‘You are like family to me, Shauna. I’m sorry if you think I'm selfish, or stupid, but it’s time I had someone for me, someone who loves me unconditionally. Nate gives me that, and more besides. You have that, why do you not want that for me?’ I query, unfairly.
‘I do want that for you, but can’t you do it here, rather than the other side of the world?’ She sends me a look of distress.
‘I didn’t go to Denver with the intention of falling in love,’ I remind her, ‘but, do you know what? On this occasion, I am thinking of me, and me alone. I love Nate, he wants forever with me, wants babies with me. I am not denying myself that for you, or anyone, and I’m not going to apologize for it either.’
She gazes at me, mouth ajar. ‘He wants forever with you?’ She asks softly.
I nod, ‘and babies.’
‘Wow!’ Shauna exhales a deep breath before her shoulders deflate, in resignation. ‘Then who am I to comment,’ she murmurs, ‘I’m sorry, Sophie. I am thinking of me, I love you like a sister,’ she provides me a weak smile. ‘I’m going to miss you.’
‘I’m going to miss you, too,’ I whisper, ‘but I am only a plane journey away.’
She nods, but looks far from convinced.
The salon goes just as well as my lunch with Shauna. Charley was dumbfounded that I was up and moving to America. She confided that she didn’t have the finances to buy the Salon off of me, but expressed her competence at running it as a manager. I told her I would think about it and for now, maybe we worked on the idea that she would manage it until I decided what I was going to do. She pleaded with me not to consider selling, but asked if I did, that I discuss it with her first to enable her to speak to her accountant.
I left the salon feeling exhausted through justifying my actions, as I did with Shauna.
When I arrive home, I call a few garages to see how much they would give me for my Range Rover Evoque, before making myself a sandwich for dinner. I love my car and am miserable that I won’t be driving it any longer. I feel like I am giving up everything that is familiar to me, which unsettles me immensely.
When Nate calls me, he can sense the weariness in my tone.
‘You okay, babe?’ He soothes, gently.
I run through my day with him, explaining how I feel about having to validate my decision to move to the other side of the world, and immediately sense the vibrations of his discontent.
‘What the fuck has it got to do with anyone else?’ He complains. ‘Why the hell are you justifying it?’
‘I don’t know,’ I sigh, ‘it’s just more difficult than I imagined,’ I admit.
The line goes silent, before a tight voice enquires, ‘you having second thoughts?’
‘No, Nate,’ I mutter, irritably.
‘Then come home, do what needs to be done from here,’ he instructs, dominantly.
The hairs on my neck rise, ‘it’s okay for you, nothing is going to change for you,’ I complain, emotionally.
‘Jesus, fuck!’ he growls. ‘You’re having second thoughts,’ he sighs.
‘I’m not, okay?’ my voice rises, ‘I’ve just had a bad day!’
‘Babe, come home. I can’t have you freaking out on the other side of the world when there’s shit I can do about it.’ His voice is firm, and I suddenly miss him with a passion. ‘What’s really happened?’
I take a deep breath and explain to Nate, how everyone is attempting to burst my bubble of happiness, and I would have to sell my beloved car, by the end of the conversation I am tired and emotional.
‘Jesus fuck, babe,’ he calls, ‘take a goddam breath and calm the hell down. You want a Range Rover Evoque; I’ll buy you one! What’s the real problem here, cos I gotta tell ya, it’s more than a goddam car?’
I sniff back a tear, ‘I miss you, I don’t want to be here explaining why I fell in love, why I have to sell my business, why I am giving up everything I have for a guy I met a couple of months ago.’
He chuckles, ‘then don’t!’. ‘Grab what you want from home, we can ship anything big, and get your pretty ass back here to my bed.’
‘I would love that,’ I sigh.
‘Me too, babe,’ his voice is low and sexy, making me quiver from head to toe. ‘So,’ his voice is smooth and soft, ‘you fell in love?’
I smile, ‘I fell in love,’ I confirm.
‘Still waiting for you to tell me, babe,’ he breathes.
‘You’ll get it,’ I tease.
‘Don’t like this time apart, London,’ he admits, ‘gotta tell you babe, makes me anxious.’
