The Scent of His Woman (6 page)

You own my home, my shop, just when were you going to tell me? Then you had to insist
on kissing me in public, knowing it was not safe. How could you, how could you do such a
stupid thing. How am I to deal with this? Just tell me that. How am I to go on living in my
home after this?’

She was on her feet and shouting by now and Geth could do nothing but wait for
the tirade to end, she had every right to complain, there was no denying it. Finally she
stopped shouting and sat with her head in her hands in silence, Geth wished she’d carried
on shouting, it was easier to take than this abject despair. He tried to reassure her.

‘Look it will pass, the press will soon find someone else to persecute, take my word
for it they’ll soon move on.’
She looked up to answer, her voice dripping contempt.
‘Well that’s ok for you Mr. privileged and rich with plenty of places to go, what am I
supposed to do while I wait for them to move on as you put it? Am I supposed to leave my
home, shut up my shop, lose customers, tell me, what?’
‘Don’t be so melodramatic, we will just have to drop out of sight just for a short while
and don’t worry about the shop, I’ll see you’re compensated for loss of business.’
He took out his mobile and barked a few commands into it.
‘Alun, bring me a vehicle will you, and see that it’s fueled up.’
Lexie could hardly believe her ears, not content with ruining her life he was arrogant
enough to think he could rearrange her life to suit himself now!
‘I am not going anywhere with you,’ she began, but broke off when the other man
re-entered the room.
‘Sorry boss but you won’t get out via the front entrance or in one of our vehicles, the
press are there in force now, cameras and stuff everywhere, only need the TV guys now
and you’ll have the full set.’
Geth swore in his own language, a volley of vehement Welsh oaths.
‘Ok, can we get the copter in?’
He knew the answer before he asked the question.
‘Not a hope, you know we don’t have room for it to land yet and anyway it’s more
than an hour away, you need to get away now before they get round to blockading your
apartment not to mention the young lady’s house.’
As Geth took in this information he hesitated, then tersely asked.
‘Can we get a vehicle round to the road at the side so we can get out through the
back of the site on foot?’
‘Maybe’, said Alun slowly, ‘it might work the only problem will be getting a vehicle
out without giving the game away.’
Lexie who had been listening with increasing dismay to the conversation, suddenly
interjected here.
‘No need, there is no need to take one of your vehicles round, all that will do is draw
their attention, my car is already there parked at the side of the road, all you need to do is
show me how to get to it.’
Lexie watched the uncertain look on their faces and decided she’d had quite
enough.
‘Please yourself then, I don’t need your help, I can find my own way.’
She moved to leave, pushing belligerently past the two men as she did so. ‘
Wow, wait just a second, let me think this through.’
Before either man could react Lexie had the door open and was making her way
around to the back of the building. It seemed simple enough, she could work her way
along the hedge unseen, somehow she would have to get over or through it onto the road,
then it would be a few steps to the car and escape. She was fairly certain no-one would
realise she had parked her car nearby and once she was home she would be safe
enough.
Working her way along the hedge she searched for a weakness, any place she
could get over it onto the road, not taking any notice of the two men following, until at last
finding a small gap in the thorny barrier, she pushed through and they followed. By sheer
good luck they were within sight of the little car. Moving forward Lexie fumbled in her
pocket for the keys and was just about to climb in and drive off, when Geth caught up with
her, grasping her arm and stopping her in her tracks.
‘Just how far do you think we’ll get in that deathtrap?’
He was incredulous, and even in her agitated state the look on his face made Lexie
smile.
‘Well boss, I can’t agree there, you’ll be safe enough, no way can that thing go fast
enough to kill anything!’ Alun laughed.
‘What makes you think you are invited? You can find your own transport, to
wherever you want to go, I’m going home and if I never set eyes on you ever again it will
be far too soon.’
With that final remark Lexie climbed into the little car, belted up and started the
engine, but before she could make good her escape Geth reluctantly climbed in beside
her.
‘Get out, I told you find your own way out of this mess, I don’t want you near me
ever again.’
His patience was wearing thin now, the situation was bad enough as it was, without
this exasperating woman refusing to see that she needed him now, to protect her from the
worst excesses of the press, at least until the furore died down, which as he knew from
experience it would do in a few days.
‘Look just drive will you before we’re seen, we can talk this through when we get to
my apartment.’
