Buying Him, page 3
Simon’s gaze fell on her, his eyes narrowing and his thin lips seeming to disappear altogether as he scowled at her. He didn’t seem perturbed by the screeching alarm, too focused on his prey trying to slip through his fingers.
‘Why’d you have to run?’ he asked, leaning against the lamppost to try and catch his breath. Victoria hoped he had a heart attack. ‘If you’d just got in the damned car, you’d have passed out in comfort…’
He had given her something.
Victoria tried to speak, wanted to tell him exactly what she thought of him as the darkness crept into the corners of her vision. But her tongue was too heavy, her mouth tasted like it was filled with cotton wool and she was trying to stay standing.
Her brain tried to comfort her, telling her it was a valiant effort as the strength disappeared from her knees. Simon became almost two feet taller than just moments before, and her mind thought how strange it was to know that her knees had connected to the road, yet she hadn’t felt a thing.
She’d done a good job trying to get away from the creep, but it wasn’t enough. She shouldn’t have allowed herself to get into this position in the first place. If Marcus could see her now, he’d stand there tutting at her, shaking his head and listing all the things she’d failed to do that night to keep herself safe. But she’d take her ex-fiancé being an utter bastard to her while saving her arse over giving Simon everything he’d been alluding to wanting all evening.
Her.
The darkness no longer crept into her vision but slithered through it as her kneeling body swayed. The devil gathered himself together and stepped towards her. She wanted to punch the smug grin right off his face.
Her last thought before she passed out was that she hoped her sisters would mourn her for more than two weeks…
Chapter Three
‘Cormac!’ Geri shouted down the corridor just as he fell onto the break room sofa for his fifteen minutes of respite. ‘Your car’s alarm is going bloody nuts-o again.’
Cormac groaned, wondering what the hell else could go wrong this evening. He’d been late to work and thus banned from the main stage, and to top it all off, it appeared he’d been ripped off on the repairs on his piece of shit car.
‘On it!’ he shouted back, pulling himself up from the crappy couch. Grabbing the keys to his little Volkswagen from his already open locker, he stumbled out of the break room and into the narrow corridor, cursing the new layout of the club again.
The money is made out there, he remembered Britney saying when the staff had complained the remodelling had made the employees’ area smaller than before. More space, more customers, more tips for you, the boss had countered.
Cormac ran down the short set of stairs at the back of the club, the clanging of his feet on the metal steps echoing down the empty stairwell. He frowned as his ears picked up the screeching alarm. He was going to just rip the damn thing out of the rusty, too small Beetle and be done with it. The piece of crap wasn’t ever likely to get stolen anyway, and if it did, well, the thieves would be doing him a favour!
He pushed open the staff door at the back of the building and stepped out into the employee car park. He swore if some kids were—
‘What the fuck?’ he said without thinking as he took in the scene of a man leaning over what looked like a woman spread halfway under his car… Hell, had his car rolled forward and hit someone? He was going to sue the arse off the garage if that was the case. He’d told them the handbrake needed fixing.
The guy jerked upright at Cormac’s voice, twisting around in surprise at the disturbance. The stranger’s beady eyes grew wide at Cormac’s large frame, probably made all the more foreboding by the light spilling from the building’s entrance behind him. He probably looked like a hulking shadowy beast, and even in the pallid yellow light of the nearby lampposts, Cormac saw the man’s face drain of colour.
Definitely not a Good Samaritan situation.
‘She alright, buddy? You need a hand?’ he called as he stepped towards the couple without waiting for an invitation. The man’s tiny eyes darted down to the woman and back to him, and Cormac knew the guy was about to turn and run—
Okay, in reality it was more like a waddle, and while Cormac knew he could easily chase the bastard down—a three-legged, half-dead turtle probably could—he was aware he needed to check on the woman first.
