Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
V eronica
“Come on, spill it. How in love are you with Mr. Prime Minister?” I teased Laura after seeing her for the first time this weekend.
It was Sunday morning, and we’d both been back from our incredible holidays for about a week. I’d missed Laura and we had a lot to catch up on. I knew she’d had a great time with Spencer in Sicily.
She blushed scarlet and looked away. Laura was beautiful, and now, with a deep tan, she looked breathtaking. I had a feeling that she’d finally moved on after that famous pop star broke her heart.
Maja had started school already, so Laura was busy making sure the girl’s schedule wasn’t as packed as it had been before the holidays. She said she’d had a chat with Spencer, and they’d mutually agreed to cut some things out from her weekly activities. We’d chatted over the phone, but today was officially our day when we could freely talk face to face.
“Spencer hasn’t told me that he’s in love with me,” she admitted as we sat on the sofa and drank wine.
“Yet.”
She blushed again, which told me she was reluctant to admit how she felt about him.
“He’s been sweet and demanding, but we have to slow things down. The other night we had sex in his office,” she said, whispering the last bit like she was afraid someone was eavesdropping on our private conversation, which was, of course, impossible.
“Girl, that man is obsessed with you,” I said, unsure whether to tell her anything about Rupert.
Things were going so well, but the situation with Vincent was unsettled. He’d tried to contact me a few times since I’d come back but I’d been dodging his calls. He left me one pretty nasty voicemail the other day, dishing more threats if I didn’t see him soon enough. I’d managed to get James’s number from Matthews. Rowan knew him well, and once I’d said I wanted to arrange a surprise for Rupert, he hadn’t asked any more questions.
“He’s not. I’m a little wary. Things are going well, and he wants to tell the world about us, but I think we should wait,” Laura admitted.
She was spooked a little. Spencer had claimed he’d never wanted a relationship until he’d started having one with Laura. That man was completely obsessed with her, from what she’d told me.
“Anyway, enough about me. Tell me, how is it going with Rupert? Did you hear from him when you were away in Europe with Jess?”
I chewed on my bottom lip, wondering how much, exactly, I should tell her. I was in love with him, there was no doubt about it. He was my rock, but I didn’t think he’d talked to Spencer about me, either.
Then my phone started ringing and I saw that it was Rupert's mother again. Wait—did she know I was already back in London?
"Hello," I said, glad I didn't have to answer more of Laura’s questions.
"Veronica, I'm in the coffee shop around the corner. Can we meet?" she asked, getting straight to the point. I thought God, this woman didn't beat around the bush, even though I had to admit, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.
"Sure, I will be there in a moment," I said, then hung up. Laura was staring at me with her eyebrows raised. "Sorry, but I have to go, I'm meeting Rupert downstairs."
Laura had no idea what had happened with Vincent, and I truly couldn’t get her involved in this.
“Wow, so there is something going on between you two?” she asked. “Something serious?”
I grinned as I looked out of the window.
“There’s a lot I have to tell you, and yes, things are going well, but I really do have to rush. I promise to explain everything later. Please don’t be mad. I didn’t plan this,” I said, picking up my stuff and rushing to the door.
“You’d better, otherwise I will hunt you down because I want to know all the juicy details,” she shouted after me. But I rushed downstairs and got straight into the car.
Soon, I arrived at the coffee shop, wondering how I’d recognise her. Just as I was about to dial her number, a short, elegant silver-haired woman called me over. I nervously walked up to her and sat on the opposite chair. Rupert had her eyes, and some of her features, too.
"It's good to finally meet you, Mrs. Banks, Rupert has told me so much about you," I started, thinking that this would be a good thing to break the ice. Things between Rupert and me had progressed fast, and he hadn’t had a chance to introduce me to his mother like I’d done with mine.
" I wish we would have met under better circumstances, dear," she said when the waitress came to take our order. “Please help yourself to whatever you want.”
She went with a coffee, and I ordered a chai latte, one of my favourites.
"Thank you."
She stared at me with an unreadable expression that made me shift in my seat. What was this all about?
"Veronica, I have to be honest with you. I hired a private detective to look into your background and he tapped your phone, so tI found out about Vincent's blackmail. As you can guess, I'm very concerned about that," she admitted.
My jaw dropped. Yes, this woman didn’t beat about the bush but oh my God… I hadn’t expected this.
I swallowed and decided to be honest. "Then you know what I need to do in order to protect him. I love Rupert and the idea of him getting in trouble because of me scares me so much. As you know, Vincent threatened me with hurting Rupert, and even Maja… since I returned to London, he has been calling me," I explained. There was no point in trying to hide the truth and if his mother knew about Vincent, then she must have already realised that my feelings for this man were real.
She reached out and grabbed my hand, and my heart kicked me in the chest.
