by LP Lovell
“Baby girl, you know it wouldn’t be fair for me to limit my amazingness to just one person. That would be a travesty.” He winks. I will say this for George, he always makes me smile.
Molly comes in a few minutes later. “Hey.” I greet her.
“Hey.” She drops her bag on the chair and makes her way to where I’m sprawled on the sofa. George is ‘making some calls’, translated; he’s organising a hook up for later. Molly spots the Magic Mike DVD on the coffee table. “Again?” She whines.
I shrug. “George is due a fix apparently.”
“That boy has got issues. He’s one step away from humping legs and a trip to the vet.”
“I’d keep that to yourself. He might get aggressive if he feels his favourite man parts are threatened.”
We’re in the middle of watching Magic Mike, the good bit I should add, when Harry comes in, or should I say storms in. The front door slams behind him. “Lilly!” He shouts.
I stand and reluctantly leave Molly and George to watch their film, but they pause it anyway, apparently sensing a much more entertaining show.
“What?” I hiss when I get closer.
His body is rigid, his eyes narrowed at me. “Did you call him?”
“What? Who?” I pull him slightly into the hallway, not wanting to get chewed out by my brother in front of everyone.
“Either you called him, or he went to her off his own back. Which is it?” Oh shit. I press my lips together. Can I deny this? He looks really bloody angry. His dark hair is a mess from where he’s obviously been dragging his hands through it. His green eyes are volatile. He steps closer to me. “He bought her off for one point five million.” I gasp. One point five million. Holy shit. The concept of Theo’s wealth is something I accepted a long time ago, but he’s not that guy. He’s rich, he has a nice house, drives nice cars, wears nice clothes, but I guess I’ve never really thought of him as a typical rich guy because he doesn’t flaunt his money in your face. The fact that he can just throw one point five million at a problem that isn’t his makes me think again. Harry grits his teeth. “You think that he won’t want some kind of return on that investment? He’s been waiting to get to you, and you just sold your soul to the devil.” He looks away clenching and releasing his fists. “You should have fucking left it to me.” I want to tell him that Theo’s not like that, that he wouldn’t do that, but I can’t. He paid Cruise off didn’t he? He’s already proved that there are no lengths he won’t go to, to get me. The thing is with Theo though, he’s too arrogant to bribe me in any way. He wants me willing, preferably begging for him, or not at all. Of course, I’m not about to tell my brother that. I’m also not about to tell him that the original agreement was that we’d pay him back. One point five million though…I don’t think Harry’s good for that somehow. He’s wealthy, but he’s not disgustingly rich. I had hoped that Theo would take that into account when negotiating. Maybe he wants me in his debt? Fuck, did I make a mistake turning to him? I really hope not.
Harry’s eyes meet mine, and the tension radiates from him. “You call him and you tell him not to go through with it. The money might not have been exchanged yet.” I know differently. Theo said she’d be gone by tonight. She wouldn’t leave unless the money was in her account. The money will have already been exchanged. Besides, I’m not going to turn down Theo’s help just to soothe my brother’s ego. Why do men have to be such Neanderthals?
“It will have already gone through. Theo doesn’t hang around with these things. He wanted her gone as quickly as possible. That means he would have paid her as quickly as possible.”
“Fuck!” He turns and paces in front of me. “I will not be in debt to that fucker.” He shouts.
“You’re not. I am.” Maybe this should trouble me, but it doesn’t. Theo isn’t like that. I know him. He didn’t have to help me. He wanted to. He still loves me. I can’t tell Harry that though. My brother hates Theo. “I can’t deal with knowing she’s here Harry. I need her gone. Theo made that happen. I won’t apologise for it.” I say quietly.
“You should have left it to me.” He repeats. Harry watches me for a moment before he shakes his head and storms away down the hallway. “I don’t like this, it’s too simple. “ He grumbles as he goes.
Truth be told, this entire situation is giving me a headache. Why was my mother even here? What are her motives? Can I trust Theo, despite all that’s gone on between us? Why did he go to her alone? What did she say to him? That last one is my biggest worry. My mother has been dead to me for the past eight years. I buried my secrets with her, but now she’s back. She knows things that could ruin me. Things I definitely don’t want Theo to know. I may be unable to be with him, but I still love him. I never want him to look at me and see who and what I really am.
