by Lucy Wild
That was something to look into later. Greg had asked me to check with my father and I was glad I had, hard though it was. It was never easy to see him anymore, to see the decline of a once great mind. He seemed happy enough though. What more could anyone want but a good book and a few biscuits. All the money in the world couldn’t buy that kind of contentment. My mind went back to the business. Between me and Greg, we now had the proof we needed to confront Archibald. The only question was how best to do it?
I swiped my phone into life and there was the source of the vibration from when I’d been in the home. It was a notification, a reminder on my calendar that tonight was Archibald’s party. It was his fortieth wedding anniversary. Perhaps not the best time to confront him. He was holding it as a fundraiser for dementia research and the place would be filled with the cream of society. It wouldn’t be a good idea to have a blazing row over the missing millions in front of several of our shareholders.
I thought about last time I’d seen him. I’d told him I was in a relationship. If I was going to attend the party, I needed a partner. I needed the woman who I was already pretending was my new partner.
It couldn’t be more perfect. I’d sent my driver to Evangeline’s house with her new phone that morning. She’d have it by now. I would text her and tell her she was coming with me. She’d make the perfect fake partner for the evening. She was so submissive, all I’d need to do was tell her to fawn all over me and I knew she’d do it. It could even be fun, distract me from wanting to strangle Archibald.
I scrolled through my phone and found her. I’d set the phone up and made sure to save the number before I’d sent it over to her. I wouldn’t text. I’d ring. I wanted to hear her voice. All of a sudden I wanted to hear her voice. I hit dial and waited for her to answer.
NINE
EVANGELINE
The phone call came at the worst possible moment. I was trying out a new recipe for gluten free brownies, after much hinting from Clare who declared that the ones from the bakery near us were “complete balls.”
Her hinting had primarily consisted of tugging my arm and begging me to make some more for her. “They were so good last time! Please, oh, please. I’ll be your slave for life.”
“You’re already supposed to be my slave since I delivered all those parcels for you.”
“I am your slave.” She got down on her knees and pretended to grovel at my feet.
“It’s a weird kind of slave who tells her master to make her brownies.”
“Please,” she whined. “I need them.”
“Well, as it happens, I did find a new recipe the other day.”
She leapt to her feet and was so excited by the prospect that I couldn’t help smiling. Nineteen years old and acting like a child. You wouldn’t find me getting that excited. Not for about another six minutes, anyway.
I was up to my arms in gluten free flour in the kitchen when Clare appeared in the doorway. “You’re buzzing,” she said.
“Why, thanks,” I replied with a smile. “Good of you to notice.”
“No, you’re buzzing,” she repeated, waving my new phone at me.
“How can I be buzzing, no one knows the number yet?”
“I thought you were going to swap your number over.”
“I was going to but someone demanded brownies out of me. Who is it?”
“I don’t know but if you don’t answer quickly, you’ll never find out.”
“Right, bring it here. Put it to my ear.”
“Seriously?”
“Do you want these brownies or not?”
She tapped answer and then pressed the phone to my ear as I continued to mix ingredients together. “Hello?”
“You got your phone working then.” Just the sound of his voice made me shudder.
“Dominic? Is that you?”
“Are you all right? You sound a bit distant.”
“I’m covered in flour, my glamorous assistant is holding the phone to my ear.”
“I see. Are you often covered in flour?”
“It’s pretty regular, yes.”
“A fetish of yours?”
“Yep, I get turned on by baking.” I cringed as I said it. Was that the best flirting I could do?
“Listen, are you busy tonight?”
“Not especially, why?” My heart began to pound. Was he about to ask me out on a date?
“I’ve got to go to an incredibly tedious party and I thought having your company might make it a little more bearable.”
“Are you asking me out?”
“I am.”
“But why? I don’t understand.”
“I’ll send a car for you. Can you be ready by seven? Wear something formal.”
“Formal? I don’t own anything formal.”
“I’ll fix that. Don’t go out.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You’ll see. Oh, and everyone there needs to believe you’re my girlfriend. See you later.” There was a flicker of humour to his voice but then he hung up, leaving Clare to pull the phone away and look at me in shock.
“Oh my God,” she said.
“Could you hear that?”
“Yes, I heard that. Dominic Hawke wants to take you to a party. Wow, Evangeline. That’s amazing. And you know what this means?”
“What?”
“I get to be your stylist. Cue romcom montage to a Cyndi Lauper song.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. Come on, get in the shower now. We have so much waxing and plucking to do, ooh I’m excited.”
“I’m not a chicken. I don’t need plucking.”
“You do if you want to impress him. Come on, in the shower.”
“But your brownies.”
“Can wait. This is important.”
The doorbell went an hour later. I was neck deep in the bath at the time. After a lengthy conference with Clare, it had been decided that a bath would be better for my skin. “Who was that?” I asked when Clare tapped on the bathroom door a minute later.
“You’ve got to get out here and see.”
“What? What is it?”
“I can’t explain, just hurry up.”
