Surrendered

by LP Lovell

  “Seriously Harry, one more fucking comment…” I spit.

  “Do you want anything to drink?” Theo asks politely. This robotic version of him is really starting to piss me off. He’s not doing anything wrong, he’s not being an arse. Hell, at this point I’d be happier if he would just act like his usual arsehole self.

  “No. Thank you.” Harry fakes a smile.

  “No, I’m good.” I reply.

  Theo nods and seems to physically steel himself. He gestures to the sofa, where I pull Harry down next to me. Theo sits on the other side of the L shaped sofa, facing towards us. He drags his hands through his dark hair, his actions agitated and twitchy.

  “Theo, what is going on?” I ask carefully.

  He takes a deep breath before lifting his eyes to mine. “I have something I need to tell you. Don’t be mad. I’m working to fix it as we speak.” I say nothing. This sounds ominous. “My ‘business trip’ last week was to Monaco, as you know.” I nod. “Only it wasn’t really a business trip.” My mind races as I imagine wild parties with hoard’s of Hugo’s hookers, but then I remember that Harry is sat next to me. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t tell me to bring my brother to that kind of confession. “I tracked down your mother.”

  Silence. I can hear Harry’s hitched breaths next to me. I can feel the tension radiating from both men from where I sit between the two. “Why?” I whisper through my suddenly tight throat.

  “To force her to change her statement, and make the case against Harry go away.” He lied to me. His eyes plead with me to understand. I look away. I don’t know what to feel. Why would he deliberately deceive me like that?

  “You have no right getting involved in our business.” Harry says through gritted teeth.

  “Maybe not, but I would do anything to save Lilly from any pain, and your possible imprisonment was causing her pain, let alone if you actually do get sentenced. I know what that will do to her, and so I tried to stop it from happening.” He explains frantically.

  “Tried?” Harry asks.

  Theo shuts his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “She’s now blackmailing me.”

  “Brilliant.” Harry says sarcastically.

  “What the fuck? How?” I ask. He opens his eyes, the blue so intense that I can’t look away.

  I’m staring into those perfect eyes when he says the words that make my already messy world implode. “She says you killed her boyfriend and she has proof.” Oh my god.

  Some secrets cannot be buried, no matter how much time or distance you put between yourself and the past.

  CHAPTER TEN

  THEO

  A heavy silence hangs in the air. Harry’s hand reaches out and takes Lilly’s. Her entire frame has gone still and she won’t look at me. Part of me doesn’t want to believe it’s true, simply because of the danger it now puts her in.

  “What kind of proof?” Harry asks suspiciously. He looks angry and defensive. His body is angled toward me, placing Lilly’s shoulder slightly behind his. He’s ready to defend her if he has to. He doesn’t know any different. Knowing what I now know, I understand Lilly and Harry’s relationship. It’s founded on a deep trust, on buried secrets and the horrific past they shared. He would do anything for her, and so would I.

  “Apparently it’s a video of you both dumping what appears to be a body.” I say quietly. Jane wouldn’t show me the video¸ but she must have it. Surely she knows that I’m not going to pay her five million without seeing exactly what I’m buying first.

  “Lill’s.” Harry says quietly to her.

  “I’m okay.” She mumbles. Shit, I don’t want to drag her through what is obviously some painful shit. This is why I wanted to deal with Jane on my own.

  “I’m sorry Lilly. I wanted to save you from this. I thought I could deal with her on my own, so the court case would go away, and you would never need to know.” I try desperately to explain. She doesn’t respond, she looks in a state of shock. “Lilly.”

  “What is she blackmailing you with?” She asks brusquely. She won’t look at me, instead she keeps her eyes fixed on the coffee table.

  “She says that if I don’t pay her five million then she will tell the police what happened, and she will hand over her evidence. If I pay her, then she will hand over the evidence to me.” She hasn’t denied the murder. I guess I knew really, the second Jane made the accusation. I knew that there was a very real chance that they had actually killed him. I don’t care, in fact I’m glad they did. My only concern is for what killing a man must have done to a fourteen year old girl who had already endured immeasurable suffering and abuse. The more I learn of her story, the more in awe of her I am. How can someone endure so much?

