Page 86 of My Lord
“You get to do whatever the fuck you want, my Lady,” I replied.
Chapter Seventeen
On her insistence, Mackenzie borrowed my car to take Veronica home. There was nothing more the police could do, and she wanted to be in her own surroundings. He was glad to, he wanted tochatwith the security team. An overhaul was needed there, for sure. Since it was now his business, it was something he told her he was doing with immediate effect. He didn’t care for her feelings towards them, how long she’d known them, they had proven to be ineffective. It had taken a long conversation to calm him down, of course. In the end it was decided a more sophisticated security system was to be installed and a better monitoring system linked to the gate. Stanton’s code to get in should have been deactivated long before it was used.
I called for takeout from my favourite Italian and set the table for two. Gabriella had complained that two days in bed was long enough and she was starting to ache. I was convinced that was the bruising coming out more than being in bed for too long. We had agreed to disagree on that.
She tried to keep up good spirits while we dined but her hands shook, and she pushed more of the food around her plate than she ate.
I reached over to take her hand. “Leave the food, eat when you feel like it. Come, let’s just sit for a while,” I said. We sat on the sofa and although the television was on, she clearly wasn’t watching. I turned it off. “Look outside,” I said. The London skyline looked magnificent with the sun lowering behind it.
“I love London,” she replied.
“Enough to not want to leave?” I asked, nuzzling the side of her head.
“For now. I know what Mackenzie has offered is so very tempting and I’m utterly thrilled for you. I just don’t know if it’s right for me.”
“Then I’ll turn down his offer,” I said.
“But I don’t want you to do that.”
“I will be wherever you are. So, for now, it’s a done deal. I’m not going, I can do what he wants from here although you and I might have to go visit your mother for a few days a month.”
I was determined. I also knew that Mackenzie would understand. If Gabriella was adamant she didn’t want to leave, then neither would I.
“Now I feel terrible. Maybe you just delay for a few months. Let me get my head around what’s happened.”
“Okay. It was just an idea, one decided in panic to keep you safe. Let’s forget about it for now, shall we?” I asked, smiling at her as she looked up at me.
She smiled back and it wasn’t one that reached her eyes. I was serious, I would call Mackenzie in the morning and we’d make a new arrangement.
“I’m not going anywhere without you,” I added.
That night we made love. I was gentle and tender and surprised that she had instigated it. She was the one that had reached for me as we lay naked in bed. She was the one that whispered how much she needed me in that moment and then, she was the one that controlled what happened. I kissed her cuts and bruises and while silent tears tracked down her cheeks, I hovered over her, claiming her as mine. Perhaps she needed the vision of me above her, or the feeling of me bringing her to orgasm to remove the horror of what could have been.
“I love you, Gabriella,” I whispered when I came. She wrapped her arms around me and we slept.
* * *
A couple of days later, although I’m not sure how, the newspapers were full of Stanton’s attack on Gabriella and Veronica. A consequence, according to Veronica, was that applications for the membership to the club had soared. She was asked for interviews, all of which she declined, but a statement about the club was sent out. It was important that it wasn’t seen as some strip club or whore house, the local authorities wouldn’t be pleased with that, we decided. Veronica said, at the rate money was flowing is, she might be able to pay Mackenzie back for the renovation loan much quicker than she anticipated.
Stanton was still in hospital and the protection he was afforded, we were told, was because there had been a credible threat to his life. We were not allowed to know by who, but Burrows pointed towards the Russians.
“Let’s hope they do us all a favour and get to him before the taxpayer has to fork out thousands,” I said. Mackenzie chuckled and agreed.
At first, Stanton had said that he’d visited the club and Gabriella was a willing partner. It had gotten heated and he was trying to play therough sexcard, something that seemed to allow scumbags to walk from a rape charge. I vowed to take up my inherited place in the House of Lords and debate thatloophole.
When the evidence was put to him, the photographs, and a video recording of him dragging Gabriella to the playroom, he backed down and pleaded guilty.
“He will be offered a deal,” Burrows said. And before I could give my angry response, he explained. “I know this is hard to take, and believe me, it sickens me as well. There are bigger players here that he is willing to give up for a deal. The CPS want those players. I want him convicted of attempted rape, assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder, trust me. But it won’t be up to me anymore.”
“If that deal means he’s on the streets, you better pay for his security,” Mackenzie said.
Burrows held up his hand. “I didn’t hear that, but I don’t blame you for feeling that way.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want Gabriella knowing that,” I said. It would devastate her to know her assault was just a means to another end.
Burrows left and I recalled Gabriella’s concerns about moving back to America.
