Ok I have to apologize about the wait, but I wanted to make sure I got this chapter right. This is and the next two chapter are the inspiration for the whole story. With that said this chapter does deal with some very adult situations that everyone may not feel comfortable reading. I put a a line of *** around it. You won't miss anything if you skip, just make sure you read the end.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to SM. No copyright infringement intended.
(Rpov)
"You look gorgeous," the make-up artist said as he leaned in to examine his work. "If I had your bone structure…"
"Thank you," I replied, curling into myself self-consciously. I wasn't good at taking compliments, but I was good at taking criticism. Yes, I knew how backwards that was.
"You're going to be the bell of the ball." He smiled. "Tell me if I've crossed the line, but Mr. King is a very lucky man."
"You've crossed the line."
I jumped at the sound of Royce's voice as he entered the bathroom where I was sitting at the vanity. I had been on edge since his return a week ago. He hadn't really been himself, and that scared me. One day, he was romantic and surprising me with diamonds and dinner, and the next, I'm flinching at every move he makes, preparing for the next blow. I had no idea what happened on that trip, but I couldn't help but wonder if he knew.
"Sorry, Mr. King. I didn't mean to offend. I was just commenting on how gorgeous she looks tonight."
"Are you done here?" Royce asked quickly. I looked at his dark form in the mirror. He was in a black Armani suit with the first few buttons undone on his crisp white button down, allowing some hair on his chest to peak through. His mouth was straight, and his eyebrows where pursed together. He wasn't in a good mood.
"Yes, I am actually." I looked up the man who had spent the last hour helping me with my hair and make-up. "Have fun tonight, Rose." He smiled at me before walking out of the bathroom and letting himself out of the apartment.
"Must you flirt with every man you see?" Royce groaned after he heard the front door shut.
"I wasn't flirting," I answered quietly. I had to tread lightly. If said the wrong thing, he would lose it.
"I'm not stupid, Rose. You better watch yourself at this party. Now hurry up and get dressed. We need to go. My mother is waiting," he scolded me, walking out of the bathroom.
This was going to be a rough night.
As we arrived at the art gallery, his mother met us at the door.
"About time you two showed up. I was afraid you were going to be late to your own father's birthday party," Nancy said, ushering us inside. Royce entered first, going to find his father to congratulate him, and I tried to follow behind, but Nancy grabbed my arm, stopping me.
"Well, didn't you clean up nicely tonight?" she commented, giving me the once over. "You better be on your best behavior. A lot of important people are here, and I will not stand for your white trash, self-centered attitude. This is about his father-not you, and you'll do well to remember that."
Nancy strode into the building without another look towards me. I wasn't even surprised by her actions. The last time she saw me, I was storming out of the seamstress' store, whom she had hired to make me a dress for this event. I looked down at my baby blue and silver gown and shrugged. I thought I looked nice. Taking a deep breath, I plastered a smile on my face and walked into the party.
The decor was minimal. Round tables with white cloths and calla lily center pieces filled the main hall. A 'Happy 60th Birthday' sign was strewn across the far wall behind the string quartet and the make-shift dance floor. Nancy seemed to have reigned herself in on this one.
Looking around the room, I spotted Royce and his father talking.
"Happy birthday," I greeted Royce King Senior while looping my hand through his son's arm.
"Why thank you very much, Rose," he replied, giving me a slight smile. "Oh, Royce, I invited the McCartys to sit at our table tonight. You really need to get that deal signed, son. We want that hotel opened by 2013."
"I'm working on it. Emmett has been hard to reach lately," Royce said, harshly gripping my waist.
"Well, tonight is your chance. He and his parents are sitting at our table," Royce's father responded, patting his shoulder. I began to tune out the rest of their conversation as the revelation of Emmett sitting at our table set in.
Emmett and I hadn't spoken since I left his apartment that morning. That one night, it felt like everything changed, and the next morning, it was as if I didn't exist. He wasn't as physical as was he was before; it was almost as if he was just going through the motions the last time we slept together. And after all that we'd learned about each other in those five days, I expected at least a text, but I got nothing. The only person I had been in contact with was Alice, and I wasn't going to ask her about Emmett. That would only draw attention to the fact that something was going on between us. So I couldn't do anything but wait, and I'd be a liar if I didn't admit that I missed his company.
