by A. J. Wynter
“He’s not a hermit, and he didn’t actually punch Lawrence.”
“Too bad about the punch,” Alanna mused. “So, this Mick spends months alone in the woods. I think that might put him in the hermit category. And look at you, defending him.” She slapped at my arm.
She was right, and I felt the redness rise in my cheeks.
“I could never be with him.”
“What? Why the hell not? You should be with someone who makes you feel excited, someone who puts a sparkle in your eye when you talk about him and his big ass beard.”
I smiled at the thought of Mick’s smile, the way his bright white teeth flashed through his dark beard.
“Well, first of all, I’m engaged. And, what would I do, move to the mountains? What would I do there? And if I was with him, I wouldn’t be able to send you for those experimental treatments.”
Alanna jerked her head back like I had slapped her. “Luce. Are you with Lawrence because of his money?”
“No, no, no,” I repeated, trying to find a way to explain myself without sounding like a gold digger. “I mean, we get along, he’s handsome, he’s smart. Why wouldn’t I want to be with him? Every girl on campus wants to be with him. It’s just incidental that his family has money.”
Alanna grabbed both of my hands. Hard. Her eyes narrowed, and her voice became low and serious as she spoke, “You listen to me and you listen to me good. Life is short. Take it from me. I never liked Lawrence for you. I kept my mouth shut, but I can’t let you make a mistake like this: walking away from real love for something bright and shiny on the surface. And if I thought for a second that you were choosing this path because of me, I would never forgive you. EVER. My life might be over, yours doesn’t have to be.”
“You know that I would do anything to help you get better. You are the most important thing in my life.” I pulled my hands away from hers, my voice quivering with a combination of anger and despair.
“You can’t go through with it – marrying Lawrence. If you do I will never speak to you again,” she threatened. I had never seen her so angry and could tell that she was serious.
“But--” I started, then Alanna interrupted.
“No buts. They’re taking good care of me here. I’m strong. I’m a fighter. If I’m meant to live. I will. But we don’t know what’s going to happen, and you can’t throw your life away with some popped-collar douchebag.”
My shoulders slumped. I was torn, I should never have told her any of this.
“Hey, cheer up, Goosey.”
I smiled. I hadn’t heard my childhood nickname for years.
She continued, “You have something very important to do today.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said and turned to face her. “What’s that?”
Alanna face broke into an enormous grin and gripped the end of her silk scarf. “You idiot. Go break up with your fiancé and chase after the love of your life.”
“I can’t--”
“Do it for yourself. And do it for me,” she said, gripping my hand. “I want to know that my little sister is living a life full of love and happiness. And when you two get married, I can walk you down the aisle.”
The thought of marrying Mick sent a rush of adrenaline coursing through my body. With Lawrence, I could never picture details of the wedding. I knew that it would be extravagant, dripping with chandeliers, black ties, and hundreds of well-to-do guests that I didn’t know. I couldn’t even picture what my dress would look like. When I imagined marrying Mick, I could see it. The two of us standing on a summer mountain top, my veil billowing into the sky, wildflowers swaying in the breeze; Mick smiling at me, his big hand on the small of my back, pulling me in for a kiss. I knew exactly what my dress would look like, a simple silk V-neck with spaghetti straps and I would wear a flower crown.
“Stop thinking about it and go. Go get your man,” Alanna said and pushed me off the bed, she was surprisingly strong for a sick girl.
“Ok,” I said hesitantly. Then the flash of Mick’s smile ran through my mind and I squealed, the reality of what I was about to do setting in, “Ok, LanaBanana. I’m going to go get him.” I pulled her into a tight hug and then grabbed my handbag.
“I’m so proud of you,” she yelled as I jogged out of the room.
I had visions of racing back to the mountains, running into Mick’s arms, him lifting me off my feet and twirling me around when he saw me. But then I remembered.
Lawrence. My fiancé. Was waiting for me in the parking lot.
