Explicit Memory

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘You are my woman.’

  ‘And I’ll still be your woman no matter how many bruises I get,’ she said. ‘A few scars won’t change how you feel about me.’

  ‘You pissed him off. That mouth, my mouth, you keep it shut.’

  ‘Getting him angry, fighting my corner, it buys time. If I hadn’t done that, you’d have walked in on a much worse scene. I told him you’d rip his dick off it he tried to touch me with it.’

  ‘I’ll rip it off now,’ he snarled.

  Explicit Memory

  Copyright © 2014 Scarlett Finn

  The right of Scarlett Finn to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  First published in 2014

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  For Bill

  Because at the end of every journey we’re always left standing together.

  Acknowledgements

  I thank my beta and my boy, both of whom made this novel possible. Laura, dear, you always make me strive for more.

  I thank my Papa, and I don’t need a reason for that, he made me who I am.

  And I thank April because as ever you’ve kept me sane when at times it has felt like the world is ready to implode. Perhaps it has been, but even in those times you’ve been there to make sure that I come out the other side. You really came through for me, you truly are a superhero, kindness and perseverance are superpowers in this day and age. When I needed you, you didn’t blink, you were just there, and I will never forget that.

  Thank you to Heather for spreading the word and to every reader who has journeyed with us. Thank you to you all.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  ‘Don’t you agree?’

  ‘Yes,’ Flick answered absently, watching over the shoulder of her brother in-law’s brother.

  Coming back to her parents’ house, to the Hughes’ family home, hadn’t been on Flick’s list of top ten burning desires. But her sister had reached out to her, included her, and so Flick couldn’t snub this invitation. She and her family had been estranged for more than a year, and other than one brief and dramatic episode, she hadn’t seen any of them in that time.

  The Hughes family were old money and well established in society. Flick’s grandparents still inhabited the large estate house that had been in the family for generations, so their present location was the house built by her mother, or rather for her, when she married Charles Hughes the fourth – Flick’s father. Her mother, Beverly, loved to boast about this house because it was her pride and joy. It was everything she wanted, an extravagant display of wealth and taste, and the envy of many other wives in their circle.

  ‘You weren’t at the wedding, though, were you?’

  Flick couldn’t remember this guy’s name, but in fairness she wasn’t sure that they’d ever actually been formally introduced. ‘No.’

  ‘Are you married?’

  The dusk had long since gone but the outdoor lighting kept the decking abuzz with all those gathered to celebrate the wedding anniversaries of both her sisters. The eldest, Lucia, was married on the twenty-second, and the middle daughter Vivian on the twenty-fourth. This was the twenty-third and their joint anniversary celebration.

  Groups of people stood around chatting politely, sipping expensive champagne, and admiring the gardens, which had been re-designed especially for this occasion. Flick was less interested in the grounds and more interested in the folding glass door at the back of the house, which served as a gateway between the internal and external.

  ‘No,’ Flick said.

  ‘I’m divorced myself.’

  ‘I’m not in the market.’

  The stuttering man with the receding hairline blanched, but Flick’s patience was wearing thin. It wasn’t his fault, she was preoccupied with the door for a reason, and her impatient anticipation was reaching critical mass.

  ‘Flick?’

  Turning in the direction of her name, she saw Robert Morse, the man her father, her whole family, wanted her to marry.

  ‘Hi,’ she said. Her brother in-law’s brother walked away, but Flick wasn’t convinced that this encounter with Robert offered any kind of reprieve from the safety of the benign conversation she’d shared with the now retreating man.

  Robert’s suave demeanour remained the same, his perfectly coiffed brown hair and baby blue eyes were as she remembered. It had been a shame that she had to hurt him, because he wasn’t a bad guy. But knowing herself as she did now, she could recognise that had been exactly the problem.

  ‘Look at this,’ Lucia said, rushing in at her side. ‘You two reunited.’

  If it wouldn’t be considered impolite, Flick would’ve rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve seen many people tonight that I haven’t seen in a year and a half.’ Since she left.

  ‘Does it make you nostalgic?’ Lucia asked.

  Her tension level rose as Robert maintained eye contact, and Flick didn’t know if this was about to get interesting, or if her recent experiences had set her on edge.

  ‘Problem?’ This new male voice came from the rear.

  Flick had only taken her eyes off the doorway for a few seconds, but it wouldn’t have mattered. His arm lolled over her shoulder to rest along her clavicle, meaning his angle of approach was from behind, so he hadn’t come from through the house. She should’ve known better than to expect a conventional entrance from her lover.

  ‘I don’t know if you ever met,’ Flick said, knowing that they hadn’t. ‘This is my sister Lucia, and Robert, who has only said one word to me tonight.’

  ‘One word too many.’

