Finally Heaven (Room 103 Book 4)

by Sidebottom, D H

  Looking her way again, I frowned at a man I didn’t recognise talking to her. She was shaking her head at him, a look of irritation on her face as she tried to ignore him and move away. He thrust a piece of paper at her, his eyes flicking my way for a moment.

  Bulk bumped my hip, demanding my attention with a stern look. I rolled my eyes and moved back to the centre of the stage for our piece. He joined me, both of us blowing the crowd with a serious mood loop.

  The crowd hungered for more when our performance came to an end a couple of hours later, the cheers and head-ripping roars feeding my spirit until we were all high on the adrenaline.

  “Good night!” Jax growled out with a smile as he patted us all on the shoulder when we skipped down the steps off the stage. The noise was deafening, my head literally bouncing with the vibrations through the floor.

  “Great crowd,” I shouted to them over my shoulder, smiling at Julie when she passed me a bottle of water as I scanned the area looking for Zoe, sulking when I couldn’t find her straight away.

  My footing stumbled when I saw Jen stood on her own. Her eyes found mine, her red rimmed heated eyes. Boss bounced over to her, his arms wrapping round her waist as he sank his face into her neck. However, she didn’t remove her furious eyes from mine.

  My heart was beating more rapidly than it had on stage, my throat aching with the ball forming a restriction in it.

  Boss pulled back and frowned at her, his eyes lowering to the paper in her hands for a moment. She shook her head at him without removing her gaze from me when he tried to take the paper from her hands.

  I knew, the sickness that surged up my throat confirming my utter despair when she walked over to me and slapped the newspaper in my chest.

  “You know,” she choked out over the constriction in her throat. “She was so fucking happy. So – damn – happy.”

  I closed my eyes before opening them and looking at the front page spread, my life over in the second it took to witness the headline that would rock the world.

  She laughed bitterly and shook her head in disappointment. “Secrets and lies, kill many lives.”

  I couldn’t breathe, my eyes blurring as my tears succeeded in devastating me. “I…”

  “You should have told her,” she hissed out. “SO MANY FUCKING LIES!” I fell into Jax when Jen’s fist connected with my cheekbone, pain spreading across my face with the force of her punch.

  “Fucking hell, Jen,” Boss barked as he grabbed hold of her. “What the hell?”

  “You need to remove your wife from the building before you have to bail her out of a German prison,” she growled at him.

  His eyebrows shot up. “What the hell is going on?” He stood, his eyes moving from me to Jen, then to Bulk and Jax and then back to me and Jen.

  “I need to get back to the hotel.” She turned and walked away but I chased after her, grabbing her arm to stop her.

  “Where is she?”

  “Just let her go now, Romeo. Let her fucking go!”

  “Never. I need to explain...”

  “Oh?” She stopped dead and spun back round to me, hatred and revulsion spewing from her. “And how the fuck do you explain a fourteen year old son? Eh? Oh and we mustn’t forget your fucking WIFE must we? EXPLAIN THEM? HOW THE FUCK DO YOU EXPLAIN THEM?”

  I gulped back the bile that forced its way up my throat. “I have to. I love her!”

  She scoffed loudly. “Yeah well, you finally managed to destroy any love she has for you. Leave her alone and let her live now. She deserves a man that doesn’t bury her in lies and greed.”

  “Jesus Christ, Romeo,” Boss breathed as he watched his wife walk away. “What the fuck? You have a son? A wife?”

  “It’s complicated.” My eyes slid from one to the other, all three of them and Julie watching me closely.

  “Nothing is too complicated to explain to your friends. I can’t believe you lied to us all this time.”

  “I didn’t lie to you,” I defended. “I just…”

  “Lied.” Jax cut in. “The fuck, Romeo?”

  Sighing deeply, I closed my eyes. “To explain this shit to you, then I would have had to explain other things, and I wasn’t ready for that. Besides, this is my life.” I was suddenly angry. What the fuck was happening? Someone seriously had it in for me and it was about time I found out why.

