Chapter 9
The secretary had telephoned Stan's message and Toni didn't quite understand why. She'd somehow expected to hear from him directly. She'd even prepared herself to act surprised and thrilled when he broke the news. She was going to tell him how wonderful he was and how much he really deserved the job. She was going to tell him all the right lies that would make him feel secure and guiltless about taking Carl's place. But now that wouldn't be necessary. She wondered if she should be relieved, or upset?
What was there to be upset about? The wonderful reality of the situation suddenly dawned on her and Toni broke into a huge smile It was true! It had really happened. Stan was Assistant Manager. That meant more money ... more prestige.
All the things she could buy floated through her mind and made her head spin. She wondered what she would do first. Look for another house? Throw a cocktail party to let the world know that she was moving up? Call Irma?
The bar stood, closed and waiting, in the living room. Toni walked quickly to it and opened the doors. She wasn't in the habit of drinking alone. And the more she thought about it, the more she had to admit that she didn't really like drinking, at all. But the occasion called for a toast. And somehow, she felt that a martini was in order.
To Toni Arlen, who finally broke into the executive set.
Toni silently congratulated herself and tried to remember what the membership fee at the country club was. Of course they'd have to join now. Contacts were important. And that would undoubtedly lead to a round of parties and dinners and....
She'd need new clothes. That was certain. The outfits she'd been getting by on until now, just wouldn't do anymore. Toni sat back and wondered how soon Stan's raise would go into effect. Probably as of next week. And not a moment too soon.
The gin stung her tongue. She sipped it slowly, determined to finish the entire drink. She'd have to learn to hold her liquor. People would be noticing her. The girl from the wrong side of town was going to be moving in some pretty fast company.
Toni felt the excitement racing through her body. She could hardly wait. So many things were in store for her now. It seemed that life was just beginning....
She must have dozed. Toni sat up on the sofa, rubbed her eyes and blinked at her surroundings. Had she really heard the doorbell ringing? She glanced at the clock over the fireplace. Six-thirty. It couldn't have been Stan. He said he'd be home very late. She must have been dreaming.
Again the sound. Toni jumped up and hurried toward the door, running her fingers through her hair as she moved. Maybe it was one of the neighbors. Hardly probable.
"Hiya, tiger." Elliot beamed in the doorway. "Well, don't just stand there. Say hello. I did a big favor for you today."
"I know," Toni answered. She didn't like his familiar attitude. There was something about Elliot that had changed. Something in his manner that could only have been a result of their intimacy. "Come on in." She didn't really want to say it, but she didn't see any alternative.
"You're right, this place is kind of depressing." Elliot glanced at the imitation fireplace and the scratched coffee table. "I suppose you'll be moving out soon, now that Stan's got the job, and the raise."
"I hope so." Toni felt the hatred warming her cheeks. What gave Elliot the right to come in to her home and treat her like dirt under his feet? Where did he come off passing judgment on what she had or where she lived?
The answer came immediately and Toni realized that it was her own fault. "Martini?"
"Love one." Elliot seated himself in a corner of the sofa.
Toni moved toward the bar. She could practically feel his eyes burning into her flesh with every step. She tried to keep her hands steady as she poured his drink. But something told her she was close to trouble.
"Have one with me," Elliot smiled, when Toni handed him the stemmed glass. "I don't drink alone."
His manner wasn't at all befitting a guest. Toni forced herself to bury the resentment she felt. Elliot had kept his promise. For that, she knew, she should feel grateful. And after what they'd done, it was foolish of her to expect him to act like a stranger. "If I get loaded it'll be your fault. Remember that." Toni made a halfhearted attempt to sound pleasant and relaxed.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything."
Elliot's intimate tone left no room for misinterpretation. Toni whirled around at the bar. Her eyes narrowed menacingly.
"What was that supposed to mean?" she asked. If Elliot thought he was going to get away with treating her like some street tramp, he was out of his alcoholic mind.
"Take it easy, sugar." Elliot's lewd glance stripped off her clothes. "We're old friends, remember?"
"I'm not so sure I want to." Toni lifted her glass quickly to her lips and took a long swallow to calm her nerves. There was no sense in losing her temper. Elliot was just being his usual, obnoxious self, only a little more so. She'd just have to set him straight, right away.
"You sound like you've changed in twenty-four hours," Elliot commented, before Toni could get a word in. "Don't worry though, I don't believe it."
Toni finished her drink in silent fury. There was something about Elliot's absolute confidence and his control of the situation that she found herself unable to contend with. It frightened her.
"Yes, I'll take another drink," Elliot said without being asked.
Against her better judgement, Toni took his glass and refilled it. She knew that giving Elliot liquor would be like feeding him courage-courage to impose on her, in any way he saw fit. She wanted desperately to tell him off right then and throw him out of the house. But that, she feared, might ruin everything she'd done and preclude all the things she planned to do.
"That's much better." Elliot accepted the fresh drink and nodded, apparently satisfied. "Now sit down and be nice to me. We're going to get along just fine."
"How did Stan react to the appointment?" Toni tried to change the subject. She didn't like the way El-hot was eyeing the line of her slacks. Suddenly, she wished they didn't fit so tightly.
"I think he was dumbfounded, myself," Elliot reflected. "Like he practically had no idea it would happen.
"Well, you know how modest Stan is." Toni felt herself assuming her new role ... the role of the wife of the up-and-coming executive.
"Modest, my eye." Elliot leaned forward and slapped Toni playfully on the hip. "Come over here and sit next to me."
"Wasn't he at all happy?" Toni tired to ignore Elliot's last remark and keep the subject on safe ground.
"I didn't come here to talk about Stan." Elliot's tone was almost threatening.
