Page 18 of Ryder

There’s not point arguing with him when he’s got a steely look of determination on his face so I pull out my mobile and send Mya a quick text telling her I’m running late. I’ve never had a childminder for Harlee, which just shows how much he takes notice of where his daughter is. When I have an afternoon shift, one of the girls usually grabs Harlee from nursery for me.

He gets out his wallet and pulls out two fresh twenties, handing them to me. “My office,” he adds, walking ahead.

I reluctantly follow with a heavy heart. We go into the large building and his receptionist automatically stands the second she sees Finn. I always thought she did this out of respect, but looking at her face now, I think it might be fear. I give her a sympathetic smile as he completely ignores her and goes into his office.

He waits for me to step in before slamming the door and locking it. For a second, I panic, wondering if Ryder’s told Finn about us but as he closes the blinds to the window looking out over the open plan office, he says. “Harlee told someone at school I hit her.”

I stare open mouthed. Harlee refused to speak to me about it, but she’s told someone else. “Who did she tell?”

“Her teaching assistant.”

“Okay, well what did you say?” I ask, my heart hammering in my chest.

“I said that she was lying,” he snaps, “What was I supposed to say?”

I gasp. “The truth,” I screech. “You should have told the truth. Now they’ll question us all and it’ll look suspicious,” I yell angrily.

I don’t see his hand until it connects with my cheek and I fall back, hitting the wall. Pain shoots through my shoulder and my cheek burns. I grasp it, wincing as I try hard to blink away the tears that threaten to fall. It’s been a long time since Finn’s hit me and I can’t say I’ve missed it. “I’m not a fucking idiot,” he spits angrily. “Don’t talk to me like I am,” he warns. I wait for him to move out my face before taking a calming breath. Finn paces. “You need to tell them she’s lying. Say she’s been doing that a lot lately for attention or some shit.”

“No. They’ll know that’s not true.”

“How?” he bellows and I flinch. “You’re her mother, they’ll listen to you.”

“They’ll have already questioned her, Finn,” I say firmly. “They’ll have written everything down. You have to tell them the truth.”

“Say someone else did it,” he says with a shrug. “I don’t know, tell them your biker friends did it.”

I stare in disbelief. “I can’t do that, Finn. I can’t lie.”

“You’ll lie or I’ll make your life hell,” he warns, sneering.

I scoff. “You already do, Finn.”

He moves close again and I turn my head to one side to avoid the feel of his warm breath on me. He runs a finger down my arm. “I miss you,” he whispers, “And it’s been a while since we fucked,” he adds. I shiver with repulsion. “Don’t make me do it in anger, baby, you know that hurts us both.”

“I’ll sort it,” I whisper, my voice shaking in fear.

“Sorry?” he asks, and I can feel the smirk coming from him.

“I said I’ll sort it with the school,” I say a little louder.

He steps closer until his body is pressed against mine and I flinch, pressing myself as hard against the wall as I can just to try and put an inch between us. “Good girl,” he whispers, pressing his nose into my hair and inhaling. “I knew you’d see sense.” He steps back and I sag in relief. “Now run along and sort this mess out. Call me when it’s done.”

The second I step outside, tears roll down my cheeks. I swipe at them angrily. He doesn’t deserve anymore tears of mine. I pull out my mobile and call the school, asking to speak with Harlee’s teacher. She’s a wonderful teacher and Harlee adores her, she reminds me of Miss Honey from Matilda and when her softly spoken voices fill the line, I can’t help but smile.

“Hi, I just spoke with Harlee’s father and he said she’d told the teaching assistant he hit her?” I push my way into the busy street, heading for home.

“Yes, that’s correct. We were very surprised when he told us she was lying.”

“I think it was a misunderstanding,” I explain. “They were play fighting and he did tap her on the leg but it wasn’t hard and by no means a punishment.”

“Harlee was pretty clear that it hurt.”

I give a laugh. “I know, she came right to me after it happened and said the same but I was there,” I lie, “And it really was a playful tap. I think she was being a little dramatic. She’s finding our split hard.”

“I understand. Thank you for clearing it up.”

I disconnect the call and sigh with relief. Then I send a text to Finn telling him I’ve sorted it.