I had a towel wrapped round me when I left the bathroom, another one holding my hair in place. “What’s all this?” I asked, looking in disbelief when I reached the bottom of the stairs.
“That is a brand new bicycle,” Clare said, pointing to her left. “That is a brand new designer handbag. That is an automatic mixer. Those are five pairs of designer shoes. And these? These are five different dresses and unless I’m very much mistaken, I’d say none of them cost less than a thousand.”
“Wow,” I said, running my hand along the mixer. “I don’t understand.”
“I think you have a new sugar daddy is what I think.”
“Oh, stop it.”
“I bet he wants you to put out in return for all this.”
I was about to protest but Clare was already holding the first dress up against me. “Come on,” she said. “Hurry up and get dry. We need to try these on you.”
By the time the doorbell rang again, I was glad to be going. Clare was even more excited than me. She’d oohed and ahhed over every dress, trying her best to get me to choose the silver one with the slit that ran so high, you could practically see my knickers. “You don’t wear knickers with a dress like that,” she said. “VPL, darling. Don’t you know anything?”
“Apparently not,” I replied.
In the end I went with the black one, gaining a grudging nod of approval from Clare. “It’s not as slutty as the silver one,” she said, tugging gently at the fabric. “But it sits well on your hips and it’s low cut enough to show off what you’ve got.”
“That’s a good thing?”
“Of course it is. You want his attention don’t you? Now, hair.” She rubbed her hands together with glee.
She put my hair up while I sat at my dressing table. Then I watched her slow
ly begin a kind of alchemy I never understood. She was a genius with hair and make up and when I looked at myself in the mirror for a final time just before seven, I was amazed. I looked like a different person.
“Wow,” I said, turning left and right and admiring my reflection. “Thank you, Clare.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied, jumping on the spot again. “I’m so excited. I bet it’s like Eyes Wide Shut, everyone hot and sexy in those carnival masks and all of them fucking each other. Royalty and film stars and you have to promise to tell me everything afterwards. Everything.”
“I promise,” I said as the doorbell rang again and she reached forwards, frowning as she flicked at my hair. “Now stop tweaking things. I’ve got to go.”
She thrust the handbag at me while grinning broadly. “Good luck!”
I was in the car when my nerves really hit me. I’d spent so long calming Clare down while she bustled around me that I’d completely forgotten why I was getting so dressed up. I was going into a world I knew nothing about, a world of wealth and privilege that I was about to gatecrash, little old me. I was never going to fit in. “What kind of party is it?” I asked the driver as he set off into the traffic.
“A fortieth wedding anniversary.”
Not quite Eyes Wide Shut, I thought, looking down at my dress. Was I overdoing it? Was it going to be more like Bridget Jones, me completely out of place in my tight low cut dress, everyone else looking like they were attending a christening? Had I completely misjudged things? I wanted to turn back all of a sudden but I didn’t have the nerve to tell the driver I’d changed my mind. Instead I sat silently churning, wondering if I was making a huge mistake.
TEN
DOMINIC
I got a hint of where the company money might have gone when I arrived at Archibald’s house. The place was enormous and it was already swarming with people, all dressed up to the nines and quaffing champagne. I wanted to enjoy myself but it was impossible. I just looked at the crystal glasses and wondered if it was my money that had paid for them.
“Good to see you, Dominic,” an ancient lady said, waving across at me. “Is your father not coming?”
“Not tonight,” I replied, glad that she didn’t know. Nobody needed to know. Only Greg and Archibald were aware of the truth about him. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, he was just enjoying an extended holiday. I wasn’t looking forward to the day when they found out the truth.
I’d only been here once before, when I was about twelve. My father had brought me to meet his brilliant accountant friend. All I remembered from that day was that the man I was introduced to had so much nostril hair sticking out, he looked like he had the end of a toothbrush rammed up there. I couldn’t remember anything else. It was all too long ago and a lot had changed since then.
Not the nostril hair though, I thought as Archibald came towards me, weaving his way through the crowds. It was as bristly as ever. “Dominic!” he smiled. “Glad you could make it.”
“Happy anniversary,” I said. “Is Catherine around?”
“Somewhere. Come with me, there’s someone you have to meet.”
He led me through the crowds, stopping to introduce me to his guests. I spent half an hour learning names and then forgetting them, all the time thinking about that signature he’d made my father sign. Did he know that I knew?
I looked at him over the shoulder of a politician who continued droning at me about the value of cutting taxes for people like us. Archibald was smiling and talking in the background but he kept glancing my way. Did he know? He looked as if he hadn’t a care in the world. But then it wasn’t his money that was missing.
When Evangeline appeared, I didn’t even make an excuse, I just walked away from the politician, leaving him talking to empty air. She looked incredible and I couldn’t do anything but stare at her as she walked in, looking completely out of her depth. She’d gone with the black dress, a good choice. It clung to her body but left a deep cleavage that I wanted to bury my face in. “Nice choice of outfit?” I said, unable to stop staring at her. “Who chose it for you?”
“Some rich guy who’s into delivery girls,” she replied. “Do you like it?”