"We don't know each other, and I understand that we never had a chance to be properly introduced, but I'm worried about my son's safety, all of my family's safety, and of course yours, too," she said, sounding heartbroken.
Then I knew exactly what she was going to say next, so I spoke first.
"I'm going to end things with him to protect him and your whole family.” Even though this would not solve my problem with Vincent and his threats, I could always tell him Rupert broke up with me and I had no way of getting the information now… “I should have done it much sooner," I said. This woman loved her family very much and she was right. Rupert have build an extraordinary life for himself and I couldn't let any harm come to him because of my past mistakes.
"I know I would have loved you, Veronica, and I have wanted for my son to be in love with a woman like you, and I say this honestly. But I'm sacred of what might happen," she stated and I had to shut my eyes for a moment. I felt so helpless and distraught but this was a right thing to do. Rupert was the one but I had to let him go, even if this would completely break me apart. “Please protect yourself from that man, too. If you need protection, you can reach out to James. I’ll personally tell him to—”
"Don't worry, Mrs. Banks. I will never let anything happen to Rupert," I assured her, tears spilling down my cheeks. I had been trying to convince myself that I could handle that scum. He needed to be locked up, but even then, would he be dirty enough to make good on his threats from prison? Even if I left Rupert, would this truly protect him? I had to believe it would. Vincent wouldn’t do things unless he was sure he’d get a positive result.
"I'm so sorry, Veronica, I hate this, I truly do. I want my son happy…"
My phone lit up and there was a text message from a number I didn’t recognise.
Dropped my phone in the toilet. This is my temporary number. There is a car waiting for you downstairs. I have a surprise for you.
Rupert
It seemed like the universe was giving me a signal to act and keep my promise to Sue. My heart ached, and I wanted to cry. My eyes stung as sadness enveloped me. Rupert had mentioned yesterday that he was going to be busy today, but maybe things had changed.
"I love him enough to let him go," I said, choking the words out. "I have to go now, Mrs. Banks. I will keep my promise…"
I rushed out of the coffee shop, heading home before she could say anything more. A black Mercedes was parked right outside mine and Laura's flat.. Must be another of Rupert’s cars. I got inside the vehicle, expecting to see Chris as he was used to driving me around. Except this time it wasn’t Chris.
“Oh, hello. Sorry, did I get into the wrong car?” I asked in confusion when I saw the dark-haired, dark-skinned guy who didn’t seem very approachable.
He turned around, leaned over, and stuck a needle right into my bare thigh.
“Sleep, little one, because we’re going for a ride,” he said.
Then everything started melting all around me. Several moments later, I passed out.
I was slowly coming back to reality, my head pounding with a dull pain. My vision was blurry, and my body felt numb. Something was going on, and I couldn’t move my hands. Were they tied up? Everything was hazy.
I opened my eyes as memories from the past few hours started slowly coming back to me. Then a person came into focus, and my breath hitched when Vincent stood right in front of me. I had no idea where we were, but he must have been planning to bring me here for a while now. It looked like some sort of factory or warehouse—God knew where. So the text message hadn’t been from Rupert, and I’d fallen right into Vincent’s trap.
“Finally, the bitch is awake,” he said coldly. He was wearing a nice suit—all for show.
I couldn’t freaking believe I’d been involved with the guy. He was lousy in bed, but that was the least of his problems. He was the jerk who threatened me and now, deceived and kidnapped me.
“What the hell do you want, Vincent? Rupert has given the recordings to his brother, so I couldn’t get them,” I lied. He didn’t need to know that I had the recordings but hadn’t even had a chance to see what was on them. I was waiting for James to get back to me so I could set up a plan of action.
Vincent ran his hand over his chin and sneered.
“It’s all right, I’ve already called your boyfriend, told him that I kidnapped you,” he revealed while my stomach dropped. “He’s transferring five million pounds into an offshore account as we speak.”
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered.
I stared at that bastard, trying to figure out if he was fucking with me. Then, before I could respond, he grabbed my chin and squeezed it until I grunted in pain. I realised he’d indeed tied me to the chair.
“He should be here shortly to rescue you while I will be away somewhere sipping my cocktail and enjoying the tropical sun,” he growled, finally letting go of my chin.
I couldn’t fucking feel my jaw.
“You’re delusional if you think you’re getting away with this.” I laughed, trying to free my hands, but the knot was tight. My body went into shock, and I panicked. I should have seen this coming. I’d known Vincent was going to strike sooner rather than later, and that time had come.
“You had one job, sweetheart. You were meant to get me those recordings and you failed. I have all the pictures from Greece of the two of you in love. I had to keep an eye on you, after all,” he said, grinning like he’d just won the lottery.
Rupert wasn’t stupid, so I hoped he’d refuse to give him any money.
“This gave me enough time to come up with an alternative plan because I knew you weren’t going to come through with your promise. Trust me, love, I’m not going to sit and wait until the police have me in handcuffs.”
