The Complete Perfect Series

by Lindsey Powell

  “You don’t need to apologise. I shouldn’t be snapping at you.”

  “Where do I find the story?”

  “Oh, it will be really simple to find, seeing as its fucking trending all over the internet.” With this, Jake goes running from the room and I know that he is going to his office to look on his computer.

  I stay where I am as I try to calm myself down. I think that I should wait and see Jake’s reaction before I read the story for myself, so I busy myself in the kitchen making a coffee. I make Jake one too, although I’m sure we could both do with something stronger.

  As I place the coffees on the island, Jake comes stalking back into the kitchen, his jaw set firm.

  “I made you a drink,” I say as I push his coffee towards him. He doesn’t say anything as he takes a seat. I walk around and sit next to him, bracing myself for the answer to the question that I am about to ask. “What does it say, Jake?”

  He lets out a puff of air before speaking and I can see that it is taking every ounce of his willpower not to lose his shit right now.

  “It says what Chloe told you. But there are also pictures.”

  “Pictures? Of what?”

  “You.”

  “Me?” I say, my voice rising a little bit higher.

  “Yes, Stace. Pictures of you, in your underwear, all over the fucking internet.” Jake looks at me and I can see the anger in his eyes. I close my mouth and literally want the ground to swallow me up.

  Pictures of me, near enough naked.

  Pictures that millions of people can see if they want to.

  “The slimy son of a bitch has done a real good job of trying to grab a slice of your fame. And it appears to be working.”

  “Oh God.” I don’t know what to say. There is nothing that I can say. Charles has taken private pictures of me and posted them for the world to see.

  “I need to see for myself,” I say as I rise from the stool and make my way up to Jake’s office.

  I am in a daze as I sit at Jake’s desk and type my name into the search engine on his computer. The page seems to take an age to load as I sit there, nervously anticipating what pictures have been made public.

  The page loads and there is a link for some website that I have never heard of before. I click on the link and as the page comes into view, I see that my picture dominates the screen with the heading, ‘The Author That Broke my Heart.’ Next to the heading is a picture of Charles looking as smug as ever. I click on the heading and the page loads to the story that Charles has sold.

  I read the story in silence as Jake enters the room and kneels down next to me. The story is complete and utter bollocks and it is quite clear that Charles is trying to make a quick buck out of this. The details are bordering on insane as he describes our sex life as the wildest that he has ever experienced.

  If the situation wasn’t so dire to my reputation, then I am sure that I would almost find this bullshit funny.

  Almost.

  I read to the end of the story and then there are two pictures of me. The one that I have already seen from the first page, which is of me posing in a T-shirt and a pair of knickers. That I can just about cope with, but the second picture is of me posing in a bra and panties as I strike a sexy pose. It was taken so long ago that I had forgotten about it. The only reason that I ever took it was to inject some much-needed variety into mine and Charles’ sex life. That was obviously before I had lost all interest in him in that way.

  I stare at the picture and all I want to do is go and see Charles and tell him what I think of him. I can’t believe that he would sink so low.

  I feel Jake’s hand rub my back and I wrench my eyes away from the screen, so that I am looking at him. The hurt that I feel within me is more for Jake’s sake than my own.

  He doesn’t deserve to see me posing for some other guy, even if it was before I ever met him.

  He doesn’t need to have pictures of his wife practically naked, plastered over the internet for other people to see.

  Jake is a serious business man. What are his contacts going to think?

  What are his employees going to think?

  How the hell am I meant to face people after this?

  “I’m so sorry,” I say to him, my eyes looking to the floor in shame. Jake’s hands come up and he places them on either side of my face.

  “Look at me,” he says, but I don’t want to. “Stacey, look at me,” he says, slower this time. I sigh and raise my eyes to meet his. “You have nothing to apologise to me for.”

  “Yes, I do,” I whisper.

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Jake––” I don’t have chance to say anything else as Jake cuts me off.

  “Charles is the one to blame here. Not you. You have done nothing wrong. That wanker has violated your privacy and I am damn well going to make sure that he pays the price for doing that.” Jake places a kiss on the end of my nose and then stands up.

  He takes his mobile phone out of his pocket and starts to call someone as I sit there, waiting to see what he is doing.

  “Tony… I need your help with something.”

  Jake

  “You need to shut this shit down and get those pictures taken off the internet,” I say before I hang the phone up.

  “Who was that?” Stacey asks me. She looks deflated as she stays seated in my office chair.

  “That was my solicitor. He’s going to put an injunction on Charles doing anything else, and he is also going to make sure that those damn pictures are removed.” All I want to do is go and beat the shit out of Charles, but I know that he will be waiting for a reaction from us, so I’ll be damned if I’m going to give the prick what he wants. “We are going to get this sorted, babe. He’s not going to get away with it.”

  “I’m sorry,” she says, repeating her words from a few moments ago.

  “I’m so sorry,” she says again as she breaks down and covers her face with her hands. I immediately go to her and scoop her up in my arms, carrying her out of my office and to our bedroom.