I wanted to tell her how good it would look torn in two on my bed but instead I just nodded and managed to say, “I do.” I noticed the graze on her leg. “Is it still hurting?”
“It’s okay.”
“Look, I wanted to apologise about that. If you want to sue, I completely understand.”
“I’ll bear that in mind,” she said with a nervous smile that made my cock rock hard. “So, what do we do at a thing like this?”
Other than take you home and fuck you? I thought to myself. “We could make small talk with the people here.”
“Or?”
“Or we could dance.”
“Any other options? I’m not a great dancer.”
“Drink heavily?”
“We have a winner.”
I grabbed two glasses of champagne and passed one to her. “Ah,” an elderly man said, leaning his hand over my shoulder. “Dominic, good to see you. How’s your father?”
“Doing well, thank you, Edward.”
“Good, good. I’ve put in seventy K, on the hush hush of course.” He put his finger to his lips before staggering off.
“What was he talking about?” Evangeline asked.
“Nothing,” I said too quickly. “Do you want to come and meet the world’s dullest politician?”
“Tempting but I’m going to have to go to the bathroom first. Where is it?”
“See that door over there?”
“Yep.”
“It’s nowhere near there. Head upstairs instead and turn left.”
She gave me a playful shove, her hand lingering on my chest for just long enough to make me sure. She wanted me. My cock throbbed with desire as I waited for her to come back. I’d not been able to take my eyes off her as she sauntered off upstairs.
It was like there was a spotlight just on her when she went, everyone else faded into the gloom. I had to have her. I had to pull that dress off her and redden that ass of hers with my hand. Or maybe with my crop. A smile spread across my lips as I thought about it.
“I’d be smiling like that if I had a partner like her.”
I spun round to find Archibald grinning at me. “She’s pretty hot, Dominic. You’ve done well there.”
“Thank you,” I managed, clenching my fists behind my back.
“Might have to have a dance with her later.”
“She doesn’t dance.”
“Oh, I’m sure I could persuade her.”
“Isn’t that Catherine looking for you?”
“Where?” He slunk off, shoulders down just as Evangeline appeared at the top of the stairs. Wobbling on her heels, she made her way back down.
“Do you remember what you agreed to?” I asked, taking her hand in mine and leading her through the crowd towards the front door. I couldn’t wait any longer and there was no way I was hanging around if Archibald was going to try and get his greasy hands on her.
“When?” she asked, clinging onto my hand as we bumped our way through.
“When I gave you a phone?”
“You wanted to punish me for being late. But I wasn’t late tonight.” There was a hint of pleading to her voice and it made me rock hard again.
“I’m glad you remember.”
I got her outside, nodding to the valet who headed off to fetch my car. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, her voice quiet.
I leaned in towards her, whispering in her ear, catching the way her breath changed. “Somewhere I can punish you.”
Her eyes flickered as I stepped back. This was her chance. If she didn’t want to go through with it, she could walk away, go back into the party, call a cab on her brand new phone. Her cheeks darkened as she glanced at me and then at my car which pulled up a second later.
“Are you coming?” I asked, opening the passenge
r door and beckoning her in.
She took a deep breath and then nodded, climbing in without looking at me.
“You made the right decision,” I said as we set off. The engine purred as we headed back towards mine.
“What are you going to do to me?” she asked in a voice so quiet it was barely a whisper.
“Daddy’s little girl has been naughty. Naughty little girls get punished.”
“Punished how?”
“I’m going to blindfold you, tie you to my bed, then I’m going to paint your ass red and then you’ll maybe learn not to be late again.”
I glanced at her as I said it. She looked frightened but at the same time, a flicker of a smile crossed her lips. “Oh,” she said quietly, her hands wringing together in her lap. “I see.”
ELEVEN
EVANGELINE
I stood trembling in his bedroom, hardly able to believe I was there. His hands hooked into the straps of my dress, sliding it down my body. I could hardly breathe and I felt sure he could hear my heart, it was thudding so heavily in my chest. I wanted to appear sophisticated, mature, the kind of woman who’s perfectly at ease with a hot millionaire stripping her clothes from her.
I refused to say anything, afraid of the way my voice would sound, weak and immature. I thought if he realised how inexperienced I was, it would break the spell and he’d realise this was wrong, change his mind, throw me out and send me back to the world where I belonged, a world without him.
“I’m sorry,” I almost said, seeing him staring at my body as it came into view. I checked myself and the words came out as just a mumble. Someone like him would have had women far sexier than me, far more experienced, not someone like me who was barely able to stand upright when he reached round my back, letting me feel the heat radiating off him as he unhooked my bra.
He’d driven me to his house with barely a word spoken. I hadn’t been able to say anything. I was too afraid. It was an odd kind of fear though, mingled as it was with excitement and anticipation. He’d said he was going to blindfold me, tie me down, spank me. I’d not done any of those things before, though I’d fantasised about them plenty of times. My ass tingled in the seat, the thought of his hand slapping down on it as I squirmed in his lap, unable to escape him, it was a thought that made my pussy ache with desire.