Chapter 26 – Mick
The little back room was thick with Cohiba cigar smoke and my eyes began to sting as soon as we set foot inside. I glanced around, there were about seven other young men lounging around on the tufted leather sofas and they all looked to be under twenty-five.
“Mick Brady,” the tallest of the young men said and reached out to shake my hand. His eyes were wide, and his speech had the brisk cadence of someone very high on cocaine, “I’m so stoked that you’re here, man. I mean, you’re a legend. Mick Brady. I mean, from what I heard, you’re going to clean up in our little contests.” The young man hadn’t stopped aggressively pumping my arm.
“And who are you?” I said, pulling my hand away from his.
“Name’s Matt. I’m the Vice President.”
“Oh, I thought that I already met the VP,” I said.
“You met the VP of the Founder’ s Club. I’m the Vice of this room,” he said, gesturing to the boys behind him.
The door creaked behind me and the security guard peeked his head through, “Entertainment’s here.”
“Perfect,” Matt clapped his hands together. “Mick, you got here just in time.”
The security guard opened the door and ten gorgeous women filed into the room. One of the other polo-clad boys started pouring glasses of champagne, and the gaggle of women flocked over to the flutes of bubbly. “Ladies! I’d like you to meet one of our new pledges, Mick Brady.”
Pledge?
The girls turned to face me. Some smiled and then turned back to toast their champagne glasses, a few let their glances linger a little longer.
“Want to take one of them for a spin?” Matt elbowed me. “That brunette is undressing you from across the room.”
I followed his eyes to spot one of the most gorgeous women that I had ever seen. And trust me, I’ve seen gorgeous women. Her hair was such a dark brown that it was almost black, and I guessed that she had an Italian background because of her dark eyes and olive skin. She was wearing a black evening gown with a plunging neckline. She met my eyes and then demurely lowered them to her champagne flute before looking back up at me again.
“I don’t pay for women,” I said and turned away from the Megan Fox lookalike.
“Oh, they’re not paid. They audition to be here. Do you want me to call her over?”
Lucy’s blue eyes and shy smile flashed to my mind. Before the storm, I would’ve taken the brunette into a back room and bent her over. I knew her type, her panties would be expensive and lacy, and I’d rip them right off her. I wouldn’t zip her out of her dress though, I’d just hike the sequined fabric up to her waist, maybe have a taste of her from behind, make her legs shake and quiver until it was time for my cock to take over.
I shook my head. The image of Lucy’s giggle and the way she looked under my quilt were competing with the image of this model standing with her legs spread, waiting to feel me take her. “Nah,” I said to Matt.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “How did you hear about this club?”
“Oh, I’m friends with Lawrence Locklear.”
This seemed to please Matt and he grinned. “Our friend Lawrence is about to win our latest little wager.”
“I heard,” I lied. I had to make Matt feel comfortable enough to spill the details.
“We’re just waiting for the video to live stream from Hearthstone Manor,” he motioned to a massive flat screen tv on the wall above the huge stone fireplace.
“I heard th
at his fiancée is a cute little thing,” I prodded, hoping Matt would go into further detail about what I was about to see on the screen. I felt my stomach start to churn into knots.
“Fiancée. She wishes,” Matt scoffed.
“Aren’t they engaged? I mean, I heard he gave her quite the rock.”
Matt grabbed me by my forearm and pulled me into the corner of the room. The women had started pairing off with the club members, the room filling with giggles and playful touches. The women seemed a little too nervous to be professionals, and I wondered if they were new escorts.
I could feel the anger rising inside of me like a fast incoming tide, and then I felt the soft touch of a woman’s hand on the small of my back - a very intimate, subtle touch. I turned to face the brunette. She flashed me a smile, revealing her perfect veneers, she was even younger than she had appeared across the room. “Charlie,” she said, extending her hand.