  “Leave him be, guy’s,” Bulk cut in. He was defending me but I could see the hurt in his eyes, the sadness that I hadn’t even opened up to him. He turned back to me, blinking back the upset. “You know where I am if you need to talk.”

  I nodded, giving him a grateful smile.

  “Although I wasn’t good enough for that before.”

  Ouch. I lowered my eyes but nodded. “It is what it is,” I said quietly.

  He snorted and walked away, mumbling, “Yeah,” under his breath.

  Each one of them followed him, leaving me stood with Julie. I jolted when her hand rubbed the top of my arm. “These things come to test us, Romeo. Prove to her how much you’re willing to take the shit to get her.”

  “She won’t listen, Julie.”

  She smiled sadly at me. “She won’t if you don’t talk loud enough.” She walked away then turned to look back at me over her shoulder. “By the way, you have around ten minutes to leave the building before I let Brent out of the toilets where I locked him in about an hour ago.” She winked at me, a sly smile and a chuckle shocking me. I wouldn’t have thought she’d ever have had that in her but I mouthed thank you and ran.

  I’D FLOWN STRAIGHT out to Germany, knowing the backlash would be astronomical and that they would both need me.

  “Oh fuck.”

  Romeo was sat with his head in his hands on the bed when I walked into his hotel suite, the door to the room broken off its hinges and the whole of the room trashed. My heart dropped when he looked up at me utterly devastated. I realised it wasn’t just the room that was broken.

  “Hey,” he whispered with a faint smile.

  “Hey.”

  He curled into me immediately when I sat beside him and placed my arm around his shoulders, pulling him against me. His sobs broke me right along with him, their intensity piercing my soul and hurting my heart.

  “Where is she?”

  He shrugged. “I dunno but she can’t get home,” he answered when his cries subsided.

  “Why?”

  “She flew out with us on the jet. That way she has to go on the company passport for insurance purposes so she doesn’t have her own personal passport to get home. And… well, I may have taken that too, from her house, so she couldn’t take off to Miami,” he whispered shamefully. “Her only way home is back on the plane with us, but no one can find her. Brent’s doing his nut, apparently it costs thousands every hour we delay the flight home.” He rolled his eyes, a curl to his lip showing just what he thought of Brent’s moaning.

  I switched on the kettle, sorting through the sachets of coffee but then decided against it and opened the mini-bar, taking out all the miniatures and lining them up with a couple of glasses. He smiled at me when I shared the whisky between us and handed him a glass.

  “I guess she’s not answering her phone?” He shook his head but I pulled out my own and tried her, sighing when it went straight to voice mail. “Jen have a clue?”

  He shook his head. “Nope.”

  “Fuck!”

  He rubbed his temples. “It’s all a fucking mess.” He grimaced after downing his drink and looked at me. “Who the fuck is doing this?”

  “I told you.”

  “No that’s bollocks, Nick. I don’t even know this Alan Francis. I’ve never followed politics and I haven’t the foggiest what goes on in the government.”

  “Does anybody ever know what is going on with the government?”

  “But surely the police are investigating, even my life can’t interfere with that?”

  I laughed. He didn’t have a clue. “Romeo, the government and the police go hand in han
d. Alan Francis won’t come to trial for Penny’s death. It’s only the media they’re frightened of finding out, hence why you’re suddenly in the spotlight and taking all the attention.”

  “So he killed Penny and now he’s hell bent on ruining my life all because Penny found out something?”

  “It looks that way.”

  “But what? What did she have?”

  I pulled out my phone, ignoring him purposely and dialling Zoe’s number again. When she didn’t answer, I placed my glass on the side. “I need to find her.”

  He stood up, nodding and snatching up his shoes. “Yeah.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “I don’t care,” he scoffed. “I need her. I asked her to marry me Nick and she said yes. She said fucking yes. And now, now I don’t even know what the fuck is going on. She hates me but she needs to listen to me.”

