SEVENTY-TWO
Harry
One million pounds looks like time spent drinking McDonald’s milkshakes and waiting in line on the London Underground. It’s a small price to pay for Gigi’s safety.
I’ve yet to find the man who bid against me, but I don’t doubt I’ll find him in time. Fortunately, Poppy was able to intercept the truck holding the remainder of the girls and drive them from the location unscathed.
It still doesn’t make any of this right.
My nerves are jittery, still carrying the burden of many secrets, as I watch Gigi leaning against the wall while we await the Tube towards Oxford Circus.
The bottom of her dress blows in the wind as the oncoming train approaches through the tunnel, and her rose-scented body wash drowns me, practically begging me to get to my knees and worship this woman at her very feet. A large fur coat conceals her skin, protecting her from the bitter winter breeze. Her nose is pink, and her cheeks redden with the cold that seeps through her. As I watch her silently like this, I want to give her everything ever in existence to make her happy. But I fear there are still consequences we’ve yet to face.
I thought saying goodbye to her at the Circle would serve as a mental block against my feelings for her, but the second I left they came back to me tenfold.
Once Gigi walked away, Emily came outside to check up on me. I’ve always been grateful for how she can help pull me back together, but we both knew I needed time to process everything alone.
I stood there outside taking drag after drag after drag of my cigarette, until finally, my ears perked up at the sound of suspicious activity at the back of the property. A woman was stumbling over her two own feet as if she were drunk, ushered into a vehicle and driven away within minutes. If I hadn’t spotted the movement, I dread to think what could’ve happened.
Poppy and I followed as if our lives depended on it, but this was far bigger than anything we’d experienced before. When the truck pulled up, we watched an abundance of women get dragged out, half of them drunk and drugged, and it wasn’t until I saw the black silk dress on Gigi’s small frame that I was ready to go hell for leather and burn the place down.
There was no other alternative.
The money had to be physically withdrawn from my bank account before I could get all those girls to safety, but we fled before they realised someone was crumbling their system from the inside out.
I’m not sure what to do from here.
Not sure where to start.
Now Richard has kicked me out of the Circle my hands are tied.
It all seems too easy. He’s never given anyone an out from the society as easily as he did me. And with all my snooping around, I fear I’ll meet my own fate in time.
Hudson took the plunge, standing in place as the “highest bidder” and buying me time to get the rest of the girls to safety before I finally arrived at Gigi’s side. I’m still not sure what to think of him, but for now I can only trust he’s an ally as I teeter on the edge of insanity, my wires dangerously close to crossing.
She hasn’t asked me how I came to find her. I fear she doesn’t want to know. Frankly, I’m relieved about that, afraid of what she’ll find out and what we’ll become now. But knowing my own ill fate could be waiting just around the corner, I stride towards her, cup the side of her neck in my palm, and crush my mouth against hers.
I kiss her selfishly, unforgivingly, as if our time is limited.
The wind sweeps her dress, tangling it around my legs, and her hair blows wildly on the breeze of the train. My lips are like a magnet to hers, remembering everything about them, what she likes and what she dislikes, and I don’t allow myself a second to breathe before caressing her face and slipping my tongue into her mouth, finding hers instantly like a twin flame.
Tears spill from her eyes and into our mouths, letting me know she’s feeling every ounce of the emotion I’m pouring into her. I hold her closer all the while.
After we finish sightseeing around London, I take her back to the mansion and make love to her. No threatening her airways with my palms. No snarky comments. I rock into her with every bit of emotion I have left in me, catching her breathless lips and allowing her to drain the life from mine.
Our actions will come with repercussions. We’ll have to face Richard’s wrath for my stunt.
But right now my only concern is her.
“No more secrets …” she says against my lips as I thrust into her deeper.
“No more secrets,” I reiterate in a broken whisper, feeling a pang in my chest.
As she tilts her head back against the pillows, nearing the peak of orgasm, my lips skim her bare skin and I whisper to her quietly – too quiet for her to even hear me.
“Forgive me, Gigi.”