“Yeah. I’ve tried calling both of them but got no answer. After seeing the way Scott lashed out on Monday, I’m scared for them.”
Frankie reaches into the suit jacket hanging on the back of the stool next to me and pulls out his phone. He swipes a few times, then makes a call.
“Kenny? It’s Frankie Walsh…” Then he slides open the door leading to the deck before stepping outside and closing it behind him.
When I turn to look at Sam, he’s making his way around the island bench. He doesn’t stop when he reaches me, instead opening my legs and stepping between them.
“You doing okay? Don’t lie to me.”
“I don’t know what I am. Like I said, I have no right to be angry. I manipulated Logan into marrying me when he was all set to marry Alice.” I shrug, shake my head, and let out a breath. I do all the things while trying to come up with the words to best describe exactly how I’m feeling.
“I’ll tell you honestly, Sam… I’m scared. Now knowing the depth of their lies, manipulation, depravity, I’m scared. There’s no way I want to stay in my marriage, but I don’t think he’s going to let me walk away. What if he does to me what they’re trying to do to Ella? And even if he does let me walk, where do I go? What happens to my mum? They own her care home. I can’t afford to move her somewhere else if I could even find somewhere for her to go. I’ve got nothing. Well, a couple thousand in a secret account, but not enough to set me up somewhere new. If it was just me…” My words spill out as rapidly as they enter my head. Tears threaten again, but they’re not from my husband’s or Frankie’s betrayal. They’re borne of frustration at my own blinkered stupidity. I thought I had everything so meticulously planned. I thought I was so fucking clever.
“Stop panicking. We’ve got you. I’ve got you. Frankie’s got you.”
“So, what? I whore myself out to you two?”
“Mila, get fucked.”
My head jerks back at the harshness of his tone.
“No, seriously, don’t fucking insult me. That was me offering you a way out. Not at any stage was I asking for sex in return.”
Despite the anger in his voice, he doesn’t let go of me. I stare at his chest before looking back up to meet his now icy-blue eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. But please try and understand that I come from a world where nothing is free. Nobody does nice things just because. Everybody wants something for something where I come from. Random acts of kindness have rarely existed for me. You know, on Sunday night, I was so worried my husband knew where I’d been all weekend and I would be walking into an ambush when I got home, I deliberately crashed my car to give myself time to work out the situation, to come up with a plan…”
“What the fuck are you talking about, woman? What do you mean you deliberately crashed your car?” Sam cries, high pitched.
“I was scared Logan knew where I’d been. Rather than walking into the ambush I thought was waiting for me, I crashed my car, called him, and thought I’d be able to gauge his mood and see whether he knew. By the way he responded… I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“So, you crashed your fucking car? What happened?”
“He turned up with his dad and one of the truckies who works for them. He and Scott were more concerned about any damage I might’ve done to my car than myself. I was standing in the pouring rain, and it was Shane, the tow truck driver, who gave me a jacket to wear and told me to go and wait in the warmth.That’swhat I’m used to. That’s the kind of life I’ve led. No one cares about me, and me telling you this isn’t me looking for a handout or sympathy. It’s me explaining why I don’t expect you to step in and help me. We’ve just met. You barely know me.”
“And yet,” he says with a raise of his brows, “you’ve already got me grabbing the throat of my business partner and longtime friend because of the way he treated you.”
He tucks my hair behind my ears as he stares down at me and lets out a long breath. “You’ve had a lot to deal with today, so I’m not gonna push for anything, but what we did earlier, it felt good. It felt right. Doing what I do, the business I run, it’s not conducive to long term relationships, but you’re different. I think you get it and wouldn’t be threatened by my career choices. I think there’s something there, Mila, and whether that involves just you and me or includes Frankie, I wanna explore it. And while we’re doing that, I want to help you in any way I can, whether that be financially, giving you somewhere to live, getting your mum into a new facility. I’m here for it. We both are.”
For the first time today, my heart and my mind calm, and I feel like the breaths that I take fill my lungs the way they’re supposed to. When Sam slides his palms to the sides of my face, brushes his thumbs over my cheeks, and kisses me gently, calm washes through me, as well as a sense that, even though I have no idea how it’s going to happen, everything is going to work out just fine.
“Don’t mind me.You two just carry the fuck on,” Frankie says from somewhere behind us. I hadn’t even heard the sliding doors open. “Is this how it’s gonna be from now on? You two all over each other while I’m left playing with my own dick on the sidelines?”
“You like watching,” Sam replies as he straightens.
My brows rise, and neither of them miss it.
“We have viewing rooms at the club, but we also have a two-way mirrored gantry that only we can access. It means we can look down onto the main floors and see everything. It’s Frankie’s favourite place.”
“Not yours?”
He shrugs. “Yeah, I like to watch.”
“What happens there? Are people just fucking everywhere? People being tied up and flogged?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“Would you like us to take you with us one night?” Frankie asks.
I don’t know why, but I look to Sam. For approval, maybe? He gives a small nod.