Page 22 of Mayfair Madame (Mayfair Heights #1)

Chapter Twenty

Naomi

I dropped Ellie at the station and watched as the train pulled out. She was nowhere near ready to travel, but her sister needed her. Ellie’s guilt was clear. She’d barely spoken since her sister’s call, wringing her hands and biting her lip. Even Melinda had seemed concerned.

Once the ticket was booked, we travelled to her apartment and threw a few clothes and toiletries into a backpack.

“How long will you be gone?” I asked her. She needed to rest, not to be travelling two and a half hours on a packed train.

“I’m not sure. A day, maybe two. No more than that.”

“Well, call me, and I’ll sort out your return train ticket.” Not even a word of protest, and that had me worried too.

Four hours had passed. She’d called to say she’d arrived, but I could tell from her voice that she was exhausted. She was eating, and that was the main thing.

She needed to keep her strength up.

“Naomi, did you hear me?”

“Sorry? What did you say?”

“I asked if you were going to work this weekend. You have a couple of clients booked in, but it’s nothing we can’t move around if needed. Or we could reassign them.”

“Who is it?” I remembered there was a party for Jeffrey, but I thought that was in a couple of weeks.

“It’s someone new. A woman. We’ve done the usual checks, but she didn’t mind male or female. I can hand it off to Marco. He won’t mind.”

“Could you? I’m so tired after this week and not sure I’d be able to concentrate.”

“How is Ellie now?” Melinda put down her tablet and took my hand.

“You saw what she was like when you arrived. She’s tired, still weak, but better than she was a few days ago.”

“I wanted to say I was sorry for how we left things the other day. I’ll admit I was jealous of her.”

“Why? Why would you be jealous? We’re best friends, and no one will come between us. It doesn’t matter if I’ve met someone. You’ll always be an important person in my life.”

“I know, and I should have realised that. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course I can. That’s what friends do. I’ve been worried about her. Still am, if I’m honest. She should be in bed resting, but then family comes first.”

“Talking of family. Rupert called earlier while you were at the station. I told him you’d call him back.”

“Did he say what it was about?” The last time we’d talked, he’d discussed plans for bringing down Clement and Godfrey’s downfall.

I wasn’t normally a vindictive person, but what Godfrey had done was unforgivable.

If he wasn’t stopped, who knew how far he’d go next time? And there would be a next time.

“He said you’d know. I’m hoping this is something to do with your assault. You said he was helping you out.”

“Yes, hopefully he has an update. I can’t wait until this is all over and I can relax a little. We might have both dropped the case against each other, but it’s still there, you know? Hanging over me like the proverbial dark cloud.”

I’d had enough bad luck in my life. It was time things changed, and now with Ellie, hopefully, things were looking up substantially.

“Well, if you want to call him now. I’ll get in touch with Marco and see if he’s free on Saturday.”

I seemed to be spending more time on the phone than anything else lately. That and being in bed, although that wasn’t a bad thing, especially when Ellie was with me.

“Rupert, I hope you have news for me,” I said when he answered the phone.

“I have excellent news, my dear.” My heart raced. Had he finally succeeded?

“As I told you before, after a bit of digging, I found out that both Godfrey and Winthrop were directors of a couple of financial companies. I say ‘were’ because I’ve persuaded the other shareholders to issue a special notice advising them of their intention to remove them as directors.”

“Wow. You said it wouldn’t be easy, but it seems like you got a result in record time.”

“When you’re as rich as I am, Naomi, nothing is impossible. People are greedy. Plus, I might have mentioned Godfrey’s penchant for assaulting vulnerable women. It just so happened he’d tried a similar thing with the wife of a shareholder. They were more than happy to cooperate.”

“So, what’s next? Surely, it won’t happen quickly?”

“Quicker than you think. They’d normally have twenty-eight days, but I think they both know they’re on the ropes. Rumours have a habit of spreading. I may or may not have had a hand in that as well.”

“Wow, so what does that mean for them? I mean, they both have money of their own. They won’t be destitute.”

“No, that’s true, but I also know that Godfrey is living beyond his means. Seems the ancestral home is up for sale, and his wife is divorcing him. No prenup when they got married. I’ve heard she’s a ruthless woman, and I don’t think she’ll go quietly.”

“This is more than I could have hoped for, Rupert.” I’d have been happy with them being hit financially, but for Godfrey, it seems his problems ran deeper.

“Godfrey’s divorce was in the works a long time before I got involved. One more thing, I’ve purchased shares in the largest company they co-owned. I’m more than happy to gift them to you as recompense for what they put you through.”

“Rupert, you didn’t need to do that.”

“I didn’t, no, but call it a birthday present.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.” Words failed me.

“Say thank you. That’s enough. As soon as everything has gone through the correct channels, I’ll put the shares in your name.”

“You’ve already helped me so much. How can I ever repay you?” I was beyond grateful for everything he’d done for me. My heart swelled, and tears of gratitude fell.

“No need, my dear. You’re the daughter I never had. I’m more than happy to do what I can to make your life easier. How’s my building, by the way? I should pop over at some point. I hear Mayfair Heights is an up-and-coming area of Mayfair.”

“It’s doing well, and I don’t just mean the escort side of things.

