02 Heller's Revenge - Heller

by JD Nixon

  It was evening by the time my paperwork was sorted and I was allowed to leave.

  “There’s not enough concealing makeup in the world to cover these bruises,” I complained as Heller drove me home. He smiled at me.

  “We’ll have to hide you in the attic for a while.”

  I giggled. “When did they say Niq could come home?”

  “One more week. It’s remarkable. It’s almost as though he was waiting for you to come to him before he could recover. As if he couldn’t get better until he knew you knew you were all right.”

  “Heller, that’s a bit mystical for a hard, commonsense man such as yourself,” I teased.

  “I don’t know, Matilda. He’s in a coma for weeks, but you cry all over him and he starts to recover the same day. It’s a bit . . . I don’t know, spiritual or something.”

  “I love that boy so much and if that creates some kind of creepy psychic thing between us, then I really don’t care and I don’t think he does either.”

  “Still, you have to admit it’s strange.”

  We drove in silence for a while. I blurted out my awful news. I’d been brooding about it since I’d been told. “The doctor said I’ll never conceive now because of the accident. It affected my ovaries. Crushed them or something. I won’t ever have the chance to be a mother.”

  He didn’t even blink. “I never wanted children anyway.”

  Despite myself, I giggled again. “You never give up, do you?”

  “Never.” He turned to smile at me, and grasped my hand, squeezing it briefly.

  “Not even with crippled, bruised, barren women?”

  “They’re my favourites. They can’t run very fast.”

  I giggled yet again. “God, I love you, Heller. You’ve made me laugh for the first time in months.”

  “Say that first part again,” he demanded.

  “God?”

  “No.”

  “I love you, Heller?”

  “That’s it. Say it again.”

  “I love you, Heller.”

  “And again.”

  I smiled. “I love you, Heller.”

  “Do you mean it?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “That’s a start anyway.”

  “I’m going to be very nervous about driving for a while, I think,” I said as we pulled into the Warehouse and drove down into the garage.

  “I’m sorting it out, Matilda. You will soon be safe.”

  “You sound confident.”

  “I am.”

  I wasn’t sure I could make the stairs, but I needn’t have worried because Heller picked me up in his arms and carried me, not to my flat, but to his.

  “Heller?”

  “You’re staying with me until you’re recovered. As will Niq. I need to keep an eye on you both.”

  “Where am I going to stay? You only have two bedrooms.”

  He stared at me as if I was an imbecile. “In my room, where else?”

  “Heller.”

  “I believe in sexual healing.”

  I laughed. “You’re so corny. I don’t know how you ever manage to pick up any women with those terrible lines.”

  He smiled and gently placed me on his bed. “Seriously. I need both of you very close at the moment. Don’t fight me about this. I want to know you’re safe.”

  “I’m too tired to argue.”

  “Good.”

  “I don’t have any clothes.”

  “You don’t need any.”

  “Stop it!”

  “I brought some of your stuff up. I even put it in my walk-in robe. We can pretend we’re married.”

  “Okay, I’ll nag all day while you sit around drinking beer. The average marriage.”

  “Sounds awful. I want a divorce already.”

  I limped into his bathroom and found my things nestled neatly amongst his. Not placed separately. He had actually mingled everything – my deodorant next to his, my toothbrush next to his, my grooming products mixed with his. It was so sweet that I felt like crying again, but I thought it was probably physically impossible for me to squeeze one more drop of water from my body without crisping up and floating away like a dead leaf.

  I took a very slow shower and brushed my teeth, thinking how nice it was to be out of the hospital. I changed into my pyjamas and climbed carefully into his gigantic bed. Everything took twice as long to do because there were still so many painful parts on my body. He used the bathroom after me, then climbed into bed next to me and turned off the light. We faced each other, and looked into each other’s eyes in the moonlight streaming in from the window. He reached out to stroke my hair gently. He moved over and wrapped his arms around me. I rested my cheek on his bare chest.

  “What happened after we crashed?” I asked softly.

  “We turned up about five minutes too late. The sedan that had been following you was long gone. I can’t even begin to tell you how I felt when I set eyes on the wreckage of your car. It was . . .” He took a deep breath and expelled it noisily. “It didn’t look as though anyone could have survived the impact. Niq was unconscious. You were flickering in and out.” He shifted in the bed to grasp me even tighter.

  “You were both so badly injured. There was blood everywhere, a terrible sight. People had stopped to help before we turned up and they had already called an ambulance. Clive and I ran over to the car and tried to open the doors without any luck. Then we got some of our tools and we managed to open Niq’s door with a crowbar, so the ambulance was able to take him to hospital much more quickly than you.”

  He kissed me on the forehead and continued. “I tried as hard as I could, but I couldn’t get you out of the car. You were trapped in there for so long, I was afraid you were going to bleed to death. It took the fire brigade with the Jaws of Life to cut you out. Niq was comatose, but they had to operate on him to pin his leg and patch up his bullet wound regardless, which is always dangerous. Then they discovered you were bleeding internally and rushed you in for emergency surgery. There were a very dark couple of days when I thought I was going to lose the both of you.” He stared at the ceiling for a long time, his profile carved into the moonlight. “I don’t know what I would have done if that had happened. It wouldn’t have been civilised, I can tell you. Especially now I know who’s to blame.”

