Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
V eronica
Rupert was right: my mum loved him, and the other two ladies wouldn’t leave him alone.He was his own celebrity in that room.
I was certain he wouldn’t want to come with me to the hospital after yesterday’s fiasco and his panic attack, but he’d insisted on joining me. Deep down, I felt good that he was looking after me. He was such a good guy. It made the guilt of Vincent hurt me more.
Vincent kept texting me, reminding me of our agreement, and I hadn’t replied to any of the messages. He wanted to make sure I wouldn’t forget what I needed to do. Rupert was doing all these wonderful things because he wanted a relationship, but I was reluctant because of Vincent. This wasn’t right. The bastard could destroy everything I cared about and hurt Rupert, hurt his family, so I had to keep playing his game for now. I don’t know how much longer I will be able to keep up the charade, but I can’t let Rupert know and I have to make Vincent feel like he is getting exactly what he wants. I know from past experience that he would play with my life, like he had done before, so easily to get what he wants.
After I had spoken to the doctor, who assured me that Mum was fine to be discharged by Thursday, she would need to come back for a regular checkup. He also told me he wanted her to take it easy.
I wanted to have a chat with Mum alone, so I left Rupert with the two ladies as I took her for a little walk outside her room. I felt guilty also that I hadn’t visited her for ages. It wasn’t from lack of trying, but every time I told her I was coming over she’d insisted she had to work. In the end, I’d stopped calling her. But damn, the guilt coming in from multiple sides is making me really examine my life.
“Mum, you need to really start taking better care of yourself, which means you must give up one shift in the care home. I have already spoken to Debra and don’t really want to hear any objections about me helping you out financially,” I said, wanting to get it off my chest straight away.
My mother still had no idea what I was doing, and I planned to tell her once I’d quit working for Emperor to become a full-time content creator.
Rupert was right. I had to start believing in myself more. The Russian beauty brand would hopefully make their decision soon enough, and if I scored that contract, it would completely change my life.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have done that, hon,” my mum muttered.
I could tell she wasn’t happy about all the changes, but something had to give. Her health had to come first.
“I know you’re working in London, but the cost of living has gone up. I hope you’re saving money?”
“Things are going well for me, and soon I’ll be a full-time influencer, so you don’t have to worry about anything. I just want you to look after yourself. I was going to go away to Europe this summer with some friends, but I can stay—”
“Veronica, don’t you even dare not take your trip. You’ve been working so hard in the past few years and you deserve all the holidays you can take,” Mum cut me off straight away, stopping.
I glanced at her in shock.
“So, you want me to go away?” I asked. I had been planning this trip knowing that Laura was going to be away with her hot PM boss, but nothing was really finalised just yet.
“Of course, you said it yourself. Life is too short, and I don’t want you to be like me. I’ve always regretted that I didn’t travel more, but after your father left, life was difficult for me, for us. I’ve been thinking last night about everything you said, and you were right. I have been working too hard, killing myself in a job where they’d just replace me if something happened,” my mother admitted.
I stared at her in shock. Mum had always been so proud of her work ethic, but maybe this health scare had finally made her realise that her health was much more important than a job. Nothing short of a miracle, as far as I was concerned.
“I know you sacrificed yourself for me and I’m grateful for it,” I said, moved to tears. I had to arrange some sort of holiday or a cruise for her. Maybe we could go together. I had tried in the past, but she’d always refused it, claiming she didn’t have time. Things were going to change now, and my heart was full. “So, you really think I should go? Six weeks is a long time. My roommate is going away to Italy with her new boss, so I figured I’d have a holiday too, but I’m a little worried to leave you here on your own.”
“Christ, Veronica, I’m fine and I promise that from now on I’ll be looking after myself. Go and enjoy yourself because you might regret it later,” Mum continued.
I really had no idea what to say. It seemed that her stubbornness had started to crumble.
“Who knows? Perhaps once you come back, we can go away somewhere together. I always wanted to spend Christmas in hot weather.”
I laughed, knowing that I still had a lot to organise, and I needed to speak to Rupert. A few months ago, I’d provisionally told Matthews that I might be going away for at least two months, and he’d noted it, so work wasn’t an issue. We chatted a while longer then went back to her bed where the ladies were laughing away with Rupert. He seemed completely relaxed, and I instantly regretted that I’d need to leave him behind. Our relationship was still slightly up in the air.
Rupert seemed in a much better mood when we were leaving the hospital later that afternoon.This made me happy to see.
“Those ladies absolutely adore you,” I said with a giggle. “And Mum managed to convince me to go away to Europe during the summer. I told her I was apprehensive about leaving her, but she cut me off and told me I was going to regret this if I didn’t go.”
“She’s right, you need a break,” Rupert said. “Besides, you’ll be on mainland Italy, and I will be in Sicily, which means we could meet somewhere in between.”
We were just about to walk through the main doorway when Rupert dragged me to what looked like a back entrance with a wide staircase.
“What are you doing—”
“Damn it, woman. I can’t think straight when I’m around you, and since my cock feels better, I have to taste you now,” he growled.
He glanced around, making sure nobody could see us then pushed me against the wall, covering me with his body. My senses were instantly heightened and my nipples hard as he pressed his hard chest into mine. Earlier on, when I’d stared at his pierced, engorged cock, I’d wanted badly to have him in my mouth.
