“Thanks for sending Gary, it was good to see him,” I said.
“Didn’t suit him to sit behind a desk and now I’m not so angry, I thought you would prefer him to someone new.”
“Why would you be angry with him?”
“Because he shouldn’t have let you walk in that fucking warehouse, Brooke.”
“It wasn’t his fault, please don’t be angry. I was caught up in the moment showing Kerry around, I didn’t think to let him check it out first. Anyway, he came off a lot worse than me.”
“Yeah, well. Let’s change the subject, have you spoken to Sam?”
I recounted the conversation while a waiter placed menus on the table and handed Robert the wine list. He quickly chose and we continued our conversation.
“I wanted some alone time with you. We don’t seem to be on our own so much at the moment,” he said.
“I had told Evelyn not to cook, I was going to do it.”
“This is nicer, what do you want to eat?” he asked.
We scanned the menu and placed our order with the waiter, who was hovering nervously beside the table.
“We have a bit of a problem, Brooke,” Robert said as the waiter disappeared.
“Do you remember that journalist, Guy something or the other? According to Mack he’s about to run a story on Kerry. More specifically, Irene is saying that I forced her to give up Kerry, even offered to pay her.”
“But that’s bullshit,” I replied.
“I know. Irene is after a quick buck that’s all, but I have a feeling you’re going to get mentioned. Someone leaked a police report, I don’t know exactly what’s been said yet but we need to be prepared.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing at the moment. If this story comes out and I would be surprised if it does, I don’t want you in a position to be cornered by the press.”
“I’m not hiding away, Robert, I can’t do that. Is that the reason for the day off, for Gary?”
“Partly, and I’m not suggesting you hide away, I just want you to be aware.”
I sighed and shook my head. We’d had a couple of good months, no drama and I thought all that was behind us. I was hoping our lives would settle and the media frenzy over our wedding and what happened in New York had died down.
“Who is this Guy? He’s getting to be a bit of a pain in the arse now,” I said.
“Independent journalist, sells his shit to whoever will pay for it, mainly the gossip magazines. He has an online site, blog of some kind. Mack has all the details. He’s obviously fascinated by me, the prick, but I don’t want you to get tangled up in it all.”
“Well I already am, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
Our starters of carpaccio for Robert and prawns in a delicate lemon sauce for me were placed on the table. As normal, Robert had finished before I was even half way through.
“Want a taste?” I asked.
I speared a prawn and raised it to his mouth. A small dribble of sauce had landed on his lip and with my thumb, I brushed it away. Before I could remove it, Robert had nipped the pad. I giggled and he winked. It was nice to see a playful side to him. I’d spent so long with Mr. Angry, Mr. Intense, Mr. Dangerous, but not so much with Mr. Playful lately.
“What?” he asked, studying my face.
“I was thinking, I like Mr. Playful, don’t get to see too much of him.”
“Mr. Playful?”
“Yeah, one of the many personalities that make up Robert Stone,” I laughed.
“As long as you love them all, I’ll be all right.”
“Oh I do, so much.”
Our conversation was momentarily halted by the waiter clearing the dishes.
“Can we talk about Travis?” I asked.
“If we have to.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“He’s being a fool, Brooke, running away and not speaking to her.”
“Back up a few months, Mr. Stone. You did the same thing once,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, I had Travis on my back trying to start a fight and knock some sense into me. He won’t listen to me at all.”
“I have an idea. Why don’t we engineer a meeting between them, on neutral ground? I could call and ask her to meet me, you do the same with Travis and we don’t show. They have to talk then.”
“What if he walks, leaves her sitting there on her own?”
“Then she’ll know. It wouldn’t be nice but she’ll know it’s over, she can make her decisions and move on. Say we arrange it for the club, Travis arrives first and you can text to say you’re running a couple of minutes late or something. I’ll do the same with Caroline, have the waiter show her to that back table where Travis will be waiting.”
“I don’t know. Then what? He’ll get pissed that we set him up.”
“Would he ever not forgive you for something? Would it be that bad that he can’t see you’re trying to help? He made you come back to talk to me that day you smashed the car up, didn’t he?”
“Yes, I could remind him of that I guess.”
Robert thought for a moment, I could hear the cogs churning away, see the pensive look on his face.
“Okay, you ring her first, find out when she’s free.”
I felt happier that we were doing something. I couldn’t sit back and let Travis walk away without at least talking it through. Caroline, the baby, it might be the making of him, it might not be, but at least I hadn’t sat back and done nothing. I loved him, he was family and I had to help, or interfere, whichever way you wanted to look at it.
“What about this talk of him leaving Vassago, you?” I asked.
“Don’t think it would happen. If he gets the baby thing straight in his head, the rest will fall into place.”
“I had another thought. You’re not comfortable with her living with Travis, his apartment is too small anyway and you, and him, still need to be close. What about building something in the grounds? You know, there’s a lot of flat land around the chapel, it has its own gates so they’re far enough but close enough, if you know what I mean.”
“And she has people over, walking around the land, the house, near you?”
“So fence it off, be neighbours. It’s not like you don’t have the space.”
