Page 8 of The Facilitator, Part 2

“I don’t know, to be honest. I was looking forward to meeting him and when I arrived, I think I was surprised to see security on the door. Maybe that made me anxious, it’s unusual. It’s always been a fairly quiet bar, somewhere you can go and actually talk.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been there.”

Mackenzie took my coat and set it over a chair in the hall.

He placed my handbag on the top and then took my hand in his.

We walked into the kitchen and a glass of red wine was waiting for me.

I slid onto a stool and watched as he tossed some pasta in a sauce.

I could smell garlic and herbs. Mackenzie was never stressed when he cooked.

Everything seemed to come together as he wanted, when he wanted it to.

He had many pots on the go, and I’d be in a mess if I were the one in front of the stove.

Within five minutes, he had a bowl of pasta, some garlic bread, and homemade pizza on the breakfast bar.

Mackenzie took the stool beside me, we clinked glasses and while I took a sip, he placed his back on the surface.

He served a slice of pizza, dished a bowl of pasta, and then turned slightly to me.

“Talk to me, Lauren,” he said, as he bit into his pizza.

“Not while this food is in front of me, it’s delicious.”

To eat while Mackenzie was staring at me was extremely off-putting. I wasn’t giving in, though. I nibbled slowly. I ignored the ring of my mobile assuming—hoping—it would be Jerry calling to apologise, and I sipped my wine. When I was done, I finally turned towards him.

“Jerry was really excited to meet, he said he had gossip, but he also sounded distracted. Then to not show! He said he lost track of time, but I think he forgot and he’s never done that before.

There’s a distance between us and it makes me sad.

He was the only friend I had for a long time, Mackenzie.

He saw me through some horrible times and yet, right now, I don’t feel that I matter much to him. I don't know why.”

The drive home had given me time to think. Other than his last call to me, it had been me constantly calling, emailing, and texting him. All of a sudden he was too busy for me, and I guessed it stung a little.

Mackenzie sighed. “I hate that he was all you had, Lauren.”

“There’s not much you, or me for that matter, can do about it now. But I’m not happy about being stood up. I’ll speak to him tomorrow,” I said, with a smile.

I wasn’t going to dwell on Jerry anymore that evening, not when I had the most gorgeous, sexy, and caring man sitting, concerned, in front of me. I slid from my stool, grabbed the phone from my bag, and walked back. As I sat, I switched it off.

“There, not going to worry about him tonight at all,” I said.

“You have your dinner with Gabriella tomorrow, and then we’ll visit the club at the weekend, that should take your mind off him,” Mackenzie said.

“Do I get to know what will happen at the club?” I asked, lowering my voice a little.

“No, Lauren. That’s my domain, my rules,” he said with a wicked smile.

“There I was thinking you were all about empowerment and equality,” I teased.

“And that, I am. Except for this weekend. This weekend is all about what I want.” He gave me a wink as he collected the dishes to stack the dishwasher.

Mackenzie could switch from sexy, controlling, and mysterious, to domesticated in the blink of an eye. I laughed as he rinsed and stacked.

Later that evening, we sat on the sofa and read books.

Mackenzie was reading a biography—he wasn’t into fiction—and I had my mafia romance to continue.

The ringing of a telephone interrupted us.

It was unusual for someone to call on the house phone, like most, I guessed, we used our mobiles way more.

For a moment, we sat and looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

However, we both stood the minute the answerphone kicked in and it was Addison’s voice we heard.

“Hi, Mackenzie, how are you? I haven’t heard from you for ages. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I’m in the UK. It would be lovely to meet up; I have some exciting news you might like to hear.”

She drew out her words, exaggerating her Southern accent and made no mention of me. Mackenzie walked toward the phone on the sideboard and snatched it from the base. By the time he’d raised it to his ear, she had hung up.

“What do you think she meant?” I asked, as he strode back with the phone still in his hand.

“She’s a bitch, shame she hung up,” he replied.

I knew she wasn’t his favourite person, but the venom in his words was out of character for him. He was also back to pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing.

“Do you want to call her back?” I asked.

“Not really. She did that to upset you and I won’t have it.”

“Gabriella’s mother told her we were living together,” I said.

“I know and I don’t care that she knows. I’ll have the number changed tomorrow. If she wants to contact me, she knows to contact the office.”

“She doesn’t have your mobile number?”

“No, and I’ll be fucking pissed if she finds it out,” he replied. “There is no reason for her to contact me. I have my spies back home, they keep me informed on anything I need to know, but that’s mainly to do with her father.”

“Do you think she’s up to something?” I asked.

“I know she is.” He turned towards me. “And I know who with…Jerry.”

“What do mean, Jerry?”

“Jerry wasn’t going to meet you because he was with Addison.”

“And you knew this? Why didn’t you say? I might not have made a fool of myself sitting in a bar on my own.”

“I didn’t expect him to stand you up. Addison makes a point of being seen, Lauren. She was sure to send a photograph of her and Jerry to Daniel and copied Gabriella in!” His voice rose in anger.

“When was this?”

“Earlier, late afternoon, I think.”

“Why would she want to send a picture to Daniel?”

“She likes to make him jealous by using other men, obviously, and as for copying Gabriella, which she claims was an accident, that was so we’d all know as well.”

“Why is she with Jerry?”