  Rushe was Rushe, no airs or graces, and certainly no feigned civilities from him. So he didn’t acknowledge either of the beautiful people before them any further. While he pressured her to walk backward, Flick smiled in farewell and let Rushe take her in the direction of the walled rose garden. Bringing her body around his, Rushe urged her back against the tree at the garden entrance.

  ‘Did you get it?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, retrieving a folded piece of paper from his back pocket.

  She took it from him and eagerly opened it to read the promised new birth certificate. ‘Jones?’ she read, and let her disappointment shine. ‘I get a new identity and this is the name you give me? Why don’t I get your name?’
>
  ‘Because, Kitten,’ he said, removing the sheet of paper to tuck it away again. ‘There are folks out there who don’t like me. I don’t want anyone who looks for me to find you.’

  ‘Maybe you could rescue me this time,’ she said. ‘You know, for once.’

  She teased because she knew he’d let her, and also because the more she pushed the further his brow came down, so the darker his eyes became. He growled at her and she sighed out, letting her hands sink into his pockets now that she’d achieved her aim of riling him a little.

  ‘Couldn’t you have gone with something slightly more exotic?’

  ‘Don’t want you exotic,’ he said. ‘Want you plain, boring, and very difficult to trace with any certainty. Your family, and their money, make you a target.’

  ‘Technically so do you, because there are people out to get you. Our job does too, because we don’t always make very many friends.’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘But you’re not going to give up me or the job. I can only limit your vulnerability where you let me.’

  Getting over her sulk, Flick knew the more pressing discussion remained pending. ‘Did you see him?’ she asked.

  ‘I went to the hospital and copied some notes, but he’s still out of it. I didn’t go near his room, we don’t know who is watching.’

  ‘And Serendipity?’

  Rushe shook his head. ‘She’s not there.’

  ‘We have to find her,’ Flick said. ‘Jansen was there for me when I needed him. He freed you. I would never have been able to—‘

  ‘You wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it wasn’t for him,’ Rushe said.

  ‘No, actually, you wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for him. Which means I would’ve walked into Dell’s—‘

  ‘Yeah, Kitten.’

  Flick knew she’d made her point by that snarl of discontent he bestowed. ‘You were never going to leave Serendipity out there alone.’

  ‘She might be dead.’

  ‘You’re preparing me,’ Flick said.

  Rushe could emotionally detach from everything, except her. Over the course of their relationship, Flick had tried to follow his example, but she hadn’t managed it yet.

  ‘Someone put Jansen in the hospital, and they’ve abducted his woman, Serendipity,’ Rushe said. ‘We were just as complicit in fucking up their operation as that couple were. You better be prepared, because we’re next.’

  ‘If they put you in the hospital and kidnap me—‘

  ‘They’re not gonna pull the same play twice, or if they were they’d have tried it by now,’ Rushe said. ‘They want something else from us.’

  The night never felt oppressive when Rushe was around, nothing did. He held the world away from her, at least the evil in it, and if he felt it pushing back all of his senses went on hyper alert.

  ‘What should we do now?’ Flick asked on a sigh.

  The act of bringing her wrists toward each other made her hands, which were still in his pockets, press to his member. It also squeezed her upper arms on either side of her breasts. Rushe’s attention slinked down to her cleavage, so she ensured to push forward and enhance his view as best she could.

  ‘Move,’ he said, taking grip of her shoulder. He tried to pull her forward, but she didn’t budge, so the position of her hands brought him back.

  ‘You want to have sex in my parents’ garden?’

  ‘I don’t give a fuck where.’

  They had been separated for more than a day. At lunchtime yesterday, he’d dropped her off at the rear security-gated entrance of the Hughes home. His own destination had been the hospital where Jansen was laid up in critical condition. Right now it had to be closing in on midnight, and the idea of a love-in sounded about perfect to her after the stresses of the day.

  ‘My bedroom is upstairs,’ she said.

  Rushe retrieved her hand from his jeans and linked their fingers to pull her toward the house, but they didn’t get that far because Lucia moved in front of them. Rushe tried to avoid her but Charles Hughes, Flick’s father, approached from the other side, closing in on them in a pincer move. Flick didn’t expect Rushe to be happy about the interception, but she was surprised that he gave up so easily by coming to an abrupt halt.

  When she collided with his back she tried to skirt around him, but he got in her way. He was blocking her from something, but she couldn’t begin to know what.

  ‘Felicity, there’s someone you must meet,’ her father said. ‘He just arrived back here a few minutes ago, and already he seeks an audience with you.’ Rushe gave Flick just enough space to show half of herself. Charles Hughes appeared outright disgusted by Rushe’s presence. ‘Who is this?’

  ‘This is Flick’s boyfriend,’ Lucia said. ‘I think.’ Flick registered Lucia’s fascination with this feral creature in their staid environment.

