by Anna Edwards
Broken nose man punched Sonia in the face. Jean-Claude reached for a bat on a nearby table and swung it hard into his stomach. He'd had time to clench but it still hurt. He did it twice more and Matthew heard the crack of his ribs breaking. He tried to keep his focus squarely on Sonia but the anger inside of him flared when he saw broken nose man rub his hands over her breasts. He was heading lower; no man would touch his girl that way. They hadn't tied his legs down so he kicked out. Without shoes on it wouldn’t cause much damage but he had strength and the man collapsed to the floor.
"That was stupid." Jean-Claude swung the bat again, straight into his balls. A low blow that had his eyes watering and his brain failing to hold in the scream.
Sonia kicked out, catching Jean-Claude.
"That was a big mistake, bitch." Matthew summoned all the strength he could and strained against the ropes. They didn’t give but the chairs weren’t made of the stuff that could withstand a 6 foot 5 giant in a berserker fury and the back of the chair shattered. The wooden splinters fragmenting all across the floor. His hands were still tied but he could move. He head-butted Jean-Claude, who stumbled backwards. Beth screamed and lunged for him, a knife in her hand. He deflected her first thrust, but her second caught him and ripped through the flesh of his shoulder.
***
She was free.
Matthew was still holding his own with Beth and Jean-Claude, but the wound to his shoulder wept blood and it wouldn’t be long before he needed help.
"Told you I'd get to fuck you in the end. I'm going to enjoy this." Pit-bull slammed into her, knocking her to the floor. He squeezed her breast. Stupid man. She'd kneed him once in the face and he hadn't learned anything. When her knee met his balls she sniggered at the shocked expression on his face. She rolled out from underneath him and grabbed a jagged piece of the broken chair. He jumped to his feet and lunged for her again, but before he knew what was happening she thrust the piece of wood directly into his stomach. He gurgled and blood came from his mouth. She spun to face Matthew just as Beth sunk the knife deep into the cavity of his clavicle.
***
The pain was excruciating. He struggled to maintain consciousness. The world spun, but Sonia was at his side and removing the bindings at his wrists. He pulled the knife out of his shattered clavicle with a sucking noise. He would only have one arm to fight with but that was better than none. Turning the knife around he struck a line down Jean-Claude’s face. He swung the bat out in retaliation but both he and Sonia jumped back in time. Sonia was on the attack this time and managed to knock the smug smile off Beth's face when she caught the side of her face with the chair leg she held as a weapon. It ripped off the lower half of his wife's ear and sent her no doubt expensive earring flying across the room.
"I'll find that after you’re dead and pawn it to pay for the next grave stone. Believe me, it won't be as flash and respectful this time."
"How does it feel knowing that you’re sleeping with a married man. That I'm the reason he wouldn’t marry you because he still loved me." Beth covered her ear but still rolled off a load of venom.
"I think still loved you is the optimum word. Sonia is about fifty times the woman you were. And a loads better submissive as well."
"Thank you handsome." Sonia advanced forward again, so did he.
"Maybe you’re just a crap Dom. Ever thought of that Matthew. Too wrapped up in saving the world when it doesn't need saving." Jean-Claude aimed for his damaged shoulder and the pain of the bat connecting with the broken bone caused him to bend and vomit all over the floor. Sonia flipped over Beth and smacked the chair leg over Jean-Claude's head but Beth was just as quick and had another knife pulled out and sunk into Sonia's leg. She cried out and struggled to stay on her feet. They were losing this battle fast. If they didn't do something soon then they would die. Jasper must be here now. He needed to get a sign out to him. Jean-Claude came at him again but he caught his arm and thrust his head straight into the wall.
"Jean." Beth called out, Matthew rounded on the battered faced Frenchman to try and slam him into the wall again but he was too slow and Jean-Claude took his feet out from under him and sent him sprawling onto the floor. He kicked out and sent Jean-Claude to the floor this time and leapt to his feet in an elaborate back arc. That's when he saw it. The window. He looked to where Sonia was still in arm to arm combat with Beth. She was holding her own despite the fact her left leg was weak. Jean-Claude was still down so he made a beeline for the window. Wooden boxes where piled up next to it. With dwindling strength and a hell of a lot of pain, he picked one up and threw it through the window.
"You know she came to me after you two had fucked. Completely unsatisfied and needing me inside her showing her what a real man could do."
"You don't get it do you? She’ll cast you aside when the next person comes along."
"She helped kill my father so I could take over. She has supported me all these years and I've supported her."
"She had you kill a baby that could have been yours."
"She made a sacrifice for the sake of the future."
"She has been playing you all along."
"She loves me."
They were circling each other now. Matthew turned and caught Jean-Claude off guard. With his damaged arm screaming at him to stop, he flipped Jean-Claude over his back and out of the window. He landed with a thud on the ground. His body jerking as the last embers of life left it. It was a shame he had died so easily. Matthew had wanted to make it painful.
Matthew turned to see Beth stab the knife through Sonia's body. She fell to the floor.