I was raised a gentleman, and as much as I wanted to ignore Charlie, what kind of a name is Charlie anyway, I reach out my hand to take hers. Instinct and habit took over and I started to raise her hand to my lips to kiss it, but then caught myself and turned our hand clasp into an awkward handshake. She giggled and did the little chest puff that women do when they want to ensure that you get a good look at their cleavage. Her chest was like porcelain, and her firm young breasts quivered as she took a deep breath.
“It’s nice to meet you Charlie, but Matt and I were just having a conversation.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” she purred. “Come and find me when you’re done talking,” she trailed a manicured finger across my chest and sashayed away.
“They think that they have a chance,” Matt whispered under his breath and took a swig of his scotch.
“Don’t they?” I asked. The women in the room were all gorgeous.
“Pffft,” Matt said. “This week’s theme is witty and pretty.”
“Witty and Pretty?” I was trying to circle the conversation back to Lucy but was intrigued by the snippets that Matt was giving me.
“You are going to love it here, man. We pick a different theme for the week, depending on what we’re feeling, and get an agency to bring in whatever we want.”
“This particular group was told that we are all single men, going into politics, looking for political wives. They think that they’re at a meet and greet for the to-do of Seattle.”
“So, what was it last week, brash and trashy?” I looked around, suddenly feeling sorry for the excited doe-eyed young women.
“That would be a good one,” Matt said. “But, it really depends on whose week it is to choose. These women are a little too virtuous for me. I mean, I’m pretty sure that I’ll fuck one tonight, but it will be a challenge. When it’s my week, I just pick strippers. We don’t get as many points for those, but I can usually go through about three or four in an evening.”
I looked at this young man, someone who could soon be leading a corporation, or heading into politics, and felt a level of disgust and disdain that I’d never felt before. Then I had a terrible thought. Had I been as bad as these leeches? I mean, the women I fucked always seemed game, but as soon as I had pulled out of them and sent them on their way, I never thought of them again. But this, this game seemed downright cruel. The idea of Lucy being wrapped up in this scene made me want to punch every single one of these arrogant little fuckers in the face.
“So, Lucy and Lawrence aren’t engaged?” I had had enough. I wanted to find out what Lucy’s part in all this was and get the fuck out of here. I wasn’t like these men. I wasn’t before and definitely wasn’t now.
“She thinks they are. It’s a cubic zirconia.”
“What? Why. That just seems cruel.”
“I know. That Lawrence is on another level. He always wins. We all had six months to bag a twenty-something virgin, and believe it or not, they’re pretty hard to come by. He’s betting that she’ll give up her v-card now that she’s got the ring.”
I could feel the heat of anger flood my face, and my vision went red, I thought that only happened in the movies. “And he’s going to video it. To what, to prove it?”
“How else are we going to be able to confirm it? I mean a million bucks is on the line here, we need more than some bloody sheets.”
A few couples had migrated to the couches in the corner cloaked in darkness and were making out. One blonde girl was being led into a back room by one of the members. He had a smirk on his face, his hard-on tenting out his khaki pants.
“That’s Johnny. He bet that he could get a bj within the first hour – a tough bet with this crowd, but looks like he might have it,” Matt said, elbowing me. That was it. I had to get out of the room before I murdered one of those snot-nosed pieces of shit. I pushed Matt out of my way and made my way through the pathetic room.
On my way to the door, I spotted the brunette out of the corner of my eye, her dark-lidded eyes had followed my every move through the room. She made her way to me and cut me off at the rear exit.
“Michael, are you leaving already?” Her eyes were wide.
“Damn right I’m leaving,” I growled. I saw the disappointment in her eyes and empathy washed over me. “You are too,” I said grabbing her by the hand and dragging her until we stumbled into the alleyway.
Chapter 27 – Lucy
On Seattle’s gray streets, traffic seemed to be in slow motion as the Range Rover crawled along. I wanted to scream at the cars to speed up. I wanted to yell at the pedestrians to pick up the pace and get out of our way, so I could get home.