"And you better start working your magic now, son, because the McCartys just walked in." Quickly, I turned towards the entrance just in time to see Mrs. McCarty walk in with a tall man with light blond hair. Smiling, they greeted Nancy, who'd made it her job to meet everyone at the door, and worked their way inside. Behind them was a tall brunette woman in a long black dress. I hadn't known they had a daughter. Emmett had never mentioned having a sister, but I had never asked. Finally, I watched as Emmett entered the room, and butterflies flew in my stomach. But they stopped as I watched him wrap his arms around the brunette woman's waist, whisper in her ear, and kiss her cheek as she threw her head back and laughed. I don't think my heart had ever plummeted so quickly.
He brought a date. And not just any date-a tall, beautiful, modelesque woman who could've honestly put anyone in the room to shame. I felt the tears well in my eyes as the realization set in: he wasn't calling me because he'd found someone else.
Royce's hand left my waist, and with a big smirk, he roughly grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the entrance.
"Let's go greet them, Rosie," he cooed as I struggled to keep up with his long strides. I could feel my heels dig in with every step. Nothing good was going to come out of going to talk to the McCartys for me. Actually, it would probably make the dread and anxiousness I'd been feeling the last week worse.
"Mr. and Mrs. McCarty, it's so lovely to see you here," Royce greeted in a sweet voice.
"Royce, you know we wouldn't have missed this party for the world." Mr. McCarty chuckled. "I've known your father my entire life. I'll take advantage of every chance I get to remind him that he's older than me." Emmett and his father shared very little resemblance. He was literally the spitting image of his mother, but the smirk that graced Mr. McCarty's face was all the evidence you needed to know they were related.
"And who is this lovely woman you have here on your arm?"
"This is my fiancée, Rosalie Hale. Rose, this is Carlisle and Esme McCarty." Royce gave me a stern look as he introduced us.
"Ah, so this is the Rosalie Hale that I heard so much about," Carlisle said, raising his eyebrows.
"You've heard about me?" I asked skeptically, eyeing Royce. If Emmett had mentioned me to his father, I was screwed.
"Of course I told him about the lovely woman I met at the book club a few weeks ago." Esme smiled before walking up and hugging me. "It's wonderful to see you again. You haven't been back to the club in weeks."
"I've been really busy lately," I lied to her as she pulled away.
"Oh, course you have, dear." She smiled at me as she fell back into her husband's embrace. It was clear as day that those two loved each other. In the few minutes since they had been here, they hadn't been more than an arm's length from each other. It was endearing.
"Now, where's the old man?" Carlisle said, looking around the room. "Oh, got him. It was great to meet you, Rosalie." He pulled his wife away to go talk to the birthday boy.
"They seem nice." I looked up at Royce.
"Don't let Carlisle fool you. He's nice now, but a pain in my ass in the boardroom," he said, shaking his head before looking down at me. "I'm not even surprised that you get along with Esme-birds of a feather-but don't get too close to her. It won't look good."
"What? I don't understand."
"I don't expect you to, but I do expect you to listen to me," he said sternly, gripping my forearm.
"Okay, okay," I whispered, trying to pull myself out of his grip. The last thing I needed was a bruise on my arm right now.
"Don't ever pull away from me either. You're…"
"Well, if it isn't the son of the birthday boy and Legs."
I froze, and my eyes closed as I heard Emmett's voice behind me.
"Emmett, I haven't seen or heard from you in weeks," Royce said, roughly turning me to face Emmett and not relaxing his grip on my arm. As I raised my eyes, I saw Emmett staring down Royce with his arm wrapped around the tall brunette's waist.
"Yeah, well, I've been behind on work lately, so I had to cut a few distractions out," he responded. I'd been called stupid and a bitch, but never a distraction.
"I understand that. I had to fire half my team last week because they weren't getting shit done on time."
"It was something like that," Emmett deadpanned.
"Rose." I looked at Royce as he called my name. "Why don't you take Emmett's date to the bar and get us drinks? I don't want to bore you with all this business talk."