‘Your apartment, I’m not going anywhere near your apartment, how do you think
that will look? Well I’ll tell you how. It will just prove to everyone that those lies they printed
about me must be true. No, the only way out of this for me is to let everyone see I have
nothing whatever to do with you or GLM. I’m going home to wait it out. They will soon get
bored of watching me when nothing happens. So get out of my car.’
Geth belted himself in without another word, giving Lexie no option but to drive
away, he was right, if they delayed any longer someone would spot them and the game
would be up. “Right buster” she thought, “let’s see how you like being driven by someone
in a proper temper!”
Geth could hardly believe the noise the little car made as she stamped on the
throttle, he’d never heard anything like it, more like a sewing machine than a car. He had
to admit though, Alun was wrong, it could certainly move fast enough to kill something. Not
only that, but if she kept on throwing it around corners at breakneck speed, that something
would be the two of them!
‘What the...’ he struggled not to let lose a stream of curses as she took the next
bend, throwing him against the door despite the seatbelt.
‘Don’t worry,’ she said with irony in her voice, ‘we won’t roll, 2CVs are designed not
to roll and anyway, in two minutes I’ ll be home and you’ll be walking.’
Hardly were the words out of her mouth, when they rounded another bend in the
road and the village green with her little shop came into view and Lexie began to slow the
little car. At least she would have been able to see her shop, if it wasn’t for the troop of
press and photographers waiting outside. Not knowing what to do, Lexie hit the throttle
again and Geth was pressed back into the uncomfortable little seat by the sudden
acceleration as they whizzed by. He only just caught a glimpse of the resulting scuffle of
the press men, as they recognised her car and scrambled into their vehicles to give chase.
A gamut of emotions flooded through Lexie as she drove past, she was angry, both
with Geth and the press hounds, how dare they interfere in her life in this way? She was
incredulous that they should want to, who was she to warrant this kind of attention? But
now she was beginning to be frightened too, if she couldn’t go home where could she go?
If she went to either of her sisters she would only involve them in this nonsense, for
nonsense it was, press hounding people in South Wales, she could hardly credit it. So
what was she to do? The only sensible option seemed to be to take Geth up on his offer to
look after her, but that would mean spending time with him, the result would be tantamount
to an admission of guilt, and even if, technically, he had got the information from her, she
was still innocent, he had tricked her, plied her with wine and romance, and she had not
been worldly wise enough to see what he was doing. No she certainly knew who the guilty
party was and it was not Alexandria Owen, no matter what the world thought.
Geth watched her face as she drove, the stricken look sending an unfamiliar surge
of guilt through him. Later there would be time to explain it all to her, that the information
had come from within the village council and not only was she not to blame, but neither
was he guilty of tricking her into providing the intelligence that had enabled them to turn
the tables on the protest. He’d bought the cottages as a good investment, but also as
leverage to make sure she complied with his demands. It had taken some pretty forceful
tactics to get the deal all but done and dusted during the last week, but his staff as usual,
had risen to the challenge. Soon he would play that little ace, but now was clearly not the
time, the press were hot on their heels and no way could they outrun them in this glorified
toy. His voice was calm, in control as he spoke, giving her instructions.
‘Head for Cardiff and my apartment, with a bit of luck we can get to my car, then we
will be able to outrun them.’
‘They’ll catch us on the motor-way, there is no way I can outrun them in Belinda.’
Her voice was scathing.
‘Take the old A48,’ he instructed, they might not think you would do that and it will
give us a head-start.’
As she drove at breakneck speed down to the city, he found himself praying she
was right about the little car’s anti-roll design and at the same time he wondered who in
their right mind would name a car at all, never mind call it Belinda!
As they reached the outskirts of the city, the press cars had still not found them and
Geth began to be confident they would reach his apartment without incident. Once there
however, he knew the press would be waiting and they would only have a very short time
to get away in his car. He began to direct Lexie through the back streets, not wanting to
approach the building from the front and was gratified when they were able to drive into
the underground parking area undetected. Lexie, recognizing his car from the row of sleek
machines parked there pulled up beside it with a flourish, cut the engine and turned to look
at Geth.
‘Well, what now, I have got us this far and we can certainly outrun anyone in that,’
she said scathingly, looking at the Porsche ‘but where exactly will be running to? No way
am I coming with you unless I know where we will be headed. I’d rather take my chances
with the wolves.’
Taking a deep breath Geth did his best to keep his temper in check.