It took four attempts to switch the stupid alarm off as he jogged over to his car, with the noise finally ceasing a moment before he reached the damsel in distress. He crouched down, brushing back the woman’s long dark hair that had fallen over her face, and held his hand in front of her mouth to ensure she was still breathing. Thankfully, she was.
He gently turned the woman over and managed to get his arms behind her neck and knees, easily lifting her as he stood. He wasn’t dealing with this shit out here; poor woman had enough problems, being a public spectacle didn’t have to be one of them. As he headed back to the building, he noted that although she wasn’t short, the mystery lady barely weighed anything; a diminutive thing like her wouldn’t have stood a chance against the hefty prick who’d been towering over her.
As Cormac climbed the stairs towards the staff lounge, he shuddered at the thought of what might have happened to her if he hadn’t arrived when he did. It was bloody lucky his alarm was messed up or he wouldn’t have known about the whole thing until the club had shut and the staff headed home. Hell, that was hours from now and who knew what could have happened in that time; would she have even still been there? The guy could very well have taken her if Cormac hadn’t interrupted.
‘Geri!’ he shouted down the corridor as he reached the break room. ‘Get here, now! And bring the first aid kit!’
He kicked the door to the staff room open and stepped inside, thankful he’d been put on a solo break. He didn’t want the woman to be the talk of the town before she even knew what’d happened.
He placed her on the old, tatty couch, gently resting her head on the only pillow it offered. He brushed her hair back behind her ear, his hand caressing her jawline before falling away. Despite the graze along her left cheekbone, her skin was beautiful; clear and radiant, and so soft. He reached up to trail his fingers along her cheek again…
‘What’s the prob— Who’s she?’ Geri said, making him jump guiltily as she came strolling into the lounge.
‘Dunno,’ he said with a shrug as he checked the mysterious woman over for any signs that she’d been assaulted in any way. Her dress—which even he recognised as expensive—was still fastened, her shoes were on properly, so no struggle, and her tights, although there were bits of dirt on her knees, didn’t look like they’d been disturbed… and the thought that perhaps they had been, made his stomach drop.
Hell, if he ever got his hands on that bastard, he’d wring his puffed-up neck!
‘Hey, Geri, do me a solid, just check under her dress to make sure it’s all… still there.’
He felt the bookkeeper go still behind him. Yeah, it wasn’t a standard request, and he was sure that to anyone else it would sound perverted, but he had to know if he had got there in time. Had he managed to spare her at least that heartbreak? He was going on a manhunt as soon as he possibly could—and he was sure the rest of the boys at the club would happily join him—but he needed to know if they had to kill the prick or just break every bone in his fat body.
‘What?’ she squeaked. ‘What the hell happened?’
‘I’m not entirely sure, but I think she’s been drugged. The graze looks more like it came from the floor than a fist, and I can’t smell alcohol on her breath, so I don’t think she’s been drinking…’
‘Hells bells,’ Geri breathed as she stepped forward. ‘And you think she might have been messed with?’
‘Guy was standing over her in front of my car,’ Cormac said, eyes still on the unconscious woman. He refused to move from her side, even as Geri stood beside him to take a quick peek. The blue-haired woman swallowed before she carefully lifted the woman’s skirt up with two fingers, just enough to check if anything untoward had happened, before she quickly dropped it again.
‘All intact there; tights still up properly!’ she said as she quickly stepped away again, running her hands through her short hair. ‘Obvs I’m not an expert, but I’d say you got there before the perv could do anything like… that. I’ll go call the fuzz.’
Cormac released the breath he’d been holding, and rolled his neck across his shoulders, wincing at the crunching noise that ground through his bones.
He returned his attention to the unconscious beauty. She was tall with a slim frame; her tiny shoulders were bare, and her skin was a beautiful peach colour. She had long, dark lashes, and a plump, lush mouth that just begged to be tasted. For a moment, the thought of kissing her drifted through his mind, waking her like the princesses in the films he watched with his little brother, James…
He took a step back and turned around, his hands grabbing the back of his neck as he tried to regain his composure. He pulled at the collar around his neck, the Velcro giving way easily, and threw it to the other side of the room. He’d just rescued her from a potential sexual assault, and there he was daydreaming of doing the same exact thing as Pervy McPervface!