"Sure." I smiled. "Why don't you come with me?" I said, stepping away from Royce. She grinned and began following me towards the bar.
"I'm Rosalie. They should have introduced us beforehand, but sometimes business comes before manners with them," I joked as we walked. I couldn't find a reason to be rude; I doubted she knew the twisted web she'd walked into.
"Irina."
"How long have you known Emmett?"
"In all honesty, not long. We only started hooking up three weeks ago." I felt the air leave my lungs as the realization set in that he'd been sleeping with both of us at the same time. I was truly just a pawn in his little game, and I was so weak I told him everything. I let him fool me into thinking that he was different and that I was special.
"That's great," I lied, trying hide the hurt in my voice.
"Yeah, I was shocked he even invited me to this. I've noticed he's very secretive with his family, and we didn't talk at all last week."
"That's nice."
"Yeah, but this week he's been a total romantic. I guess he's trying to get out the dog house by taking me on candlelit dinner dates and even attempting to cook me dinner."
"That's so sweet." I smiled as we approached the bar.
"Can I have a scotch and a vodka tonic, please?" I asked the bartender. The way this night was going, I was going to need something harder than wine.
"I'll just get a Heineken and a glass of pinot noir." She smiled before turning towards me.
"So you and Royce King… It must be amazing to be with someone of that caliber and status."
"Yeah, we're engaged," I replied, turning towards the bar. I knew it was petty, but for some reason, I just wanted to rub that in her face, and it felt good.
"Oh, wow. Maybe Emmett and I will reach that point someday."
I scoffed. "Maybe," I said as we grabbed our drinks and began walking back. Royce was animatedly talking to Emmett, who looked utterly bored.
"So, as you can see, I've been thinking about new amenities for this hotel, so we should definitely get together to discuss the options because you know we don't want to build this hotel with anyone but the McCartys. The best working with the best." Royce was laying it on thick.
"Sure," Emmett responded, grabbing the beer out of Irina's hand. I handed Royce his scotch and took a big gulp of my drink. Royce's hand slipped around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
"Thank you." My eyes widened as Royce thanked me for the first time in his entire life before leaning in to kiss my temple. Something was off.
"I think they're starting to serve dinner. Maybe we should go take our seats," Irina hinted towards Emmett.
"Sure." He shook his head as he led her towards the table. The further they got, the tighter Royce's grip became. I was sure I was going to get a bruise.
"You're drinking hard liquor now?" he growled in my ear.
"Just one glass," I whispered.
"That better be it, and you better not get drunk. The last thing we need people thinking is that you have an alcohol problem. Do not embarrass me." He released me roughly before walking towards the table.
I wish I could have said that the dinner was great. The food was amazing, and the jabs that the Emmett's and Royce's fathers threw at each other were actually comical. It was obvious that they grew up together, and it was interesting to see how close they acted in public, when they harbored such resentment for each other's families. The night would have been perfect, but every time I looked across the table, I saw Emmett whispering in his date's ear as she threw her head back and laughed, kissing her cheek, or running his fingers through her hair. It was physically making me sick. There were moments I literally couldn't look away. It was like watching your life fall apart, and it hurt everywhere. How the hell did I get so attached?
"You all right, dear?" I looked up to see Esme staring across the table at me with concern in her eyes, and soon, everyone else's followed.
"Oh, yes," I said, placing the perfect Rose on my face. "I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed by it all." I motioned to the room.
"That's understandable." She smiled.
"Hell, to be expected," Royce Sr. cut in. "You know Rose is from a small town in Montana. My boy managed to find a farm girl."
"Montana is a great state. I've found the people there appreciate the basics. They don't need or want the luxuries that we have here. It's admirable," Carlisle added, giving me sympathetic glance.
"Oh, please, Carlisle, they don't know the luxuries we have here. If they did, they'd never go back. Hell, I'm surprised Rose here knew proper English."
"You know, I've heard that the school systems in rural areas are awful. They don't even have enough money to afford new books. You're very lucky to have gotten out, Rose." I could have taken it from Royce's father, his mother, and even Royce himself, but not from Emmett's new squeeze. How dare she tell me I was lucky; she knew nothing.
