled my ears immediately, cutting my thoughts off. I raised my head just in time to see my father sitting just opposite me. “Where is it?”

“Here.” I let out slowly. I wanted to say more, but not yet. I was saving it for when the time was right. With one more glance at him, I pulled out a small bag that contained the money, before pushing it towards him. His eyes widened immediately, just before he snatched the little parcel from the table

“How much is it?” I could see the green in his eyes and hear it too. “How much did you get from that sick bastard? I hope it's enough to..”

“It is.” I cut him off immediately. I had no idea why, but there was something I couldn't quite place about him. It threw me off and it wasn't a particularly nice feeling. “Enough for whatever you want to do.”

“For once, you didn't disappoint me.” He crooned. He was so excited he couldn't even hide it and it made me sick to my stomach. “I never thought…”

“Don't ever call me again.” I cut him off. He froze momentarily as he took me in. “,I don't ever want you to contact me again…”

“You little brat.” The anger in his voice was evident. His eyes were a bright red as he let out his next words. “How dare you speak to me like that? Who the hell do you think you are? Do you think you worth anything to me? You don't. You're just a stupid little slut, just like your mother was.” 

I said nothing as I allowed his words sink in. My chest felt heavy as I fought my tears from spillinh out. After dad has his fill of yelling hurtful words at me, he stalked out.

With tears in my eyes, I headed back to Dominique's house. I had barely stepped into the living room when someone cut me off. 

“Hold it there.” Dominique roared. “Where the hell are you coming from?”