Chapter 2 #2
Joseph has always travelled. The knowledge that she has never left this city while he was jetsetting all over the country sends another wave of anger through me, and I clench my fist into a ball against my thigh, before shaking it out.
The last thing she needs is to see my fury.
I rarely let anyone see my emotions. I pride myself on always being in control. And there have only ever been two people who have truly seen beneath my controlled exterior.
My brother.
And the woman sitting beside me.
We arrive at the airport after what feels like forever due to Sydney’s ridiculous traffic, and I’m relieved to be leaving the bustling city behind once again.
One of our full time drivers hands me Lily’s rather light suitcase before closing the boot.
I nod as I take the bag. “Thank you, Peter. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
“Have a safe trip home, sir.” He climbs back into the car, pulling out into the line of traffic a moment later with practiced ease.
I’d had Claire, my assistant, book us onto the next available flight back to Brisbane.
Claire is in charge of most aspects of my business life, yet I’ve never met her in person, and she has no idea what the nature of our business is.
Virtual assistants are worth their weight in gold when you work in the sex industry.
Turning to Lily, it slowly dawns on me that this is the first time we’ve been alone together since I laid eyes on her a few hours ago, and I honestly don’t know where to start.
So I simply wave my hand, silently urging her towards the doors of the busy airport.
At least with this many people around, we aren’t truly alone and I won’t feel the need to attempt painful small talk once again.
Neither of us utter a word while we move through security and make our way through the crowd of travellers. I run my gaze over her as she fidgets beside me while we wait outside the business class lounge.
“Have you eaten today?” I ask, wincing internally at the harshness of my tone.
She has become so thin that I worry one stiff breeze will knock her off her feet. Having been a dancer her entire life, she was always slender. But her current state has me wondering if eating was the one thing in her life that she could control.
As someone who knows what it’s like to need to be in control after years of having none, I can definitely understand if that’s what is going on. But I’ll need to help her find a better form of control than starving herself to death.
She shakes her head, and another surge of anger hits me as I school my expression to remain neutral. It’s fucking five o’clock in the afternoon and she hasn’t eaten a thing?
Reminding myself to have a word with Daniel for not making sure she was eating, I hand our tickets and my ID over to the woman at the counter, and she opens the door for us. I give her a polite nod before ushering Lily inside.
Finding an empty booth, I place the suitcase under the table and turn to face Lily.
“Stay here, I’ll get us both some dinner,” I say, waving a hand towards the buffet that has been set up with a selection of dinner options for us to serve ourselves.
Another silent nod, and I bite back a sigh, leaving her at the table and heading towards the table with the empty plates.
I spend so much time in this place that the staff know me, and a few of them smile while they go about their work. It’s rare for me to have someone with me, though, and I’ve noticed a few interested looks in Lily’s direction.
I come to the Sydney locations more than any of the others.
Between the three of us, Daniel, myself and Imogen oversee the operations of all six Australian clubs, but Imogen is the main point of contact for the Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth club managers.
The two Sydney locations and Brisbane don’t have club managers though, as Daniel and I manage those personally.
May as well, seeing as we live in them.
Daniel alternates between our Rose Hill and Point Piper locations, though his main residence is Rose Hill, which is our biggest club overall.
It’s obvious to me now that Lily’s presence was the reason he hasn’t been staying at Point Piper as often of late, and I shake my head a little for not noticing something was off before now.
While every time we’ve spoken, he was at Rose Hill, he’d insisted on seeing me at Point Piper the last two times I’d come down, and I’d been too preoccupied with other matters to wonder why.
My phone rings as I reach the buffet, and I take it from my pocket, stepping aside to take the call when I see Imogen’s name on the screen.
“Imogen,” I say by way of greeting.
“Claire sent me some cryptic message saying I need to organise a room for someone? What the hell is that about?” Imogen replies, not bothering with pleasantries either.
It’s why we work so well together. Neither of us are concerned with niceties. We are both driven to succeed, and she has a direct, no bullshit attitude that is admired in men and often seen as cold and stand-offish in women.
The fact that she doesn’t give a shit about that is all the more the admirable.
“I’m bringing Daniel’s guest back with me,” I reply, glancing over my shoulder towards the booth, where Lily is sitting.
A wary expression settles over her face as she looks around at the other people in the lounge. Each time someone passes by, she shrinks further into the corner.
“The mysterious blonde woman is coming here?” Imogen asks, and I can hear the interest in her voice.
We’d had a rather heated conversation earlier this morning when I’d discovered Lily’s presence.
I’d snapped at Imogen when I’d learned she’d known about Daniel’s secret guest and not said anything to me.
Given that I have never once snapped at Imogen in the two years since she’d come to work for us, it had been something of a shock to both of us.
And a stark reminder that Lily is still my fucking kryptonite.
“Yes. So we need somewhere for her to stay.”
Imogen is quiet for a moment. “Daniella’s old suite is still being renovated. There’s been some hold up to do with the wiring or something. We don’t really have anywhere else. Unless you want me to get them to do something with one of the rooms downstairs?”
I grimace. “No. That definitely won’t be appropriate. Not for Lily.”
“Ah, so mystery woman actually has a name. Interesting.”
“Of course she has a name, Immy,” I say, exasperated.
I can tell she’s still pissed off about our exchange this morning and know we’ll need to have a conversation about it. But it won’t be happening while I’m standing in the middle of the business class lounge of the Sydney airport.
“You know I hate it when you call me that,” she snaps, and I smirk.
“Well, when you give me attitude and I’m not there to correct it, you get called Immy. Deal with it.” I shift the tone of my voice, allowing the dominance to come through. “Or would you prefer Miss Delphine?”
She inhales sharply. “Don’t you fucking dare. Not when you’re not here to do anything about it and Cam is on fucking night shifts still.”
“Then behave. And ask Marcus to have the housekeeping staff set up the office in my suite as a second bedroom. They can move the desk out into the main living area and put the pull out couch into storage. I’ll use our office until the other suite is available.”
“You.. Lily is going to stay in your suite?” Even hundreds of kilometres away, I can tell she’s stunned.
Everyone knows that my suite is my personal sanctuary, and I sigh, knowing I’m going to have to explain the situation to Imogen properly at some point.
“Yes. Temporarily.”
“Okay…” She leaves the word hanging, no doubt hoping I’ll elaborate.
But I’m impatient to get food into the woman who has wedged herself into the corner of our booth, hiding behind a curtain of her hair.
“Our flight is due in at eight. I’ll see you in the morning,” I reply.
“I can wait, if you need me?”
I do need her, as the stress of this day has lead to a lot of pent up energy. But with Lily now staying at Dark Desires, that’s going to make my usual habits a little harder to navigate.
Including when I fuck my director of operations as a mutually beneficial way to expel our pent up stress and frustrations.
“It can wait. Good night.”
We hang up, and I set about getting us some dinner. All the while wondering how I’m going to explain my lifestyle to the woman currently hiding from shadows and terrified of the ghosts of her past.