Unexpected Correspondence

Chapter 8

"Hello Elliott." Kitty said coldly. "I was unaware that we had anything else to say to each other." Her ex-husband was calmly seated in a plush chair with a glass of wine, there was an empty chair in front of him that was clearly meant for her but as she had no intention of being within arm's reach of him she stayed where she was.

Elliott didn't reply, he didn't even look at her, instead focussing his gaze on the ruby liquid in his glass which moved as he swirled the glass. He breathed in the smell of the wine before slowly taking a sip. Kitty's fists clenched in anger at being ignored, she knew what he was doing, he had done it before. He was deliberately acting casually, attempting to rile her so that when he eventually reached the topic of conversation he actually wanted to talk about he would suddenly change mood and intimidate her, cutting off any chance of her standing up to him.

"French wine has a certain reputation." Elliott said finally. "Particularly wine from Bordeaux, it is expected to be superb and is priced as such, but as with all things wine cannot be trusted to behave as it is expected to." As he said those last few words his sharp stare suddenly targeted her, Kitty raised her chin defiantly. She had understood the accusation even if she didn't know what she had supposedly done.

"Get to the point Elliott, I don't want to waste time playing your games."

"Interesting you should mention games, the reason I have had to drag myself here for today was because of you playing games with Sylvie." Kitty looked back at him blankly. "You didn't think I would find out about your letter to her?" He laughed, it was a short derisive sound devoid of any amusement and sent a small chill down Kitty's spine.

The offending letter was removed from the inside of his jacket, his expression unreadable. Kitty was all too aware of that letter's companion, Sylvie's original letter to her, which was currently in her own pocket where it had resided since she had received it.

"What of it?" Kitty said, hating the way her voice trembled, betraying her fear. "You wouldn't let me speak to her or send her anything, so why shouldn't I have found another way? She is my daughter as well."

"You gave up any rights to her when you tried to run away." Elliott said calmly, his voice may have been even but his stare was piercing. He had always hated it when she talked back. "And even if you hadn't, you cannot expect me to approve of any of what you wrote about."

Elliott straightened the letter a little before reciting from it. "The one I am probably the closest to is a captain called Thomas. He is very kind to me and I really hope that you get a chance to meet him as I think you would like him very much." He shook his head in amusement. "For all your protestations that you didn't sleep with that Francis fellow you certainly seem inclined to blatantly flaunt your adultery to your own daughter."

He leaned forward slightly to fix her with his stare. "Tell me, is Thomas that self-important little captain who presumed to order me when we last saw each other?" Kitty didn't answer. "Did you let him fuck you for protecting you from me that day?" Again Kitty was silent, her hands clenching into fists. Answering him would only make the situation worse.

Almost disappointed at her refusal to take the bait, Elliott continued on. "No matter, that does not concern me at the moment." He rose from the chair, leaving his wine glass on the side table. The sudden movement made Kitty flinch and she instinctively looked towards the door before restraining herself from running towards it and the protection that lay just beyond it. She would not show Elliott weakness.

Elliott slowly walked towards her, Kitty firmly stood her ground. She was now wishing that she had stolen a scalpel from the hospital before coming to the hotel. He stopped right before her, Kitty looked up to meet his glare.

"What is going to happen now," Elliott said quietly, "is that you and I are going to go to my room. I've brought Sylvie on this little excursion-" Kitty interrupted him with a short laugh.

"If you think I'm going to believe that after-"

"Don't interrupt me!" The voice that was so rarely raised intimidated Kitty into silence, she wanted so desperately not to tremble but the sudden shout in addition to the fact that he was so close to her and that she was now backed against a wall meant that she was shaking like a leaf.

Satisfied that Kitty was not going to interrupt him again, Elliot resumed what he had been saying, his voice once again quiet and measured. "You and I are going to my room and you are going to tell Sylvie what a whore you have been, that everything you said in that letter was a lie, that you will never see her again- let alone provide her with a place to stay, that I am her only respectable parent and that she should defer to me in all matters in the future."

Kitty felt an object being shoved into her hand, she looked away from Elliott to see what it was. It was a hotel key and hanging from the hook was a small tab with the number 22 on it. "Are we in agreement?" Elliot asked.

"You are out of your mind if you think I am going to lie to her like that." Kitty replied defiantly, glaring up at him with all the hatred she could muster.

"You will or else I will-"

"I will not!" Kitty shouted at the top of her voice, causing Elliott to take a small step back in surprise. "There is nothing in the world that you can threaten me with that will convince me to tell Sylvie that you are in any way a good parent or that she should listen to you." Elliot lunged towards her furiously, grabbing her by the throat. Kitty helplessly tried to pry his hand away, but to no result.

AN: *remains hiding behind shield* Soooo I couldn't fit all of my plan into this chapter, so we get two more chapters (WHICH I HAVE ACTUALLY FINISHED WRITING!) then it will 100% definitely be the end (until the sequel), but it's not my fault. It's Elliott's fault for being such an attention whore and taking up the entire chapter so please vent your rage at him instead of me for the cliff-hanger, and let's face it we all know what's going to happen next so it's really not much of a cliff-hanger ;) As I have finished writing the fic (only have last minute editing to do), Chapter 9 will be posted tomorrow and Chapter 10 will be posted the day after.

Thanks to Lauretta92, TheCurlymop, through-the-eye-of-a-needle and Margje for reviewing last chapter!