Scarlet
It’s been two days since David told me about his best friend Gregory Maxwell—otherwise known as Greg. Somehow, the name feels familiar to me, but then I put that down to his name just sounding ordinarily familiar. Maybe David mentioned him once before. I don’t know. What I do know is that I need to know more about him. From the information I got from David, they went to school together, so they must have been the same age when they fucked my mother. After every vile thing she ever said about me, I still can’t help but laugh at her hypocrisy.
I also found out that, like David, he has made a name for himself, owning several car garages around the UK. He’s been successful with many business ventures over the years, earning him a Business Man of the Year award a couple of years ago. He’s also married with three kids. For some reason, I couldn’t find an up-to-date photo of him. The one I did find was gravelly and looked like it had been taken twenty or so years ago.
With David at work and an address in hand, I take one of David’s spare Porsches and make the thirty-mile journey to his main offices in Guildford. It takes close to an hour in traffic, but I manage to find where he works without getting lost. I park up in one of the available client spaces and walk the distance to the luxury car garage filled with Mercedes, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis. I walk in, noticing there’s nobody here, but then a voice makes me jump.
“Can I help you?” When I look to where the voice is, a small man of about five-foot-six and greying hair approaches me. “I’m sorry, madam. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He glances at my attire, and then his eyes immediately land on my pregnant belly. “Buying a present for Daddy?” he smiles.
“Or maybe Daddy might like to gift me one.” I laugh at my own joke, but I can tell I’ve confused the fuck out of him.
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind,” I answer. I’m here to see Gregory Maxwell. It’s a personal matter.”
His eyes give me the once over again. “And you are?”
“Oh, he won’t know me. My name’s Scarlet …” I almost say my surname, but hold it back. “Bernstein,” I blurt, realising I’ve inadvertently said David’s surname.
“Wait here,” he responds with an air of indifference. I watch as he walks away and once he’s disappeared, my eyes scan the shiny new toys scattered across the shop floor.
“Well, well, well, would you look at that? I guess my birthday and Christmas have come all at once. Come to repay the money you owe me?”
My head snaps to the voice and instant recognition mars my face. I know now why his name was so familiar to me. Why didn’t I try and dig deeper? Fuck, now what?
I watch as he snarls at me before his eyes drop to my stomach. He points to it. “You’re not fucking pinning that on me. No fucking way.”
When he steps towards me, I start walking back. “There’s been a mistake,” I start to say, turning to make my way out the door.
Shit. I shouldn’t have come here. Instead, I should have dug deeper into his name. There was a reason I knew it.
And the reason I did was because a few months ago, he was one of the marks Reid got for me—one that we blackmailed five grand out of.
I should have known one day that shit was going to haunt me.
“Not so fast, whore!” he seethes, grabbing my shoulder. “You’re coming with me.”
Slight fear creeps up my spine as he drags me from the door towards his office.
“Let me go!” I scream. “You have no right.”
“Just like you had no right conning me out of five grand!”
I start struggling with everything I have to get away, but he has a hold of my wrist so tight it’s fucking painful. I start to dig my heels in, but all that does is make me slide across the shiny floor that goes with this fucker’s shiny cars.
“You can’t do this to me!” I wail before fixing my eyes on the salesman. “He can’t do this!”
The salesman doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself. He looks from me to his boss, then back at me, and then to his boss again.
“You never saw anything. Right, Clark? Not if you value your fucking job.”
Immediately, he shakes his head. “No, sir.”
“Noooo!” I scream as Greg yanks me into his office before slamming the door. Once through, he throws me into a seat.
“Sit your fucking pregnant arse down.”
I land with an undignified huff as Greg runs his hands through his jet black hair. It’s so black that it must be dyed. It makes me wonder for a moment what colour he had before dyeing it.
“Now,” he says, turning towards me while adjusting the silver cufflinks at the end of his crisp white shirt, “care to tell me what you’re doing here? Cause I ain’t paying a single penny more, you little slut.” He sits opposite me on his desk, clasping his hands together like he’s in a meeting.
“Coming here was a mistake,” I tell him.
He laughs like it’s the funniest joke. “Meeting you all those months ago was a mistake. You were the most expensive lay I ever had.” He eyes me up and down with a frown. “Why are you here?”
I wonder what I can say to get out of this, but I keep running on empty. I can’t accuse him of being this baby’s father as he will soon add up how long it’s been, so there’s no way this baby could be his. The only other option is the truth.
“Twenty-six years ago you were out with your mate for the night when you met an older woman at a bar. As your friend’s parents weren’t in, you took her back to your friend’s house where you had sex with her. Do you remember this?”
He fixes me with his eyes, and it’s then I realise how green they are—just like mine. It may be a coincidence, but then again, it may not. With this news about my mum, there’s no telling how many men she slept with when she and Richard separated.
He scans my face a moment, a hard frown forming. I can tell he remembers it well, but I can also tell he’s wondering where all this is going.
“What has that night got to do with any of this?”
“That woman you slept with. She’s my mother.”
He doesn’t say or do anything at first. Then, out of the blue, he starts laughing. “You may be a whore, but that was funny.” With a smirk, he rises up from his chair and walks over to where I’m sitting. He positions himself right in front of me, towering over me like it’s supposed to intimidate me. What he doesn’t realise is I’ve had a man twice his size intimidate me for years. This—what he’s doing right now—is nothing compared to what Richard put me through.