I move back into the living room and flop down onto the sofa. Will the drama ever end? I feel close to breaking point. I glance up at the paused screen depicting a swoon worthy, and very topless Channing Tatum. It brightens my mood slightly.
I sigh and turn toward Molly and George who are both staring at me silently.
“What?” I snap.
“One. Point. Five. Fucking. Million!” Molly screams.
I roll my eyes. “You say it like I came up with that money.”
“Holy shit.” She breathes.
“Told you. Guy is so fucked up on you Lill’s.” George says with an ‘I told you so’ expression on his face.
I’m not having this conversation. Again. “I’m going to bed.”
“Ah, Lill’s don’t. I’m sorry.” George holds his hands up, a pout on his face.
“No, it’s fine. It’s been a crazy day. I just need a minute. You know?”
He nods and I go to my room. I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling. Why is it that my life always feels like this big mess that I can’t clean up fast enough. As soon as I manage to clean up one mess, another one has formed. It’s never ending. I just need to go to sleep and pretend my life is normal.
Oh, how I wish… As soon as I lay down and close my eyes, the images come to me, memories…nightmares.
I lay in my bed waiting, just waiting. It’s dark except for the shaft of light coming from underneath my bedroom door. I watch that small patch of light as if my life depends on it. I hear the creak of the third step on the stairs. He’s coming. I start to shake, violently. I sit up and pull myself into the furthest corner of my bed. I pull my knees up to my chest and press my face into them. Please don’t come in, please don’t come in. I recite it over and over in my head, praying that he doesn’t come in here, hoping desperately that this won’t be one of ‘those’ nights.
I hear his heavy footsteps across the landing, one, two, three and then he stops. I slowly lift my head as my heart hammers in my chest. The patch of light is almost gone, disrupted by a large shadow. He’s here.
The door handle moves and I whimper at the loud click which sounds like a firework going off in the silence of my room. The door slowly swings open and there he stands. His broad frame fills the doorway, he sways slightly as he steps into the room.
“Ah, there you are Princess.” He walks towards me and my body freezes. The fear grips me in a way that makes it hard to breathe, hard to move even. A tear slips down my cheek. He grabs my face roughly. “Don’t cry Princess. You’re not as beautiful when you cry.” He spits. His breathe smells of whiskey and cigarettes.
He grabs my ankle roughly and pulls my legs away from my chest. “I want to see you.” He says. I start to feel it, my mind switching off. It’s the only way I can survive him.
He pulls at my nightie until it’s up around my waist. He runs his hands up my thighs, touching me, feeling me. “So perfect Princess.” He says as he licks his lips. The bedroom door is still wide open, throwing light into the room. I prefer it when it’s dark, then I don’t have to look at him. I can see him and it makes me want to be sick. The door is open because no one will come. No one will help me. No one will save me. He will have ma
de sure of it.
He pulls my legs apart roughly. I turn my face away from him so he won’t see the tears running down my face as my mind goes into complete shut-down. I think of Harry, of how life used to be before him. I remember a day when Harry and I were at the beach making a sand castle. Harry told me that one day he would build me a real castle, just like a real Princess.
I don’t want to be a Princess any more. I just want to be free.
There’s a loud bang and I look up through my tears to see Harry stood in the doorway. “Get the fuck off her you disgusting piece of shit!” He shouts. Harry’s lip is split and bleeding and his eye is swelling shut.
He stands and turns to face Harry. “Get out.” He says.
“You sick fuck.” Harry lunges and punches him in the jaw. His head barely even moves from the blow.
He laughs. “Looks like I need to teach you a lesson boy.” He hits Harry so hard that he lands on the other side of the room.
I scream. Not Harry. He can do whatever he likes to me if he just leaves Harry alone. “Harry!” I cry.
He reaches Harry’s slumped form and kicks him hard. I scream and scream but he kicks him again and again.
