Chapter 23
Brooke stood at the end of the bar waiting for someone to buy her first drink.
She had to ride the train all the way to the north end to find a bar Edmund approved of.
He insisted that everything be done tonight to his strict instructions.
They would see about that. If she was to be an equal partner, he needed to learn there was more than one way to skin a cat.
A few minutes later a pink drink was deposited in front of her.
She took a long slow drink as she spun on her stool to smile at her mark for tonight when the bartender pointed him out.
He was no more than forty with blond hair and pale brown eyes.
His clothes screamed that he had money, but not obscene amounts. Perfect.
“May I join you?” he asked, sliding onto the stool next to her before she could answer.
“Of course and thank you,” she said, holding her glass up. He clinked his to hers. If she had to guess, she would say he was a whiskey drinker. Typical. She actually preferred the beer drinkers. They were more fun. “How’s your night going?”
“Much better now.” He smiled, and she saw the perfect white teeth. They must have cost a fortune. She decided to test his vanity.
“You have a beautiful smile,” she purred.
“It takes one to know one. I’m Peter. My friends call me Pete,” he said, holding his hand out. She took it in hers with a coy smile.
“Cat,” she answered.
“Hello, Cat. Can I refresh your drink?” he asked, nodding at her almost empty glass.
She nodded, and he motioned for the bartender to refill both drinks. She knew she had to nurse the next one until this was over. A few more whiskeys, and he would be good to stagger out the back door.
The drinks arrived, and he insisted on clinking them together again. She would roll her eyes, but that wouldn’t send the right vibe by any means.
“So what do you do when you’re not doting on a lonely barfly?” she asked. He laughed a little too loudly at her joke. Good, he was already tipsy.
“I’m a history professor at Cambridge. I know, you’re wondering how I got that job so young.
It was nepotism. My mother is the head of the Philosophy Department.
I was raised by my dad over here, though.
Hence the American accent. I’m here for a visit and some research on a book about the revolution.
It’s quite interesting really. You see—”
Brooke listened to him drone on about his research.
She had become very good at acting interested while completely tuning out.
Did she have a tell like Fox? Nothing as dramatic as his nose spewing of course.
But could Pete see that she wasn’t listening at all?
Apparently not, or he wouldn’t still be talking.
The bartender replaced Pete’s drink without him noticing. He was now at least three whiskeys in and ready to start on the fourth. The man could hold his alcohol. She had to give him that.
“How long are you in town for?” she asked, cutting in to his rhetoric. He took a moment to drink more from his glass.
“Another week here, then I’ll head west to visit my dad. He’s firmly ensconced in the Berkshires.” His voice was starting to slur, a very good sign. “I think I’ve finally discovered my favorite place to hang out too.” He grinned at her. She winked back.
“I’ve never been there. Lived in Boston my whole life and have never ventured outside the city,” she admitted.
“You should go. Better yet, you should go with me. I can show you all the finer points of the countryside. There’s plenty of room too. Dad has loads of extra bedrooms.”
For a moment, his enthusiasm was infectious. She wondered what life could be like if she just left with this man. Would living in England be better than this?
Then she came to her senses. Based on what she had heard, he would bore her to death quickly.
Edmund was more her cup of tea. She almost laughed at her own pun but schooled it at the last moment.
Besides, Edmund would be waiting for her out back by now.
She could never leave him. These men were too shallow to hold her interest. They were just like Fox, always trying to make her into a fantasy.
Only Edmund saw the real her, the demon that lay underneath her skin. He was her soulmate.
“Maybe. How about we see how tonight goes first?”
“I think it’s going amazingly so far.” He finished his drink and set it back on the bar. No slamming down the glass for the college professor. There’s absolutely nothing rowdy about the man. He was almost too easy.
“I feel the same way. Tell me more about your book research.” She listened to him drone on again. More importantly, his talking made him thirsty.
“You know what,” he said, suddenly stopping his lecture on American history. “I need to make a quick trip to the gentleman’s room.” He stood from his chair on wobbly legs. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment. Don’t go anywhere.”
She watched as he slowly wove through the crowd on the way to the back hallway. Taking one last sip of her watered-down drink, she followed him.
When he emerged from the bathroom, she was waiting for him. She leaned against the opposite wall with her clothes adjusted to present the best view.
“Here you are,” he said. “Did you need to go also?”
She managed again not to roll her eyes. Fisting the front of his dress shirt, she pulled him against her.
His first reaction when their lips met was surprise, but he quickly changed it to excitement when she slipped her tongue into his mouth.
Then he was grinding against her when she grabbed his ass.
“Not here,” she gasped. “Come on.” Taking his hand, she pulled him through the back door into the alley.
He didn’t notice the car sitting not more than two hundred feet down the alley. His only concern seemed to be how fast he could get his hand under her shirt. He barely let out a grunt when the needle plunged into his neck.
“About time,” Edmund sneered as he dragged Pete’s body to the car. “Do you have any idea how hot it still is out here? Even at this time of night, I’ve sweated through my clothes. It’s disgusting.”
“I’ll trade with you anytime,” she snapped back. “You can get pawed for a change.”
He threw the body in the trunk and turned to glare at her. She knew he didn’t like it when she talked back. He would just have to deal tonight, though. She had had a crap week.