  “Do you think they followed us from here? How else would they know that we’re part of your team?”

  “They might have, my sweet. But remember the licence plate on your car tells the world that you belong to me.”

  “That the car belongs to you,” I corrected gently, thinking of the vanity plate on the little hatchback that simply read, HELLERS.

  “It was a mistake for me to buy that plate. It made you a target.” He rubbed his eyes. “The last few months have been a nightmare. An absolute nightmare.”

  “You haven’t had much sleep?”

  “Not for a while.”

  “Sleep tonight. I’m okay now and Niq’s home soon.”

  “I will now that you’re back with me.”

  I kissed him softly on the lips. He kissed me in return, but it grew urgent very quickly, his hands insistent. I had to pull away.

  “I can’t do that right now, Heller. I still hurt everywhere.”

  “I’m sorry, my sweet, I know that. My feelings got the better of me. I promise I’ll behave myself.” And he did. I fell asleep listening to his heartbeat, snuggled safely in his arms.

  We both slept very late the next morning. He made me breakfast, a boiled egg with toast, a small fruit platter and coffee and juice. I enjoyed every bite of non-hospital food. He was confident and competent in the kitchen – a man able to look after himself.

  “I’ve never had breakfast with you before. Will makes such a big deal about it. Made me feel guilty because we hadn’t shared breakfast. You never make a big deal about anything like that, do you?”

  He smiled sexily. “I’m just grateful for any time you deign to give me, Matilda. Breakfast, lunch or
dinner, doesn’t bother me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I should go back to the gym today, but I’m afraid to bring on any more pain.”

  “I think you could handle a gentle walk on the treadmill, but nothing harder. You really need to get moving again, even though it’s painful. And don’t forget to do the exercises the physiotherapist gave you.”

  “I won’t. And you’re right about needing to start exercising again.”

  “I have some things to do this morning, so I’ll see you later. Don’t overdo it, though.” He kissed me on the forehead and left.

  I cleared up our breakfast dishes and went to change into my workout gear, tutting with irritation when I realised that Heller had brought up my second best pair of runners, not my best. I decided to pop into my flat on the way to the gym to retrieve my best runners because they were much more comfortable than the others. And comfort was absolutely paramount to me at the moment.

  I used my swipe card to open the door to my flat. To my surprise, there were two Heller’s men sitting in my lounge room. They were startled by my entrance and jumped to their feet, discomforted. I advanced further into the room.

  “What are you doing in my flat?” I asked, confused.

  Then I noticed the third person in the room.

  “What’s going on here?” I demanded, looking in horror at a man – no, not a man, a boy, a teenager. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and was barefoot, tied up tightly to one of my dining chairs, a gag jammed into his mouth. There was panic in his dark brown eyes and blood trickling down his face from a split eyebrow. A camera was set up in front of him. My eyes flicked questioningly between the two men. They were both ill at ease and stared at each other, before one of them answered.

  “You better ask the Boss, Miss. We can’t talk to you about it.”

  I marched over to the second phone in my bedroom, shut the door and dialled Heller’s mobile.

  “Yes? Is everything all right?” he answered cautiously, obviously recognising the number of my flat.

  “Heller, it’s me.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yes, it’s me, not your men. What’s going on? Who is this poor boy you have tied up here? The men won’t tell me anything.”

  He sighed. “Matilda, why didn’t you just go down to the gym like you promised?”

  “I’m not going anywhere until I get some answers. Who is this boy?”

  Another sigh. “That boy is the only child of the owner of Select Security. I’m using him to persuade his father to end his vendetta against me.”

  “Heller!” I could barely speak with shock. “You kidnapped him?”

  “Yes.”

  “But he’s just a child!”

  “So is Niq!” he snapped angrily. I couldn’t argue with that.

  “You know for sure that this man is responsible for our accident?”

  “Yes, we traced the number plate of the vehicle that followed you. It belongs to his fleet. SS equals Select Security. Car number six.”

  “I can’t believe you’ve done this. It’s so wrong.”

  “They started it and I’m going to finish it. One way or another.” His voice was so icy that I shivered involuntarily.

  “How long has he been here?”

  “A week.”

  “A week? His parents must be going insane with worry!”

  “Not enough to agree to my terms yet. I may have to do some more convincing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This doesn’t involve you, Matilda.”

  “I am involved now. Are you hurting him?”

  “Not yet.”

  “He’s bleeding.”

  “It’s nothing. He didn’t follow instructions as he was very strongly advised to do at all times. Anyway, makes it look better when I livestream him to his parents.”

  “He’s scared.”

  “He should be.”

  “I can’t believe you would do this!”

  “Matilda, this is nothing compared to what they did to you and Niq. Nothing! You could have both been killed! This boy is not going to die.” He was shouting at me angrily, his accent very pronounced, as it always was when he lost his temper.

