Threat

Laura wiped the hot tears from her face with the backs of her hands before putting on a light bathrobe and heading to the kitchen to make a hot drink.

She was thinking. Laura was in deep thought. As she sat on a bar stool and sipped her hot milk, she felt Alejandro’s presence behind her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand.

Laura ignore the shuddering feeling she felt the moment she felt his presence neared. She took another sip, calming herself despite the feeling. She was trying to ignore his presence.

“You’ve got to be cold in that tiny little thing you are wearing.” He observed idly as he hauled out a bottle of orange juice from the fridge.

Alejandro had damp, short black hair which stood up in the tufts where he’d carelessly towel dried it after his shower and wore only a pair of black boxer shorts. He looked as gorgeous as always and Laura hated him more than ever for that masculine perfection he possessed.

“I’m fine…” She answered. Laura got up abruptly and headed toward the sink to rinse her mug but he grabbed her elbow to halt her movement. She tensed. She was shocked by the sudden touch…

Alejandro never dared to touch her outside of the walls of their bedroom. This was the first time in the eighteen months of their marriage that he had done something like it. Laura then was reminded how he was capable of touching her without suggesting to have a sexual intercourse of some kind.

Alejandro’s lips found her ear as he leaned into her closer. Before he spoke, she felt his hot breath on the side of her face.

“Laura, there won’t be any more talk of divorce… ever.” Alejandro declared it with an air of finality in his words. He use the kind of tone that sickens her.

“You can’t stop me from divorcing you, Ale.” Laura bravely answered him.

“Cara, do you truly want a divorce?” Alejandro asked. His eyes were checking.

Laura nodded stiffly as he inquired his question in a teasing manner.

“Your cousin can’t afford to lose her business if you get that divorce, especially since she has a new kid on the way.”

She remained still as she heard his words. She hadn’t anticipated that, for some reason. Her cousin and her husband need all the money they can obtain. Alejandro had given Melissa, her cousin a loan to start up her bookstore. Laura had always believed that he had given the loan out of kindness, even though she was unaware of all the details.

Looking up at him now, she was astounded by her own ignorance. Alejandro didn’t do anything out of pure kindness, and the loan was just one more tool in his arsenal to wield against her. A necessity that has come out handy at the moment.

“You wouldn’t.” Laura retorted in a brash manner. “I have money too. I can use it to help her.” She started frantically. “Melissa has done nothing to deserve this.” She was starting to look hesterical. Laura was fuming.

“Cara, I will do whatever it takes to get what I want from you.” Alejandro answered.

“Your wealthy father had the chance to assist Melissa in finding the initial funding for her bookstore, but he made it clear to everyone at the time how much he despised the idea, and you know that he would never stand by you.”

“You are also well aware that he would never support you through a messy divorce, Laura.” He added.

“You won’t do it! I refuse to believe that yuu could do something like it. You have a reputation to protect and you’re an honest businessman who wouldn’t destroy a small business just to prove a point, Alejandro.” Laura spat at him. She how he didn’t budge.

Laura sighed feeling defeated in some type of way. “What message are you trying to send?” She asked bravely.

“That I’m not someone to be taken lightly.” He shrugged. He ticked his jaw.

“Laura, do you really think I care what people think of me?” He asked.

“And do you really think I care what you think of me? I have never done that and I never will. You are weak and spoiled.”

“I am not” Laura tried to defend herself, but he just made a mocking noise in his as if he hadn’t said anything.

“You’ll get your divorce eventually. But there’s something I need to get from you first! You wanted this marriage, remember? You begged for it… So if you want a divorce right now, it’ll come with some heavy penalties attached to it. Are you willing to gamble with your cousin’s future?” Alejandro was taunting her.

Laura was aware he knew she wouldn’t be able to do it. There would be no divorce. Not when so much was hung that keeps things out of proportion. But there would be changes… Laura was done with being a doormat!

She merely stared and said nothing. She chose to turn her back and walk away instead. Alejandro watched her go. And Laura could feel his gaze burning into her back but he did not call her back. She did not return to the bedroom they had been sharing since the first day of their marriage, opting instead to head for the library, knowing that she could not sleep. Not in that room. Laura couldn’t do it anymore…

He came downstairs, hours later, for breakfast. It was a Saturday morning and he usually didn’t have any early morning meetings to rush off to on a Saturday, instead he tended to linger over his newspaper and coffee and largely ignore Laura. That morning was no different. It was as if their argument hadn’t happened at all. They usually ate their casual weekend meals in the kitchen and the homey setting, portraying a false sense of domesticity to the scene. But while Theresa was uncomfortable and tense in the intimate setting, Sandro always remained as cool as the cucumber.

On the other hand, that was the same old thing Laura experienced. Alejandro rarely showed any emotions on his feelings. Truth be told the “conversation” they had in the morning was the most heated one she had at any point she had seen. He generally figures out how to hold his sentiments under his grasp different from Laura has. It is cleary evident in the way he wouldn’t meet her eyes, the manner in which he could have intercourse with her without kissing her on the mouth, in which he could talk past her when he had something to tell her…

While interminably hopeful, idiotic Laura, had never been great at concealing her feelings from him. Not from the exact moment she’d met him two years ago. How terribly charmed she had been! How rapidly she had become hopelessly enamored… She shook her head, declining to pondering the things she was unable to change that had zero effect on helping her change her present.

Breakfast passed with anguishing gradualness. The silence was broken exclusively by his paper as he painstakingly scrutinized what he was holding. Laurascarcely ate and she loathed him for being so unaffected by the strain. She got up and take a hold of the plate and made her way to the sink.

“You need to eat more than one cut of toast.” Alejandro’s voiced it out of nowhere. He was snarling. “You’re getting excessively slim.”

The way that he had manage to see what she’d eaten, despite of him looking over his paper, frightened her.

“I’m not that eager to eat a lot…” She answered delicately and put her dishes in the sink.

“You scarcely eat to the point of barely keeping a sparrow alive.” He brought down his paper and met her eyes for a couple of moments before redirecting his look back to the cup of espresso on the table before him. The immediate eye to eye connection was surprising to the point that Laura scarcely controlled a wheeze.

“I ate enough.” She answered. She would have let it go yet she needed to check whether she could drive him into meeting her eyes once more. Alejandro simply shrugged, flawlessly dropped his paper onto the table close to his empty plate. He swallowed down the last taste of his coffee before he got up from the table.