I turn around fast to look around the remainder of the room. It’s all so overwhelming. The wealth of this man is ridiculous.
“Leighton, this, this is spectacular, reminds me of Beauty and the Beast. How can you live here and not spend every day looking out of those windows? It’s mesmerizing. Thank you for letting me experience that.” I sigh and try to stop tears falling from my already filling eyes.
I fail miserably, salty droplets falling onto my new hoodie, staining the material darker. The repeated patter of the water as it hits the wooden floor and the tiny sobs I try to hide echo through the grand room.
“Abbi, sweetheart, come here.” Leighton pulls me into his broad frame, pressing my head into his chest with his firm hand as I cry for the millionth time on him.
After a few minutes of him holding me and letting me cry I pull away, wiping my eyes and nose with my sleeve. “I’m sorry I keep crying. It’s just, my life, it’s been really shit to put it plain, even from childhood. I hope I can tell you about it one day. But just know this, the food and a roof over my head, Leighton you’ve saved me. I owe you my God damn life.” I wipe the last tear that tries to fall.
“It’s okay. You cry all you need to. One day I hope to have earned your trust and that you’ll feel safe and comfortable enough to tell me everything about you, from the start until now. But for now, you take your time, you need to heal.” He lifted my face in his hands to look into my eyes. His thumbs reached out and dried the watery smears under my sore eyes. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room and then I’ll give a proper tour of the house and grounds.” I laugh at his analogy of his mansion.
“What’s so funny?” He mocks his hurt at my offensive gesture, and it’s so sweet I can’t stop the smile from framing my face.
“Calling this a house, Leighton it’s a fricking mansion.”
“No Abigail, it’s a home, nothing more nothing less and I hope you’ll consider it your home.”
“Do you make it habit taking in stray women and mending them?” I had to ask, I don’t want to be another charity case on his long list.
“Not particularly Abbi, but when I saw you outside my restaurant, so scared and alone, I couldn’t not do something to help you. And to be quite honest I’m pretty lonely here. Other than business associates that visit daily and the housekeeping staff, I have no one here with me, Selfish as it sounds I probably need you as much as you need me.”
“I can imagine you’re lonely. It’s so big.” Once again he takes my hand, pulling me through the ballroom back to the hallway.
“Let’s see your room.” He leads me up the right staircase and down a very long corridor. He opens a door towards the end of the hallway. Turning the shiny posh handle he pushes the door open and then ushers me inside.
I feel myself falling.
“Shit! Fuck!” I hear the deep voice shout.
I feel his arms around me in an instant, catching me as I crash to the ground below my unstable feet. His long fingers brush the hair fallen across my forehead, smoothing the wild locks away.
“You okay, what happened?” he questions me, oblivious to my utter shock.
I look around the room again to take in my surroundings; yep it’s definitely how I had seen it the first time. “This.” I say waving my arms all around me. “All of it. It’s too much, excuse my language.” I shake my head in disbelief.
“You’re excused,” he smiles cheekily, dimples appearing on his cheeks again. “And it’s nothing honestly, it’s just stuff.” It’s easy for someone who clearly bathes in luxury to feel this to just be stuff. But to me this is the life of royalty, utterly ridiculous glamour.
“Stuff, really? Who died and made me Queen?” I sarcastically say.
He laughs back at me. “Come on let’s get you off the floor so you can take a proper look around.”
I take a walk around and the first thing I see, well I couldn’t miss it really, is the huge, bigger than a queen-size four poster bed with silk drapes falling around it. The head of the bed is laden with huge fluffy pillows, cream and ivory silk sheets lay atop the mattress.
On the wall is a fifty inch television which is fitted into the plaster, and a TiVo box sits on a shelf underneath.
I walk through and see the huge floor to ceiling windows, leading onto a beautiful balcony with a magnificent view of the land. There are reclining sunbeds and a beautiful wooden table sitting on the terrace.