"Excuse me for a second. I'm gonna get some fresh air," I said, standing. I felt all eyes at the table follow me as I left the room. As soon as I made it down the front steps of the gallery, I took a deep breath of fresh air. I hadn't realized how stifling that room was until I left it. Between Royce going hot and cold, to Royce Sr. airing all of my personal business, and the sympathy coming off the McCartys… it was too much. But to top it all off, Emmett, who I hadn't spoken to in a week, the man that I had spent four amazing days and nights with, showed up with another woman that he'd been sleeping with while fucking me. I felt stupid. I felt played, and most of all, I felt hurt. How could I have let myself get this deep? And it was all my fault. Emmett never hid who he was. I just jumped in feet first, eyes wide open. I was such an idiot.
"I told you not to let them get to you."
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. "Emmett, I'm sure your date is wondering where you are right now."
"Rose." I felt his hand grab mine, and I turned to face him, pulling myself out of his reach.
"I'm serious, Emmett. I get it; it was fun while it lasted," I said, walking past him back into the building.
"What are you talking about?" I heard him coming after me, so I picked up my pace.
"Rose, stop," he growled.
Freezing in my place, I turned to face him again. "How can you not know what I'm talking about? I spent five days at your apartment, and I haven't heard from you since. And then I see you a week later with another woman. I just thought you would have the decency to at least tell me you were done," I whispered.
"Oh, my fucking God," he groaned, running his hands through his hair. Looking around, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a room and closed the door. He released me as soon as it clicked shut. I stepped back and felt my back hit something soft.
"What do you want from me? You're the one who's engaged to another man, Rose." Looking around, I realized we were in the coat check room.
"You knew that. Don't act like I betrayed you. You knew that from the beginning," I countered.
"So, what, you expected me to come here alone? Tough shit, Rose. You're not the only one who has to keep up appearances."
"Just go back to your date, Emmett. You know, the woman you've been seeing the past three weeks. Yeah, she happened to tell me that one."
"You couldn't have thought you were the only one…" he said calmly as I looked down. "Fuck."
He stepped closer to me, and like every time before, my body reacted. No matter how much he'd hurt me today, my body reacted to him. As his hand touched my chin, I couldn't help but close my eyes, and he lifted my head to see him.
"Open your eyes, Rose." I opened my eyes to see him looking down at me. "I don't know what you want to hear from me, but I'll never lie to you. Yes, I've been with Irina the past few weeks." I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip on my chin.
"What do you expect from me? You belong to someone else, Rose. You're his, and I hate it. I hate seeing you like this. I hate seeing you hurt and knowing I caused some of it. It took every ounce of will power I had not to fly across the table and punch his father in the jaw for what he said to you. But I can't. You belong to him. It was expected that I come here with a date, Rose. If I didn't, it would look weird."
"Don't talk to me about expectations. You're a hypocrite. You tell me not to worry about what everyone else thinks, and you're doing it yourself," I interrupted.
"Will it make you feel better to know that I think you're easily the most beautiful woman in that room or that when I slept with Irina your name almost slipped out of my mouth? Everyone's getting suspicious, Rose-my parents, Alice. I had to do something," he yelled.
"Well, you could have kept me in the loop."
"We're not dating. I don't have to tell you everything that's going on with me."
"Thank God for that," I yelled back at him. We stood unmoving for a few seconds, neither of us backing down.
Emmett dropped his hand from my chin and huffed.
"I'm sorry." At hearing his apology, I buckled. It was my fault that I felt this way.
"It's not your fault. I have no right to be mad at you. You owe me nothing."
He reached up and caressed my cheek. "Let me make it up to you." He grinned, and instantly, his lips were on mine. Pushing me back against the coats, I grabbed onto the back of his neck.
"We shouldn't," I whispered as he placed soft kisses on my neck.
"Shh. The more you talk, the longer this will take," he said, pulling back as he began to gather my dress at my waist.
"You can't be serious. We're at a birthday party."
"I know, and I'm bored as shit. This is going to be the most interesting part of my night." He wiggled his eyebrows as he spoke.
"We can't," I stated firmly, and Emmett dropped my dress. I thought I had won, but Emmett really had a one-track mind. Reaching behind me, he pushed the coats to either side, exposing the bar they hung on.