Hell, he’d always thought the princes in those fairy tale films were creepy as hell; he’d tried to explain such a fact to his six-year old brother, that the princes should ask the princesses if they wanted to be kissed, but James just looked at him as if he was hopeless.
It’s a fairy tale, had been his childlike, matter-of-fact answer, not real life, Corrie. And how can the prince ask if she’s asleep? The duh had been silent.
He wondered if anyone had tried that explanation in court? He could imagine the lawyers trying to call it the Sleeping Beauty Defence.
He glanced over his shoulder towards the mystery woman as she groaned and shifted her head in her sleep, and his eyes unwittingly travelled down her body. Her breasts were small but pert and round, her hips flared ever so gently, and he wondered if the peachy colour of her shoulders was true for the rest of her body.
He blinked at the thought and turned his lip up in disgust at himself. Man, he had to get out there and meet someone, or at least get laid soon. His next night off, he was going out and meeting someone, for real this time. Ogle some women in a bar, conscious women who’d stare back at him, rather than poor, vulnerable, unconscious women.
He popped out of the staff room, to give himself a second to get his head straight and took the chance to shout to Geri to hurry the fuck up.
‘What the hell is up with you tonight?’ she asked as she came bouncing along the corridor again, a jangle of chains and piercings, her hair drifting between purple and blue as the light shifted over it. ‘You’d think you resent being a hero.’
‘Hero? I’m not a hero,’ he said, narrowing his eyes at his co-worker. There were times he really wanted to put his finger through her bullring and yank it. Today was one of those days. ‘I just found her.’
‘You do know who that is, don’t you?’ Geri asked as she squeezed past him to get a better look at their guest.
‘No.’ He took his own step towards the sleeping princess, a frown pulling his brows together. He didn’t recognise her, but there was a hint of familiarity.
‘She an actress or something?’ he asked.
‘Are you kidding me? Get your head out your arse and start taking in what’s going on in the world outside this place. That’s Lady Victoria Snape,’ Geri said in disbelief, pointing at the stranger.
‘Bullshit,’ he scoffed, but he glanced towards the woman with curiosity. ‘Lady Snape’s like what, forty? And that woman’s not even thirty.’
‘Aw, she’ll be happy to hear that when she wakes up,’ Geri mocked, rolling her eyes at him. ‘Not only did I not get sexually assaulted this evening,’ she said in a faux-upper class voice, holding her hand to her throat. ‘A man thinks I’m five years younger than I really am! My skin care regime is really working!’ She stood on her tiptoes and whacked him on the back of the head, making him yelp and glare at her.
‘Dude, you’re probably going to get like a heap of cash from her as a reward. Oh! Maybe King Richard will knight you and give you a big house somewhere!’ The impish woman started to bounce on her feet.
‘Well, if that happens, I’ll ensure to stop by here every day so you have to bow to me.’
‘You’ll kiss my arse before I bow to you,’ she said, and Cormac knew she spoke the truth. He highly doubted he’d get anything of the nature—he wasn’t that lucky—but a small reward wouldn’t be refused by him. A few crowns would certainly help to pay the mountain of bills he’d piled high recently. If he could just clear the rent arrears, he’d be laughing.
He was about to ask Geri if she seriously thought he might get something when his friend’s whole body suddenly went rigid. ‘Oh, bollocks! You don’t think they were trying to kidnap her, do you?’
Cormac considered her question for a moment, his mind recalling with perfect clarity the scene he’d stepped into. The man had been standing over Lady Snape, moving down to bended knee. He moved his thoughts passed the guy, trying to remember the surroundings; no cars or vans were running nearby, the barrier to the car park was still lowered…
‘Nah,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘There was only the one bloke.’