“We, Brooke, it’s ours not mine.”
“You know what I mean, think about it at least. We might be getting ahead of ourselves, I’m just thinking out loud and it doesn’t hurt to have some suggestions should they stay together.”
Robert’s rare filet steak looked delicious. I had opted for fish, not being excessively hungry and for a little while we ate in silence.
“You eat too much meat,” I said, savouring the last mouthful of my fish.
“You don’t eat enough,” he replied suggestively.
“Uh oh, black eye alert,” I said, laughing. “Have you ever seen your eyes? They get darker when you’re aroused.”
“Scared the fuck out of people when I was a kid,” he said with a chuckle.
“I can imagine. I think they’re beautiful. Do you know what I want for desert?”
“Cheesecake?” he replied, toying with me.
“Meat.”
As we rose, Robert peeled off some bills and dropped them on the table, enough to have paid for a party of eight, I imagined. He took my hand and led me to the door. Gary had his head back, eyes closed, resting in the front of the car and was jolted awake by Robert rapping his knuckles on the glass window. The door locks were released and I climbed in.
“Sorry, I was...”
“Home,” Robert said, cutting off Gary’s excuse.
I caught Gary’s eye in the rear view mirror and gave him a sly wink and a smile.
“Don’t mind Robert, he’s being grumpy” I said without thinking.
I saw Gary quickly look towards Robert before starting the car and pulling out into the traffic. A minute later Robert placed his hand around my chin, turning my face towar
ds him. His mouth was millimetres from mine, I could feel his breath on my lips.
“Don’t ever undermine me,” he whispered.
I opened my mouth to speak as Robert sat back in the seat and stared stonily ahead. I snapped my mouth shut and we drove home in silence. I didn’t wait for either Gary or Robert to open the car door, opting to do it myself. As Gary drove the car back down the drive, I turned to him.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“Gary fucking falls asleep while he’s on duty, I don’t like it and you give him a wink and a smile. Then tell him, what was it, don’t mind Robert. That is undermining me, Brooke.” He unlocked the front door and we climbed the stairs to the lounge where he threw his suit jacket over the back of the sofa.
“I’m not undermining you,” I said, totally confused by this change in him.
“You apologised for me snapping at him. He fucked up, he knows it and you apologise.”
He was really angry and now so was I.
“I was embarrassed, I wasn’t apologising on your behalf. It wasn’t the worst offence in the world, Robert.” As soon as the words left my lips I knew I’d said wrong.
He spun around.
“He falls asleep, Brooke. What if someone took that fucking moment to attack you or me? That’s his fucking job, to stay awake and protect you. He nearly got you killed once and now he’s not on the fucking ball,” he shouted.
“Don’t swear at me, Robert. If you think I undermined you, then I’m sorry and I sure as hell don’t like you shouting at me.” My voice rose on every word until I was shouting back.
“I’m not swearing at you, for fucks sake. I’m pissed, big time. How do I keep control of those guys if you do that, because you’re embarrassed?” he spat the word embarrassed. “And to tell him ‘not to mind me’. I’m his fucking boss, he better fucking mind me. He’s not your friend, he’s here to protect you, drive you around, nothing more.”
Robert paced, running his hand through his hair, a sure sign he was really mad. I shouldn’t have said what I did, I realised that, but I was not happy with being sworn or shouted at in that way. Robert’s temper could be turned on as quick as a light switch and I wanted to find a way to flick that switch to off again. I wasn’t scared, I wasn’t being a feeble wife whose husband could walk all over them, but I was someone who would rather talk than stand and shout. I took a couple of calming breaths.
“Will you stop pacing and calm down? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I did,” I told him.
“Calm down? You made me look a fucking idiot.”
“You’re acting like one now,” I shouted, all attempt at being reasonable gone.
I stood facing him, he stood facing me, both of us breathing hard. Shit, this was our first argument. We had sniped at each other in the past, I had shouted that day after being shot at, but we had never had a full-blown row. A silence followed. As he stood before me, pumped with his fists clenched and his eyes black, a hard hitting punch of wanting, of arousal hit me square in the stomach. As I took a step towards him, he did the same.
Before my brain could register, his hands were either side of my head. His mouth crashed on mine, his teeth bit my lip and his tongue claimed. My hands clenched in his shirt and I pulled, faintly hearing the ping of buttons as they hit the wooden floor. I pulled at his tie, wrenching it from his neck as he grabbed the hem of my top, dragging it over my head.
His head bent to my neck, he bit and kissed and growled, the sound reverberated through my chest. I forced his shirt down his back and off his arms as he walked me backwards. My back was pressed against the breakfast bar and he kicked a stool out of the way, the sound of it crashing to the floor echoed around the room. I fisted my hands in his hair, gripping and pulling his head so I could find his mouth again, biting at his lip, his tongue as he had done to me. I felt his hands either side of my thighs, sliding my skirt up to my waist before be picked me up and sat me on the breakfast bar.
