Page 55 of Released

We pause, and Kai steps up behind Lilly, bending down to whisper in her ear, this time just us to hear.

“I like being claimed by you, Lilly Vanderbilt.” I hear her gasp as he presses his hips into her lower back, clearly feeling his hardness too. At least I won’t be the only one walking in there with a stiffy.

Michelle opens the doors, and we step into a light boardroom that has floor-to-ceiling windows on the wall opposite us, giving us a view of the town below and the mountains beyond.

I glance around the huge table, noting my cunt of a father, Julian Vanderbilt, Chad Thorn, and Stephen Matthews all seated and staring at us. It takes a huge effort not to curl my lip or let my fists fly at their smug fucking faces. I know they were the reason Lilly was taken, and have no doubt that they were all involved or at least aware.

Taking a deep inhale, I try to calm the rage that’s threatening to overspill. It’s then that I notice another figure, a man of similar age to our parents, his hair and eyes dark and his tailored suit clearly expensive.

“Boys,” Julian greets, a lying smile on his lips. His grey eyes take us all in, pausing on Lilly, and his grin widens. A pounding starts in my ears, and I can feel my lips pulling back as I step closer to her. “Lilly, darling.”

He doesn’t get up, and it’s a good fucking thing, as I don’t doubt that I wouldn’t be the only one to do him harm if he came near her again. Pictures of having him at my mercy while I take my blowtorch to his eyeballs for daring to even look at her like that flit through my mind, and I know that my snarl turns to a feral grin. He sees it too when he looks back at me, his face paling ever so slightly at the promise in my eyes.

Oh yeah, fucker, I’m coming for you.

Movement interrupts our stare off, and I see the dark stranger get up and move towards us. He stops in front of our group, in front of Lilly, and she lays a hand on my arm when I make a move to step in front of her.

“Mrs Vanderbilt,” he says, and I’m surprised by his cultured British accent. “A pleasure to finally meet you. I knew your mother, and I must say you are the spitting image of her.”

“You knew my mum?” Lilly asks, the hand that is still resting on my forearm frozen.

“Yes, I met her not long after she arrived in London and began working at Grey’s. She was captivating when she danced, even more so when her pregnancy began to show.” He looks down at Lilly’s rounded stomach then, but not in a leering way. More like a fatherly way, his face soft and wistful.

“Mr Black?” Lilly asks with a gasp, and it suddenly clicks into place. This is the man who has the second biggest stakeholder claim in Black Knight Corporation. I look at the other guys to see matching looks of interest on their faces, though Ash still has a hard jaw and a possessive grip around Lilly’s waist.

“Now that that little reunion is done with,” Julian interrupts in an annoyed tone, and again images of committing violence against Ash’s father pop into my head. “Shall we start the meeting?”

Glaring at him and the rest of the scum that sit at the oval table, we take our seats opposite them, Mr Black resuming his chair at what might be considered the head of the table.

“Right, let’s get started, gentleman and lady,” Julian begins, and I really don’t like the way his eyes keep raking over Lilly. It makes my hackles rise, my shoulders vibrating with tension. “Shall we begin with our plans for our heirs to take on more responsibility?”

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

LILLY

What a fucking waste of time!

That meeting wasn’t about the boys taking on more responsibility. Julian and the others may have tried to present it in that way, but they were giving the guys crumbs, nothing more than what you might get a work placement student to do.Fucking joke.

And any suggestion I made was shot down straight away, and I was treated like the silly, little woman who didn’t know how the big men ran things.Fucking cockwombling knobheads.

It was interesting the way Mr Black sat back and took it all in, then made a few suggestions that I could see Julian didn’t want to consider but had to because they were the best thing for the business. Like expanding the software development arm of the company by looking at recent graduates from top Ivy League colleges.

He also put forward a proposal that Black Knight Corp start to use a company based in the city of London called Cavendish Brothers’ Investments as our wealth managers, taking over how we invest our profits. It’s run by two brothers, one of whom is the Marquis of Bath no less, and apparently, since they took it over from their parents several years ago, the company has made billions for its clients across the globe.

I could tell that Julian hated taking anyone else’s suggestions on board, but the gleam in his eyes when Mr Black talked about the money to be made told me that he did take the recommendation seriously. When we all voted, it was a unanimous affirmative in favour of hiring the brothers.

The meeting dragged on after that, and most of what they were saying went completely over my head. I’m just not used to business speak, and I fucking hated feeling so stupid and lost. I had to keep suppressing yawns by the time it came to a close, and I barely managed to hold back a sigh of relief when all business was concluded and we were finally allowed to go.

Ash kept me close the whole way back to the car, Mr Black giving us a warm goodbye before stepping into his own waiting vehicle. I wondered about him, having a very vague recollection of Mum talking about her biggest fan. She never seemed to think he was a sleeze like some of the others could be. In fact, I do remember that he would scare off anyone who made her even the slightest bit uncomfortable when she was performing.

I’m too tired to ponder much more as we drive back, and soon am lulled to sleep, resting against Ash’s chest with Loki on my other side as the guys talk quietly. I wake up when we arrive back at Highgate, the sun casting the old building in a beautiful, mid-afternoon glow.

“I need a shower,” I declare, my muscles aching a little after the long drive and needing to wash off Julian’s lecherous gaze. Leaving the boys to do whatever they feel like, I make my way to the bathroom and strip off the blouse and stretchy, cotton jersey, navy skirt I’d worn in a bid to look professional. I fucking hated it, the lack of colour and boring maternity clothes making me feel frumpy and unlike myself.

I leave them in a disgusted pile on the tiles, stepping into the shower, and groaning at the wonderful heat of the water cascading down my body. Looking down, I sigh as I find that my toes are completely obscured by my rounded stomach. My baby gives a little ‘fuck you, bitch’ kick, and I huff out a laugh.

“Sassy womb monster,” I murmur, reaching for the shower gel and deciding to use Kai’s fresh, woodsy-scented one today.

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