“Wow, this view, its breath-taking. I could die happy just having seen this.” I can hardly breath, this is heaven. I can see the stunning countryside from every angle.
“I’m glad. Now if I know women like I think I do, then you’re going to want to see your bathroom. Go on and take a look.”
Bathroom, I have my own bathroom? I gulp down the built up saliva in my throat.
I walk back into the room following Leighton to one of the doors on the other side of the room, a beautiful dark oak wood with a golden knob that just calls for me to open.
I slip my fist around the knob and turn it. Pushing the wood open to reveal for the first time, the room I would relax in. I almost pass out for the second time in twenty minutes.
Every surface is a beautiful soft cream or white. The tiles are sparkling and very luxurious. If I had thought the bathroom at the restaurant was luxury I was clearly fooled.
An enormous bath, big enough for at least three to lie down in comfortably, is slap bang in the middle of the room, fitted into the floor on a mounted platform. I walk over to look inside the miniature pool. I can see the multitude of jets attached to the sides of the bath. “Is this a spa bath?” I ask Leighton, utterly gobsmacked.
“It is, can’t have my guests living in anything other than the best, can I?” I smile at him, those beautiful green eyes smiling back at me.
A separate walk-in shower, similar to that in the restaurant with various heads to spray water, is against the opposite wall. Two separate wash basins fixed into the marble countertops, with waterfall taps, sit to the left of the room, next to a matching toilet.
Every area is so clean you could eat your dinner off of it.
A fluffy bathrobe, hanging on the back door is like a magnet to my hand. I run my fingertips over the soft wool, sighing at the light texture; I was already imagining myself wrapped up in it later.
The bathroom is amazing, beyond anything I could ever imagine. But after all of the surprises I have seen today, the fact that every shelf and open space is filled with an array of luxury creams, shampoos, conditioners and other feminine things surprises me further. The individual thought to have these items, the same smell of jasmine as the cream used on my wounds yesterday, put into the room, melts my heart.
“I have one more surprise for you and then we’re good for today.” He takes my hand, and leads me from the bathroom without me acknowledging him even doing so.
“Now, I’m not a hundred per cent on the size, but I got what I could on such short notice.” Huh, size?
He opens a set of double oak doors pulling them towards him. Stepping out of the way he lets me through them. He switches the light on from the switch on the wall outside of the room then he addresses me once more. “I hope there are a few things you can use.”
I take in the space once again. It’s a walk-in closet, well more like a room than a closet, rails and rails of clothes, from dresses, to skirts, to trousers, jeans, leggings, tracksuit bottoms, even jumpsuits. Another few rails are filled to the brim with blouses, t-shirts, shirts, jumpers, vests, anything a girl could ever need or want was in this closet.
In front of me, straight ahead of the doors, I see five rows of shelves framing shoes, every kind of shoe I could ever need is staring back at me!
A chest of drawers catches my attention and I walk to open the top one. Inside is the most luxurious array of underwear, knickers, lacy boy shorts, thongs, even comfy granny pants or period pants as I call them, being the only underwear I could comfortably get
through my monthly cycle with.
Every bra type also lay available, all in my size, from the sexiest demi barely covering type, to smooth and padded t-shirt bras.
I burst into tears, unable to take in the generosity of this wonderful human being, unable to come to terms with the sudden drastic changes since yesterday.
His firm muscular arms encompass me, pulling me into him. “Shhh, don’t cry sweetheart, I want you to have everything your heart desires. Please don’t be upset. You’ll get used to it eventually, I know it’s a shock and a huge change to what you’re used to. Please, I just want you to enjoy your new life and not dwell on the maybe’s or what if’s.”
I control my sniffling and stare into his eyes. Running my hand across his cheek and down to his jaw I lean up and kiss his cheek. “Thank you Leighton. I’ll never be able to get over this, or you, or how my life has changed in less than twenty four hours. You truly are an angel sent from above.” I wrap my arms around him, wallowing in the safeness and comfort I find there.