"No." He rushed for them, jumping straight at Beth. She was startled and couldn’t escape him. He had her by the throat. His bare hands tightening around the tiny column that was her neck.
"You bitch. I'm going to drain every inch of your life to make sure that you’re definitely dead this time."
"You don't have the guts to do that. You were always weak and self-sacrificing. Besides you forgot Jean-Claude."
"What the Jean-Claude that I just threw out of a window."
He had to give her some credit, a look of grief crossed her face for a second.
"Doesn't matter. His replacement is already lined up. And with you dead, I don't have to keep putting off a proposal this time."
Jasper burst in, gun's cocked and ready to fire.
"Beth." Jasper's face turned white. "What the..."
Before anyone else could move, Beth had a knife at his throat and began to press. Time seemed to pass so slowly.
He felt nothing though. No pain. Surely he should be gargling his last breath. Why was he not dying? Beth went limp. Sonia. She was standing holding a knife in Beth's heart. She stumbled, and he grabbed her. She tried to speak but nothing came out. Sonia collapsed. He couldn’t move. He was frozen to the spot. He saw people mobbing around him. One checking on Beth, the other on Sonia. He heard the words alive coming from the man checking Sonia. He wanted to kneel down and help the medic who had rushed in but he couldn’t. A blanket was thrown around him, the weight of it sending sparks through the knife wound to his clavicle. He couldn’t breathe. He had to get out of here. He staggered in a weaving pattern towards the door. Jasper came up beside him and wrapped a supporting arm around.
"Let's get you to a medic."
"No."
"I'm not taking no for an answer."
"Okay. But not here. I need to disappear."
"Sonia's alive, man."
"I know. But she is injured. My dad could be dead and my mum lost her arm. It's all because of the decisions I made. I need to leave."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Sonia
“I say we go with the blue petunia theme.”
“Petunia’s are so 2016.”
“I agree; Mayfair have gone with Gerbera’s. They look fabulous in contrast with the white backgrounds that they have used.”
“But they don’t last
that long. We need our display to be the best. We need to get this title back again.”
“Sonia what about you? Do you have any ideas?” Miranda turned to face her. The warming smile on James’ mothers face had her searching her brain for an answer. She didn’t know anything about flowers for goodness sake; let alone how to turn them into an award-winning display for a late summer fair. The fields of sunflowers that she had seen in France filled her memory. The ever-present tears of late started to well in her eyes.
“I don’t know much about flowers, but in France they had fields of sunflowers. They looked so very pretty.”
Miranda smiled and brought her attention back to her friends. “That could work, you know. The yellow and the black plus there are so many other varieties now. We could use it like a sunset.”
“That is a brilliant idea.”
“Oh, I like the sunset theme.”
The women’s voices faded out as she retreated inside her head. Ever since Matthew had disappeared she had lived there. James had flown to France later that day and brought her back to England when she was fit enough to travel. She had asked him to take her to see Matthew’s parents before they left but he felt the journey would be too much for her. Instead he had set up a Skype call with them. Eleanore was doing well and adjusting to having only one arm. Phillip had eventually come out of his coma. He was alive but struggling with memory loss and his speech had been affected. He was fighting it, though. Henri and Loudres were doing everything possible to keep the winery running smoothly for the family. When she was fully recovered from the stab wound to her stomach, Sonia was adamant that she was going to travel back to Bordeaux to see them.
James had brought her back to his home in Kensington and had installed her as a house guest to be mothered by Miranda as much as possible until she decided what she wanted to do next. Her job was there if she wanted it. He would never take it away from her. All she could think about though was Matthew.
She got to her feet and informed Miranda she was going to lay down as she was tired. Miranda nodded and offered to assist her to the bedroom but she refused. Her wound was heeling well but sometimes it still pulled a little when she moved quickly or stretched.
“Sonia.” James called out when she walked pass his office. “The flower discussion is getting a little heated.”
“Just a little. I’m afraid that I’m not really a flower person.”
“I have to agree there. I leave that sort of thing to my mother.” He chuckled. “How are you feeling?”
“Getting better. I was thinking maybe I should start looking for somewhere to live. Right now, I’m not sure I want to go back into being a bodyguard.” At the moment all she wanted to do was curl up in a little ball and lay there. Not knowing where Matthew was, was killing her. Was he even alive? He’d had some pretty bad wounds. They could have got infected or he could have bled out. She’d been told he left with Jasper but she had no way of contacting him, short of storming down the Agency’s door and demanding he speak to her. She didn’t think that would get her very far though and would probably land her in jail more than anything.
“Why do you want to move out? You have your own room here.”
“I have Matthew’s room.”
“It is your room as well.”
“I’m sure he will come back soon and he’s made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want me in his life anymore.”
“Have you spoken to him, then?” James, who had been sitting at his desk, now stood and came around to perch on the front of it beside her. His long muscular legs crossed at the ankles. He wasn’t her Dom, he was her boss, but he still gave off those vibes that made her shiver with a need to do as she was told.