  I enter the ensuite and set her down on her feet. “Now, we are going to enjoy our last day together before we both return to work tomorrow.” I am going to make sure that she forgets about Charles fucking Montpellior’s actions if it’s the last thing I do.

  I turn the shower on and then I start to get undressed. Stacey looks to me and frowns. I simply pull her towards me and place my lips on hers. I can taste the saltiness of her tears as our lips massage one another. I let my hands wander and I start to undress her.

  Once we are both naked, I carry her into the shower and I take my time with her, wanting to rid her of the shitty welcome that we came home to. I press her back against the wall and position my cock at her opening. I slowly push into her, keeping our lips locked as she digs her fingers into my shoulders.

  I ride her slowly, wanting her to feel nothing but me.

  She moans into my mouth, but I don’t break my lips from hers. She needs to know that I don’t care what has happened previously.

  She is my wife and I will fight for her.

  I will make anyone that hurts her wish that they had never done so.

  She is my life, and if you fuck with her, then you fuck with me.

  And Charles Montpellior is going to wish that he had fucked with somebody else, because he will be ruined by the time that I am finished with him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Stacey

  I am sat in Chloe’s office as she prattles on about the upcoming America tour, but all I can think about are the pictures that were on the internet. I am trying to focus, but it is incredibly difficult to do so.

  “Stacey?” Chloe says, jolting me out of my thoughts. “Are you listening to me?” I shake my head at her. “Stacey, we have a lot to sort before we leave. I need you to focus.”

  “Yeah, because it’s that simple,” I snap at her. “You try focussing when half naked pictures of you are put on the bloody internet.” I realise that I am bein
g a bit of a bitch, but I am hoping to be excused in this instance.

  “Stacey, the pictures were removed this morning.”

  “Yes, I know that, Chloe, but it still doesn’t change the fact that people will have seen them.” Jake’s solicitor sprang into action quickly, and by eight o’clock this morning, the pictures had been deleted. An injunction has been put in place to prevent Charles from doing anything else. And the website that published the pictures has been widely discredited for the way in which the story was handled.

  “Just remember, there is no such thing as bad publicity,” Chloe says. She even has the nerve to smile at me as she says it.

  “Are you being serious right now?”

  “Look, I know that having a picture of you in your underwear on the internet isn’t ideal, but I have taken calls all morning from magazines, radio stations and television shows for you to tell your side of the story. I currently have a bit of a bidding war going on for you to give an exclusive interview.” She sounds so fucking happy about this outcome that I almost get up and march out of her office.

  “Oh, well, as long as it brings in some revenue, then please, continue to make money off of my embarrassment,” I reply sarcastically.

  Chloe sighs and at least has the decency to look a little less happy.

  “I’m just saying that something good came out of it.”

  “Pfft.” I blow a lock of hair out of my eyes and avert my gaze from her. I am not in the mood to be discussing anything with her, but I know that I have to finalise everything for the book tour. “Let’s just get this meeting over with, so that I can go home.”

  Jake

  “I have done everything that I can to try and keep this bastard at bay,” Tony says as he sits opposite me at my desk. I drum my hands on the table as I listen to him give me a run-down of what he has managed to stop Charles doing.

  “I appreciate it, but I need to get this asshole out of our lives for good.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Jake. I know that you’re angry, but you need to keep a lid on it.”

  Huh. Bet he wouldn’t be this calm if it was his wife plastered all over the internet in just her underwear.

  “In regards to why Charles would need to sell a story about your wife, I have a friend who is looking into it for me.” I process his words. I have no doubt that he will find out the information that I want to know, but it still doesn’t stop me from wanting to go and pay dear old Charles a visit.

  The buzzer on my desk goes, interrupting our conversation.

  “Yes, Valerie,” I say after pressing the button to talk to her.

  “Mrs Waters is here to see you, sir.”

  “Send her on in,” I reply. The doors open a few seconds later and my wife enters, looking as hot as hell. She gives me a smile and walks over.

  “Hi, handsome,” she says. “I know that you are busy, but I just needed to see you,” she continues, giving a nod to Tony to acknowledge him.

  “Stacey, this is Tony, my solicitor. Tony, this is my wife, Stacey,” I say, even though it is plainly obvious who she is.

  “Mrs Waters,” Tony says as he stands up and puts his hand out for her to shake.

  “Hi,” she responds. “I guess I have you to thank for getting those awful pictures of me taken off of the internet.” To anyone else, she sounds like she is making a joke of the situation, however, I know how hurt she is deep down.

  “No problem at all,” Tony replies. “Listen, Jake, I need to get going, but I will be in touch the minute that I hear any news.”

  “Thanks, Tony.” Tony then says goodbye to Stacey and leaves my office. “Come here you,” I say, gesturing for Stacey to sit on my lap. She willingly obliges and puts her arms on my shoulders as she sits down. “How did your meeting with Chloe go?”

  “Ugh. Well, she thinks that having half naked pictures of me on the internet is just fantastic. In fact, it is so fantastic that she has people bidding for me to give an exclusive interview about it.” I don’t fail to hear the sarcasm in her tone.