He kisses the top of my head, I feel him breathe in the scent from my hair. “You’re more than welcome Abigail, as I’ve already said I’m pretty lonely here, I’ll enjoy your company, as I’m sure you will mine.”
I release him, walking from the room and sitting down on the bed, wiping the remnants of my tears away with my jumper sleeve.
“Leighton, why are you so alone here. Do you not have a girlfriend or wife?” I’ve continuously wondered that. He is, for all intents and purposes, out of this world sexy, he has a beautiful personality, his kindness and generosity is crazy and he smells unbelievably amazing.
“Nope,” popping the P, he answers me.
“Why? How could you not? Sorry but have you not seen or met you?” Okay so verbal diarrhoea is obviously a regular occurrence in the last twenty four hours.
“Never met anyone I’ve wanted to be with.” He shrugs back at me.
“So you’ve never, you know?” I nod my head towards him, not wanting to ask the question.
He bursts into laughter and once again I feel that stupidity I had at his apartment in Angelo’s. “Sorry I don’t mean to laugh. I mean, referring to your last question, have you not seen me. Of course I’ve had sex. How could I not? But there’s never been anyone worth keeping around for more than two or three times. All the women seem to be after either my money or want to use me in another way.”
“That’s disgusting, some people sicken me. Since when has money been the be all and end all of life?” I had come to realise over the last few years that yes money would be nice, but a friend, family and a roof over my head was worth more than all the millions in the world.
“Tell the women queuing at my door for a bit of me that, will you? Not trying to sound big headed hun, but it’s literally that.” He shrugs his shoulder nonchalantly. With looks like his he has every right to be big headed, I know I would be.
“Even if I thought you were big headed, which I don’t, you have every reason to be. If I looked like you, I think I’d walk around naked every day.”
His eyes widen at the mention of me naked. I see him trying to shake off the clear image his brain was concocting of me.
“Referring to your earlier question once more, have you not seen you?” he says to me. Me stunning? I don’t think so.
“I haven’t seen the real me in a long time, Leighton, she seems to be reappearing a little but I don’t see me anymore.” It is sad, but so very true. I want nothing more than to be that girl again, the girl who enjoyed life, went to college, had a boyfriend, family and friends. But I know it isn’t possible anymore, it isn’t attainable.
He strides to me, wrapping his arm around my back and lifting me from the bed. He pulls me against his chest “Let me just clarify this for you. You are beautiful Abigail, everything about you, your smooth skin, your eyes, your lips, your heart and most of all, your smile. When I see it, it lights the room up. So no more negative thoughts about you Miss or you won’t sit down for a week,” he instructs me and I gulp. The images my mind is concocting are not good for anything.
“Okay.” One word. One word is all I can reply.
“Now, get yourself settled, I’ll be in my office. I have some work to take care of, come down when you’re ready and we’ll go out and get something to eat.” With that he turns and leaves.
I fall back down onto my bed, throwing myself deep into the sheets.
“Oh dear Lord have mercy,” I cry. How am I going to survive anymore time around this man?
I clamber from the bed and go into my walk in closet/room once more. What do I wear? Something nice? Something sexy or something plain?
Searching my underwear drawer more thoroughly, I choose a delicate thong and matching bra, running the lace through my fingertips, feeling the material graze my skin. I open the drawers below, this one full of stockings and suspender belts. The next one filled with silky nighties, corsets and baby dolls.
Closing it up, I walk to the rails and choose a tight fitted pair of black jeans and beautiful silk pale pink blouse.
Returning to my room I get changed. No need for a shower as I had one a few short hours before.
The clothes feel perfect against my sensitive skin, the lacy underwear rubbing me in all the right places, places that haven’t been loved for three long years.
Glancing at my frail body in the full length mirror in my room, I see my bruises and cuts, some fading, some not. My bony body is disgusting to look at, how could Leighton find me beautiful? I am disgusting, dirty and poison. My body has been used and abused for most of my life by one person or another. There was always the reminder of every person that had hurt me haunting my mind.