“Rupert is never going to hand over that kind of cash, Vincent. You’re out of your mind. He doesn’t love me. Yes, we had a great sex, but this whole thing was always about sex anyway.”
Vincent wasn’t buying my story, so I had to be more convincing. I kept trying to untangle my hands from behind, but the bastard had used zip ties. My arms hurt from being in this position for so long.
“He’s on his way, love, and I have this whole place guarded so he won’t surprise me.” Vincent laughed. “Your boyfriend knows about us and trust me, he’s coming. He assured me he’s going to show up personally to hand me the money.”
This was a complete disaster. My heart raced as I tried to think of something. I had no idea how much time had gone by since I’d gotten inside that car. I must have been out unconscious for several hours, and I had no idea when he’d called Rupert. I felt like a complete idiot for being caught up in this mess in the first place. I should have run once I’d seen the driver wasn’t Chris.
Moments later, someone showed up and I instantly recognised him. He was the driver who’d stuck a needle in my leg, probably with some sleeping drug. Vincent approached him, keeping his eyes glued to me. I was pissed off with myself, miffed that I didn’t head but him when I had the chance earlier.
Vincent left me for some time. It was hard to tell how long he was gone for, maybe thirty minutes, maybe an hour, but by the time that idiot came back he didn’t look good at all. Something obviously must have happened because he was sweating like hell. I started hopping on the chair because frankly, I was fucking tired being chained up like a monkey. I had to loosen my legs.
Vincent paced up and down, talking to himself and gesturing with his hands like a lunatic. Then I thought I was hallucinating for a moment because I spotted two dark silhouettes sneaking down behind old steel slates. This place was dark and creepy, and Vincent was too busy playing the victim to notice anything usual. My heartbeat accelerated when I recognised Rupert’s blue shoes, the ones I’d helped him pick up back in Zakynthos.
“What happened, big guy? Things aren’t going as well as you thought?” I asked loudly, hoping to distract the bastard while Rupert came closer.
This thought alone suddenly petrified me because when Vincent turned towards me, he had a gun. He pointed it in the direction where Rupert and his companion had disappeared moments ago.
“Your boyfriend is late, and my guys are not responding,” Vincent muttered, sweat dripping down his cheeks, his tie undone, his trousers dusty. Had he fallen earlier on?
I could never forgive myself if anything happened to Rupert. I had to protect him because this whole thing was all my fault, so I had to keep Vincent talking.
“Rupert is not that stupid, you know. He might have fallen for my charm, but he could see right through me even in the beginning. I thought I was through with my master plan until now,” I said, staring at Vincent with a tentative smile. I had to say something to get his attention and suddenly I realised that this was the perfect moment for me to drive Rupert away, to let him thing that I had been playing him all these months. Pain like no other hit all my senses, and my heart broke at the thought of what I was about to do. Yet, lies were the only thing that would get Vincent’s full attention, too, so I had to take advantage of this situation. I knew Rupert would never forgive me, but his life was literally on the line.
“What are you talking about, woman? What master plan?”
“The one where I meant to get an advantage over his brother, Spencer, the PM. This was even before my roommate started working for him as a nanny. All this time, Rupert thought it was a freaky coincidence, but we’ve been planning this for a very long time,” I said, making sure Vincent was enthralled by my speech. My breathing was laboured, and I couldn't see Rupert's face, but I was certain that he knew exactly what I was talking about.
He stared at me, obviously confused as hell. The seconds ticked away. I was buying myself time, trusting that Rupert could execute his own plan quickly.
“I knew if I fucked the PM’s younger brother and then later suddenly show up in that club as Laura’s roommate, he’d believe in the freaky coincidence. We both know, Vincent, that I like money. This thing was always about the money, but then the poor lad fell in love with me, so I kept pretending this whole thing was for real so you and I could split the money later, down the line.”
I had no idea how I’d even come up with this shit, but Vincent looked so bewildered. His expression was almost comical.The lies made sense because in the beginning, Rupert did suspect me of being a con artist and now, I had just proven that he’d been right.
This hurt so fucking bad…
I told myself that I was doing this for him, because he had to be protected, and the choices from my past could ruin the whole Banks family.
But damn, this wrecked me from the inside out.
Two things happened right after I stopped talking. Vincent was just about to shout that I’d probably lost my mind, but then a huge man appeared out of nowhere and pounced on my ex, disarming him in an instant. This whole thing happened so fast that I was thrown backwards with the chair still attached to my back.I yelped while commotion happened in the background, but I was stuck, unable to move.
A scream, and then someone stood beside me.“You all right, love? Anything broken, or are you good?” The giant man looked very much like Rupert, a bigger version of him.
I nodded. He lifted the chair and my heart stopped because right in front of me, Rupert was beating the shit out of Vincent. It looked like he was going to kill him.