I wake up screaming, my body drenched in sweat and shaking. A sob wrenches from my throat as the images play over and over in my mind. My bedroom door swings open and Harry strides to the bed. He pulls me into his arms and holds me. I bury my face in his chest and just cry. I cry for everything we lost together, for the pain we suffered and mostly for the pain we still suffer. The inability to escape the past is the worst part of the whole thing.
“Shhh. It’s okay Lill’s.” He strokes my hair. This routine is old news to Harry. When he first took me away from that place, I used to have such bad nightmares that he would just sleep in my bed. I spent two years taking sleeping pills just so I could sleep. Harry knows the drill. He’s my anchor to the here and now. He reminds me that he’s not the scrawny teenager getting beaten half to death. He’s here in front of me. We’re in the here and now.
I pull away from his chest and he holds my face, searching my eyes. “You okay?” He whispers.
I nod. I vaguely register the door buzzer going off, but the lingering nightmare threatens to consume my mind, distracting me from anything but Harry’s eyes, his breathing. I match my breaths to his. He taught me this when I was a kid. Whenever I would have a bad dream or a panic attack, he would hold me and make me match his breaths. In and out, in and out. Slowly my mind starts to come back to me, to the here and now, in this room.
There’s a knock on the door, and then Molly pops her head in, a deep frown on her face. “Um Harry, there are some police here to talk to you.”
He glances at me quickly and gets up. I follow behind him. Why the hell are the police here? I stand in the living room and watch as my brother greets the two police officers, a middle aged woman and a younger guy. Molly comes to stand next to me. Her fingers gently wind through mine until she’s clasping my hand in hers.
“Mr. Parker. There have been some very serious allegations brought against you.” The woman says. “In light of these allegations you are under arrest.”
The guy steps forward and pulls out a pair of handcuffs. “You have the right to remain silent…” Oh my god. My knees threaten to give out as they read Harry his rights. Oh my god, do they know? Did he do something to our mother? He knew about the money, so he must have spoken to her today. Did he do more than speak to her? Did she speak to the police? Did she know what we did?
The police woman comes toward me. “Lilly Parker?” I nod weakly. “We’ll need to question you in the morning.” Fuck, they know. My eyes fly to Harrys, panic welling up inside me. I’m going to prison. He shakes his head at me almost imperceptibly.
“Call the solicitor Lill’s.” That’s all he says before they guide him out the door.
My knee’s finally give out and I hit the floor. What do I do now? I hear Molly’s voice on the phone but I don’t register her words. She’s shouting at someone. Then she’s kneeling in front of me, her voice soft. “George is going to come back here and stay with you okay? I’m going to go and see if I can get Harry some help. Figure out what’s going on.” I don’t respond. I can’t. “I’ll handle the solicitor. Hang in there Lill’s.” She cups my cheek and then wraps her arm around my waist, helping me up. “Come on.” She leaves me on the sofa and goes to the kitchen. She comes back with a glass of vodka. I take it from her and down it wordlessly. My already destroyed world just imploded and I have no idea what to do or how to help Harry.
George comes in and exchanges some hushed words with Molly before she leaves silently. “You okay babe?” He sits next to me. I don’t respond to that. Of course I’m not okay. The only person I have left in the world is behind bars, and I know nothing. “Um, so I called the police station on the way over. I pretended to be your boss, you know big wig solicitor. Anyway, apparently he’s been arrested for kidnapping, namely kidnapping you.” My gaze swings to his.
“What?” I whisper.
He nods. “Kidnapping of a minor. Your mum must have sold him out. No one else knows.”
I scream. Years of carefully controlled anger and anguish pour out of me, and I want to destroy everything around me. Pain cripples me as I realised that the one person I value above all others may be taken from me. That woman has taken everything from me, and now she’s taking Harry. I suddenly can’t bare sitting in this perfect flat whilst inside I’m fucking destroyed. A sob wrenches from my throat and tears stream down my face. I’m not conscious of my actions, only the burning need to raze to the ground everything around me.
Chapter Twenty One
Theo
It’s nearly midnight. I can’t sleep, so I’m working out in my home gym when my phone rings. The screen flashes ‘HUGO’.
“Hey.” I answer gruffly.
