Текст книги "The Story Of Us"

Автор книги: Lesley Jones

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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 24 страниц)

She watched me, waiting on an answer as I sipped some more of my coffee. “Seeing him won’t set me off, I don’t think anything will set me off like that again, I don’t know why I reacted like that but, it won’t happen again.”

“I do,” my Mum stated. “Because you bottled everything up, you can’t do that George, you need to open up a little bit, let us all back in, we love you and we all want to help you move on. Who’s this Cam? Ash said he’s really nice.” Oh shit, how do I explain this one? “He’s really nice Mum but I don’t know if he’s for me.”

“Why, you need to move on Georgia, you really do; Sean’s not spent the last four years sitting around moping, he’s in the paper nearly every day with a different girl on his arm, all of them stunning… slutty looking but stunning.”

“Mum! I said I was ready to see him, I don’t want to hear about his love life or the women he’s shagging and as for Cam, well Bailey’s not happy, he knows him and has told me I’m not to see him again.”

“Bailey said that?”

“Yes Mum.”

“Why, why on earth would he say that?”

“Because it’s Cameron King Mum, the bloke I went out with Saturday night is Cameron King.”

My Mum’s mouth actually fell open.

“Oh shit, fucking hell Georgia, your Dad will go berserk.” I let out a long sigh, my Mum just swore, that meant it was bad, very bad if it had made my Mum swear.

“Yes Mum, that’s pretty much what Bailey said but he didn’t swear.”

I looked at my Mum pointedly; I would have got into so much trouble for swearing like that. “Well, I’m sorry George, I’m just saying it like it is, I understand the attraction, Cameron King is bloody gorgeous but you need to stay away from him, he’s a dangerous bloke to be around, he’s involved in all sorts, he runs all these raves that the kids go to out in the middle of a field.” What was she on about?

“Mum, Cam runs a perfectly respectable wine bar, why would he be organising raves?”

“Because of the drugs Georgia, he organises the raves so his people can sell their drugs to all the kids, your Dad thinks I don’t know about any of this stuff but of course I bloody know I’m not stupid.”

“What has this got to do with Dad?”

“George, really, you are not stupid enough to think that our lifestyle is provided by your Dad’s building firm and a couple of car fronts are you?” I look at her, totally confused.

“Well he’s got the clubs and the pubs and the gym and the houses he rents out.”

“George, they’re all a front, well most of them are. Your Dad has many sources of income, all of those you just mentioned plus he’s got a couple of brothels and a sex shop in Soho, he’s into all sorts George, your Dad is a bit of a wheeler and dealer and it’s made him very rich, I thought as you got older, you would have worked all this out.” Shit, no I hadn’t, how stupid was I?

“I thought he was an entrepreneur, that’s what he told me when I was little, that he was an entrepreneur.” Of course my Dad’s dealings were dodgy, why else would he have a driver and at least one minder with him all the time, how else had he always been able to ‘pull a few strings’ to get things done, all of my life and how had I been oblivious to this fact?

“Well he is I suppose, it’s just some of his ventures aren’t exactly legal, that’s why everything to do with our little business is in mine and your names only, there’s nothing to trace it back to your Dad at all but anyway, aside from all of that, your Dad’s dealings have bought him into contact with Cameron King over the years. They’ve fallen out a few times but I think at the moment things are polite between them, they are businessmen from different companies to term it loosely, one company is always looking to take over the other, both looking to be head of the company or more to the point, Governor of the manor.” She folds her arms across her chest.

“George, if Dad found out you were seeing Cam, things could get nasty and I’m not being overly dramatic when I say that.”

Bloody hell, all this time… all this time I’ve not allowed myself feel anything for anyone and the minute I do, it’s someone my parents don’t approve of and Sean just happens to pop up and make an unexpected, with a Whorely lookalike in tow. Added to all of this, is the fact that Cam must have known I’d find all of this out. Why didn’t he warn me? Why didn’t he let me know of his business connections with my family?

“Mum, it was just one date, it’s not like we’ve booked the church for our wedding. We just had dinner.”

My Mum tucks a stray lock of my hair behind my ear and runs her fingertips over the side of my face. “Well you obviously had an effect on him during that one date; Ash said that he has been in the shop twice a day, every day to find out how you are.”

“How the bloody hell did he know I was sick?” Great, all I want is Cam knowing about my little melt down, he already thinks I have screw lose after my little performance Saturday night. I can’t help but wonder if opening up just a little bit to him, was the catalyst for this little breakdown of mine.

