Tainted

29

~Poppy~

"Bash. I'm just going to get my nails done. You don't need to come." He hovered over me as I pulled the zip up on my boots and stood up. "I'm driving there, getting out of my car, going into a shop we own, having my nails done by Em, getting back in my car and coming home. What's going to happen?"

"Oh. I don't know. You could fall, twist your ankle, and burn your hand?"

"That was one time." He scoffed. "You're not coming."

"I am."

"No, you're not. I love you babe but it's fine. Stephen's there today anyway I need to get out of the house. There's about a million wedding things in the next 8 weeks and I have to make sure I get to these appointments on time. It's not a strange place. You have access to the cameras. You don't need to follow me everywhere. You can track me and watch me from right here."

"But-"

"Sebastian. You are sick. Get back in bed." My mother bounded back into our room, my snotty husband standing in the doorway looking like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. Seasonal flu. Only Bash had caught it out of season. The good news is my mother was here. She couldn't clean, we had cleaners. She couldn't cook, we had chefs. She felt like she had no use right now and despite the fact she was slowly warming up to the idea after 30 years of being under my dad's thumb, the second she woke up this morning and heard Sebastian wasn't well, full mother bird mode was activated.

Bash's mum wasn't here to do this for him anymore and I'd seen the love on his face when she left the room earlier, promising me he wouldn't leave bed whilst I was out.

"SEBASTIAN." His eyes widened at me as my mother shouted and I chuckled.

"You're leaving me with her?"

"Yep." I grabbed his hand, walking him back to the bed. Bash wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight. "You gotta let go Bash."

"Sebastian, I will not tell you again."

"I know where you get your scary shouty voice from now." I chuckled, planting a kiss in his hair before pulling his hands off me. "The nail shop and straight home."

"I'm stopping by the store to grab you some meds." He scowled. "Nail shop, coffee shop, pharmacy, home. Promise."

"Hmm."

"I've gotta go. Don't want to keep Em waiting. Behave."

"Don't worry Poppy. He will. Or he will face my wrath."

"Wait. The shouting isn't your wrath?" I chuckled, pulling our bedroom door closed behind me as I left and set off.

5 and a half months my mum's been here and honestly, with the chaos of everything else going on, Bash working overtime to make sure everything was tied up before the wedding so we could take the month-long honeymoon we've planned. They'd barely had time to properly get to know each other. Their conversations had mainly consisted of mum settling arguments between us both and memories of Rowan that he insisted on letting us discuss now since we hadn't been able to beforehand.

I chatted with Em and Stephen for the full 2 hours I was in the nail shop. I say chatted with them both. It was mainly me and Em dragging Stephen for stupid stuff like the colour of his socks or his tie clip. Harmless fun he returned by tossing ripped up pieces of leaflets he rolled into balls at us.

I left with a smile on my face, blowing Bash a kiss at the cameras because I knew he would have been watching the whole time whilst my mother lectured him on not getting rest.

I reached for my car door handle and was immediately yanked away, giving me a handful of seconds before my eardrums burst with a huge explosion. The impact pushed me backwards into whoever had saved me, their hand grabbed mine and I let them pull me wherever, knowing the chances were whoever rigged my car up to explode would be close by and definitely wanted me dead.

"Get in." I slid into the passenger seat of the car, slamming the door shut as the stranger rounded the car, climbed in, and pulled off. My ears were buzzing, heart racing and I had no idea what was going on. "Still know to follow orders when you know what's good for you sweet girl." His words broke through the buzzing and my survival instinct snapped back into action. I looked up at Cian, his eyes firmly set on the road ahead. "I overheard someone planning the bomb. Didn't mean to leave it until the last second but at least now you're safe." Yeah. Safe. With Cian. I'm sure.

"Where are you taking me?" He didn't answer. Slowly pulled over on the side of a dirt path.

"Where's your husband?"

"At home. Working."

"Why were you out alone?"

"I wasn't. We own the shop. I was going home. There and back."

"Dressed like a whore." I gritted my teeth. Don't fight back right now Poppy. You are literally trapped. "Spread your legs."

"No."

"I didn't ask." He pushed my legs apart, not giving me a choice in the matter. He released himself from his pants, wrapping a hand around himself as he pushed his fingers in and out of me. "You're such a fucking bitch Poppy. Running off with some other guy when you know you belong to me. Where's your husband now huh? Nowhere. He doesn't love you. No one can love you. Look at you. Getting fingered in a car by someone who's not your husband. You're ruined Poppy. Your cheating on your husband and you're not even fighting it. You know you want my dick Poppy."

"Take me home."

"I will when I come. You'll call your dad when you get home Poppy. Tell him you want to come over and see him regularly, that you miss him. And when you do woman, I'll fuck your brains out how you like it." He groaned, making a mess across his pants, quickly zipping himself up and grabbing my hair with one hand, throat with the other and pulling me down towards him. "You can have your husband and the best cock of your life Poppy. Best of both worlds. You tell a fucking soul about this and I'll have you chained to a bed for the rest of your life. Understand?" I nod. "So, you're going to call your dad?" I nod. "Good. Sort yourself out. You're a fucking disgrace." He drops me, nods at the blood on my legs from his forced entry and starts driving like nothing happened. I use the wipes he always keeps in the glove compartment, stuffing the used wipes into my bag as he pulls into Sebastian's drive. "I'll see you real soon Poppy." Bash is already on the doorstep, fully dressed, looking perfectly fine. His nose is a little red but otherwise, no one would know he looked like death a few hours ago.

"Pip. I've been calling you. What the fuck happened?"

"We overhead Kostin talking about a bomb. I got to her in time." Cian sighs from inside the car. "You're fine, aren't you Poppy?"

"Mhm. Perfectly." Bash looks me up and down slowly. "Not a scratch. I smell of smoke though. I'm gonna go shower." I push past him, practically running upstairs to the spare room, locking the door, and dragging every piece of furniture behind the doors I possibly could. I stepped into the shower, leaving the water to pour down on top of my head as I sat there, a complete fucking disgrace.