Furious Hearts

chapter forty two

Gina's heart, rather the pieces of her heart pounded perilously as she fled from Eddie's office. He had been kissing a woman so possessively. More than he did her. A strange woman who she hadn't seen before. She ran down the lobby of their office floor and was about to enter the elevator when a hand grabbed her. Without thinking, she slapped him. Hard. She hated hurting him. Even if he clearly had no problem doing just that to her. Gina would never hurt him intentionally. "Let me go!" She exclaimed thrusting her hands away. His grip was too tight.

"Please listen to me. You have to listen to me baby." He pleaded. His expression torn and haunted.

Such an actor! She would never fall for that look again. She shouldn't have in the first place. "Go back to that woman and finish what you started, right now I need your filthy hands to unhand me." She sneered.

Her voice was tremulous with a threatening sob, she yelled. "Stop touching me! Go satisfy your morning appetites with her! So much on your desk huh?" She laughed bitterly. She would never give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. God, she had been so stupid! So blind at his pretentious act. "Let me go Eddie! Let go!" She jerked away finally but before she entered the waiting elevator a strong arm snaked her waist.

Eddie held her from behind. The woman was stubborn and if he let her go he feared he would never see her again. That would be the death of him. Every fibre of his being was dependent of her. She was his world and he would die first before he let a stupid misunderstanding divide them. He loved her so much that his heart bled at the mere feeling of her absence. She was the light of his life and he intended to hold on to that. Tightly. He felt her body thrust against him attempting to escape but he was not letting it happen. "Please listen to me. It wasn't what you think you saw."

"You lying prick!" God why did he have to be so strong? Why did she have to feel so dainty in his arms? Was she insane to want to stop fighting him and just lean into his embrace? She refused to believe that all this time, everything had been one big facade. But his promising words had never sounded falsified. His eyes had been windows to his sincere soul. His touch had never felt faked. Forced. His body had been all but pretentious in bed. He'd never given her one single kiss that alluded hypocrisy. Lies. Had she seen wrong? For a moment she stopped struggling. She stopped moving and relaxed in his hold. His voice, oh that voice that made her feel things. Things she couldn't explain in vocabulary.

"I promise you beautiful." She heard his hoarse pleading whisper. "It's not what it looked like back there. I swear with everything sacred to me. On my father's grave."

Tears. They cascaded down her face like permanent waterfalls. She wanted to believe him. To dwell on his promise. To hang on to the staunch feeling deep in her heart pleading for him to her. She slowly turned to him, his hands refusing to break her imprisonment. They stared into each other. Deeply. Intensely. That much love in his eyes couldn't be falsified. She refused to believe it could. Because if it was a lie, heaven help her she would die. They were supposed to have a baby. He couldn't let her die.

"Do you believe me?" Eddie asked cupping her wet teary cheeks. He kissed the tip of her nose. So beautiful. All his. And not even a psychopathic soon to be ex wife would change that.

She was about to respond when someone shoved him from her. Now she stood face to face with her. The woman who was potentially capable of breaking them up. She was beautiful. Very beautiful. And with her professionally done make up and designer outfit; elegant. But she was trash. Coming between a couple certified that fact. Gina brushed her tears away. A Marshall never gave that privilege to an enemy. "Who are you?" Gina demanded stoically.

A smirk curled up the other woman's lips. She spoke, her British accent indisputably sexy. "Regina Bernstein Raymond." She answered cockily. She raised her left hand to display an expensively looking diamond crusted ring. With a sickeningly authentic smile, she verbalised the dreadful words. "His wife."

If not for the seriousness on her face and the proud admission, Gina would have found the revelation humorous and laughed it off. Her stupid heart defiantly refused to believe the woman's word. Ignored what clearly was a wedding ring. It refused to acknowledge that she was the other woman. Only one person could confirm her heart's desire. Desperate desire. Her gaze turned and met Eddie's. Shame. Shame and guilt is what she saw there. Not repudiation for the filthy lies the British lass was spewing. Instead he confirmed it all. She indeed was the mistress.

"Please don't begrudge him darling." Regina said sweetly. "It's only logical that after he moved his business to America he would find a mistress. A plaything before his real wife made settling down arrangements. Such a coincidence he found a pet whose name sounded almost like mine."

The ground was supposed to open up and swallow Gina alive. But no, it had to delay until she listened to the condemning speech of her baby's father's wife. She wanted to laugh at the sarcasm there. But reality was too heavy on her shoulders. Everything the woman said made sense. The names, the shifting of businesses. Everything made perfect sense. And the fact that the man she had blindly helped to cheat on his wife stood there muted, it raised it all a notch higher.

"Does it have something to do with the fact that this is a free nation that the women are such easy prey? Cheap mistresses." Regina confirmed askance. Her smile unwavering. She was loving this. It was impromptu but utterly fruitful. Maybe she should let fate handle matters once in a while, if it would be this yielding. She would have given the world for her mistress to witness the triumphant moment.

"That's enough!" A woman declared.

Regina knew who she was. A wretched friend of her enemy. She had better tread carefully because accidents often involved a third-party. A bystander.

"Why you bitch! You think you can just walk in here and spew crap with that filthy mouth of yours?" Vanda asked calmly. She knew her type. Eddie's wife or not, she was garbage. And Vanda oftenly dealt with garbage. She had been watching long enough to figure out the bitch's intention. She wanted to humiliate Gina. The few employees that worked on the floor had gathered to watch the spectacle. Vanda would never standby and watch some pompous, twisted character humiliate her best friend." Her gaze turned to Eddie. "I'm disappointed in you."

"Vanda_"

She halted him with her palm. "Surely, Sue must have raised you better than that." She turned to Regina whose brow was quirked with amusement. "Don't celebrate just yet, you know what they say about laughing last."

Vanda held the frozen, numb Gina and walked her to the elevator. They neared the opened cube before Gina halted. Slowly her neck craned until they were in her view.

Her eyes met Regina's victorious grin before averting to a still quiet Eddie. They held each other's gaze for a while before she snarled disdainfully. "She's trash. And you are birds of a feather." With that she stepped into the elevator resolutely. Vanda on her heels.

Eddie's gaze watched until the elevator closed. He hadn't once blamed Gina for her reaction. She had been hurt and shocked. She was bound to react like that. The truth was inevitable and now that it was out, he had nothing to fear regarding Regina. He prayed that Gina would find it in her to forgive him. And as soon as he got the divorce, he would marry her. He didn't care if he awaited her forgiveness until eternity.

"Darling_"

He interrupted her coldly. "You pray that she forgives me or_"

"Or what?" She demanded defiantly.

His finger trailed over her velvety face, a sweet smile on his lips. He pinched her chin and raised it up so that he was directly looking down at her eyes. His smile vanished and his baritone was menacing. "I will ensure, you malady are back into the filthy streets where I picked you from." He let go of her. There was a glimpse of fear in her eyes before she barricaded it like it hadn't existed.

"Don't you threaten me Raymond." She said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I'm promising you. And of course you should know I'm a man of my word, given that you are my wife." He walked away, leaving her stupefied.