I wanted him so bad. I could feel the wetness between my thighs, I could feel my clitoris throb in time with my racing heart. I heard a rip, I felt the pull and my panties joined his shirt on the floor. I fumbled with his trousers, popping the button, dragging down the zip and freed his erection. As I shuffled forwards and wrapped my legs around his waist he slammed into me. I cried out his name as I came, almost immediately.
He wrapped his fingers in my hair, pulling my head and the top half of my body back so he had access to my throat. Leaning back on the counter, I placed my hands behind me for support. His mouth worked its way down my chest while one hand roughly pulled my breast free of my bra. His hot mouth circled a nipple and he sucked hard. All the time he pounded into me. I swallowed, my erratic breathing causing my throat to dry. I was panting, my moans were getting louder and louder. His nipping got harder, bordering on painful while his hands held my hips, holding me to him as he pushed deeper and deeper with each thrust. The feelings coursing through my body were molten, I was on fire. Every nerve ending sparked and sizzled.
This wasn’t make up sex, we hadn’t yet. This wasn’t fucking or making love, this was primal, carnal, an absolute need to connect through fury and anger and desire. My body shook, my brain scrambled and I screamed, actually screamed out his name as I came. He did the same.
I was gasping for air, I couldn’t get my breath such was the intensity of my orgasm. My stomach ached and I let my head fall on to Robert’s chest, damp with sweat. His pounding heart echoed mine, his breathing ragged and in time with me as we struggled to gain control. We stayed that way for minutes, not speaking just both coming down from something that took me totally by surprise. Silently the tears flowed.
Robert placed his hands either side of my head, he lifted it.
“I am so sorry. Tell me you forgive me, please,” he said between kissing every part of my face, kissing away my tears.
I wrapped my arms around him and held him.
“I flipped, I fucking flipped again. I’m sorry,” he said over and over.
“Shush, it’s okay,” I replied softly.
I slid off the bar, smoothed down my skirt as he wrapped his arms around me. I was thankful as my legs were still shaking and I wasn’t sure they would hold my weight. I guess he felt me trembling because he pulled a stool closer and sat me down on it. As his hands smoothed my sweat and tear soaked hair from my face, he spoke.
“I nearly lost you once, you nearly lost me. I can’t bear the thought of what could happen to either of us. I would die if you weren’t here. When I saw Gary asleep, I flipped. I took it out on you, I shouldn’t have.”
“It’s okay, I’m sorry too. I didn’t think, the words just came out and you’re right, he’s not my friend and I need to remember that. I guess, the thing is, I forget. I don’t see you the way they all see you. You’re Robert, the man I love, my husband. I forget sometimes that you’re much more,” I replied as I started to really cry.
“Don’t cry,” he said, raising my head to look at him.
“I don’t know why I’m crying, I just feel... I don’t know how I feel. What happened there?” I started to chuckle.
“I don’t know myself. I looked at you and, it was your eyes, Brooke. They darkened, still blue but I swear they darkened. I had to have you right then. It was like I needed to claim you or something.”
He bent his head to kiss me, gently this time but I felt a sting across my lower lip. I ran my tongue over it and tasted blood. It felt swollen and tender. I started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“The first time you brought me here, we ended up in this same spot, doing the same thing and I’ve ended up bleeding again.”
“Don’t joke,” he replied with a panicked tone to his voice.
“I’m happy, you haven’t scared me, you haven’t hurt me. Look at me, look at my lip. That is pure passion, Robert. That is how much you love me.”
“What can I do?” he asked.
“A cup of tea wou
ld be wonderful for starters.”
With a chuckle and shake of his head, he started to make me a drink. I swivelled on the stool feeling a little sore and watched him. Naked from the waist up, I could see the claw marks down his back. Big red welts ran from his neck to his waist.
“Shit. You might not want to be taking your top off in public for a couple of days,” I said.
He tried to look over his shoulder. I didn’t remember doing that, in fact, other than feeling an intense desire, I didn’t remember anything that had happened. I knew it had, I could feel the after effects. I looked at my nails, pieces of his skin were trapped underneath. As he placed my cup and saucer in front of me, I bent to pick up the clothes from the floor.
“I only bought those recently,” I said, looking at the torn white lace, no longer resembling a pair of panties.
“I am sorry, not about just now, but earlier. I was pissed and I took it out on you,” he said as he settled beside me.
“I find it hard to accept that you don’t take your security serious enough, even after everything that has happened. I get it, I understand why, but those guys around you have to be alert, Brooke. What if you were on your own? You came out of that restaurant and someone snatched you? You would have been long gone before Gary realised and I can’t have that,” he added.
“Okay, but can I ask you to do one thing for me? Go easy on him, I like having him around,” I replied. He nodded.
“Do we get make up sex now?” he asked, a cheeky grin spreading across his face.
“I think I need a little time to recover. My brain is still processing what happened. I came immediately,” I said with an astonished tone to my voice.
“I know. You didn’t just come, you were like a dam bursting.”
“Oh God, please, don’t say anymore, that’s disgusting.”
“I wish I’d had my mouth on your pussy.”
“Enough I said, I don’t want to hear any more,” I laughed.
“Come on, let’s go to bed,” he replied, picking up my cup and carrying it for me.
Fallen Angel, Part III Page 6