“That is the part I don’t know. But I have a horrible thought she is trying to rope him into some business venture, because she knows he has the money. She’ll take him for everything she can, Lauren, if he’s not careful.”

“I need to warn him,” I said.

“You need to be careful with that. I know her; I know how her mind works. She’ll have done everything she can to discredit me, us. She’ll have him believe that you’ll come running, warning him off her, and because he would be expecting that, he won’t believe you.”

“So what do I do? I won’t sit back and let her do that, Mackenzie.”

“I don’t expect you to. I’m working on a plan already, but you need to trust me. Jerry isn’t stupid; he won’t rush into anything. It took a year of negotiations before I bought his company, remember?”

I wasn’t as confident as Mackenzie. Jerry had changed of late.

He wasn’t the funny, humble, hard-working man he used to be.

Maybe his wealth had gone to his head. I wasn’t sure, but at that moment, I was deciding who to be mad at, Mackenzie for knowing and not telling me, or Jerry for ditching me for Addison!

Jerry, or more so, Addison, took first place.

“Will you let me in on your plan as soon as you know it? I’ve known something has been off with you for days. Is it Addison?” I asked.

“Of course I’ll let you know. And no, it’s not Addison, as such. Her father is making moves to get back into business. I’m just keeping my eyes on what and where.”

“Why is that stressing you so much? He can’t do you any damage, can he?”

“Not to my business, no. But he can make things awkward for me with some knowledge he has.”

I stared at him. He sighed a couple of times.

“I killed someone, Lauren. When I was young and stupid. I crashed a car, killing my best friend, Gabriella’s first love.

I was high. I should never have been behind the wheel, but I was angry at the world and I didn’t care.

Tate tried to get the keys from me, he tried to drag me from the car, and when I started to drive away, he jumped in.

I guess he thought if he was with me, he might be able to convince me to pull over.

I didn’t, I put my foot on the gas, lost control of the car, it hit a barrier, and we flipped over.

He was thrown from the car and died at the scene.

I was knocked unconscious. I had internal injuries, some of which rendered me infertile.

My punishment for what I did, I guess. Anyway, that’s the gory details, but it gets worse.

Addison’s father arranged it so that I didn’t face trial.

I don’t know how and I was extremely grateful, even though the remorse was killing me.

So, you see, he has something over me that he could use if he wanted to. ”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I knew about the accident, I’d Googled Mackenzie once. Gabriella had mentioned that a boyfriend had been killed, but I hadn’t connected the dots.

“Could he? It was so long ago, Mackenzie. Surely there is a statute of limitations or something?”

“I couldn’t be prosecuted, there’s no evidence it wasn’t an accident. There was a fault with the car, the crash was attributed to that, but I was high. Maybe if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel in the first place.”

“So what are you worried he might do?”

“I sponsor lots of drug rehabilitation programmes in the U.S., Lauren. I’d look like a hypocrite if it came out and there am I telling these kids the dangers of drugs.”

“I disagree. You’d look like someone who understood them; you’ve been there. You’d look like someone who is talking from experience. Anyway, he covered it up, that implicates him as well.”

“He doesn’t have as much to lose as I do.”

Was that it? Was there more to why he was worried? It didn’t add up for me, but I could only go on what he wanted me to know, and it was clear by the pain etched on his face, telling me had been hard.

I wasn’t sure how Addison teaming up with Jerry was connected to her father knowing what he did.

“I think I need a cup of tea. Why don’t I make you a coffee?” I said. The coffee machine was about the only thing I could use in his high-tech kitchen.

I didn’t wait for his answer but left the living room and crossed the hall.

While I made tea, I battled the coffee machine into compliance.

To me, it was a huge amount of effort for the tiniest cup of black tar, such was the thickness, but Mackenzie liked it.

I took a deep breath before picking up both cups and heading back.

“I’m not sure how Addison and Jerry connect to her father,” I said, as I sat back down.

“Addison thinks she can do what she likes, and I won’t interfere. She could be using her father’s knowledge to have me sit back and do nothing.”

“How do you know this? And why now? She could have used that information anytime in the past.”

“I don’t for sure, but I do know, in her texts to Daniel, she asked him to mention the car crash to me. As much as I don’t like him, even that baffled him. As for why now? No one other than her father and I knew I was high. Somehow, and I don’t know yet, she has obtained information.”

“Could you speak to her father?” I asked.

“I might do that. Maybe when we head back for Gabriella’s wedding.”

“I’m not sure her wedding will be in America.”

I welcomed, and I was sure he did too, the distraction of his problems by the conversation I’d had with Gabriella.

“I don’t think Alex will care where they marry, as long as they do. I always thought it was every woman’s dream to have that big white wedding?” he said.

“Not always. For some it’s a private affair, for others they can’t afford it. You have any idea how much a wedding is nowadays?” I said, chuckling. “Enough talk of weddings. I feel the need for an early night,” I said.

“Is that a euphemism for…?”

“No, I genuinely fancy an early night. You don’t have to join me if you’re not tired, but I feel whacked out today.”

“I’ll join you. To be honest, all this talk has given me a headache. I could do with some quiet and maybe finish my book.”

Of course, we didn’t get the early night and Mackenzie didn’t finish his book. Instead, he made love to me. He was gentle and tender, and he held me in his arms after until I fell asleep to the sound of him telling me how much he loved me.