“Oh yeah, describe it to me.”
“Not a chance. All I’m going to say is that you won’t be disappointed.”
“Are you really hungry, Crys?” Shane asked wanting to leave immediately. Wanting to make love to her in the worst possible way.
“Starving. I think I’m going to have three courses and finish it all off with Irish… coffee. How about you?”
“You’re a tease, do you know that Crystal Buchanan?”
“Really, you think so?”
Shane felt it then, one of her bare feet, rubbing against his groin, rotating and massaging his growing erection.
“You’re going to pay for this.”
“I can’t wait. But first I need food.”
Their waiter arrived just as she finished speaking and Shane expected her to withdraw. She didn’t. If anything, she redoubled her efforts and his cock jumped in reaction to how close they were to being discovered. Wanting nothing more than to close his eyes and enjoy the sensation, instead he gritted his teeth and stared her out.
“Sir, Madam, are you ready to order?”
“Well, I know I am. How about you, Shane?”
Her foot still played him and Shane couldn’t have responded if his life depended on it. It was taking all his concentration not to give in to the demands she was making on his dick.
“Don’t you just love these tall silent types,” Crystal smiled at their waiter. “He’ll have whatever I’m having.”
She was relentless and he wanted to grab hold of her talented foot to stop her but what she was doing felt way too good.
“You are going to pay for this,” Shane warned the moment the waiter walked away.
“I can’t wait,” Crystal smiled as she lowered her leg.
Shane used the time leading up to the delivery of their starter to get his body under control and to study Crystal. For some reason he just couldn’t stop looking at her.
“I missed you, Shane.”
“I missed you too, love.”
By the completion of their meal, Shane was amazed at just how much she had eaten. And true to her word, she concluded her meal with an Irish coffee.
Placing her empty cup on the table, Crystal smiled at him so sweetly that if they weren’t in full view of others, he would have kissed her. “I’m glad you’re back, Shane, but now that you are, what are we going to do about, Ollie?”
“We’re not gonna do anything.”
“Are you telling me that we’re going to allow him to get away with meddling in our lives?”
“I didn’t say that, Crys. What I said was, we’re not doing anything. If I’m not making myself clear, I mean, you’re not going to do anything.”
“This is my life too.”
“I know, love,” he attempted to placate her by gentling his words and giving her hand a squeeze. “Ollie is my concern, not yours. I allowed you to deal with Dara. I want you to do the same for me with Ollie.”
“I’m not about to let you decide what I should or shouldn’t be involved in. Allowing people to control my life ended years ago with my mother.”
Shane wasn’t about to let her change his mind, but he was sympathetic regarding her comment about Gwendolyn.
“And, for the record, you do not allow me to do anything!”
Shane wasn’t stupid. There was no way he was touching that comment. Casting a surreptitious look at his watch, he called for the check.
Outside the restaurant, as they had arrived independently, he began walking Crystal to his car with every intention of driving her home. So, when she hailed a taxi he was a little surprised but mostly relieved. At least this way he wouldn’t have to make small talk when he had so much on his mind. Plus, it was getting late and he had plans that didn’t involve her.
Inside the taxi, Crystal wound down her window and gave him a sultry look. “On second thoughts, why don’t I pay the cab and get in with you, so you can come place? I want to give you your present.”
“As good as that sounds, I’m going to have to turn you down.” Sure she knew he was up to something, Shane leaned in and gave her a lingering kiss to stop any further questions. “Call me when you get home.”
~~~
Shane disconnected Crystal’s call and extended his legs as he relaxed back into his car seat. Crystal knew nothing of the confrontation that was about to take place. There was going to be hell to pay when she found out, but he could live with that.
This was their new beginning. After tonight, his intention was to ensure that the last five years would have more meaning than heartache. He wanted the years to carry only two regrets. Not being a constant part of each other’s lives, and his never having met his son.
With that final thought, his musing came to an abrupt end as the sound of a car engine broke up the silence and filtered into his consciousness. Recognizing it was just the heavy rumbling of a taxi, he rotated his shoulders that had tensed at the sound.
Moments later, Shane turned as someone rapped on the window of his car. Somehow he wasn’t surprised to be looking at Crystal. Her being here was almost inevitable. One dirty look later and she was heading for the passenger door.
“It’s freezing in here, Shane. Turn the heating on please.”
“If you’re cold, go home!”
Crystal didn’t respond as she pulled her collar tightly around her neck and burrowed down in her seat.
Shane supposed he should feel sorry for her, but he didn’t. It was her choice to follow him and he was pissed off. So, she was just going to have to suck it up. All that I want to give you your present, had probably just been to gauge his reaction.
~~~
It was the start of a new year and Ollie was going to ensure it was one of the best of his life. He had finally won the championship. He was on the top of the pile and he felt as though he ruled the world.