  “Why now?” Harry adds. “If she really had evidence, then why not before?”

  “Because she couldn’t find us before.” Lilly whispers. “Think about it, she found us because she saw me in the paper with Theo, so she knew that Theo was with me and that he had money. He bought her off almost immediately for one and a half mil, and that was just to disappear. She leaves, but brings the charges against Harry. She fucking knew you would come after her…”

  “The cash withdrawal…” I mumble. Harry looks at me questioningly. Lilly still doesn’t look away from the coffee table. “Miles tracked her down when she withdrew cash from a machine in Monte Carlo.” I explain. “It was too easy. If you were really hiding, you wouldn’t be so obvious. Then I brought her back here, giving her enough time to put the pieces in motion.”

  “I fucking said we shouldn’t have let him pay her off.” Harry waves his hand in my direction. “We should have handled this ourselves from the off.”

  “It’s not just about money…” Lilly says quietly.

  I shake my head. “When she spoke to me about it she was almost hysterical. Honestly, I can pay her, but this is about more than money. I think she wants some kind of revenge. Which means that even if I pay her, she’s still going to submit that evidence.” I sigh. “The woman is certifiably insane. Oh, and for the record, I don’t care what you did or didn’t do.” I say to Harry. “Lilly told me about her past, and I’d kill that fucker myself if I had the chance.” Lilly’s eyes meet mine for the first time since I said I knew about Shane. “I’ve spent the last week trying to figure out how to handle her. I’ve had my guys on it, and depending on your story, I think I can pin the murder on her.”

  “It was self-defence.” Lilly snaps. She looks away from me again and drags her hand through her hair. Her hands are shaking, and her face has gone a ghostly white.

  “I know Lilly, I know. I need to know what happened.” I say as gently as possible.

  “No, you don’t.” Harry says. “We don’t need your help.” He stands up abruptly and grabs Lilly’s elbow, pulling her to her feet. She looks shell shocked, unable to function or think for herself.

  “Look, Miles thinks he can frame her for it. I can pin it on her, fabricate evidence…”

  “And in doing so, you risk dragging Lilly’s past out into the public eye. No. We’re leaving.” Harry storms across the living room, taking Lilly with him. He’s angry and defensive. I don’t blame him. He’s spent his entire life looking after his sister, protecting her from all those that want to hurt her. He’s just trying to protect her again. The problem is, they’ve been running from this for eight years, and I just kicked the hornet’s nest. Shit, I need to fix this now.

  Lilly glances over her shoulder at me and tries to pull her arm free of Harry’s grip. He doesn’t release her. His fingers tighten around her arm, and it makes me angry.

  I step in front of her, placing myself between them. He still doesn’t release her. “Let go of her.” I growl.

  “Fuck you. Stay the fuck away from my sister.” He says, pushing against me. I can feel my temper creeping up as the urge to flatten him creeps along my arm until my fingers are curled in a tight fist.

  “Harry!” Lilly shouts at him.

  “Can’t do that.” I tell him. �
�Now, fucking let go of her.”

  He releases her, only to then try and shove me backwards. I stand my ground, and reach behind me, taking Lilly’s hand. I pull her to the side, out of the way. Tempers are high, and I don’t want her caught in the cross fire. “You say you love her, yet you bring nothing but grief to her. You cheat on her and break her fucking heart…”

  “Harry!” Lilly shouts again, and tries to move between us, but I hold her off.

  “Then you decide to go and poke around in her past, a past that I have been working for years to get her away from. Now, you’ve brought it right to our door-step. Stay the fuck out of her life!” He shouts. His fists are clenched, and his stance is rigid. I manage to keep calm. Everything he says is true. I was genuinely trying to help, but with secrets lurking in every corner of Lilly’s life, how am I supposed to know what the hell is the right thing to do? I thought she had told me everything. Hell, she could have told me this. I would have protected her. What’s worse is that her mother obviously banked on the fact that she knew Lilly wouldn’t tell me. Otherwise this blackmail scheme of hers wouldn’t have worked.

