Page 25 of Mayfair Madame (Mayfair Heights #1)

Chapter Twenty Three

Ellie

B reakfast the following day was a quiet affair. Naomi had slept through the night. Not a nightmare in sight. She’d said they happened infrequently, and I’d wondered if retelling the events of those horrific couple of days would cause her to have another, but the night had been uneventful.

I’d woken several times and, like a creeper, had watched her as she slept. The steady rise and fall of her chest, the little snuffles and whimpers, but nothing like before.

I reflected on the previous night, and how she’d related her harrowing story. I’d expected an emotional retelling with plenty of tears but had heard an almost robotic voice describing an event that could have happened to someone else.

It must have been upsetting to go over it again, but she hadn’t shown a flicker of emotion.

She’d said very little since we’d got up. Ordinarily, I’d think it was me, that I’ddone something wrong, but I knew dredging up such hard memories couldn’t have been easy for her. I’d made her coffee, served my speciality—toast and marmalade—but she’d barely touched it.

“What’s your plan for today?” I took a bite of the almost-burnt toast and threw it back onto the plate. No wonder she’d not wanted it.

“I have a meeting with Melinda. We meet every couple of days to discuss the business and what’s going on in the building. I should go get changed, actually.” She focused her attention on the day’s delivered mail.

My focus, however, was on the tantalising glimpse of her body beneath her robe. I shook my head.

Concentrate, Ellie, concentrate.

“Doesn’t Rupert own it?” I focussed on her face and not on her smooth skin.

“He does, but he leaves me with the day-to-day running of it. I deal with any tenant issues, check in with the retail premises downstairs and the agency. I like to keep busy. Do you have any plans?”

Her tone was perfunctory, all emotion erased, and now I wondered if I had done something wrong.

“I might go home.” I didn’t have to stay here. I could manage at home, alone.

“Oh?” She turned to look at me, her brow furrowed.

“Yeah, I need some clean clothes, and you’re busy, so I’ll get out of your hair.” In all honesty, as much as I’d love to spend the day with Naomi, my reliance on her was getting out of hand, plus with the mood she was in, I didn’t want to stick around and upset her further.

I’d never depended on anyone the way I had her since coming out of hospital, and I felt stronger, more like me. I didn’t need her to think I was weak and needed looking after.

I’d been an independent woman since Kate had left. I’d made my way in life, got my promotion, and was trying to make a name for myself.

“Fuck.” She dropped the mail on the table and ran from the room. What the hell had I said now?

I glanced at the piece of paper she’d let fall. Stark red letters on thick white paper.

Fucking die bitch

This was fucking ridiculous. I chased her down and found her in her bedroom pulling clothes out of her drawers.

“Where are you going?” I grabbed her arm before she could leave the room.

“Where do you think? We both know who’s doing this. I’m going to find him and...and...”

“And what? Calm down, please. Rushing out of here and going who knows where to find him won’t help you or anyone. For starters, you don’t know where he is.”

“Athis club. He’s been staying there since his wife kicked him out of their London home. I know where he is.”

“And what will you do? Confront him? Tell him to stop? You have no proof. You already admitted that.”

“I know it’s him, Ellie,” she shouted, then sat on the bed, a defeated look on her face.

“You think it’s him. Let’s go see Josh. Show him the other message and the letter.” I’d need to put it in a bag and hope there was some forensic evidence on there we could tie to him.

But first I had to soothe her.

“What’s the point? Josh said the police couldn’t do anything.” For the first time since the night Godfrey had assaulted her, Naomi looked rattled.

Her bottom lip quivered. She was barely keeping it together, and when I held her hands, they trembled.

“Let’s take a breath and think logically. But first off, I want to know what you know.”

What had happened for him to be threatening her this way? And there was the fact that they’d both dropped the case. Something fishy was going on, and I had an inkling she knew exactly what that was.

“I don’t know anything.” She refused to meet my gaze. I might not know her that well, but I knew when I was being lied to.

“Do you want to rethink your answer?”

“I’m not a suspect in this.”

“I didn’t say you were, but I think you know more than you’re letting on. Come on, Naomi. I’m not going to arrest you. I just want to help.”

She bit her top lip and took a deep breath as if she’d come to a decision.

“When I told Rupert what had happened the first night we met, and that I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously because of who I was and what I did, he suggested that there was another way we could, you know, make them pay.”

“Go on. Is it illegal?”

“It's a grey area, but I don’t think it’s strictly illegal.

You know Rupert has money. Well, he also has friends in high places.

He may or may not have persuaded the companies that Godfrey and Clement owned together to remove them.I’m sure it’s all legitimate.

Rupert wouldn’t jeopardise his good standing. ”

“Fucking hell, Naomi. What if it comes back to bite you in the arse?”

“Rupert wouldn’t let anything like that happen. He’ll have covered all his bases, so it wouldn’t look like anything other than a takeover by the other shareholders. Plus, he might have gifted me some shares in the companies.”

She whispered the last part, and I had to ask her to repeat herself.

“Let me get this straight. Both Clement and Godfrey have been removed from the companies they owned. Rupert has bought shares and given them to you. No wonder they’re gunning for you.”

“I don’t think it’s Clement. He has other companies he could fall back on, and he has money. Godfrey, on the other hand, has his home in the country up for sale,and his wife is divorcing him. His chickens have finally come home to roost.”

“Jesus, Naomi. Is there any wonder he’s threatening retribution? He’s losing everything and holds you responsible.”

“Hey, I wasn’t the first person he’d done that to, and if he wasn’t stopped somehow,I know I wouldn’t have been the last. The man is dangerous, Ellie.”