He pushed my legs apart with his knee.
“Rupert… ahh … touch me,” I said, my breath heavy as he moved his hand right under my skirt, slid my knickers out of his way, and eased two fingers inside me. Just like that.
There was no time for me to beg because he kissed me so hard, at the same time thrusting his fingers into my pussy—brutally fast. My head swam with arousal as he bit my bottom lip then continued kissing me. Deeply, passionately.I couldn’t think straight and I just stood there, letting him do whatever he wanted to me with no objection. My pussy was getting wetter and wetter which each pump of his hand, my mind becoming more cloudy. Fuck, this man had a way with my body that I didn’t even know was possible.
Moments later, he pulled away as the door opened and someone walked in on us. He gave me and Rupert a glare but quickly vanished upstairs. I didn’t think the guy could see where Rupert’s hand was just a second ago, but our intimate position clearly indicated that we were doing some indecent things.
“Fuck… come on, let’s get you back to the cottage,” Rupert said, breathing hard while I was so wet I just needed a little nudge so he could finish me off. “I had a phone call earlier on and unfortunately, I have to go back to London. There’s been an incident on one of my sites, and as much as I want to stay here with you, I must go back.”
I let loose a whiny moan. This wasn’t happening, especially now. Obviously, he was healed enough if he’d decided to kiss me like that.
“What? What happened?” I asked, breathless.
“It’s pretty serious. I’m so sorry. I’ll send Chris to come pick you up tomorrow,” he said, sounding apologetic and miserable. “Trust me, this is for the best. If I fucked you tonight, this would likely have been my last time, considering the state of my dick.”
I laughed, covering my mouth with my hand. Rupert took my hand and we both left the hospital. After dropping me off at the cottage, he left. I was going to see him tomorrow, but I wished he could stay longer. We weren’t in a relationship, but he was so possessive of me, almost as though I was his wife—surprisingly, I liked that.
An hour later, after I reheated dinner, my phone rang. I picked it up without checking who it was.
“Hello, Veronica,” Vincent said.
I suppressed a frustrated groan. I wished I didn’t have to deal with him today. He’d texted me a few times and I hadn’t responded, so that was why he was calling me now.
“My mother collapsed, so I went away to deal with that. Hence the reason why I haven’t replied to any of your text messages,” I told him, wanting to get this conversation over with.
“I’m sorry to hear that, but the clock is ticking and I need to know what your rich boyfriend has on me.”
Vincent’s voice rang through my head. I gripped the phone tighter.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to help you, Vincent,” I said. “Things are complicated, and we hardly talk about his business. Besides, he’s going away with his brother for six weeks to Sicily. Nothing is going to happen to you since Rupert will be away from business for the whole summer.”
There was a silence on the other end of the line, then his heavy breathing. We had memories together, all of which I hated. If only I could have gone back in the past and chang it, but obviously this was impossible.
“There’s your solution. You meet him in Italy and figure out what he knows,” he said suddenly.
I gasped. Did Vincent just read my mind? Of course that’s what I was planning. My mother had insisted I needed to go through with this trip no matter what. Two other girls had already dropped out, but Jessica, one of my old friends from university, had insisted on travelling to Italy first, which could really work for me since Rupert was going to be close enough.
“I see,” I said, knowing that I needed to fend him off somehow—at least for the time being. So maybe I could play his game right now because I didn’t want to rile him up enough to hurt Rupert, because he was fully capable of that. “Well, maybe it is...”
Vincent was a fucking bastard, but he was right about one thing. I needed to connect with Rupert outside London while we were both relaxed and away from our usual problems. Not for these nefarious purposes though. I needed to find a solution to this nightmare. Maybe I could reach out to Rupert’s brother, James, the one who owned the security company, and ask for his help with Vincent. It was a lot to think about, but for now I couldn’t screw things up for me and Rupert.
“You must admit it’s a fucking brilliant idea, Veronica. I had a feeling your boyfriend hasn’t looked at any evidence yet, but things have gotten complicated for me. I could go to jail for a very long time if your boyfriend decides to take measures with that footage,” he continued. His creepy tone sent a shiver down my spine.“I’d have to deal with him… And of course, his PM brother wouldn’t be elected again if the public knew he used escorts. Especially with him portraying that he is such a family man.”
“Fine, Vincent, I’ll do it. I’ll talk to my boss and take some time off. I was planning to do it anyway, and then I’ll reach out to Rupert when I’m in Italy,” I told him, because this was exactly what he wanted to hear. I had been thinking about seeing Rupert a lot lately, and now everything was slowly falling into place. I had to tell him what was going on eventually as I hated lying in general, but now I’d bought myself some time. “We have a deal, but you have to give me your word that you won’t bother me while I am away. I’ll probably be gone for about six weeks and once I return, I’ll reach out with what I’ve found out.”
“Veronica, you have six weeks to convince him to give the recordings to you. I don’t care how you do it, but if you don’t get the info to me by the time you’re back in London, I’m leaking it all to the press. And you know what else I promised…” he said. He was talking about hurting Rupert.
My stomach tightened with unease. How could I bear this threat? A lot could happen in six weeks, but I needed to make sure Rupert didn’t find out I was lying to him because he’d never forgive me. It didn’t matter that I was doing it for him.
“Fine, Vincent, I’ll get you what you need by September.”