Geri wrinkled her nose in disgust, a clear sign she was about to rant about something, but the hammering of feet on the metal stairs stopped her before she began. The two turned to the doorway just as Nick popped his head around the frame.
‘Geri!’ he panted, looking happy to see the woman until his eyes grazed over the sleeping princess—quite literally, it appeared—between them. ‘Holy shit, it’s true!’
‘What?’ the duo asked, almost in unison.
‘The Lady Snape, she’s here! Axel sent me up to see if they could be right before he called the boss.’ Despite not having a clue what his co-worker was talking about, Cormac groaned at the idea of Britney coming all the way down to the club on her night off. If she did, there’d be hell to pay.
‘There’s a load of police officers downstairs,’ Nick continued. ‘And the Royal Guard—the head of the Guard is here!’
Cormac groaned. That was all they needed. The elite task force in charge of the security and safety of the Royal Family on the premises was going to put a huge mark on the business and not for the right reasons. Britney was going to go berserk when she found out and have all their hides for it.
‘They’re threatening to raid the place if they don’t get to see the Lady Snape. I’ll send them up. Perhaps Brit won’t come then.’
‘No, wait,’ Cormac said, stepping forward. ‘We’ve got to handle this carefully; send only the Head of the Guard up and two female officers. No one else, I don’t care what they say to you. Get Axel and Davy to stand their ground; they know the legalise of them being on the premises without warrants.’ Nick nodded along to all his requests and Cormac wondered if he was giving the bloke too much to do. He was useless at taking the easiest of drink orders from customers on a slow night. If Nick hadn’t been the best looking of them all, Cormac was sure he’d have been fired long ago.
‘Offer the rest mineral waters and soft drinks in the Green Room—that’s available this evening, isn’t it, Geri?’
‘Um, yeah.’ The girl stared up at him as if she had no clue who he was. Cormac internally scowled; he could take charge when he had to—he’d just saved a princess, for crying out loud. Nick nodded and disappeared back down the stairs.
Cormac dragged his hand down his face as he glanced back at the woman—no, Lady Snape—on the couch. Her body shivered slightly in the cool room, and without thinking, Cormac grabbed his coat off the peg and stepped towards her. He hesitated as he held it over her and took another look at her pretty face.
A heavy ball of worry sat in his stomach; he’d just got caught up in something and this was something big. He’d already thought his life was a mess, but he had the sinking feeling it was about to get a whole lot messier.
Victoria snuggled down further down into her bed as the wisps of sleep were whisked away from her. She groaned in disapproval as voices, although muffled, pulled her further away from the land of slumber. She wanted one night, one night of peaceful sleep…
Actually, one night of sleep full stop would be a blessing, she mused, thinking of how she hadn’t had more than a few hours of restless slumber since her father had passed away. She’d spent most of her nights going over the mess the will had left her in, trying to figure out what she’d do if she wasn’t able to fulfil its stipulations. On nights she had dates, she went over them in excruciating detail afterwards, trying to determine if her suitor that night was worth meeting up again. So far, she’d had only three men make it to date number two and none of them had managed to reach any further.
She frowned as the voices grew louder, clearer, and she knew she wasn’t going to get any more sleep that night, no matter how much her foggy mind was trying to pull her back into the waiting arms of the Sandman. She’d have to have a word with Berryman in the morning about the staff being noisy.
Pulling the covers tighter around her, she tried to snuggle further into the bed. A spring was sticking into the bottom of her back and she needed to—
She sighed happily as she managed to get the right angle to avoid the spring and better still, the voices became silent. She smiled sleepily into the soft, warm blanket, breathing deeply the wonderful rich scent it carried. She’d have to compliment Helen in the morning on the wonderful fragrance she’d had the sheets dusted with—far better than the usual overly flowery smell the laundry maids always used.
‘She’s waking up,’ an unfamiliar voice said, making Victoria crack her eyes open.