“I know, baby, but you should have let the police deal with it.” I sat next to heron the bed and rubbed her back. “Just don’t poke the bear. Let us do our job and take him down the right way.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she laid her head on my shoulder.

“I’m used to dealing with things on my own or with Rupert’s help. I’ve never trusted the police. Not until I met you.”

She looked into my eyes, and all the worry I’d felt earlier about her dissolved into nothing. Like me, she’d been alone to deal with all that life had thrown at her.

How could I go home now and leave her when she was like this? She was a strong woman. Fuck, she was stronger than anyone I knew, but no one should have to go through this alone.

Sure,she had Melinda, a friend she’d known for years, but didn’t I have a bond with her? I’d spent enough nights in her bed, wrapped in her arms, a confidante and a lover.

“Look,I’m going to go home and get some clothes. Then I’m coming back, and we’re going to see Josh. Tell him everything, not the parts you think are pertinent.He needs to have the full story if he’s going to investigate.”

I might still be signed off work, but I could make a difference. I’d convince Josh I could help in any way possible.

“Melinda will be here shortly. I’ll be okay until you return. Why the fuck does he affect me this way? I’ve dealt with bigger and scarier men than he. He’s nothing. Washed-up nobility with no money to his name.”

“Godfrey doesn’t like your standing up to him. He’s a misogynist and probably grew up with mommy issues. He sees you as a threat to his masculinity and everything he stands for. You’re an outlet for his insecurities. Why do you think he assaulted you in the first instance?”

“He’s the lowest of the low. I fucking hate men like him. I’ve seen my share, but he is vindictive and cruel. Can you imagine if I hadn’t whacked him over the head?Or I’d been a younger, more naive girl? I hate to think what he’d have done.That’s why he had to be stopped by any means possible.”

“He would have seen justice, Naomi.”

“No disrespect, but you have more faith in the justice system than I do. I’m black, I’m a woman, and I work in the sex industry. The odds were never in my favour.”

I sighed. She was probably right.

I placed a kiss on her temple and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

“Will you be okay?” How would I feel if I received a death threat? To be fair, I’d probably do what Naomi wanted to do and hunt the fucker down, but there were right ways to go about this.

I couldn’t blame her for wanting to keep the police out of it and deal with it herself. At least I was here either to join her or to stop her.

“I’ll be fine. Let’s go out for lunch. Lorenzo makes the most wonderful pasta. Then we’ll pop into Sam’s and have a few glasses of wine. We deserve it after the week we’ve had. How does that sound?”

“Like a great idea, actually.”

Being ill had seriously helped with my weight loss. I was almost happy when I looked in the mirror. No doubt that would change when I started eating again, but maybe Naomi was right, and it was a case of eating the right things and not trying to exist on coffee and dreams of being skinny.

Iwas sure I had something in my wardrobe I could wear. Something that wouldn’t make me uncomfortable.

A knock on the front door startled us both. She looked at me, her eyes wide.

“It’ll be Melinda. You said she was coming this morning.”

“God, yes. You’re right. Why am I a bundle of nerves? I’ll go let her in.”

I went back to the kitchen and cleaned up some of the mess I’d made. I threw the soggy toast into the bin and poured the coffee down the sink. Melinda always brought baked goods from the bakery downstairs and often brought coffee. Today was no exception.

“Oh, I would have brought more. I didn’t know you were going to be here. How are you feeling now, Ellie?” Melinda’s smile seemed forced. It certainly didn’t reach her eyes. Did she see me as a threat to her relationship with Naomi?

“I’m doing much better, thanks, and no worries, I’m just on my way out. I’ve got a few things I need to collect from home.”

“Oh,so you’ll be staying a few days, then?”

“She’s staying until I kick her out.” Naomi laughed. It was so good to see her smile after the earlier events. At least hers was genuine.

“I’ll come back, and then we’ll go visit Josh.” How much to say? Did Melinda know about the texts? She certainly didn’t know about the one from last night nor this morning’s letter.

“Did something else happen?” Melinda rushed to her friend’s side and placed a comforting arm around her shoulder.

I glared at her across the room, my jaw tightened. I’d never been a jealous person, but the sight of her hands on Naomi really got my goat.

Naomi shrugged her off. “Nothing for you to worry about. Go up to the office, and I’ll meet you there. I’m just going to say goodbye to Ellie.”

“She doesn’t like me,” I said when she was out of earshot.

“It’s not that she doesn’t like you. She just doesn’t know you like I do.” She placed a kiss on my lips.

“Inside and out.” She kissed me again.

“Intimately.” A longer kiss this time that made my toes curl.

She slipped her hand beneath my shirt and ran a fingertip along my ribs and bent to whisper in my ear.

“And when we’re done with lunch later, we’ll come back here, and I’ll show you just how much I like you.”

I shivered beneath her touch and melted into her arms.

“Fuck,Naomi. You know how to turn a girl on.”

“Oh, believe me, I do.” She took my hand and guided it between her legs. “I’m so wet for you, baby.”

I stroked between the folds of her pussy. She was so fucking wet. I circled her clit and slid my finger lower, slipping it inside her.

She gasped and tilted her hips towards me. “How does that feel?” I asked, although I knew she loved it.

“Amazing.” Her robe opened, revealing her breasts. I squeezed one, then the other, but if I didn’t stop here, I’d have her bent over the table with more than one finger in her.

I dropped my head to her chest and closed my eyes.

“Fuck,Naomi, if I don’t leave now, Melinda might hate me even more when she sees what I want to do to you.”

“Then go, but don’t be long. We have unfinished business.”

She stepped back and righted her robe, smoothing down the fabric.

As she sashayed away, I groaned, my skin hot. My heart pounded, and a million butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

Was this what being in love was like? Because if it was, I was all for it.