For the Night: Complete Box Set (67 page)

‘Right, let’s see what they have to say first.’

I watched him carefully pick up the envelope
addressed to him, holding it by its edges as he shook the white card out onto
coffee table. He carefully turned it over and I craned my neck to see what it
said.

‘They want you to break up with me?’ I couldn’t
comprehend why someone would want such a thing and shuddered, as the thought of
him with someone else ran through my mind.

‘I don’t care how fucking much this guy pushes, if
anyone thinks I’m walking away from you they obviously don’t know me very
well,’ he bit, as he shoved a hand through his hair. I could feel the anger
radiating off him and reached over to clasp his hand, squeezing it tightly. He
looked up at me and attempted a smile, as he lifted my hand to his lips and
gently kissed it. ‘I need to see the message they sent you, so I can decide how
we handle this, because it’s getting ridiculous. Can I open it?’

I nodded, it wasn’t really a question, he was just
being polite. He undid the ribbon and lifted the lid. Sure enough the box
contained more black roses, three of them, with a larger envelope than normal
inside. He did the same, holding the edges as he shook and another card fell
out, face up this time.

‘Who’s Yasmin Taylor?’ I asked, my voice shaking
at the thought that she was one of his clients, or worse still an
ex-girlfriend. He shoved a hand through his hair again, as a growl rumbled deep
in the back of his throat.

‘She was a client, she actually helped me set up
when I first started.’

‘When did you last see her?’ I cast my eyes down,
away from his, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know if he’d seen her while he was
pursuing me.

‘The last time was after your first booking, I’ve
not seen her since, I promise. Since we started dating I’ve not seen any of
them, it’s only been you.’

‘I trust you,’ I nodded, ‘but why pick her? Out of
all of the women you’ve seen, why mention her?’

‘Fuck,’ he uttered. I looked up to see he’d gone
pale as he looked at something else in the envelope.

‘What is it?’ I asked, not really sure if I wanted
to know, judging by the sick feeling in my stomach already and the look on his
face.

‘Nothing you need to worry about,’ he replied quickly
and shot to his feet, the envelope held tightly in his hand.

‘Lucas?’

‘It’s a picture of my last booking with her, a
picture that you were supposed to see,’ he said quietly, as he quickly strode
away towards the bedroom. I stood up and squealed as I put my foot on the
floor.
Damn it
that hurt
. I tiptoed down towards my bedroom,
using the wall of the corridor for support and froze when I heard his raised
voice. He sounded furious. ‘It was sent to Summer, she could have fucking seen
this. I don’t care how you do it, contact Yasmin, if she’s behind this I need
to know so I can handle it, and if she’s not then she needs to know that we’ve
been compromised. This picture of us was taken at the fucking 710 Club. What’s
the point of an extortionate entrance fee to a damn sex club if anyone can get
bloody footage? They shouldn’t even have fucking cameras.’ He took a breath and
went quiet as I listened from outside, the sound of his feet pacing the
carpeted floor was all I could hear. My stomach knotted at the thought of him
with someone in a sex club. The thought of him with someone else was bad
enough, but a club? Was he doing things to her that he did with me? Like the
cuffs and his games? I swallowed hard. I knew I shouldn’t be listening, but I
had a feeling he wasn’t going to let me in on this and I needed to know what
someone had over him. If someone was trying to break us up, it affected me too.
‘No, not in the private room in the main bar, on her fucking knees giving me a
bloody blow job surrounded by other guys. Her fantasy was for filth, to be
treated like a whore, and I made sure she was. There were seven of them, they
came to the private room to fuck her as well, I can’t see what any of them
would have to gain if it was one of them, but it’s pretty damn explicit Ian.
They’re standing around and watching, some were feeling her up through the
crotchless knickers while she was giving me head. She may get away unscathed as
her face is only seen from the side, but I’m in full fucking focus. Thank God
Summer didn’t see it.’

I clamped my hand over my mouth as a sob escaped
my lips, Lucas,
my
Lucas had done something like that with a woman who
wanted to be fucked in public, degraded? I know he was only doing his job, a
job he was paid for, but I was shocked at the level of pain that hit me, as
tears started to stream down my face.

Lucas

I whipped my head around as I heard a noise
outside of the bedroom and my stomach sank.

‘Ian, sorry, I need to ring you back.’ I hung up
without giving him a chance to reply, as I rushed to the door that was ajar and
looked around it. Fuck! This day was turning to shit, she’d heard, she was
trying to escape up the corridor, but her foot was slowing her down. ‘Summer,’
I called. She didn’t reply and disappeared around the corner. ‘God
damn
it,’
I yelled, sheer frustration seeping from my pores. I was trying to protect her
from all this crap. ‘Great fucking job, Lucas,’ I muttered. I grabbed my jeans
and yanked them on, hiding the envelope, with the offending and quite frankly
offensive photo, in my overnight bag and ran out after her, in time to see her
disappear to the lobby. Where the fuck was she going, she was only wearing my
bloody shirt. ‘Summer,’ I yelled. ‘Get back here
now
.’