“Well I phoned Ash to let her know that you wouldn’t be about this week because you were sick. That was on Monday morning, then apparently Cam came into the shop Monday afternoon looking for you. He said he’d called at the flat Sunday night, had phoned you and was worried, she explained that you were sick and staying here, he hasn’t called here for obvious reasons and instead called into the shop every morning and every afternoon to ask how you were doing.”

She gestures toward the dining table with her head. “And they’ve been arriving every morning since Monday.” I look towards the table, which isn’t actually visible, due to the fact that there are around twelve vases of flowers covering it.

“Shit!” My Mum actually doesn’t reprimand my swearing for the first time ever.

“Oh there’s more.” She gestures toward the fireplace. “I had to go out and buy more vases yesterday.”

There must be at least another eight vases covering the hearth and mantle of my parents huge brick fireplace but these flowers are different, the ones on the table are big bouquets of mixed flowers, the ones on the fireplace are just white Arum lilies, my favourite flower, I get the usual head spin and belly roll the instant I think about him and I swallow hard but I’m okay; I look towards my Mum.

“Sean?” I don’t know why I’m asking, because I already know. She nods her head.

“He’s called daily, he really wants to see you George but your Dad won’t hear of it, he thinks you need time, he wants to send you away on a holiday, a week in Marbella or Portugal, a bit of time away from work and all of this.” She gestures toward the flowers. “Wait till he finds out about Cam, he’ll be wanting to send you to Auntie Kath in Australia for a year.”

A holiday sounds good but I need to try and get my head a little straighter first, what do I feel about Cam now that I know what I do and am I ready to talk to Sean? “Oh Georgia, you’re so grown up in many ways and so naïve in so many others, I forget you’re only twenty sometimes, everything that went on between you and Sean, you were both so young, I feel so guilty about it, I should have protected you more.”

“Protected me from what Mum, love? How do you protect someone from love?”

“It’s not the love that’s the problem George; it’s the heartache that goes with it. You were so convinced that Sean was the one, I just let you get on with it.”

“Mum, please try and understand, Sean is the one, there is and never will be anyone else, he’s been the one since the day I first clapped eyes on him when I was eleven years old and there’s nothing, you or anyone else can ever do to change that fact.”

“I know George… I know and it scares me, I’m scared for you. That you’ll go through life, never loving like that again.”

I shrug my shoulders. “I’ve survived the last four years.”

My Mum shakes her head. “No you haven’t George, you’ve existed and you’ve only just about done that and I want more than that for you. I want you to fall in love again, get married, have babies; I don’t want you to just exist.”

My Mum twirls my hair in her fingers and I think of Cam, Sean, Cam, Sean, Cam, it’s making me bloody dizzy, still better than just being stuck on Sean, Sean, Sean all the time. “But in saying all that,” my Mum continues, “I don’t want you and Sean getting back together if he’s going to carry on the way he is and for you to just accept it. I bought you up better than that George, I know that the money and the power that goes hand in hand with what your Dad does attracts women, women that would give and do anything to be in my place and I’m not stupid, I’m sure that there have been times that your Dad has strayed but he’s never done it openly or blatantly. I’ve never heard so much as a whisper of him ever being unfaithful and it’s still my bed he comes home to every night but I don’t know if Sean is capable of that, I don’t doubt he loves you George, I think he loves you with a passion beyond reason but I don’t know if he’s strong enough to resist all the temptation that’s put in his way, and I wouldn’t want to see you go through that.”

I let out a big long sigh, I’ve been so busy these last four years, concentrating on shutting everyone out, avoiding any kind of emotions, trying to just survive each and every painful day, that I have failed to notice the effect all of this has had on the people that care about me. I love my parents and hate the fact that I am causing them so much worry. “Mum, I have no plans to get back with Sean.”

As much as I would love to. “I’d never be with him knowing he was shagging about, it would kill me, like you say, you’ve bought me up to be better than that. I hope that one day, I will be able to find someone that will love and take care of me but I will always have to be honest and up front with them, they will have to know from the very beginning that I will only ever love Sean, I can’t change that, it is what it is. Please don’t worry about me and you’re right in what you said about this little episode, it needed to happen, it should’ve happened four years ago but it’s happened now, I’ve finally managed to shed some tears over it and I am ready to move on, I’m ready to listen to music again.” I smile at her.

“Hmmm, well that will be a feat in itself George, every other song seems to be one of the bands and most of them are about you.”