"Grab the bar," he said, falling to his knees.
"What? Why?" He gave me a pointed look, so I raised my hands and grasped the metal to appease him. I watched as his hands dipped under my dress, and I felt them pull at my underwear.
"Emmett, I said no," I whispered, bringing my arms down as he grinned up at me.
"Put your hands back. You're going to need something to hold on to."
I had a smart retort on the tip of my tongue, but as his fingers slipped inside me, it left my mind. My grip tightened on the bar and I pulled myself up, as I felt his thumb graze my clit.
Emmett kept a slow and steady pace but when he curled his fingers and hit that sweet spot, I couldn't control the moan that slipped out of my mouth.
"See, I know exactly what you want," he growled curling his fingers a second time. The pleasure that coerced through me cause me to lose my grip on the bar, but as I began to fall. Emmett noticing this lifted both of my legs and placed them on his shoulders.
"Please." I whispered as I felt his breath ghost across my lower lips. He turned his head and kissed the inside of my thigh.
"I thought I cured you of that." I yelped as he bit the skin and his hand stilled within me.
"No. Don't stop." I whined throwing my head back.
"You said please." I brought my head forward to find him looking up at me with a defiant look. I knew what he wanted. We had been together enough for me to be able to read him in the bedroom.
"Fine." I growled. "I won't say please anymore just fucking eat me out."
"That's my girl." He smirked before sucking on my clit as his fingers started a faster pace. I found myself the thanking the lord that Emmett convinced me to grab bar. I could barely hold myself up, but it gave me a lot of leveraged to grind myself into him.
It didn't take long for Emmett to have me biting my tongue to keep in my moans. He was a very talented man. But as the high of my orgasm began to fade away, I realized I was attached to a man I couldn't have. If I was honest, Emmett was everything I ever wanted Royce to be, but I wasn't his and he wasn't mine. We were stuck in limbo, waiting for the other to take the plunge. But that didn't stop me from having feelings for him. I didn't know what they were, but tonight proved that I felt something for Emmett. And given the situation, the longer this continued, the more hurt we'd be in the end.
"Emmett, we can't do this anymore," I whispered as I righted my dress.
"I know," I heard quietly reply.
"Everything has gotten so out of hand."
"I know." I looked up to see him smoothing out the front of his shirt.
"I'm serious, Emmett."
"I know," he said, stepping towards me. "But let's not talk about it now. I'm sure everyone is wondering where you are." I closed my eyes as he leaned in and kissed my forehead.
"I'm sure they're asking the same about you." I smiled up at him as he pulled back.
"No, I slip out of these things all the time. Besides, I told them I needed a smoke."
"You don't smoke."
"See, you don't know everything about me." He winked before walking out of the closet. After waiting a few minutes, I gave myself a quick once over to make sure everything was in place and reached for the door. As I entered the main hallway, music assaulted my ear.
"Where the hell have you been?" Royce said, grabbing my arm when I returned to the party.
"I told you I was going to get fresh air." As I spoke, I felt Royce's nails dig into my arm.
"About that… Don't ever exit the fucking room like that again. I don't care what anyone's saying about you. That was embarrassing."
"Royce, you're hurting me," I pleaded.
"I don't give a shit, Rose. Oh, and I went out to look for you, at my mother's request; you weren't outside. The next time you lie to me, there will be hell to pay."
"Royce…"
"Don't even try. It seems you need to be reminded who you belong to." I saw him look over my shoulder, and he instantly released my arm. "We'll talk about this later."
The pain set in my arm as the blood began to flow again, and I blinked several times to will away the tears. This wasn't good. He knew. He knew everything before tonight. He was just waiting for me to screw up.
"Ah, I see you've come back to join us," Mr. McCarty said, walking towards us with a smile on his face.
"Well, I couldn't miss this. I love birthdays." I tried to sound as if nothing was wrong.
"You really are something special. She's a keeper, Royce," he added, patting Royce's shoulder before walking away.
"Royce!" We both looked to our left to see Nancy waving her son over. As Royce took a step towards her, I stayed in my place, not wanting to go near his mother right now. When he realized I wasn't following him, he briskly turned around.