I raced over and yanked the door open. She hadn’t
left the apartment, the front door still had the security chain in place. Which
meant that she was either in the utility room or the guest cloakroom. I tried
that door first to find it was locked. I groaned as I heard the sound of her
sobbing, which pierced my heart. She’d never really asked me about my past,
about the women I’d fucked, or the places I’d had sex in. If it was me I’d want
to know every bloody detail, or the jealousy and my imagination would eat me
up. I had a feeling that she thought all sessions were like mine with her had
been. Tender, romantic and classy. Now she had a visual of some fucking seedy
orgy. Which was pretty much what it was. I doubted me telling her that I found
it totally distasteful, that I was imagining her as I had that blow job and
fucked Yasmin later that night, would reassure her.

‘Angel,’ I sighed, as I rested my forehead on the
door. ‘I’m so sorry you heard that. Please let me in.’

‘I want you to … go please,’ came her quiet voice,
between gasps for air.

‘I’m not going anywhere. Don’t shut me out,
Summer. Don’t let him win. This is what this bastard wants, he wants us apart
for some reason. He’s goading you by sending you pictures that he thinks will
put you off me. I have a past, Summer. A past that didn’t bother me until I met
you, now I’m ashamed of it, but that doesn’t diminish what we have. I
love
you
and if I have to break down this door to comfort you when you’re upset, that’s
what I’ll do.’

‘I just … need … some time.’ Her voice was
cracking, I could hear the pain in it, which hurt me just as much.

‘Not an option,’ I responded firmly. ‘You’ll stew
and have a thousand pictures in your mind of what I did with her. You want to
know details, you want to ask questions, ask them, I won’t lie to you, ever.
But I promise you that it’s not going to make you feel better, it will make you
feel worse. Don’t shut me out, I’m still the same guy you fell in love with.
The guy who made love to you this morning and cried like a fucking girl because
I found it so emotional. I’ve never done that with any woman, I’ve never told a
woman I love them, Summer. You have nothing to worry about. I’m with you.’

‘It hurts,’ came her quiet response. I pulled a
face at the thought of what she must be feeling. Even though I’d want to know,
I’d fucking hate it.

‘I can imagine, please let me in. This is the last
time I’m going to ask politely.’ I stepped back as I heard movement and then a
click. I waited for a moment, but nothing happened so I tried the door and
carefully opened it inwards. She was hunched up on the floor, just inside the
door, her arms wrapped around her legs and she had her head down. I reached out
to touch her hair and it killed me when she quickly moved her head away from my
fingers. ‘You need to talk to me, angel.’

‘I can’t, I can’t bear the thought of you … please
don’t make me.’ She started crying again, so I quickly reached down and hauled
her tense body up into my arms. I strode back through the apartment to her
bedroom, noticing that she covered her face with her hands to avoid looking at
me. I was going to kill this bastard once I found out who it was. I was the one
with the shameful past, why should she have to suffer because of it? I put her
back in bed, covered her up and grabbed my phone. I rang Ellie, she was good
with people when they were hurting. I asked if she could come over early, as soon
as possible, to be with Summer while I went out to do some investigations of my
own. She asked me to give her an hour. I went to make Summer a coffee, taking
my overnight bag with me, just in case she rummaged trying to find that picture
and got even more upset. She wouldn’t want to eat now, I was sure of it. I’d
been starving, but all of a sudden I was off my food as well. When she was
hurting, it hurt me. I bagged up the photo, card and box of roses, feeling a
rage inside me that only my punching bag was going to eliminate, that or seeing
Summer smile again. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how badly she’d have
reacted if she’d actually seen the photo. Dan used to use the 710 Club himself,
so that was going to be our first port of call on our night out. I was seeing
the manager and I was going to get answers, as well as ensuring that all
remaining footage was handed over and erased. I considered contacting Robert
Austin, my lawyer, getting him on the case as well. Sue the hell out of them
for breach of contract. I flexed my tense neck and shoulders and headed back
down to the bedroom, pausing outside as I heard her crying still.

‘I know you’re there,’ she sniffed. I took a deep
breath and walked in, trying not to look at her face, seeing her so upset just
killed me.

‘I made you a coffee. Ellie’s coming over to keep
you company, while I go and try to sort this out.’

‘I’m not a baby, I don’t need a baby sitter.’

‘I know that. I just don’t want to leave you here
alone when you’re upset. I thought you might like someone, other than me, to
offload on. She’s a really good listener and offers wise advice. If she’d said
no, I was going to ring James. He’s very insightful and he’s very fond of you.’
I added the last bit to try and make her smile again, even though it was true.
If it wasn’t for James and his sage advice, I may not have had the courage to
quit my career and have Summer in my life.