I was antsy, I didn’t want to be in the car with Lawrence, I wanted to be in Mick’s strong arms. I glanced over at Lawrence. He had his hand draped over the steering wheel and was checking his text messages again.
“You know, they just raised the fine for distracted driving,” I said as the car inched closer to the sidewalk.
Lawrence dropped the phone onto the seat between his legs and opened his fingers up, palms on the steering wheel, a mock hands up. “I’ve been texting and driving for years and haven’t hit anyone yet, baby.” He grinned at me and reached for my hand. Who was this Jekyll and Hyde character? I noticed that he kept tapping his fingers on his thigh and glancing down to check his phone every few minutes.
I sighed and slid my hand out from under his, leaving his soft hand resting on my leg. Lawrence and his family were above the law. If he mowed someone over in his car, I’m positive that his family would just make a donation to the right hospital and he’d walk away guilt free.
“Alanna’s tumor hasn’t grown,” I said, trying to fill the silence that hung heavy in the car.
“That’s good. Isn’t it?”
“It is. She asked about you, you know.”
“You know that I hate hospitals.”
Lawrence had come to visit my sister a grand total of two times. I thought that he had been charming, but I guess Alanna had seen right through his act. I wish that she would’ve told me that she didn’t like him, that I should run away as fast as I could, but I don’t think that I would’ve listened to her.
Instead of turning toward south side, Lawrence turned the Range Rover north toward the coast.
“Where are we going?” I asked. Breaking up with him on my own turf was going to be the easiest way to do it. I could tell him that we had drifted apart and then shut the door on him, closing that chapter on my life forever.
“It’s a surprise babe,” he said and reached for my hand again.
Oh, shit.
I let him hold onto my limp hand and stared out the window. How could I get out of this?
“Lawrence, I just want to go home and curl up in my own bed.” It was the truth. I didn’t mention that I wanted a certain lumberjack in my bed with me. In fact, the idea of getting under the sheets with Lawrence, his cologne and waxed skin, repulsed me. I longed for the feel of a man with muscles created from chopping wood, being enveloped in the scent of cedar and musk.
“You’
ve been through a lot, Lucy. Let me take care of you. And trust me, you’re gonna love this.”
“No, Lawrence. I really am drained.” It was true. I was tired, and the idea of pretending to be the happy girlfriend for another few hours was exhausting.
“Lucy. I put a lot of effort into this surprise for you. Just give it a chance.”
I knew that Lawrence always got what he wanted and wouldn’t let this go. I decided that I would just shut up and call a cab once we got to wherever the hell this surprise was.
The city grew small behind us as we headed north up the coast. We drove for about half an hour before Lawrence pulled down a paved laneway that led to two huge gates. He pressed the buzzer and the gates swung open. As we crested the hill, I caught sight of what I thought was a big stone hotel, complete with turrets.
“What is this place?”
“It’s called Hearthstone - it’s another one of our family homes.”
“This is a house?” I said, taking in the gorgeous architecture. The hotel, I mean the house, was perched on a seaside cliff surrounded by stone walls.
“They still have cannons on those outer walls,” Lawrence said, pointing out the window.
“Remind me again how many companies your family owns?” I asked. I had seen opulence before, but this was another level. This home could rival Buckingham Palace.
“It’s just the one, you know that.”
That’s what Lawrence always said when I asked about what his family did for a living. He never gave me a straight answer. it was always, “It’s a family business.” Sometimes he said that they were involved in acquisitions, sometimes he said consulting. I hadn’t wanted to seem like I was prying, or that I was an idiot. I mean, was I supposed to know what someone meant when they said that they were in consulting?
We were met by a butler in full traditional garb. He opened the passenger door and grasped my hand with his white-gloved one to help me out of the car. I think that he said, welcome, but it was hard to hear over the rushing sound of the water from the marble sculpture in the centre of the circular driveway.