by JD Nixon
The next day I rang Kristo to break the bad news. He didn’t take it very well, knowing that I would have been a guaranteed cash-cow for the next year for him. He threatened that I would never work in the industry again. I told him that I couldn’t care less and hung up. Then I sneaked out for a few hours in the late morning, leaving Heller a note on his desk that I’d be back before lunchtime, but not telling him what I was doing. On my return he interrogated me on where I had been and what I’d been doing, suspicious that I’d been out with Will again, but I merely smiled and told him I would tell him soon enough. He almost grew angry with me about my implacable silence, but as I refused to budge, he had no choice but to let it be.
A week later I received a parcel in the mail from the States. Surprised, I opened it eagerly, having no idea what it could be. I was almost moved to tears when I pulled out the beautiful tablecloth with the gorgeous floral border that Mary had been working on during her visit to the city – the one I had admired so fulsomely. There was a little note inside.
Dearest Tilly
A little ‘thank you’ gift from the Peachey wives for all your friendship and help during our visit. We are still very sorry about what our husband tried to do to you, and have made our displeasure known to him in no small measure. He has been without our wifely attentions for many nights now. He is quite humble about his terrible sinfulness and has become a more respectful and obliging man as a result.
You will be pleased to hear that we have told him we will no longer wear a conjugal nightgown and he has accepted our wish and has not sought to replace the one that you tore up. He has also accepted that we will not welcome any more wives into our family. We are slowly making some other changes that I’m sure will benefit us all.
Once again, thank you so much. We are all so much happier.
Love Martha, Mary, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Hannah and Sarah xxxx
PS (from Mary). We all love our special dresses that I have made for us. They are beautiful. Thank you again for your unnecessary generosity. I was going to make one for you as well, knowing how much you admired mine, but I then remembered your high esteem for my tablecloth and thought you might prefer that.
PPS. Please give all our kind regards to Mr Heller. We often speak of how we only wish we had been given a few moments more to properly make his acquaintance.
I went into Heller’s office and showed him the special gift, letting him read the wives’ note.
“Shame about the dress,” he smiled, and took my hands in his. He admitted, “You made the right choice about who to ring, Matilda. And you did set them free in a small way. You truly are a remarkable woman.”
He squeezed my hands before returning the note and tablecloth to me. But I didn’t leave his office, instead I remained standing in front of him, grinning mischievously.
“What have you been up to, my sweet?” he asked, with curious trepidation.
“Remember when I disappeared about a week ago and wouldn’t answer your questions about where I was?” He nodded, annoyance compressing his eyebrows together at the memory. “I took what we said the other day about my commitment to you and your business very seriously, Heller, and I hope you did too. I wanted to prove my loyalty to you, so I had this done.”
I lifted up my left foot and plonked it in his lap, pulling my jeans leg up to show him my new tattoo that had now healed. It was a small replica of the H logo on my left inner ankle.
“The thistle on my right ankle represents one of my families and this Heller’s logo represents the other,” I explained.
He was stunned, bereft of words. “That’s so touching, Matilda. I don’t know what to say.” He bent down and gently kissed my ankle and then pulled me down into his lap, hugging me tightly.
“Did you mean it when you said that you would look after me and protect me, no matter what?” I asked him.
“Yes, I did. Forever,” he answered seriously. We smiled at each other and I leant towards him until our lips touched lightly. Daniel walked in right at that moment and pulled a face.
“Gross!” he exclaimed. “No canoodling in the office please! Some of us are trying to work. Not to mention keep our lunch down.”
I poked my tongue out at him. “I was just showing Heller my new tattoo,” I explained, and waved my ankle around for him to see.
“Ooh, I want one of those too!” was his first reaction, and so I ended up back in the tattoo parlour that afternoon with Niq, watching while Daniel got his first tattoo, the H, inked on his right arm. Of course Niq wanted one as well, but Heller wouldn’t let him until he was older. Sid and Clive both had tattoo envy when they saw Daniel’s and mine, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before they succumbed as well.
The H tattoo craze took off around the office, first among the security men, then the surveillance men, becoming a must-have mark of allegiance for every Heller loyalist. It became tribal, a sign of belonging, being part of the Heller’s family. The security section even established strict rules around it, new recruits only being allowed to get one after serving faithfully for a year. A few months after I had my tattoo done, the grateful tattoo artist sent me a personal letter of thanks and the offer of a free tattoo anytime for bringing in so many patrons.
Heller himself regarded the craze with bemusement, possibly ending up as the only person working in his business without the H logo tattoo.
“I knew my men were loyal, but I never realised exactly how much before. It’s very humbling,” he admitted to me one night when we were lazing alone together in the hot tub.
“You inspire loyalty and respect in your staff. They think highly of you, because you’re fair and honest with them. That can be rare in a boss, you know.”
“And what about you, my sweet? Do I inspire you in any way?”
“Yes, you inspire me to stay very, very fit.”
He frowned slightly. “Why?”
“So when I’ve done something you won’t approve of, I can run away very quickly.”
He smiled. “Are you planning on doing something I won’t approve of?”
“I already have,” I confessed, and for once the enigmatic smile belonged to me. I leaned back in the hot tub, enjoying its pulsating warmth, remembering my afternoon phone call to Will. I closed my eyes, thinking with happy anticipation about my date with him the following night. He was taking me out to dinner and a movie and then . . . who knows?
I’d get around to telling Heller about it.
Eventually.
~~~~~~ ###### ~~~~~~
About the author:
JD Nixon lives in Queensland, Australia writing and editing for a living during the day, but by night lets a wild imagination run free.
Discover other titles by JD Nixon at Smashwords.com:
Heller series
Heller (free ebook!)
Heller’s Revenge
Heller’s Girlfriend
Heller’s Punishment
Heller’s Decision (due 2012)
Little Town series
Blood Ties (free ebook!)
Blood Sport
Blood Feud (due 2012)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30