Ignoring his gaze, she flopped down in the passenger seat. He didn’t say another word as he drove them back through town. When they arrived at the warehouse, he unlocked the overhead door and pulled inside.
“You should give me a key to the warehouse,” she said, climbing from the car.
When he didn’t answer, she continued. “It’s only right if we’re going to be equal partners.
” She helped him pull Peter from the trunk and drag him into the first room.
They heaved him onto the table in the center of the room.
Edmund began undressing the man. He pulled everything from his pockets and set it aside. Peter’s clothes, he folded neatly before loading them in a duffel bag. She had no idea what he did with them. He always took the clothes with him. She picked up Peter’s wallet and walked to the mural.
“Put it back,” Edmund snarled through his teeth.
“I’m just trying to help,” she said, tossing the wallet back on the table. Suddenly, he was upon her. She found herself pressed against the wall with his hand squeezing her throat.
“You do nothing unless I tell you to,” he hissed in her ear. “Do you understand?” All she could do was nod. His hand had made it impossible to speak. Releasing her, he moved back to the table. She waited by the wall until he’d finished stripping Peter. “You can help me strap him in this time.”
Without speaking a word, she helped wrestle Peter into the other room. They sat him on the floor, and Edmund wrapped the strap around his neck. She knew he would wake up soon. That’s when the fun began.
She helped Edmund attach a cable to the back of the strap.
He had explained several times how the contraption on the ceiling worked, but it still escaped her.
All she knew was, the more the body struggled, the tighter the strap became.
Eventually they were responsible for hanging themselves. That’s how she saw it.
“Can I flip the switch this time?” she asked.
“Not until he wakes up.”
“What do you want to do until then?”
“I have an errand to run. You can wait here until I return.”
It was the first time he had ever trusted her to wait alone.
In the past, he had always made her go home.
Maybe he really was starting to see her as an equal.
Her body buzzed at the thought. She would reward him when he returned by letting him do whatever he liked to her.
She would do that now, but he was already leaving the room.
Until he returned, she would just have to wait.
“Don’t touch anything,” he barked. She nodded once before he stepped through the outer door.
She wandered back into the outer room as the door slammed closed. How would she keep herself entertained until he returned? The clothes were gone, but everything else was still lying on the table. Even though she had agreed to leave everything where it was, she had a different idea.
She picked the wallet back up. She emptied everything from it and spread it across the table.
Studying the mural, a pattern started to emerge.
If she could copy it there was no reason for him to mind her adding her own touch.
It would be another present for him when he returned.
There was no reason he wouldn’t see it as her complete devotion to him in her own artistic way.
Slowly, she began adding pieces to the mural. There was glue, tape, and everything else needed to attach something to the wall. It took her at least half an hour to get it just right. The cinderblock wall made it a challenge. It took several tries to find the best way to hang everything.
Stepping back, she was just admiring her finished work when she heard a cry from the other room. It seemed Pete was awake.
“Hello, Peter,” she said, swaggering back into the room.
“Where am I?” They were always confused when they woke up. “Cat?” He tried to get up only to find himself too dizzy to stand. “Help me, Cat.” He managed to make it to his feet and lunge toward her. His fingers grazed her face.
In a panic, she flipped the switch on the wall drawing the slack up in the cable attached to the ceiling. Peter was immediately jerked back against the wall.
She knew Edmund would be furious when he returned, but what else could she do? If Peter had managed to lay a hand on her she might have been hurt. It had been either him or her. She would choose herself every time.
“Now look what you’ve done,” she screamed. Rushing to the outer room in fury, she looked around until she found the crop Edmund used on her occasionally. Taking it back into Peter, she began to whip him. “He’s going to be so angry.”
A red haze fell over her eyes as she continued to strike him. This was all his fault. Everything Edmund would do to her when he returned was because of this man. She struck him harder.
If she had only been listening, she would have heard when he started to gasp for air. Even if she had, she was too angry to care.
He was dead, she realized suddenly. She had lost control and made him kill himself before Edmund was ready. Stepping closer, she poked him in the stomach. His body swayed slightly. She looked down to find his feet off the floor. There was nothing she could do to fix this problem.
Did she feel remorse? Not for Peter, he deserved what he got. But she knew there would be hell to pay from Edmund.
She needed to get out of there before he returned. He would calm down eventually, but not before he took his anger out on her. That was something she didn’t plan to wait around for.
She would return home and make up with Fox. Edmund wouldn’t dare go to her home. He would summon her when he was ready to see her again. She had no doubt that he would want her back. His urges didn’t just go away, and he needed his partner to help him with them.
Tossing the crop back on the shelf, she pushed the outer door open.
She didn’t bother to check that it was closed before she was running across the warehouse.
She didn’t stop running until she made it to the nearest train platform.
The T was just pulling in. Jumping on, she sank with a sigh onto a seat.
She would simply have to make it up to Edmund later.
There was a man somewhere in one of the bars who would be her greatest mark.
He would tick every box for Edmund, and she would be forgiven.
Then she would convince him that they were still the perfect partners. One couldn’t exist without the other.
The train finally made it to her stop. She walked the last couple of blocks in exhaustion. What had started out as the perfect night had ended up in disaster.
Tomorrow would be better. At least she still had a roof over her head. Fox would never dare leave her. Edmund wasn’t ready for her to move in with him yet, but he would be. Eventually. Until then, she just needed to bide her time. Everything would be fine.