WHAT??

“What dya mean they’re about me?”

“Well they aren’t called ‘This Song Is About Georgia’ but seeing as Sean writes most of them and I know him like I know my own children, I know they’re about you. When you’re feeling ready, listen to some of their music, listen to the words and you’ll understand, especially I got it wrong and the other one, the one they got all the awards for.” I shrug, I have no idea, I know nothing of the band and their achievements, other than that they are now very famous.

“With me… it’s called ‘With me’ George, it’s one of the few ballads they sing, it’s beautiful, Sean’s voice…” she trails off. “Anyway, when you’re ready, give them a listen.”

My head is spinning by the time my Mum drops me home with orders to take the rest of the week off and to have a quiet weekend. The first thing I plan on doing is confronting Cam, I have had this horrible little thought going around in my head and before I decide where my feelings are going with this man, I need to find out if he’s just playing a game. Is he using me to get at my Dad? Is he trying to find out my secrets so that he can use them as leverage in some way?

I change into a pair of jeans and my Chucks that I bought in America on a business trip with my Mum, she hates them, and I love them and the fact that no one else wears them. I pull on a sweatshirt as it’s a bit cold outside and put a bit of makeup on, a whole morning of not crying has improved my puffy eyes but my face is still a bit blotchy.

I head back down the stairs and have a look at my car, I had to ignore it when my Mum dropped it off, she has no idea it was damaged, or why and that Cam has had the repairs done. This is what I don’t understand, why would he do that, if he was just using me to get at my Dad, wouldn’t he find it amusing to let my Dad know that his daughter is a two timing whore and got her car smashed up because of it? I have all of this going through my head as I make the ten minute walk up the high street to the wine bar.

Cam’s car is in its usual spot but the bar is locked, it’s only four in the afternoon. Shit I hadn’t thought about that. I knock on the door and it’s opened by one of the bouncers, he looks surprised to see me. “Alright love? Come in, he’s in the office, just give the door a knock before you go in would ya, he’s been on the phone for the last couple of hours.”

I smile up at the giant of a man, he’s about the same height as Cam but a whole lot wider, he’s bloody huge. The bar is empty apart from one barman restocking the shelves, Mr Big and another bouncer who are in the middle of eating something up at the bar, they all watch me as I come through the door but smile nicely and then carry on with their conversation as I head to the office at the back, as I get closer I can hear Cam talking and he doesn’t sound happy.

“I don’t care; he’s a piss taking cunt… No, he’s been given more than enough chances and more than enough time… No Eddie, people will think I’m going soft, I’ve tried to be fair but I want my money and I want it by Friday… Well take his fuckin’ car then and whatever else he’s got that adds up to thirty grand, and tell him he’s arsehole and he’s fuckin’ lucky I haven’t charged him interest and that I’m leaving him with his balls still intact.”

Shit, angry Cam is scary and so fucking sexy, I knock on the slightly open door. “Hang on,” he says to whoever is on the phone. “Come in.”

I push the door open slowly and his mouth drops open slightly as he takes me in, I ache instantly, right down low in my belly and my face flushes as I look at him. He’s sitting in the big twirly chair, wearing grey suit trousers and a light blue shirt, the sleeves are rolled up to the elbows and his grey tie has been loosened and his top button is undone, his long legs are crossed at the ankles as his feet rest up on the desk. He was rocking back in the chair when I opened the door but he’s now stopped and is still, without saying another word or taking his eyes off me, he hangs up the phone.

“Kitten,” he sighs my name. I think I just had a mini orgasm, I smile at him, yes, this man definitely affects me, I really hope he’s not using me; I pull gobby George from somewhere.

“How the fuck are you Tiger, miss me?”

“Georgia, really, language.”

“Errrm pot calling the kettle black there I think, after what I just heard you saying on the phone.”

His whole demeanour changes in a split second and he sits up straight in his chair. “And what exactly do you think you heard me say on the phone?”

Shit, I do not like this Cam… well maybe I do, a bit.

“I heard you swear, a lot, that was all.”

He leans back in his chair as his eyes look me up and down. “You look skinny kitten, are you feeling better?”

“I know, I’ve lost some weight this week but I’m feeling much better now; were you worried?”

He doesn’t answer my question but instead says, “Come here.” I think about it for a second, he raises his eyebrows, daring me to disobey.