That was how he had felt until he had contacted his father. Buried deep inside him had been a longing he hadn’t felt for years. All he wanted was for the old man to exhibit some form of pride in his accomplishment. To say well done. Instead, all he got for his trouble was mockery.
“Happy New Year, Father.”
“It’s the middle of January!”
“I know, but I wanted to call all the same.”
“Well you should have saved your time and breath. If you had wanted me to believe your sentiments, you should have called earlier.”
Ollie stiffened at his father’s tone and bit back the words he longed to say in response to his offhanded manner.
“Did you see the final race?”
“No, I was out for dinner. I heard about it though. You should thank God, Tierney crashed and Santiago’s car failed him. Otherwise we wouldn’t be having this useless conversation.”
“What is the matter with you? Can’t you just be pleased for me, must you try to destroy everything that makes me happy?”
“You sound like a child. Is that why you phoned, so that I could pat you on the back for something you don’t even deserve.”
”Why are you such a fucking bastard to me?”
“Grow up Oliver! The only one who cares about you winning a title that should have been Tierney’s or Santiago’s, is you!”
Just before the phone went dead, Ollie heard the sounds of his father’s laughter. The old man hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye before he hung up the phone.
~~~
Their conversation had taken place earlier in the evening, yet it played endlessly through his mind. As he emerged from the shield of the surrounding trees, Ollie pulled out a pair of leather gloves and slipped them over his hands.
For long moments Ollie walked through the darkened rooms of his childhood home. Images flashed through his mind. Each step a reminder of the child he had once been.
Since his parent’s divorce, his father had been married four times, with each wife being younger than the one she succeeded. The décor and wives wasn’t the only thing that had changed since his last visit.
After moments of staring at the image, Ollie only just managed to suppress his laughter. Who was the old man trying to fool, the artist had eradicated at least thirty years from his face. It was then he realized that he was looking at an image of himself. The irony wasn’t lost on him. His father had all the money, but his youth was gone. He on the other hand now had both.
Walking up the stairs with measured treads, he brushed his clad fingertips against the aged banister. At the top, he turned right and continued on. Pressing his ear against the wooden panel of the door he listened. Even through its thickness he detected the loud rumbles of his father’s snores. He turned the handle and slipped inside.
Abbott Sinclair slept on one side of the huge bed and his young wife on the other, her back turned to the much older man. And he felt nothing but disgust for the both of them.
Without hesitation, Ollie crept over to the woman and eased his hands around her throat. Her eyes snapped open. Before she could register fear, he twisted her neck sharply to the left. She hadn’t even twitched.
As he removed his hands, he brushed back her golden locks. She was so like his mother—even in the way she had died. Without a struggle. Without any real fight for him. Moving around the bed, the inconsequential woman was already forgotten.
His weight depressed the mattress as he sat down beside his father. The sleeping figure didn’t stir. Ollie used the opportunity to study the man he had once idolized and now hated.
In slumber, his father’s features lost some of the ravages of age. The lines of his face seeming to have smoothed away so that they more resembled the portrait hanging downstairs.
“Abbott! I can’t believe how your young wife can possibly sleep through the noise you’re making.”
His father‘s eyes opened and attempted to focus in the darkened room.
Unwilling to take any chances that a sleeping member of staff might hear him, Ollie placed a knee in the middle of the old man’s chest and muffled him with a gloved hand. Once he had him subdued, he reached over and switched on the bedside lamp.
“Better?” He asked with a smile. “Yes, it’s me. After our conversation, I couldn’t seem to stay away.”
His father struggled for breath and he realized he was applying too much pressure to Abbott’s chest. Leaving his hand in place, he removed his knee.
“Is that better, Father? I wouldn’t want you to expire before your time. Now, if you’re good, I’ll remove my hand. Do I have your word?”
Abbott nodded his consent.
Ollie slowly began to withdraw his hand. He knew it would happen. The old man drew in a breath to shout. But the sound never reached the air as he clamped it in his throat.
“You really can’t be trusted can you?! Here I am, ready to give you the benefit of the doubt and you disillusion me all over again. I don’t know about you, but this scenario is all too familiar to me. Now, shall we try this again?”
Ollie waited for his father’s agreement, but none came.
“Cat got your sharp tongue, Abbott? If that had been the case earlier today, your little wife’s neck would still be straight.”
Knowing his comment would get a reaction, he was pleased when the old man’s head strained towards his wife. Ollie released some of the pressure he was asserting so his father could look his full.
“Her being gone doesn’t really matter to you, does it? I mean, you would have probably replaced her soon anyway.”
Abbott now struggled in earnest, his eyes wide with terror. Ollie loved seeing him this way. In a perverse change of fortune, he hoped his father experienced some of what he had felt when he had been sent away from home so soon after his mother left.
“Now that you realize what I’m prepared to do. I’m going to remove my hand again. Anger me, and you’ll be sorry.”
“You killed her!”
“I had to.”
“You’ve lost your mind!”