‘Look, let’s just get in the car and I’ll explain on the way, we don’t have long before
someone spots us, but if we move now, we may just get away unnoticed.’
‘Absolutely not, either you tell me were you are taking me, or I don’t go with you, it’s
that simple.’
That was it, the last straw, Geth could not believe how pigheaded she was being, he
reached down and unclipped both seat-belts, before getting out of the car.
‘If you don’t get out of this deathtrap and into my car, I warn you I will come round
there and make you. We can discuss what happens next on once we are away from here.’
Something implacable in the tone of his voice told Lexie he meant it and reluctantly
she followed his instructions and within minutes of arriving they were back on the road
undetected. Lexie sat in silence watching him drive with relaxed confidence, feeling
strangely safer and calmer than she had done for some time and not able to work out how
that could be when she had been, to all intents and purposes, kidnapped again!
Once free of the city traffic Geth turned the car eastwards, heading towards London
on the M4 and as the big car ate up the miles he began to relax and give some thought as
to what the next step should be. One thing was certain, he realised, not only did he need
to come up with a plan, he needed to do it quickly. Lexie was sitting quietly enough at the
moment, but he was certain that she would soon start to demand to know what he
proposed. By the time that happened he was also determined to have thought of a way of
capitalizing on this situation, to keep her close to him for as long as he could, this was an
unexpected opportunity he was not about to waste.
With that in mind he turned to the small figure seated beside him.
‘I think the best thing we can do is to find somewhere we can stop and have a
coffee, maybe an early lunch and work out what to do next. I know of a nice little place
about an hours drive away, what do you say? Once we get there you can think about
ringing your sisters too, they will start to worry once they get wind of this’
Lexie just nodded, unable to think of any objections at this point, and turned her
face to the window, watching the countryside whip past as they sped on to heavens knows
where. His remark about ringing Florence and Netia had somehow shown her the situation
in all its stark reality and the resulting lump in her throat made objections impossible for the
moment. So she sat letting her mind go blank, refusing to let the myriad frightening
thoughts take over, at least for now.
She had no idea how long they’d been traveling when Geth pulled into the car park
of what looked like a small country hotel. Realising that she had not even noticed that he
had left the motor-way, she turned to him and he read the silent question in her eyes.
‘Just in case they are watching the motor-way services, anyway the food is better
here. The least I can do is feed you properly.’
As they left the car he took her arm, guiding her gently, Lexie didn’t object, at this
moment it felt comforting to let him take charge. A bustling little woman, the owner maybe
Lexie thought, welcomed them and seated them in a quiet corner beside a window
overlooking a sloping lawn leading to a small stream. The flower beds around the lawn
were well tended, and all in all the air of the place was of understated if somewhat old
fashioned elegance. The restaurant was spacious, with oak tables and comfortable chairs
cleverly spaced to afford a modicum of privacy to its diners and at the far end she noticed
a small bar and some low tables and easy chairs where presumably one could enjoy a
drink before or after the meal. When the waiter arrived with the menu however, Lexie
found she could not even begin to think of food, all the thoughts she had kept at bay
during the drive came flooding back and panic rose unbidden, all she could think of was
the need to be away from this. She started to her feet.
‘Sorry I find I’m not in the least hungry, will you just get me a mineral water please, I
just need to freshen up...’
Then she just bolted, heading for the ladies washroom which she could see from a
discreet sign was somewhere to the left of the little bar. Geth watched with concern as she
moved quickly away from him, back stiff with tension.
The washroom was as elegant as the rest of the place, and after a few minutes
Lexie began to feel the calming greens and creams of the decor combined with a splash of
cooling water to her face, begin to restore her sanity. So taking her time she returned to
the restaurant, there was nothing else she could do for the moment but go back and listen
to whatever madcap plan Geth might come up with. Though for the life of her she could
see no way to resolve this other than to move away from her home. It was alright for him to
be full of wisdom and experience where the tenacity of the press reporters was concerned,
but what about afterwards? She would still have to live in a little village, with people who
believed she’d sold them out, that was not going to go away anytime soon. By the time
she returned to the table she found Geth had ordered coffee and the waiter was also
serving lunch, which included a plate of what looked like sole for each of them served with
baby new potatoes and steamed vegetables. There was also a boat of frothy, fragrant
sauce. A chiller held two bottles of mineral water, still and sparkling, which combined with
the rather incongruous champagne flutes, gave the table an unwarranted celebratory air,
making Lexie frown.