“Yay, are we gonna twirl?” He lets out the biggest laugh as he pulls me into his lap and sniffs my skin, right below my ear, my nipples are instantly hard and my skin is covered in goose bumps. The phone rings, he reaches around me, picks up, then puts it down again, waits a few seconds then takes it back off the hook and lays it on its side. He holds me at arm’s length and looks over my face.

“Are you sure you’re okay, you look tired and very sad.” His words make my insides melt; I let out a long sigh as I remember why I’m here.

“Why did you take me out Saturday night Cam? Why have you bought me champagne in the past? Why did you get my car fixed?” He holds me around the waist with his right arm, his big hand is splayed over my belly as I sit sideways on to him, still in his lap, I can smell him, I actually blink to try and remain focused.

“I like you George, I’ve liked you since that very first night that you walked in here, I’ve told you this; why, why are you asking?”

“Are you using me?”

“What the fuck are you talking about, in what possible way could I be using ya? You ain’t even let me fuck ya.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about your business relationship with my family?” He puffs his cheeks and blows out a big puff of air that makes his hair move. I can’t take my eyes off those full soft lips.

“Kitten.” he says very quietly, and then pauses for a second as he rubs his index finger backwards and forwards over his bottom lip and I almost sigh out loud… Focus Georgia!

“I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t know what you knew about your Dad’s business dealings, I didn’t want to be causing any trouble.”

“Why would it cause trouble?”

“Georgia, your Dad’s a very private person and I respect that, any information concerning his business affairs are up to him to divulge, not me.” And here it is again, that posh words, common accent of his again.

“But I’m his daughter.”

“Well yes, I fuckin’ know that now don’t I, but I had no idea who you were when I first bought you drinks. I only realised that the night you came over here for a drink with me, that’s why I, that’s why.”

“That’s why you ignored me, that night, that’s why you went all weird on me?” Fuck and I thought it was because of something he might have read, shit, I threw a drink in his face for thinking that as well, oops.

“When you told me that night who you were, I… I just thought it would be better to walk away. I know your Dad George, he’s private and very, very possessive of his family, I had no idea he had a daughter, knew he had boys but I’ve only ever met Bailey and he’s exactly like your Dad. I take it your other two brothers don’t work for the fam… Oh shit sorry, fuck, you don’t like talking about them do ya, sorry.”

I feel weirdly happy that, that thought had popped into his head. “Anyway, I couldn’t get you out of my head but decided to stay away, I like my head being attached to my shoulders and knowing your Dad and brother the way I do I decided that the best way to keep it there was to stay away from you.”

He strokes his knuckle over my cheek bone and I can’t help but lean into it. “But I couldn’t, every couple of weeks you would parade in here with a different idiot all fucking over you and it was all I could do to not knock them the fuck out, but I didn’t want to cause trouble I didn’t want to cause trouble with you and I didn’t want there to be trouble between me and the Layton’s and then last week, when you turned up with no dick, shit shag, I couldn’t keep a lid on it anymore.”

He looks me right in the eye and grinds his obvious hard on into my hip. “I’ve had a hard on for you Kitten, since the first time I laid eyes on you and when that little prick told me you was with him and then put his hands on you the way he did, I fuckin’ lost it. Good job Benny was there to hold me back, coz I was ready to kill the cunt, I wish I fuckin’ had now, seeing as what he did to your car just cost me two grand.”

What?

“My car cost you two grand? Cam, you can’t be paying that for me.”

He totally ignores me; he seems to do that a lot when I say something he doesn’t like.

“Why did you ask if I was using you? I still don’t understand where that came from?”

I feel guilty now, should I tell him why I thought he was using me? I let out a deep breath.

“I thought you were using me to get at my Dad; Bails told me that you weren’t happy about him owning a share of Kings, I thought perhaps you were trying to get at him through me, find out my secrets, tell them to him, tell him that you had fucked his daughter.”

He throws his head back and laughs that big loud laugh of his “Kitten, do you seriously think I have a death wish? If I ever got to fuck Frankie Layton’s daughter, the last thing I would ever do is tell him about it, he would blow my fuckin’ balls off, and then feed them to me.”

His big laugh is infectious and makes my giggle sound very girly. “Don’t be ridiculous Cam, Bailey would do it before my Dad could get to you, and he’s younger and faster.” I deadpan.

He gives a small shake of his head. “Well I would rather one of them than that psycho uncle of yours.” He’s lost me now.

“Who’s that, not Fin?”

He looks at me wide eyed. “Yes Fin.” He stops whatever he was about to say and sighs deeply. “Kitten?”