” Rupert let me run things my way, but I couldn’t forget it was because of his money that I could do what I wanted to do.

“There’s an anonymous blog getting a lot of attention.

It’s bringing in new clientele to the businesses here. Things are thriving.”

“You’ve done wonders. More than I ever could have done. Come see me soon. It’s been too long.”

“I can’t thank you enough.”

“Find your peace, Naomi.”

With that, he ended the call, and I was left staring out the window at the city I now called home, a huge grin on my face.

“All okay?” Melinda handed me a mug and put a plate of pastries on the table.

“Yes, everything is perfect. Are these from the bakery downstairs? You are so transparent.” I laughed and took a bite of the light, buttery croissant.

“I know you like them from there,” she said with a shy smile.

“Hmm, you keep telling yourself that. Was Felicity in today?” I bit into it again, soft flakes falling onto my shirt.

She took a bite of her pastry and blushed.

“I’ll take that as a yes. You really should say something, you know.” Melinda deserved someone after her last attempt at a relationship.

“I told you before that she’s too young for me, and anyway, I’mnot looking to start anything else. Now, about Marco.”

“What about Marco?” I remembered how he’d been watching Sam, and a pang of annoyance shot through me.

“He’s not able to do Saturday evening. He said he’d already asked not to work that night. I checked the schedule, and he’s right, so we’ll have to find someone else.”

“Okay. Maybe Lance can do it, or failing that, Cami.” I could barely concentrate. My mind wandered back to Ellie and what she was doing.

How was her mum? Was there anything I could do to help?

“Maybe you should call her.”

“What? No, I don’t want to bother her while she’s with her family. She’s got enough on her plate without me interrupting her.”

“What is it about her that has you feeling this way?” I thought at first she was being funny, but her face told a different tale.

“I honestly don’t know.” It was difficult to explain. “There’s just something about her that draws me in. That night, she was so considerate of my feelings, and when she found out what I did, there was no judgement.”

The night of the assault, she hadn’t treated me like a victim, and every day since then, I’d not had to hide who I was.

All my life, I’d been pretending to be someone else. Only with her and Rupert could I be the real Naomi Reeves. Not the confident, bossy madame, but the woman who enjoyed junk food, comfortable clothes, and trashy TV shows.

“Does she know everything?” Even Melinda didn’t know it all, and as much as she was my friend, there were parts of me I couldn’t—no, wouldn’t—share.

“She knows enough. She knows what I do and why, and she didn’t run away.” The rest would come when the time was right. And I knew there were parts of her she had yet to tell me. We’d both only scratched the surface.

“Well, that’s something. How many times have we been down this road before?”

“This feels different.” I’d had a few relationships, but none like Ellie.

My phone buzzed, and I snatched it up. Maybe it was her.

The number was withheld but not marked as spam. I frowned and opened it.

Unknown number : You bitch. I’ll make you pay.

“What the fuck? Look at this.”

I handed my phone to Melinda so she could read the message.

“Who has your number?” She frowned and gave the phone back to me.

“Only close friends, Ellie, and the police. You know I don’t let everyone have it. All business dealings are done online. Even my regular clients don’t have this number.”

“You need to tell the police.”

“And tell them what? We both know who this is from. Clement doesn’t have the fucking balls to do something like this. This is Godfrey’s work, but where the fuck did he get my number?”

No way this was coincidental, and if the man was stupid enough to play fucking games, he found a worthy opponent.

I couldn’t even reply to him, but I’d find a way to let him know he couldn’t intimidate me.

“Maybe I should call Josh. He might know something.”

“You’re not going to call Ellie?”

“God, no. She has enough to deal with. What with her mom and all. She’s only just come out of hospital herself.”

I paced the floor, a tightness forming in my chest, my jaw clenched. That bastard would not get away with this. It was time to take him down.

“Josh. It’s Naomi Reeves.”

“Is Ellie okay?” Panic laced his voice.

“She’s fine. Visiting her mum and sister.”

“Good, that’s good. I know she hasn’t seen them in a while. But what can I do for you? Why the call?”

“I’ve received a message. I’ll forward it to you. It can only be from one of two people, and seeing how one of them is the biggest fucking coward I’ve ever met, it can only be from Godfrey.”

I forwarded it to him and waited for him to read it.

“I thought you’d dropped the case. What does he want you to pay for?”

How did I explain what was going on without implicating Rupert?

“I can only guess that word got around about the assault. I have friends in high places.”

“I could bring him in and question him. Although there’s no proof this has come from him. Have you upset anyone else lately?”

“Not that I can think of.” But it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that somebody was pissed at me. “But you’re right. This could have come from anyone. Look, if I get any more, I’ll let you know, but let’s drop it for now.”

I hung up and threw the phone onto the table. Not one of my finest moments. I definitely hadn’t thought that one through.

“What did he say? What’s he going to do?” Melinda asked.

“There’s nothing he can do without proof, and I couldn’t drop Rupert in it by telling him what we had planned.”

“What do you have planned?”

“Probably best you don’t know either. We’ll wait and see what happens. If all they do is send threatening messages, I can put up with that.”

“Then let’s have another pastry and get on with the rest of the day.”

If it took my mind off the text message, pass me another.