  ‘Her what?’

  ‘Who do you want me to meet, Father?’ Flick asked.

  If it were appropriate, she would personally introduce Rushe to every person here. Flick would willingly fall to her knees in front of them all to prove their relationship. But Rushe thought that the fewer people who knew him, the better... and he wouldn’t share any of their intimacies with anyone.

  ‘This is Antoine Mercier; he’s a client of Roger’s.’

  Flick didn’t need to witness Rushe sizing up the dashing man who reeked of sophistication and arrogance, because she could sense the snarl.

  ‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Mercier,’ Flick said, taking Rushe’s lead and not attempting to shake hands or to make any physical contact.

  ‘Call me Antoine,’ he drawled, with an accent that made Flick frown.

  ‘You’re European?’

  ‘French,’ he said.

  Rushe remained static, not a single hair on his body moved, but she grew rigid. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Antoine was the same nationality as the family involved with the human traffickers, who were no doubt responsible for recent events regarding Jansen and Serendipity. The lack of change in Antoine, despite her visible negative reaction, confirmed it.

  ‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ Lucia said, taking Antoine’s arm. ‘His family has been here in the States for a decade, but he still has the accent.’

  ‘Roger has been advising Antoine about some tech investment,’ Charles said. ‘There’s a start-up company moving under the umbrella of a larger corporation. They have the prospect, I should say, there’s a window and Antoine has the money, but of course, he wants it to grow.’

  ‘We’ve been spending a lot of time together,’ Antoine said, covering Lucia’s hand with his while his eyes bored into Flick.

  ‘Excuse me,’ Charles said, and left the group.

  ‘Lucia,’ Flick said. ‘Will you show me the new water feature that you had installed for tonight? I noticed it behind the buffet.’

  ‘What about the—‘

  ‘Please,’ Flick said, spreading a smile and reaching around Rushe toward her sister, without departing from the defence of her Rushe shield. ‘Let the men talk business.’

  ‘Go on,’ Antoine said.

  Lucia took Flick’s hand, and Flick led her sister away. Rushe wanted to be alone with this new acquaintance – she had intuited it. Rushe didn’t betray much in outward appearance, but she was getting better at reading, at anticipating, his manoeuvres.

  Lucia took her to the new garden feature but didn’t say much about it before her own inquisition began.

  ‘He’s a brute.’

  ‘Who?’ Flick said, with her back to the wall she could observe the partygoers. But her main focus was there on the far side, far removed from the masses, where Rushe and this new associate spoke.

  ‘Your boyfriend. We didn’t realise when we sent you the invitation that you would bring a guest. What’s his name?’

  ‘How well do you know Mercier?’ Flick asked her sister, while maintaining her fixation on Rushe.

  Sometimes when there were new developments they had to act quickl
y. If Rushe needed her, then Flick wanted to be ready.

  ‘Mercier?’ Lucia scoffed. ‘His name is Antoine. Why would you address him by his last name?’

  Habit. ‘Sorry, I forgot it,’ Flick fibbed. ‘How long have you known him?’

  ‘He’s been working with Roger for about a month. We were introduced two weeks ago when he began staying here.’

  ‘Here?’ Flick asked, losing the subject of her previous attention. ‘Why is he staying here?’

  ‘He’s having his home built, and there was some sort of delay with construction. I don’t know the specifics.’

  ‘And if he has all this money, why couldn’t he afford a hotel room?’

  ‘That’s so impersonal, he’s European.’

  ‘So?’ Flick asked.

  ‘They’re hospitable, aren’t they? Very family oriented. He was the one who encouraged Viv and me to get in touch with you. He thought this rift was just ridiculous, you should be grateful to him. He places a great premium on family, so he couldn’t stay in a hotel all alone.’

  Flick didn’t buy it for a second, and neither would Rushe. ‘So his family is staying here as well? Why didn’t I meet them last night?’

  ‘His children are living in France,’ she said, with her attention floating across the crowd toward Antoine again. ‘But he and his wife are divorced.’

  Flick didn’t like the way Lucia tried to so casually seek out the men they’d left alone to talk. ‘I know you’re not looking at my boyfriend like that.’

  ‘What? Oh, don’t be silly.’

  Rushe might intrigue her sisters, but neither would be adventurous enough to attempt to tame the beast. To them, he was a wild cat in the zoo, beautiful to look at and admire but never to touch. Antoine, on the other hand, was the height of good breeding, definitely enough to turn the heads of societies darlings.

  ‘You’re married,’ Flick said.

  ‘What has that got to do with anything?’ Lucia snapped. ‘I admire the man, that’s all.’

  ‘Just remember to admire him from afar,’ Flick said. ‘Why didn’t I meet him last night?’