“Tiger?”

“Where are we going with this?” he speaks into my neck, in that spot, right bellow my ear, my body reacts in an instant and I’m covered in goose bumps, my nipples harden and I shudder, and that ache between my legs, aches just a little bit more. God I need sex!

“Where would you like to go with this Cam?”

“Where I would like to go, is right over this desk, and then where I would like to go is upstairs to my bed but we’ll get there, eventually.”

“You’re very sure of yourself Mr King.”

“That’s because I generally get what I want Ms Layton and I have you in my sights.”

For some reason that makes my belly do all sorts of acrobatics and I’m lost for words. We stare silently into each other’s eyes, I don’t know what I’m looking for, I don’t know what I hope to see, perhaps it’s myself I should be looking at, perhaps it’s my own eyes I should be looking into for some answers. This man leaves me so confused, he’s so alpha male, so dominating, so different to what I’ve been used to of late, I’m always the one in charge and with him, that’s just not going to happen and I’m beginning to wonder if that’s exactly what I need, instead of planning and scheming on how to get a man to fall in love with me, how to get them to the stage where they can’t live without me. Why not let all of that go? Why not just let go and see what happens, dare I take that chance, can I take that chance?

Then there’s Sean, of course there is, there’s always Sean and as frustrating as it is, I know that there’ll always be Sean. I have just ten weeks until the wedding, ten weeks in which I have to get my head in a space where it can cope with being in the same room as him and I don’t know what to do for the best, whether to just to go with it on the day or to agree to see him beforehand so that we can talk. I know I’m making progress, I’ve proved today that I can now talk about him and I even listened to music but that’s today, I haven’t heard a Carnage song on the radio yet or seen his face on the telly, tomorrows another day and if either of those things were to happen, I have no idea how I will react. I know the majority of the population won’t understand any of this, I didn’t then and I still don’t think I completely do now and unless you have ever experienced that all-consuming, obsessive, takes over every second of your life, kind of love, then you never will.

“Would you like to come over to my place tonight for dinner? I’ll cook, we can talk, because I have questions?” I ask him and feel absolutely gutted when he shakes his head no.

“You’ve been sick, you come to my place, and I’ll feed you Kitten.” Oh good, that’s good then.

“You cook?”

“Fuck no, I never said anything about cooking, I said I’d feed you.”

“So you’re going to feed me raw food?” He gives a toned down version of his usual laugh and a slight shake of his head.

“No, I won’t feed you raw food, I have a perfectly good chef here, where we can order from the menu and have it sent up. If you have nothing to go home for, we can go up now.”

“Well I’m not exactly dressed for dinner.”

“You’re dressed perfectly. I’ve always wanted to have a twelve year old boy with great tits over for dinner.” He tries to keep a straight face as he speaks.

“Do you realise how wrong, on so many levels, what you just said is?” He tilts his head back and considers what he said for a few seconds and I laugh when his eyes widen.

“Shit, fuck yeah, no, no, I am not, in any way, attracted to twelve year old boys, even if they do have tits like yours, or look like you in any way. Fuck, I don’t like any boys, of any age, or men, blokes, I don’t find… ”

“Okay, okay Cam, I get it, I was joking.” He rakes his hand through his hair and those dark eyes burn right into me.

“Shall we go then, upstairs?” he asks, before I can answer the other phone on his desk rings, he picks it up. “Fuck off,” he says and puts it straight down again. He stands and I slide off his lap.

“Sooo authorative,” I say to him, rubbing his chest as if I’m impressed with the power he exudes, which is actually turning me on no end. He pulls me to him and grinds the erection he still has going on into me, it presses the seam of my jeans, right into my clit and I fight to control my bottom jaw as it drops open, I clamp it shut and swallow hard.

“Oh Kitten, you have no idea.”

His breath is hot and right in my ear and on my neck. I grab his arse cheeks and pull him into me tighter, I am on absofuckinlute fire inside and I know that I’m getting wet, he pushes his fingers through my hair and holds onto the back of my head and looks down at me. “Don’t tease me Kitten, coz I will take you, right here, right now, right over this desk if it’s what you want but you are pushing me to stage where I won’t ask again, I will just take what I want.”

My head swims with his words. How can just words have that kind of effect on me? I bite down on my bottom lip, I do want him, now, on this desk but I need a clear head, I have some questions I need answering before I take this further, because being the sad little compulsive person that I am, I’m afraid I won’t care what the answers are once we have sex and I need to save myself from that fate.