‘Me neither,’ I purr, softly. ‘You home?’ That sounds so good. I get a warm fuzzy feeling deep inside at the thought of Nate and I making a home together.
‘No, I’m in Krystal,’ he notifies me.
‘Everything okay?’ I check, ‘they lifted your suspension?’
‘Yeah, it’s all good, babe,’ he pledges. ‘I told you it would be good.’
‘Okay, say hi to everyone,’ I offer, gently, thinking about him at the hotel with Marnie.
‘I will, babe. Ellie’s stoked you staying, and Ma,’ he mentions.
‘Yeah?’ I smile, wondering whether he was just saying what I wanted to hear, or they were happy that I was staying. ‘I was thinking that they were glad to see the back of me, bringing all this drama to their doorstep.’
‘Soph, you know they love you,’ he comforts me.
‘Nate!’ I call, gently.
‘Yeah babe,’ he responds.
‘If I give all of me to you...’ I begin, intending to beg him to take care of me, of us.
‘Cherish that gift, babe,’ he automatically answers.
I close my eyes, an ache radiating through my chest. ‘I love you, Nate,’ I whisper.
‘Babe,’ he blows out a deep breath.
‘More than anything in this world,’ I add, for effect.
‘Come home, babe,’ he purrs, ‘need to show you just how much I love you, how much the gift of your love means to me.’
‘As soon as I can,’ I promise.
********
The next few days, I detach from my emotions, lift my chin and get on with what needs doing. I leave Charley in charge of the salon, informing her I am promoting her as manager, for now. I also expressed that it wasn’t a permanent arrangement as I was hoping to start up another salon in Denver, at some point and would need the capital. She wasn’t best pleased, but it was all she was getting from me, right now.
I don’t have a lot of sentimental possessions in my life, but anything that means something to me, I box up and arrange to have shipped over to Nates, along with anything else that I can’t manage on my flight over.
I contact an estate agent and set the wheels in motion to sell my flat. I loved my flat, but there was little point in keeping it. Shauna suggests that I rent it out, for now, I know she means well, she was hoping I would keep it in case anything went wrong with Nate.
I have to take a risk in life, trust in my feelings. I tell her this, and she nods with a small smile on her lips. She then demands that I go and get what I deserve from life, my forever with someone that truly loves me for who I am.
It is another five days before I finally manage to book a flight home. I call Nate from Heathrow, and we talk plans for the loft and where the hell we are going to put everything that I decided to have sent over, right up to when I board the plane.
‘I’ll be waiting for you at DIA, babe,’ Nate purrs down the phone when I tell him I have to turn my phone off.
‘I can’t wait,’ I breathe, butterflies fluttering within my tummy.
‘Get some sleep, Sophie. You’re gonna need it,’ he declares, with a promise of good things.
‘Fuck, that’s all I’ll be thinking about,’ I moan.
‘Safe flight,’ he chuckles.
‘Love you, baby,’ I call.
‘I thought we agreed, you weren’t allowed to say it again until I could do something about it,’ he half-heartedly scolded me.
I
laugh, ‘see you in about ten hours, Nate.’
The journey home seemed longer than the estimated hours, I tossed and turned in my seat willing myself to sleep, but it never found me. Instead, I sat up and rearranged Nate’s loft space in my head, with my furniture in mind, a smile on my face.
Finally, the plane touches down and everyone piles into the luggage collection to await their belongings. I had visited the bathroom and tidied myself up, brushed my teeth, reapplied my makeup and sprayed on some perfume in preparation for seeing my man for the first time in ten days.
I stand and glance around the crowded arrivals hall for Nate; his tall height means that I should be able to spot him from a mile. Maybe he was held up in traffic. I reach for my phone as a smart man of around forty approaches me.
‘Miss Parker?’ His dazzling smile and handsome features draw my attention.
‘Yes?’ I call, politely.
‘Miss Parker, Detective Austin has asked me to escort you back to his loft, Ma’am. He has been unavoidably delayed,’ he explains, genially.
‘And you are?’ I question.
‘Detective Morris, Ma’am,’ he smiles the dazzling smile.
