Page 33 of His Sweet Torment
“I will, I promise and in turn, I hope I prove that I’m enough for you, Enver. You had this life, this amazing, successful life and you gave it up to try and do the right thing. I can’t tell you how much I admire you.”
Enver pulled her into his arms, tumbling her to the floor of the kitchen, and she could feel his cock hard against her thigh. “You could show me,” he said with a grin as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He thrust into her again, and Padme gasped and laughed as he began to move inside her.
“God, that feels so good, so good…Enver, Enver…Enver…”
Severin’s legs gave way, and she sank to the floor. “No…no…”
Dale could barely keep his own emotions under control. “I’m so sorry, Sev, so sorry.”
Henry was holding the older woman’s hands. “There’s no need for you to identify Padme. The coroner has already matched her DNA to the body.”
Severin’s tears were pouring down her face. “How? How did she die?”
Henry looked at Dale. “Dale?”
“She was…god, I’m sorry, Sev…she was stabbed repeatedly then thrown in front of a train. The wounds on her body…it matches Frederick Ingles’ m.o. We’re bringing him in for questioning.”
“That son-of-a-bitch!” Severin was up then, looking between the men. “Let me at him. Please, for five minutes, with a baseball bat.”
“I truly wish we could allow that,” Henry said, his kind eyes sad. “Severin, when the medical examiner has finished his investigation, we think it best if you have a closed casket funeral for Padme.”
Severin stared at Henry as if she couldn’t believe a word he was saying. “I’ll decide my daughter’s funeral arrangements, thank you, Henry.”
“Of course, I apologize, I meant well.”
Severin squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t believe she’s dead.”
“We’ll make Ingles pay for this,” Henry patted her hand. “I swear we will.”
Henry spoke quietly to Dale on his way out. “Stay with her, won’t you? I think she’ll need her friends around her.”
Dale nodded. “I wanna kill Ingles, Henry. I wanna rip him to pieces with my bare hands.”
“You and me both, Dale.”
Severin was standing at the window when Dale returned with a hot cup of tea. She accepted it, murmuring her thanks. Dale waited for her to speak.
“I don’t believe it, Dale,” Severin said eventually. “I keep going through it in my mind over and over. No-one saw her being taken from the coffeehouse. She would have fought, screamed, yelled.”
“That’s what bugs me too, Sev. Unless she was drugged or…god, I don’t know. But I think I agree with you. This stinks, but I can’t put my finger on why.”
“She’s not dead,” Severin shook her head then turned to Dale. “I want to see the body.”
Dale went cold. “No, god, Sev…the body is…it’s not Padme anymore. The head is gone, the torso so badly damaged that they didn’t notice the stab wounds at first. Her limbs were pulverized. It isn’t Padme.”
“That’s what I’m saying. I’ll know. Fuck DNA, they’ve messed that up. It’s not Padme. I want to see the body.”
Dale stared at her unhappily but then nodded. “Okay…but it’ll have to be off the books. I’ll get you in, but we’ll have to do under cover of night.”
Severin nodded her face set and determined. “Let’s keep this just between us, Dale. Don’t even tell Henry.”
Dale’s face was grim. “I agree. Just you and me.”
Padme opened her eyes. The sun was warm against the bare skin of her back, and Enver was trailing a cool fingertip up and down her spine. She smiled up at him. His dark curls had grown in the month since she’d been here, wild around his head, and he looked boyish and relaxed. She realized that, in their time before the shooting, he had always appeared relaxed but he’d had a tension about him, even in their most intimate moments. Here on their small hideaway, he was completely himself.
Their love had only grown more complete, more intense as they spent all day, every day together. They learned about each other’s hopes and dreams – which, of course, were mostly based on being with each other and making a family.
“I want…twelve.” Enver nodded, sagely, only his crinkled eyes giving away that he was joking.