Toni felt herself being backed into a corner and she didn't like it. Gathering all the courage she could from her fear and from the gin, she faced Elliot squarely and brushed his hand from her thigh. "I don't know what you think you're going to do," Toni heard a slight quaking in her voice and knew she must try harder to sound convincing, "but if you think there's going to be a repetition of last night, every time you're in the mood, forget it."
Elliot looked up and laughed in her face. "Is that so?" He mimicked her angry expression. "Well, I have news for you, sweetheart. Just as easy as I got Stan that job, I can take it away. And don't think for one lousy minute that I wouldn't."
"You don't have the last word on that anymore." Toni heard herself trembling. She knew she was losing ground. "That Vice-President is still around, you know."
"Eva?" Elliot chuckled disdainfully. "Don't make me laugh. She'd believe anything I told her. And that's one woman Stan couldn't wind around his finger, just because he's got a baby face. You better remember that."
Toni felt her momentum turn to inertia. She was caught in her own game. And Elliot knew it, better than anyone.
"You ready to be nice now?" he asked, confidently.
Toni stared blankly at him for a long moment. She would have given anything to be able to claw that cocky smile off his face with her nails. "What about Stan?" She was grasping for straws, now. "He could walk in anytime...."
"He'll be tied up at the office for hours yet. I saw to that personally."
Her last hope was gone and Toni knew it. When she spoke, her voice was soft, beaten. "What do you want?"
"Where's the bedroom? I'll show you."
"No ... not in there." Toni heard the last of her decency screaming for her not to use the bed she shared with Stan.
"You want it right in here?" Elliot seemed pleased by the idea. "Suits me." He glanced around the room before getting up.
She watched him walk from window to window, drawing the blinds. It was still daylight outside, but as Elliot moved, the room grew grey, dismal. Tom resisted the urge to pick something up and heave it at the back of his skull.
"Okay, baby." Elliot returned to the couch.
Toni could practically sense his excitement. She wondered if he treated Irma that way. And if he did, how could the woman still want him? Or any man, for that matter?
"Come over here to me."
Tom walked slowly forward. Every step was torture. Every movement carried her closer to her death sentence. "What is it this time?" She heard her own voice ... tired, resigned, lifeless.
He reached up and covered her breasts with his hands. Then he started moving his fingers down over her body.
Toni clenched her teeth and swore to herself that this time she would feel nothing-that no matter what he did to her, she would remain unresponsive and detached. Even if it meant sheer torture, she would never give him the satisfaction of thinking she enjoyed his foul brand of love.
She felt his hands on the sides of her thighs. Toni stiffened her knees and looked away. She could hear him breathing quickly, against her stomach. He could beat her senseless before she would feel anything for him, she promised herself.
His hands pulled and tugged at her blouse until it was out of her slacks. She tried to ignore the feel of his rough lips on her bare stomach. His mouth was teasing along the top of her slacks. No. She would not yield-even if it felt good ... so very good.
A slow, twisting coil of desire rose through her body and framed her breasts. She held her breath and tried to will away the alertness ... the throbbing of her nipples. It wasn't fair, what he was doing to her. No woman deserved to be treated like a slave for any man's pleasure. Why in heaven's name was she enjoying it so?
His hand crept to the soft inside of her thigh. She tried to move her legs, but there was no time. Reflexively, she jerked her hips back, away from his painful caress. "Easy...."
"Shut up." His words were a whip.
Toni shuddered. She recognized that tone. Elliot was gone ... lost in his twisted fantasies. And Toni knew that she dared not disturb him.
The button on the side of her slacks yielded to the excited manipulation of his fingers. She stood absolutely still, as Elliot peeled the clinging material down over her thighs ... past her knees ... until it bunched in a crumpled heap around her ankles.
The heat of his breath penetrated the sheer material of her panties. She closed her eyes and felt the muscles in her buttocks stretch and tense. Raw desire surged and ebbed through the rest of her body. This was more than any woman could be expected to endure without breaking down. Why should she be different....
Punishing fingers buried themselves m the flesh of her stomach as Toni's panties were pulled down over her hips. She felt a rush of air caressing her thighs, as uncontrollable delight tingled over her naked skin.
And then, he began to kiss her....
Toni reached down without looking and dug her long fingers into his hair. Unable to even consider his possible reaction to her demand, she guided him to her yearning flesh.
He did not resist....
Toni felt herself swaying beneath the force of her desire. Her neck felt stretched, twisted by the thrashing movements of her head.
And then, suddenly, Elliot's hands were at her waist, pulling her ... pressing her ... forcing her downward ... downward, against her will....
She felt the roughness of the carpeting scrape against her bare knees. She tried to move away, but Elliot's fingers had clamped at either side of her face. Her cheeks felt like they would tear if she tried to resist the pressure of his hands.
Awareness kicked her in the pit of the stomach. All desire was gone. "No!" Toni gasped for breath. Her lungs were on fire. Her skull was splitting in two. "Please, Elliot ... no!"
The silence wasn't broken again for a long time ... until Elliot spoke.
"I'll be back. Whenever I want. And you'd better be here."
The moonlight painted the walls and the floor. Toni watched the colors and knew that Elliot had left the front door open. She thought about getting up from the rug and slamming the door and locking it-but she knew that it was too late. The damage had been done.
If she had the energy, she would have been sick. Toni rested her cheek against the sofa and tried to blot out his parting words.
'I'll be back. Whenever I want. And you'd better be here."
She realized then that her relationship with Elliot Barnes had turned into a death-battle. She realized also, that now she had no choice. There was only one way for her to survive what she'd done.
She had to destroy Elliot Barnes.