‘Do you have ID?’ I check, suspicion clouding my mind. Nate promised he would be here, no matter what.
‘Of course,’ he lifts his jacket exposing his shield on his belt, a shield identical to Nate’s.
‘Sorry,’ I smile, ‘you can’t be too careful,’ I apologize.
He grasps my roll-on-case and takes the rucksack off of my back. I had attempted to bring as much as I could on the flight so that I could have some personal items surrounding me before the shipment arrived in a few weeks.
‘My vehicle is this way, Miss Parker,’ he encourages.
Sitting in the shiny black Mercedes, I begin to feel a little uneasy. I had text Nate, updating him of my arrival and thanking him for sending a driver, but I had heard nothing back from him. I glance out at the passing roads and again attempt to call him, the call diverts straight to voicemail.
‘Do you know where Nate is?’ I call over to the front seat of the car.
‘He’s working a case, Ma’am,’ is all he says.
‘I just wanted to let him know I’ve landed,’ I explain.
‘He’ll call as soon as he’s able, I’m sure,’ this he says with a chuckle.
It isn’t until he turns into a road that seems to be going in the wrong direction from Nate’s place, that my blood begins to pound in my ears.
My stomach clenches, something, is off. ‘Actually, could you pull over for a minute, I’m not feeling too good,’ I ask, sweetly. I pull up Ellie’s number on my mobile and hover my finger over the call button.
‘Sorry Ma’am that isn’t possible,’ pulling into an underground car park, he swerves into an empty spot.
I call Ellie’s number.
‘Where are we?’ the tremble in my voice is evident. ‘Please, where’s Nate?’ I hear the panic in my voice. ‘Help!’ I scream, at the top of my lungs. The man twists in his seat and points a gun at me. I immediately stop, my lungs emptying of air and bile rising in my throat.
‘Stop screaming, bitch!’ He growls. ‘Do as I say and no one will get hurt,’ he announces.
‘Where’s Nate?’ I mumble, shakily. I can hear Ellie calling me down the phone.
‘Give me that phone,’ he reaches across and grabs my phone, throwing it out of the window with a smash. ‘Stay the fuck there,’ he instructs, stepping out, lowering his gun as he steps around to my side of the car. ‘Out!’ He commands.
We enter an elevator, all the while the gun is painfully digging into my back.
‘What do you want from me?’ I ask, meekly.
‘Shut it!’ he spits. I shut it.
********
Chapter Thirteen
We enter, what appears to be an office floor, the plush surroundings almost empty apart from a woman on the reception desk, who doesn’t seem the least perturbed that I have a gun at my back. She is blonde, slim and beautifully made up in a short dress, high heels, and a painted face.
‘Mr. Ericson is waiting for her,’ she nods her head to the guy beside me, barely looking at me.
My heart is thudding in my chest as I am guided inside the office in question. There sits an attractive man with dark hair, a smattering of grey at the sides, sitting behind a huge walnut desk. He is dressed in a three-piece suit and several, too many to count, identically clad men are scattered around him. It occurs to me almost instantly that he alludes power, and not the good kind.
A blonde heap on the floor distracts me. I don’t know the man, but he appears to know me. My appearance somewhat pleases him.
‘Ah, Miss Parker,’ the immaculately dressed man behind the desk greets me, his English accent surprising me. In different circumstances, I would have found him incredibly good-looking, from the confident way he held himself, to the way the dark lashes surrounding the intuitive grey eyes scorched towards me. That was if he wasn’t some drugs lord, and I wasn’t hopelessly in love with Nate.
‘Who are you?’ I probe, ‘what do you want?’ My voice sounds alien, even to my own ears.
‘That’s her,’ the blond man calls over, accusingly, ‘that’s Oliver’s sister, looks just like him. She should pay the debt, not me!’
One of the suited men kicks him hard in the ribs. ‘How many times I need to tell you, man, you don’t speak unless you are asked to speak,’ his voice is clear and strong.
The blonde coughs as he holds onto his side in agony. ‘Fuck!’ He moans. His face is swollen and bruised, judging by his messed up face, he clearly hasn’t learned his lesson and continues to speak when asked not to.