“Hey. Look I need you to come over here. Molly’s here. Some shit just went down and…”
“Is Lilly okay?” I cut him off.
“Uh, yeah, look just come over here will you. Molly’s coming over here now, but she said she needs you here as well.” He’s being really cagey.
“Give me ten minutes.” I don’t even bother changing. I just throw a hoody on over my top and head for the garage.
Hugo answers the door looking far too serious for Hugo.
“What’s going on?”
“Molly needs to speak to us.” He says as he leads me through to the lounge. Molly is sat on one of the sofas. Her eyes are red and puffy like she’s been crying. My first thought is Lilly.
“Molly what’s wrong? Is Lilly okay?” I can hear the trace of panic in my voice.
“Yeah, she’s okay.” She nods weakly. “I uh, I need to speak to you guys. Well ask a favour really.”
“Just tell us what’s going on babe.” Hugo sounds just as impatient as I am.
She takes a deep breath. “The police arrested Harry this evening.” What the hell?
“Why?” I frown, I don’t know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t this.
“Apparently they’ve arrested him for kidnapping.” She looks down at her hands in her lap. “Look, I can’t tell you much, because it’s not my story to tell, but Harry ran away from home when he was sixteen and he took Lilly with him. She was only fourteen at the time. Harry was legally an adult, and Lilly was a minor taken from her legal guardian without permission. That must be what this is about.” Her eyes meet mine, glassy with unshed tears. “You have to help him. He took her to save her.” She whispers. I have no doubt of that. I don’t have a clear picture of the situation between Lilly and Harry, and their mother, but I can see enough.
“How’s Lilly?” I ask.
She shrugs. “As well as can be expected.”
I drag my hands through my hair. “I’ll make some calls, see what I can find out and what I can do.” I turn and look at Molly again. “I know you won’t tell me much, but just tell me, does Lilly know something that might get Har
ry off?”
She presses her lips together. “Let’s just say there were very good reasons for Harry doing what he did.” She frowns.
“Okay. I’ll help him.” I say.
“I can make some calls.” Hugo shrugs.
She breathes out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” Molly’s phone starts ringing in her bag, blasting some rock music. She answers it, her features marred with a frown. In the silence of the room I can hear George on the other end.
“I don’t know where the fuck you shot off to, but you need to get home now.” He snaps.
“Why? What’s going on?” She asks.
“It’s Lilly, she’s fucking losing it. I don’t know what to do.” He sounds panicked.
“Okay, just hold on. I’m coming.” She stands picking up her bag as she hangs up.
“I have to go.” She says as she rushes for the door.
“I’m coming with you.” I say.
She frowns at me. “Theo, I appreciate your help, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I’m coming Molly.” I leave no room for argument.
I pull up outside Lilly’s flat. I’ve beaten Molly here.
I knock on the door, taking a deep breath. The door swings open to reveal a very pale George. “Oh hell no, not the time man.” He tries to slam the door put I throw my arm out and push it open.
“Where is she?” I bark.
“Look, I know you love her, and I’m usually on your side, but now is not the time.” His jaw clenches as he moves to block the doorway.
“Where is she?”
“Theo, seriously, she won’t want you to see her like this.” His eyes plead with me to walk away. The rational part of my mind knows that it’s the kindest thing to do. The selfish part of my mind says I need to see her, I need to be here for her. Molly rushes past me into the flat, swinging the door wide.
My eyes go wide as I glimpse the inside of the flat. The sound system has been thrown across the room. There’s a load of smashed glasses, by the breakfast bar. What looks like red wine is currently running across the work surface, splashing onto the floor. The glass coffee table is now in a thousand pieces scattered all over the living room. Sat amongst the broken glass on the floor is Lilly, and what I see breaks me in half. Her hands are covered in blood, as is her white tank top. Her knees are pulled to her chest. Blood is running down her shins as she wraps her arms around her legs. What disturbs me more than all of this though is her face. She still has that jaw dropping beauty, but it’s morphed to something so dark and painful to look at. She looks broken, and when I say broken I mean the kind of broken you can’t come back from, the kind of broken that changes someone. Her eyes are fixed on nothing, just staring.