  “Harry, enough. You don’t get to make that decision for me.” Lilly grabs his arm until he looks at her. Their eyes meet, seeming to convey something, a wordless exchange that only the two of them understand. His expression softens, the anger ebbing away in the face of his sister. “I keep you safe Lill’s, it’s what I do. He just endangered us both.” He turns away from us both and folds both hands behind his head. “God damn it. Eight fucking years we’ve been running Lilly, and he just brought her right to our door.” I get it, I do. If it were Cat and I in the same situation, and Cat had a boyfriend, well…I’d be a damn sight less tolerant than Harry is being right now. I can’t begrudge him wanting to take care of Lilly. I’m glad. It’s that dedication that has got her this far, and I have no doubt in my mind that without Harry’s help, she would not have made it to become the person she is today. He sacrificed a lot to save her. I can’t help but have the utmost respect for that.

  “Look, I know it’s not great but…” She says to his retreating back.

  He huffs a laugh. “Not great…everything we worked for is all fucked. We’re going to have to run again Lill’s.” He turns around. “We’re going to have to change our names…”

  “What?!” I almost shout. Is he fucking serious? “You are not running. I can fix this.”

  Lilly wordlessly moves away from me and goes to the liquor cabinet. She pulls out a bottle of vodka and takes a gulp straight from it. Shit. She can’t run, not now, after everything we’ve been through. “Lilly, I can fix this.” I say desperately.

  I move and stand in front of her. She says nothing as she takes another swig from the bottle. A slow tear silently slips down her face. “Lilly.” I whisper. “Please.”

  Her eyes meet mine, such a vibrant shade of green. “I killed him.” She sniffs. “Harry just helped me get rid of the body. I can’t let him go down for something I did.”

  I swipe my thumbs under her eyes, wiping away her tears. God, her tears tear me apart. “Baby, he raped you.” I rasp. “Anyone would have done the same thing.” She closes her eyes as fresh tears stream steadily down her face.

  “You are my safe place Theo, and I love you so much, but you can’t protect me from this, and I wouldn’t ask you to. Harry can, he’s been doing it for years.” She cries.

  I can’t just accept that. In the short time I’ve known Lilly Parker, she has turned my world on its axis. She’s all I want in life, and if I had nothing else, I would feel like a rich man for having her. I’ve experienced life without her, and I can’t go there again. It’s a brutal torture. “You want to run sugar? I’ll run with you.” I say sincerely.

  She narrows her eyes, studying me. “You have your business, your houses, your money…You can’t run and keep all that.” She counters.

  I smile and brush a strand of hair away from her face. “Do you remember I once told you that I would give up everything I have for you?” She nods. “I wasn’t lying Lilly. Nothing is worth having without you.” I strip back everything and expose my beating heart to her. If she doesn’t want it, then she might as well cut it out.

  “You still have a baby to think of remember?” She whispers through a hoarse throat.

  “I can’t do it without you, sugar. I need you.” I clasp her face in both my hands and press my lips to hers. She tilts her head up, her lips parting slightly. Her hands grip my wrists, holding me to her.

  “You really think you can give up all of this for my sister?” I’d almost forgotten Harry was here. He gestures around the vast space of my living area.

  “In a heartbeat.” I say, keeping my eyes fixed on Lilly’s. A small smile pulls at her lips. I love this woman so much, I’m not about to let her walk out of my life.

  “You know, when you’re on the run, it’s usually to avoid detection. You’re not exactly inconspicuous, are you?”

  I shrug. “No, but I have off shore bank accounts everywhere. I have enough money for you to run properly. I still think that I can fix this though. Please give me a chance.”

  “We don’t have any time. You’ve known about this for a week and you only now decided to tell us, which means we’re fucked and out of time.” Harry snaps.