“No. I haven’t.” She put her head down like a naughty school girl.
“Then how do you know he doesn’t want you in his life anymore?”
“He left me.”
“No, he took the coward’s way to try to sort out his head. His father and mother had been shot. He didn’t know if his father was still alive or not. His mother had lost an arm. You had been taken, and he had to watch guys strip you naked, touch you, hit you and stab you. Then, to top it all off, his wife that he thought was dead reappeared and tried to kill him. He lost his mind, I’m sure the blood loss he was experiencing didn’t help that. He’ll find it again and be back. Matthew has always been a tower of strength since the first day I met him. He rigidly controls everything. Do you know in MI5 his nickname was ‘The Machine’? Because he never faltered, he never failed, he never showed he was human. What he’s done, taking the cowards route--it shows that he is a human after all.”
“You’ve spoken to him?”
“No, I have not. I have a private investigator searching for him, but Matthew is trained by MI5. If he doesn’t want to be found just yet, then he won’t be.”
“Have you tried, Jasper?”
“Jasper is loyal to Matthew. I’ll not get an answer from him.”
“So we are none the wiser to where he is.” Her heart deflated.
“But I’m not going to give up.”
“Thank you for trying.”
“Look, I think we both need a little bit of fun. Why don’t we go to the club? You don’t have to participate in anything. They have a demonstration night next week. We can go and watch.”
“I don’t know.” She knew that James wouldn’t try anything with her. She was Matthew’s submissive to him and always would be. He would be like a protector. She couldn’t hide away all the time. It wouldn’t do her any good. She was just getting into a deeper and deeper mourning for the loss of her future.
“I’ll try. I can’t promise anything, though.”
“That’s all you can do.” James placed his hand on her shoulder. “Sonia, I know what you are going through. I can’t believe Amy isn’t in my life. Every day, I want to run screaming through the streets, find her and carry her back here and fuck her till she sees sense and tells me she loves me. But she used her safe word with me. I need to give her time. If we are meant to be together, then we will be brought back together. Damn fate and all that. Matthew didn’t use his safe word but his walking away means he needs space. I know that it is so incredibly hard for you, because it is virtually impossible for me, but you need to give him time.”
“What if time doesn’t heal him? What if he loses the love he has for me?”
“Then you’ll deal with it because you are a strong woman. You can survive this.”
“It hurts so much.” She tried to stifle the tears that were now threatening to swamp her.
“I know.” He pulled her into his arms and his warmth gave her some comfort. “Look. I’m not in the mood for working. I say we order pizza, ice cream and wine. Put on soppy movies and watch till we pass out?”
“Isn’t that what girls do when they are miserable?”
“I hate to point this out but you are a girl.”
“That is a nasty rumour I’ll thank you not to repeat.” A little chuckle left her lips.
“That’s better.”
“It happens occasionally.”
“Just not when my mother and her cronies are talking about flowers.”
“Yeah, that was a little tedious. I’m not really a lady that does lunch.”
“Alright. We will go to the gym and lift weights like men, come back, and cry into our ice cream. How does that sound?”
“Perfect!”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Matthew
She looked so happy. Couldn't have been missing him at all.
Who was he kidding?
He could see the sadness behind her eyes as she followed behind Miranda towards the house. He'd been in hiding for weeks now recovering from his injuries. His arm was still in a sling, the broken bone in his clavicle healing nicely but slowly. The slash down his back had melded together and the stitches were starting to dissolve. Yes, his body was healing well. His mind, however, was still full of torment.
His wife, believe
d dead for so long, had reappeared and tried to kill him.
The last few years of his life had been a lie.
But the woman he now watched hadn't been, she had been the truth and he had walked away from her when he should have held her hand and reminded her he loved her. He didn't deserve her. He'd hurt her.
He needed to get out of here. He held his uninjured arm up for a taxi but it drove straight past when an Aston Martin pulled up beside him. It was a car he knew well. The door opened.
"Get in." James spoke, his face lined with concern. "If you don't, I will back up and drive forward again to break both your legs so I can get you in the car."
"You know I can still beat you with just one arm?"
"In your dreams. It's why I hired you, I'm too lethal with my bare hands."
"Good to see you have your humour back."
"Well one of us has to make jokes, or we are just annoying, slightly aging men." His boss laughed at him; Matthew knew he had no choice but to get in the car.
"How long have you known I was back in London?"
"My sources called me the second you caught the train at Paris. I was going to give you a week to contact us, and then I was going to storm down the door of your Mayfair hotel. I own the building, so don't think I wouldn't."
"It's why I chose your hotel. It would be the kick up the arse I needed if I didn't come and see you of my own accord."
"Plus you knew you'd never have to actually pay the bill."
"Well, that helped."
"Although I'm considering deduction of the mini bar expense from your wages. I think the hotel sold out of whiskey."
"Helps me sleep."
"I don't have to tell you that Sonia should be helping you recover."
"I know."
"Then why did you walk away."
"Because I was a complete idiot."