  “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to tell your side of the story?” I say.

  She lets out a loud sigh. “I guess not. I just wish that I didn’t have to tell anything in the first place.” She sounds so down about it all. I wish I could take the hurt away from her.

  I place a kiss on the end of her nose and wrap my arms around her waist.

  “Charles will get what’s coming to him.”

  “What do you mean?” she asks, looking highly suspiciously at me.

  “I mean that there is no way that I am letting him get away with this.”

  “Jake, I don’t want you to get into trouble because of that asshole.” I give a little chuckle at her words. She underestimates me at times.

  “I won’t be doing anything, so don’t go worrying that beautiful mind of yours.”

  “Hmm,” she replies, not sounding convinced at all. I have no intention of having my name associated with anything that may happen to Charles. I like to think that I’m too bloody clever to actually get caught doing anything. “Oh, I spoke to Lydia earlier and invited them for Christmas dinner with us, but they have already arranged to go to Paul’s parents for the day. She did however say that they would be free on New Year’s Eve.”

  “So, we get our first Christmas all to ourselves?”

  “We sure do, babe.”

  Stacey

  I am led on the sofa, surfing on the internet for a Christmas present to get Jake, when I hear the front door open and then close. I quickly shut the lid of the laptop down as I don’t want Jake to have any clue of what I might be getting him. I know that I have left it a bit late, what with Christmas being next week and all, but there has been so much going on that I haven’t really had the time to do any Christmas present shopping. We haven’t even got the Christmas decorations up for goodness sake.

  I place the laptop by the side of me as Jake walks into the room. His eyes find me on the sofa, and then without any warning, he runs over and launches himself on top of me. I give a squeal and cover my face with my hands. He soon moves my hands though and places a delicious kiss on my lips.

  “Well, hello to you too,” I say when we finally come up for air. “And what’s put you in such a good mood?”

  “Just the thought of coming home to my gorgeous wife. I don’t need any other reason.”

  “Uh huh.” I love his answer. “And you’re sure that’s all it is?”

  “There may be one other thing. God, you know me far too well woman.” I laugh at him.

  “And what might this other thing be?” A mischievous smirk appears on his face, and I know from that look alone that he isn’t going to tell me anything.

  “You will just have to wait and see, Mrs Waters.”

  “You don’t play fair,” I say, pouting at him. He laughs and then pushes himself off of me, so he is standing up.

  “Come on,” he says, taking my hand in his to pull me up from the sofa.

  “Where are we going?”

  “We aren’t going anywhere, but we are going to put up the Christmas decorations.” He leads me to the hallway where I see several shopping bags filled with different decorations. “This Christmas is going to be the best one ever. Just you wait and see.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Jake

  I bid everyone a good Christmas as I leave the office. It is the day before Christmas eve, and I can honestly say that this is the first year that I am seriously looking forward to the Christmas break. I usually work through it, but there is no way that I am doing that this year.

  I finally have someone I want to share the festive period with, and I am going to bloody well enjoy it.

  I exit the Waters Industries building and dive into the limo which is waiting outside for me. Eric shuts the door behind me and then gets into the driver’s seat a few seconds later.

  “Good day?” he asks me as we set off.

  “It wasn’t too bad actually, but I am looking forward to the nex
t week of not having to be here.” I hear Eric laugh.

  “Wouldn’t be anything to do with that wife of yours, would it?”

  “Whatever gave you that idea?” I banter back.

  “I’ve never seen you look so animated over having time off over Christmas, and I’ve known you a bloody long time.”

  “Okay, fair enough,” I say, holding my hands up in surrender. “My wife is absolutely the reason that I am in such a good mood.”

  “She sure is a special lady,” he remarks, and I can’t argue with him. She is special.

  I look in the carrier bag that I put her Christmas present in this morning and I smile. I had her gift specially made, so that it’s meaning is only relevant to us. She said that she didn’t need a present, but of course I completely ignored her. Her argument was that we have everything that we could possibly need, but I ignored that too.

  I watch out of the window as we drive back to my house. It doesn’t take us long to get there as most people have already finished work by now.

  We pull onto the driveway a few moments later and I exit the car, wishing Eric a Merry Christmas as I hand him his Christmas bonus. He thanks me and then I make my way up the steps to the front door.

  I am about to open the front door when I see that there is a note stuck to it. I rip the note off and read.

  Time to play a game of hide and seek. I will be waiting for you to find me…

  A smirk crosses my face at Stacey’s playful nature.

  She certainly keeps me on my toes.

  I open the front door and walk in to be greeted by complete and utter silence. The lights are all on, but apart from that there is no sign of life.

  I close the front door and lock it behind me, placing my bags by the front door and I taking my coat off.

  Let the game begin…

  Stacey

  I watch from across the road as Jake enters our house.

  I am currently sat in the brand new Porsche that I bought for him as his Christmas present. I then left a note on the door to mislead him into thinking that I was in the house.