  I shake my head. “I paid her off a bit, bought us some more time. I told her that I wasn’t going to pay her off without verifying with Lilly whether it was even true. She’s gone back to Monaco.” I focus on Lilly. “Trust me when I say, there is no line I won’t cross for you Lilly. I could have had her taken out, but she says that if her friend doesn’t hear from her every day, then she’ll send the video to the police. It may be bullshit, but I can’t risk it.”

  “Theo, that would make you a murderer.” She says slowly.

  I nod. “I’d also kill for you, sugar.”

  “Yeah, yeah, we get it, you’d do fucking anything.” Harry grunts.

  “Harry, enough.” Lilly snaps. “We are not running straight away. We will give Theo a chance to fix it.”

  “You’re seriously trusting him with this?” He raises his eyebrows.

  “He’s never let me down.” She says with conviction.

  “Except when he fucked another woman and got her knocked up.” He mumbles. I can’t deny it. He’s right. I have let Lilly down, too many times, but this won’t be one of them. I will settle this one way or the other, and I will make her happy.

  “Fucking hell, Harry, don’t you think I know that? This isn’t about me and Lilly. This is about you and Lilly not going to jail. This is about you escaping your bloody mother and actually living without looking over your shoulder all the time.” Harry says nothing, but the permanent scowl that seems to be etched on his face doesn’t leave. “I am willing to sacrifice everything to help you, but I need to know what happened. I can’t frame her for a crime that I know nothing about. I need details.”

  Harry glances nervously at Lilly. She nods once, and he releases an exasperated breath. “On your head be it.” He mumbles to her.

  “What do you want to know?” She asks tentatively.

  “Everything. Start from the beginning.”

  She takes a breath and releases it slowly. “Shane was a monster and my mother was a drunk. She used to spend most of her life unconscious whilst Shane did whatever he liked to Harry and I.” She glances at Harry again and he moves to her side, taking her hand in his. “That night, Jane was passed out drunk, and he’d beaten Harry so badly he was unconscious.” She says quietly. “He’d made sure no-one could help me. He tried to rape me. By this point, I was used to it.” I feel sick already. “But Harry did help me.” She smiles at her brother sadly. “He staggered into my room, bleeding and barely able to stand. He stopped him.” She sniffs back tears. “But Shane got really angry, he hit Harry so hard. All I remember is him kicking him over and over again on the ground, and I screamed.” I want to go to her, but Harry pulls her up against his chest, crushing her to hi
m. A small sob escapes her as her brother comforts her. He glares at me over her shoulder. I feel like I’m intruding on the two of them.

  “Hey, it’s okay, sugar, you don’t have to tell me anymore.” I say quietly.

  “No, you need to know.” She pushes away from her brother and turns to me. Her eyes lock with mine, and don’t falter as she speaks the next words. “So I grabbed the knife that I kept under my pillow and I stabbed him. I’d wanted to, for as long as I could remember.” Her eyes go distant. “I had kept that knife there for months, but I’d never been brave enough to use it, just in case I failed. Not until I watched him almost kill my brother.” She says with conviction and without a trace of regret. “I stabbed him, and once I’d started I couldn’t stop. I stabbed him over and over again. I hated him, so fucking much.” She spits. “He took everything from me. He broke me. He broke Harry. I wanted him dead so badly.” She looks at me. “We had to run after that. One stab wound would be self-defence…” She shakes her head. “But there were so many…so much blood.” Her eyes plead with me to understand. “Do you think I’m a monster?” She says in a small, broken voice.

  I shake my head. “Of course not.” I open my arms to her. She pulls away from her brother and throws herself into them. “Never.” I stroke her hair down her back, and press my lips into her hair. “Never.”

  “Are you happy now?” Harry asks as he swipes at a tear on his face.

  “What did you do with the body?” I ask, ignoring his hostility.

  “There’s a bridge that crosses the river Stour, near where we lived. I drove it there in Shane’s car, and we threw him off the bridge.” He says.

  “And do you think your mother is bluffing about the video?”

  He shrugs. “I don’t know. I can’t see how she would have got it, we were careful.” He sighs. “Or at least as careful as a fourteen year old and a sixteen year old can really be.”

  “You said she was passed out. Could she have seen you?”