“If I have, it’s your fault!”
“Get away from me, Oliver. Leave now and I’ll find a way to shield you from what you’ve done.”
“Really, Abbott, what is this—fatherly care. From you who have never given me more than a passing thought throughout my entire life. Do you know what I think? I believe you’re scared and your assurance of protection is just a way to save your own neck!”
“You’re wrong!”
“Please, did you forget that you’re the man who took me away from my mother out of spite, only to discard me in that hellhole you called a school?”
“Your mother didn’t want you.”
“Oh, I know, I asked her why before I snuffed out her worthless life. Her answer didn’t satisfy me. Something or other about you wouldn’t let her take me. Poor woman seems to have forgotten that I was there when she voived next to no objections when you insisted I stay with you. She didn’t put up a fight, much like my new mother over there,” he raised his chin in the direction of the dead woman.
“If its money you want, you can have it!”
“Good Lord,” Ollie feigned amazement, “do you actually have any left? The way your young brides drape themselves in jewels, I wouldn’t be surprised if you came to me for a handout.”
“Is that what this is about—my spending habits? Are you afraid there will be nothing left for your inheritance?”
“No, that’s not it at all. My mother left me money in her will. That I had to dispatch her to get my hands on it, is actually your fault. Ah, I see you’re finally hearing what I’m saying to you.”
“You murdered your mother?”
“For God’s sake, Abbott, keep up.”
“You’re mad!”
“Maybe, but I’m sane enough to know what I’m doing at this precise moment. I still can’t understand why I didn’t pay you a visit before now. All I ever wanted was for you to show me a little love. Doesn’t every child deserve at least that, Abbott?”
“I gave you much more than most children ever have.”
“You’ve despised me my whole life. Even now, with your worthless existence hanging on the brink of being snuffed out, you can’t even muster up the lie that might save you.”
“Everything I’ve done in the past has been for your benefit, to make you the man you are today. I gave you the team for God’s sake!”
“So, what’s your point?”
“I did that because I knew you would succeed, make something of yourself. And I was right. You’re the world champion.”
“Yes, I am. But what does that mean to you?” Ollie was enjoying the spectacle of his father’s fear. However, the old man still refused to voice the words he had always wanted to hear. Now it was too late. It no longer mattered.
“I knew you would make a success of it, do something I never could.”
“Of course you’re right. But you should have said all that when I called you earlier today. You could have made it right then. Now, it’s much too late. When you see her, please say hello to Mother for me.”
Despairing hands fisted in his jacket, but Ollie ignored them. He loved the feeling of holding life and death in his hands. His knee was back in place on the old man’s chest. And Ollie took nothing but pleasure as he watched the essence of life slowly fade from Abbott’s eyes, as he pressed down on his windpipe. Euphoria rushed around his body. His penis lengthened and hardened.
When the lifeless fingers finally released their hold on his jacket, he jumped up and hurriedly withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket. Unzipping his pants, he bit down on his lip as he expelled the evidence of his pleasure into its silken folds.
~~~
Ollie could think of nothing but the sense of satisfaction that coursed through his body. If he could have risked it, he would have called one of his many sexual p
artners to meet him at his home. But his feelings of euphoria were still too high.
In his current state, he might well end up playing too rough and he didn’t want or need anything to distract him from reliving what he had just done. The sheer bliss at the feelings of his fingers wrapped around his father’s neck was still too great. That was power. The taking of life with one’s own hands, to date, was still his ultimate high.
All he had wanted throughout his life was the love of his parents, but he had never got it. Now, he no longer cared. They were his past and he wouldn’t change a thing.
Pulling up outside his house, Ollie got out of his car and locked the door. Whistling a lewd tune, and unable to dowse his euphoria, he performed a little dance as he made his way inside.
Chapter 18
When Ollie finally drove up to his Chelsea house and disappeared inside, Shane and Crystal had been waiting for two hours. During that time, he had rebuffed her every attempt to make conversation.
Finally looking over at a visibly shivering Crystal, he pushed his rising doubts aside. Although he hated seeing her like this, he showed her no sympathy.
She shouldn’t have followed him. That she had chosen to meant she would have to put up with all the discomforts of the situation. And without a doubt the worse was still before them.
“This is your last chance to go home.”
“Not going to happen.”
“I knew you were going to say that.”
“Great minds and all that.”
He ignored her attempt at a joke. “From now on, do exactly as I say.”
“I’m not a child!”
Shane started his car, checked his mirror and turned the wheel to pull away from the sidewalk.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving!”
“Why?”
“Because I just told you something and you’re not hearing me. I don’t want you here, Crystal. And if you won’t listen when it’s just the two of us, then this isn’t going to happen!”
She grabbed his arm to gain his attention. “Okay, I’ll do what you say.”
“This isn’t a joke. I don’t know how he’s going to react to what I’ve done or what I have to say.”
Crystals Page 19