‘Miss Parker, you are the sister of Oliver Parker, are you not?’ The man behind the desk continues.
‘Yes,’ I know that this information isn’t likely to please these men, but for some reason the moment I walked into the office, my body and emotions went numb. It was as if I knew deep down in a dark corner of my being that this happening was inevitable. I’m never going to be free of Oliver and his history.
He nods, his grey eyes holding mine, ‘absolutely stunning,’ he mumbles, appreciatively. ‘You have the most amazingly expressive eyes,’ he mutters. ‘I hear you had an unfortunate experience with that street rat, Myers?’
‘That’s correct,’ I mutter, almost shuddering at the memory.
‘I see the memory isn’t a favourable one?’ He tilts his head and regards me.
‘You see right,’ I murmur, glancing around at the men that are currently circling me.
‘What did he do to you?’ He probes.
‘Err,’ I mumble.
‘What did he do to you?’ He repeats, his voice probing.
‘It’s humiliating,’ I whisper, glancing nervously around the room full of testosterone.
‘I won’t ask again,’ his penetrating gaze along with his cold enquiry suggests I speak up, and quick.
I take a breath in, ‘he fucked me with his fingers,’ I murmured, ‘while holding a knife to my throat.’
His gaze darkens, his lips tighten, he isn’t pleased with this update. I surmise this is good news as it means they don’t intend to repeat the action.
‘Please accept my apologies for any distress that may have caused you, he was acting outside of his orders,’ he claims, mechanically. ‘And, you can be assured that he will be taken care of, Miss Parker. But, we do seem to have a problem,’ he stands and moves around the desk to perch on the edge, a few feet away from me. I attempt to step back, but smiler is standing directly behind me, preventing me from moving.
‘Relax, I prefer my women willing,’ he scoffs, waving a hand at my attempted withdrawal. ‘Although I imagine it would be fun to soften your hard edges, I hear you are quite the ice queen,’ he smiles. He is an attractive man, thickly built with good hair, his smile altering his face from attractive to stunning.
‘I tried to pay the money to that creep!’ I lift my chin, stubbornly.
‘If he hadn’t tried to force himself on me for the second time, he would have been away and scot-free,’ I express, vehemently.
‘He tried to force himself on you twice?’ He stopped and looked over to one of the suited guys to his left. ‘Get word, cut his dick off,’ he instructed.
‘Yes sir,’ the man departs the office, but it felt no less crowded with suited, powerful men.
‘Where’s the money now?’ The boss asked.
‘I sent it back to my father, he was financing the debt,’ I state. ‘I don’t have that kind of money.’
He stands from his position on the desk and moves close to me. He is tall, and his clear grey eyes would be magnificent on someone that wasn’t holding me hostage and intending on doing god knows what to me.
‘Are you going to hurt me?’ I mumble up, digging deep for the dignity that I feel is imperative for this conversation.
‘I want what I’m owed, Miss Parker,’ his eyes move down to my lips.
‘Does that mean you are going to hurt me?’ I repeat.
He watches me for what feels like minutes but is probably seconds. ‘No, I don’t think I will,’ he decides.
‘I can call my father and get the money for you,’ I offer, willingly.
He smiles again, exposing perfectly white, even teeth, ‘I like you Miss Parker.’
‘Thank you,’ I whisper. Maybe if he likes me, then he won’t kill me.
‘Take a seat, Miss Parker. I hear you’ve had a long journey,’ he turns from me, and smiler guides me into a chair to the right of the desk.
I watch as, who I presume is the boss walks towards the cowering blonde man, stopping a couple of feet away to gaze down. ‘Now, unfortunately, you, I will be hurting, Simon,’ his voice is cold, emotionless.
Simon! Fuck, that’s Oliver’s Simon? I attempt to keep my calm as I feel my anger boiling below the surface. Fucking coward, gave me up to save his own skin.
‘You see, I don’t like weak people, least of all weak people who are all too willing, not to mention spineless, to put someone else in the frame to save themselves. Do you know what I like even less?’ He didn’t wait for him to answer, ‘I don’t like weak people who are all too willing to put an innocent someone else in the frame to save themselves.’
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