  I didn’t allow the squeeze in my chest show itself. I shouldn’t be hurt by his revelation but I couldn’t help the way I felt about them both. Romeo didn’t seem to notice how my body stiffened.

  “Come on, I reckon she’ll be getting pissed, so bars and clubs are the best place to start.”

  I watched him walk through the door, my teeth gnawing at my bottom lip as I tried to pull back the emotion. He frowned at me when he realised I wasn’t following. “You coming?”

  Nodding, unable to control the emotion in my voice, I gulped back the pain and followed him out.

  SHE DEFINITELY HAD a dick, I knew I was plastered but there was most definitely something wrong with the way she sat. And what was with the dog? Its nose had been pushed in her groin for over an hour.

  The guy sat next to her had been giving me the come on for the last hour. He looked okay, a bit blurry around the edges, but he had a full head of dark hair and intense chocolate eyes. I shrugged and pushed myself out of the booth, using the tables scattered around the room as props to keep me upright on my journey to the bar.

  Tapping my glass on the chipped wooden counter, the barman nodded, acknowledging me. “Same again?”

  I answered him with a nod then turned to the woman sat on the stool beside me and squinted at her crotch, tipping my head to get a better angle.

  “Can I help you, love?”

  Pursing my lips, I lifted my eyes to her face. “Mmm, maybe. Do you have tits and a dick?”

  I blinked at her when she slapped me, my ears ringing with the force of her wallop. “What the hell?”

  The guy who had been staring at me barked out a laugh, shaking his head in amusement.

  “I didn’t mean no offense, I’ve just been wondering for the last hour.”

  “Fuck you!” She snatched up her bag and stormed from the room, her dog trotting after her obediently.

  The barman gave me a smile as he shook his head in amusement. “For your information, no she doesn’t have a dick. She’s all girl.”

  “Oh. Well I’m disappointed now. I’ve never met one of those trans…transfer… yeah, one of them.”

  He chuckled, sliding my glass across the bar as the other guy slid onto the now empty stool. “I’ll get that.” He didn’t give me chance to refuse when he thrust money at the barman.

  “Thank you.” I smiled at him then turned to the stage when the karaoke fired up and a middle aged man tapped the mic to check it was working. I scrunched up my face when he started slaughtering a Train song.

  “Whoa, dude. STOP!” I shouted, shaking my head at him when he looked my way. “Seriously, that’s not good!”

  His eyes widened on me but he carried on. “Jerk!” I huffed as I spun back round and necked my drink. “I need to get drunk!”

  “I think you may have already achieved that goal.”

  I pouted at the man, realising he was still sat beside me. “What?”

  “Daniel.” Bloody hell, another Daniel! He held his hand out to me, smiling at me as he introduced himself. “Daniel Shepherd.”

  “Am I to be your lamb?” I asked, giggling at his silly name and narrowing my eyes dramatically at him.

  His eyebrows lifted but a small smile curved his mouth. “Would you like to be my lamb?”

  I pondered that thought then shook my head. “I’m too old to be a lamb, maybe a sheep… definitely not mutton though,” I decided with a firm nod. “Although maybe I could be your faithful dog and trap all your little lambs in the pen.” I liked that, and I smiled widely.

  “What’s your name?” he asked as he placed another drink in front of me. I hadn’t even seen him order another.

  “Zoe.”

  The karaoke quietened down and I clapped when the man stepped down. “‘Bout time, you killed it!”

  “Are you always this rude to everyone?” Daniel asked with an amused expression.

  “I’m not rude,” I defended with a stunned lift of my brow. “I just don’t appreciate lying. Lying hurts and it’s about time this world grew to be more honest.”

  He nodded slowly, taking a sip of his liquor and eyeing me suspiciously. “Sounds like a subject you are passionate about, darling.”

  I snorted but didn’t answer him. Music started filtering through the speakers, an update slow rock song. I smiled at an old couple when the man led his wife to the dance floor, taking one of her hands in his and resting his other on her waist as she held onto his shoulder. They moved gracefully for their age but their love for each other was displayed brightly in their gazes to one another.