I cover myself with the clothes I had chosen, not wanting a recap of the last twenty one years I had lived.
I look at the nasty looking cut on my lip and forehead, it needs covering. I look around for makeup. Having no luck in the bedroom I venture into the bathroom. A glass door cabinet fixed to the wall, a reminder of my own one back at Lisa’s home, beckons me. I open the doors and smile at the supply of cosmetics I find.
The shades of foundation and powder purchased, just right for my pale skin. A multitude of different colour eye shadows, blushers and bronzers lay in the cabinet.
Makeup. I sigh. I haven’t worn any makeup for three long years.
I apply a thin layer of foundation and then smooth it over with a pressed powder. Applying a litter blusher to my cheekbones I give myself a happier look. I smoke my eyes up a little, looking slightly sultry and sexy, well as sexy as a bruised and battered girl can. A black line added to each eyelid and then finished with a few coats of lengthening mascara, I look like a new person. Well actually more like the old person that I once knew.
I brush my long locks through and give them a shake. The blonde curls tumbling down my back, looking more alive and silky than a day ago.
I breathe out and then back in before putting my feet into some pink ballet pumps, the colour matching the soft pink of my blouse. I felt good. I felt happy and my little emotional breakdown from a few minutes before was temporarily forgotten.
I walk from my room, following the long hall we had walked through earlier today to the huge staircase. The golden fixtures gleaming endlessly in the winter sun peering through the windows.
Taking the steps quickly I try and find my way to the kitchen. It doesn’t take me long as the first room I stumble upon has an oven, fridge/freezer, kettle and other kitchen appliance so I all but assume I am in the correct place.
I find my way around the room easily to get myself a cup and some hot chocolate powder.
Sitting at the huge island I sip my steaming cup of cocoa, relishing in the warmth. I hear footsteps along one of the many hallways and they distract me from my relaxing moment.
The once suit clad man, now stands before me in dark jeans, a white fitted shirt and a blazer. His dirty blonde dishevelled hair is sticking out sexily on to
p of his beautiful head, his aqua eyes glaring at me. Damn he looks good. Through the white shirt his dark ink peeks through. And of what I can see there is a damn lot of it. I’ve always been a sucker for tattoos and muscles. David was covered with them.
“Abigail, you look stunning. The clothes really suit you.” I feel the blush creep to my face quicker than I care to admit.
“Thank you; you don’t look too bad yourself Leighton. Would you like a drink?” Sipping my cocoa again I wait for his answer.
“No its okay Abbi, I’m really hungry, so when you’re ready we’ll go for some food.” I stand and empty my last drips of drink in the sink then run the tap to rinse it out before placing it in the dishwasher.
“Ready.” I brush my hands on the silky blouse as I follow him out of the kitchen. We walk the length of one of the corridors to a door. He uses a key to unlock the door and then opens it to usher me through. We take some steps down into an underground area. First level I’m guessing.
“Is this the basement you told me about?” I ask him, as we make our way to the bottom of the stairs.
“Some of it, there’s more for different purposes.” He smiles cheekily at me as I place my foot on the cemented floor of the lower level.
“Holy Fuck!” I say aloud as I see at least twenty different cars parked in spaces in an underground area. Everything from Audi’s, to BMW, to Mercedes, to Ferrari, to even a God damn Lamborghini sit perfectly parked in designated areas.
“Wow, that’s a lot of cars for one person.” Too God damn many.
“What can I say? I have a car fetish.” He chuckles cheekily at me, winking his beautiful eye my way.
“You could say that.” I scoff laugh at him.
“So which one do you want to ride in?” Me, choose? I don’t bloody know.
“God knows. But that,” I say pointing at the Audi R8 sitting sexily in its designated spot, “Is sexy.” The black paint, with silver side pieces shines out in the artificial underground lights.
Deliverance (The LockDown Series Book 1) Page 6