  “Promise?” I asked softly, not wanting to provoke any more anger. I couldn’t handle it at the moment.

  “I promise,” he said more gently and hung up.

  I walked back out to the living area. The teenager sent me a pleading message with his eyes. He was terrified. Mine was probably the kindest face he’d seen for a while. I patted him gently on the shoulder and took a deep breath, remembering Niq’s small, pale face in the hospital bed.

  “It’ll be okay, but promise me that you’ll do what you’re told from now on, all right?”

  He nodded, staring up at me with frightened tears in his eyes. I felt ill, tears pooling in my own eyes. An eye for an eye didn’t seem such a great philosophy to me right then. It only meant more innocents were hurt along the way. I fetched a wet facecloth from the bathroom and wiped away the blood from his face.

  “Hopefully your parents will come to their senses soon and stop all of this rubbish.”

  His dark brown eyes didn’t waver from mine.

  “Your father almost killed me and my little friend. He’s still in hospital. I’ve only just been released. Have you heard about that?”

  He nodded again.

  “It’s not your fault your father is such a heartless bastard, but he chose to play dirty. So he has no one to blame but himself if we have to play dirty as well. Would you like me to come back later and check on you?”

  Another nod.

  “Okay, I will. But you have to do everything these men tell you to do. Understand? These people aren’t going to harm you.” And I hoped that was true.

  Another nod.

  “Are you giving him water and food?” The men assured me they were. I turned to leave. The men regarded me solemnly.

  “It’s good to have you back again, Miss,” one said. The other nodded in agreement.

  I was very touched. These were hard men, not usually willing to express their feelings.

  “Thanks guys. That’s really sweet.” I left and continued on down to the gym.

  ~~~~~

  True to my word, I went back to check on the boy after lunch. There were a different pair of men with him this time. I was pleased to see that he was untied and ungagged, hunched into a corner of my lounge, the remains of a meal on the coffee table.

  I pulled up a chair and sat in front of him.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Marcus,” he said shyly, making eye contact only briefly.

  “Did you have enough to eat, Marcus?” I spoke to him kindly, wanting him to relax for a few moments.

  He nodded.

  “Would you like something to read?”

  He nodded again. I went upstairs to Heller’s place to collect some of Niq’s books and comics, thought for a minute, then made my slow way downstairs to Daniel’s place to also grab some clean clothes, before bringing them back.

  “Thank you,” Marcus said subdued.

  “Do you want to take a shower? I have some clean clothes for you to change into.”

  He nodded gratefully. I asked one of the men to clear the bathroom of everything, except soap, a clean towel and face washer.

  “You’ll have to leave the door open though. There will be a man at the door, but he won’t be looking at you. Don’t take too long.” I gave him Daniel’s clothes and he went into the bathroom. I cleaned up his lunch plates. After ten minutes he came out again, looking slightly less miserable.

  He sat down again in the corner of the lounge and observed me shyly. “What injuries did you get?” he asked.

  “I fractured my pelvis and broke my arm and some ribs. I also had internal injuries that meant they had to operate on me. I’ll never be able to have any children now. You’re only young, but I’m sure you can understand what a big deal that is for a woman, Marcus.”

  He nodde
d gravely, blushing slightly.

  “Niq was shot in the hand, broke his leg in five places and received a terrible hit on the head that injured his brain. That’s a very serious injury, Marcus. We didn’t know if he would ever come out of the coma he was in. How old are you?”

  “Sixteen.”

  “Niq’s only fourteen. That’s too young to have such terrible things happen, isn’t it?”

  Another nod.

  “Neither Niq nor I did anything to your father, Marcus. I don’t know him. I’ve never met him. I don’t even know his name. But he was willing to kill me and Niq, just to force my boss out of business in this city. Does that sound fair to you?”

  He shook his head, his eyes fixed on mine.

  “Well, now you know why we are all so angry at your father. I hope you can understand that a little better.” He nodded again.

  I left him to the men, promising to come back before I went to bed. I carefully and slowly made my way upstairs to Heller’s place and spent the afternoon lying in bed, talking to people on the phone, letting them know I was out of hospital and updating them on my recovery. I had a long talk with Will and he apologised profusely for making me so angry, and confessed that his greatest fear had been that I wouldn’t pull through and we had parted so acrimoniously.

  “The whole thing has made me determined to never waste a minute with you again. So when can I see you again, Tilly?”

  “I don’t know, Will. Heller’s not going to let me go anywhere for a while.”

  A short but meaningful silence. “He’s in love with you, you know.”

  “No, he isn’t,” I scorned. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s too cold-blooded to love people.”

  “I have no doubt about it at all. You didn’t see him when you were in hospital. He was absolutely shattered, as if everything that ever mattered to him was being ripped away. He only left your bedside to go to Niq’s.”

  “How did you find out I was in hospital?” I asked, changing the subject. I was always uncomfortable talking with other people about Heller’s and my relationship.

  “Heller rang me, which was pretty decent of him. He even let me into the hospital room. Although he sat in the corner glaring at me the whole time.” He paused and said bitterly, “I can’t compete with him, Tilly.”