  I sighed, appreciating real romance, how pure it could be for some. My lip quivered when the old man drew forward and placed a soft but lingering kiss on her lips, her hand coming up to his face to caress the man she had loved for many years.

  Sensing my mood change, Daniel took my hand and guided me off the stool and onto the dance floor. He didn’t speak as he slipped his arms around me and placed them gently at my lower back. His gaze was fixed firmly on mine, his eyes intense and questioning.

  I blinked when he ran his thumb across my cheekbone. “Why are you crying?”

  I shook my head, allowing the tears but not explaining them. They flowed fluently as the music died and a new song started. Shocking Heaven. How ironic.

  “Don’t cry,” he whispered. He placed his hand behind my head and directed my forehead to his chest until I was sobbing into him. I should have been embarrassed but I didn’t care. There was so much pain that my whole body felt raw and agonised.

  No wonder he had never committed. He was married, with a teenage son. It didn’t make sense. Why ask me to marry him if he was already married? After everything he had hurt me with when he found out I was pregnant with Jakob. My heart felt as though it was ripping away from my insides. I was struggling to breathe, my lungs not coping with the strength of my cries.

  “Sshhh,” Daniel breathed in my ear as he pulled me closer, his arms tightening around me as I clung to him even harder. “It’s alright, darling. Don’t cry.”

  I fisted his shirt, using the material to outweigh the need to break something. “I don’t understand,” I sobbed. “I don’t under…”

  I was suddenly dragged backwards, arms tightening around my waist and my eyes widening when Daniel appeared to shrink back from me. What the hell?

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  I spun my head round, looking over my shoulder, angry and shocked at his appearance. “Go away, Daniel.”

  He glared at me, his eyes firing between me and the other Daniel. “Who’s he?”

  I squirmed against him, my back pressed tightly to his front as he tightened his grip. Nick appeared at the side of me, his fuming glower making me squirm. “Do you know him?” he asked angrily.

  “Yes, his name is Daniel.”

  Nick nodded slowly. “Why were you all over him?”

  “What?” I scoffed. “I wasn’t!”

  “Yes you were Zoe,” Daniel growled in my ear. “He could be anyone, a serial killer or a rapist for all you know!”

  I laughed, rolling my eyes. “I don’t think s
o.”

  “Are you okay, Zoe?” the new Daniel asked as he looked from Daniel to Nick suspiciously.

  “She’s fine, you can go now,” Nick answered him coldly, the ice in his tone making me shiver.

  “Stop being so rude!” I berated them both. “He was being nice.”

  “I bet he was,” Daniel huffed, then turned back to Daniel. “She’s okay now we’re here. You can leave.”

  “I’ll leave when I know Zoe is alright.” He looked at me expectantly. I sighed and nodded.

  “It’s okay.”

  He studied me for a moment then nodded, giving me a tender smile. “Take care, darling.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, mirroring his smile.

  “Home!” Daniel grumbled in my ear, his arms squeezing me until he lifted my feet off the ground and carried me across the room.

  “Did you have to be so rude?”

  “Ink,” he bit out with a fury. “He could be anyone, especially out here. You’re an English woman out in the middle of a strange country on your own, men can work on that shit you know.”

  “Pfft,” I grunted. “You don’t have to be in a strange country for men to hurt you.”

  He huffed and placed my feet down but gripped my arm and guided me into a waiting car. I shuffled as close to the other door as I could when Daniel got in beside me and Nick climbed in the front.

  “We need to talk.”

  I pulled my hand back when he reached for it and grabbed me. “Don’t touch me. Don’t even look at me. We’re done.”

  “Zoe…”

  “No Daniel!” I shouted. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m leaving for Miami on Monday.”

  The privacy screen came up, concealing us from the driver and Nick. I turned away, looking through the window and concentrating on the outside world, trying my best not to feel his presence, his need for me. I wanted to go home, go home and curl under the duvet until it stopped hurting so damn much.