"Move your fucking ass, Rose," he whispered. I froze for a second, shocked at his words, before scurrying over to him. "You won't be more than an arm's length away from me tonight. You're mine."
Keeping true to his word, Royce made sure I was always within his reach for the rest of the night. It felt like the beginning of my punishment, but never in my life did I envision what Royce had in store for me.
The entire drive home my hands were shaking. Royce hadn't said a word, but his breathing was harsh and his face straight. He didn't wait for the driver to open the door as we pulled up to our place, he just opened the door himself, grabbed my arm, and pulled me out, dragging me through the lobby.
When we made it to our apartment, I gathered up all the strength I had and yanked my arm out of his grasp.
"Royce, you're hurting me," I said, turning to face him.
"That's not all I'm going to do." He pulled off his jacket and dropped it on the floor.
"Now, get on your knees." My eyes grew as he unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and began rolling up the sleeves.
"What?" Instantly, I felt as if my neck had snapped and a burning set in my cheek after he backhanded me.
"Don't ever fucking question me again!" he yelled. "Did you forget who you are? You're my fiancée, which means you do whatever the fuck I tell you to. And I want you on your knees."
My breaths became shaky as I nodded my head. Putting my purse on the round table near the entrance of our apartment, I slipped off my shoes before falling to my knees. As I heard the clanking of his belt, tears began to stream down my face.
"You brought this on yourself you know." He dropped his pants and took his underwear with it. I squeezed my eyes and mouth shut, hoping this was a dream.
This can't be happening.
"Open your mouth, Rose."
This can't be happening.
"Open your fucking mouth now before I make you!" he yelled as I continued to hope this was a nightmare. But reality set in as I felt Royce squeeze my nose shut, effectively cutting me off from all oxygen unless I opened my mouth.
"Open your mouth, Rosie," he cooed as I tried to hold my breath for as long as possible. After a while, my lungs began to burn, and instinct set in. As I opened my mouth to gasp for air, Royce shoved himself down my throat.
Minutes in, my throat felt raw, and I was sure my mascara was running down my face.
"After everything that I do for you. Taking you from nothing. Giving you cooking lessons. Buying a place on the upper east side. This is how you repay me." He punctuated each sentence with a hard thrust that made me gag.
"Stand," he said, growling as he pulled himself out of my mouth before he finished. Coughing, I took the first deep breath I'd been allowed for ten minutes and stayed on my knees trying to catch my breath.
"I said stand!" he yelled, hitting the same cheek he had before. The blow sent me to all fours. I saw stars as he reached down and lifted me up by one arm.
"I thought we went over this, bitch. You do as I fucking say. You are mine." He growled as I felt him pick me up to my feet. Roughly, he grabbed my jaw and forced me to look at him.
"This will be the last time you ever betray me."
Releasing my face, he turned me around and began walking me towards the couch. When I reached the arm of the couch, Royce placed a hand between my shoulder blades and began to push.
"No. No," I cried as he forced me to bend over. Instantly, I felt his hand pull away from my back, and relief set over me. But the relief was soon replaced with pain as I felt Royce's elbow slam into my back, forcing me to catch myself on the couch.
"You're fucking dumb, you know that?" He pulled up my dress. As I felt him pull my underwear aside, all I could do was cry. After that, I couldn't focus on anything but the pain. I wished it was just a dream. But every once in awhile, I was brought back into reality by Royce either changing position, yelling, or hitting me. This was never how I envisioned my life would turn out.
Hours later when it was all over, Royce dragged me to the front door and opened it. My body hurt too much to walk, and one of my eyes was so swollen I could barely see, but that might also have been the tears that seemed never-ending.
Royce released me, and I instantly fell like a sack of potatoes onto the carpet in the hallway.
"It seems you need be reminded of all that I do for you, so you'll stay out here like the bitch you are until I come and get you. It could be worse, Rosalie. Remember that," he said calmly, slamming the door.
Slowly, I crawled to the door frame and rested my head against it, closing my eyes.
This can't be happening.
So don't hate me. Depending on the first review that I get, I may not read the rest of them. But I will still send you a preview of the next chapter for your review. Everything happens for a reason as you read the next few chapter, just remember that.