His smirk disappears as he leans both hands on either side of the chair’s arm rests. With his face inches away from mine, he snarls. “First, you coerce me into fucking you, and then you get your arsehole boyfriend to blackmail me, and now this? Who the fuck do you take me for?”
Deliberately, I sit myself more upright, so he doesn’t think what he’s doing is bothering me in any way. “I found this all out recently and decided to see you for myself. I didn’t realise at the time that you were … who you are.”
He locks me with his green eyes before his eyes trail down to my lips. “So, what is this? You want to blackmail me again? Tell everyone that I fucked my own daughter? I know from experience that you’re a kinky little whore, but this …” he starts laughing again. “This really fucking takes the piss.”
“I’m telling you the truth. It’s a possibility that you’re my father. I only came here to see for myself. I don’t want any trouble, and I’m not after anything from you. I only came to see.”
He pulls back, but only enough that he’s sitting on the edge of his desk in front of me. He crosses his arms, still staring at me. I remember that stare from all those months ago. I remember feeling that although he was a mark, I was attracted to him. I also remember how mind-blowing the sex was. He liked it rough just like me. He was one of the only marks I had who knew my body without having to ask.
“You owe me five grand,” is all he says.
“Can we get to that afterwards? I think the bombshell that I may be your daughter needs to come first.”
“I shoot blanks, so this is an irrelevant conversation.”
I frown. “But you have three kids.”
He sighs, his arms still crossed over his chest. “Artificial insemination. The lot of them.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Uncrossing his arms, he leans forward again. “You con me out of five fucking grand and then have the audacity to come here telling me that I’m lying about my own fucking body?! Who the fuck do you think you are?”
I sigh, realising this is going nowhere. I don’t believe him at all about his kids, but I can’t prove it. Coming here was definitely a mistake. “I think I should go.”
He starts laughing. “You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart. I have five grand to make off you.” He leans closer—so close I can smell the coffee on his breath. His eyes trail down my body before coming back up. “Men would pay a lot of money to sleep with a pregnant woman, did you know that? I could keep you for a few days and eventually make my money back. Heck, maybe I’ll even have another go. I remember you like it rough, don’t you, whore?”
For the first time ever in my adult years, someone’s words sicken me. His words sicken me. “You can take me, but I’ll scream blue murder. Someone will hear.”
He thinks on that for a moment. “Hmm, you’re right.”
I watch as he gets up from his desk and walks around to his side. Once there he opens a drawer. “What are you doing?”
When I see him pull out some rope, I’m out of my chair in a flash and heading for the door. Once I have my hand on the knob, I feel him put his hand across my mouth and pull me tightly to him. “Don’t scream, little whore. Save all that for later.” In lightening speed he puts a handkerchief in my mouth and tightly pulls my hands behind my back. I start struggling, but he’s strong. Once he has my hands securely tied, he leans in close to my ear. “No one can con me out of money and get away with it.” He pulls me from the door before tugging at the handle. Once opened, he pushes me forward, but I struggle again. “Don’t make this harder on yourself then it already is, bitch.”
He leads me down the hallway and out through one of the fire exit doors. Just outside is a Black Bentley Continental GT. I hear a click and his lights come on. I think he’s going to push me in the seat next to him, but instead, he opens his boot.
I start to struggle harder, screaming through my gag. Once he puts me in there, that’s it. As he manages to shove me in, something terrifying washes over me for the first time. I’m used to looking after number one—always have, and I thought I always would. I’m selfish to a fault. But lying here in the boot of the car with my hands tied behind my back and a gag in my mouth, I’m not thinking about myself anymore.
I’m thinking about my baby.
When the realisation dawns on me, I suddenly become appreciative of everything I have. Fucking great timing, I know, but faced with an uncertain and potentially dangerous outcome, it’s made me realise that I have a precious life growing inside of me.
Over and over again, all I can mutter in my head are five little words. All I’m pleading in my head are five words.
Please don’t harm my baby.
For a few seconds, as I stare up at Gregory Maxwell—the man who might very well be my father—I think to myself how much history can repeat itself. First Richard and now him.
Fucking ironic really.
“I’d get comfortable if I were you,” he says, smiling down at me. “It’s going to be a long drive. I would suggest saving your energy. You’re going to need it for what I have planned for you.” He puckers his lips up to blow me a kiss before winking. He starts laughing and then he shuts the boot, leaving me in darkness.
Tears pool my eyes when it dawns on me that there’s no getting out of this now.
I’m fucked.
As I wait for him to start the car and leave, I’m surprised when at first I don’t hear a thing. And then something happens. I hear a thud, followed by grunting, followed by another thud. My heart rate picks up when I hear footsteps along the gravel. I hear the jangling of keys and then light appears as the boot opens. A figure emerges, and at first, I can’t see. Suddenly the unknown of who this could be makes my fear creep up like never before.
“Scarlet,” the familiar voice says, and instantly, I relax. Fresh tears of relief crawl down my face as he gently takes the gag out of my mouth and unties me before very gently lifting me into his arms.
“David,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“Don’t worry, baby. I got you.”
Those words make me wonder how he got Greg. I look around to discover a baseball bat lying on the ground and next to it is an unconscious Greg lying flat on his stomach.
“How did you know?” I ask, finding my voice.
He gives me a somewhat guilty look. “I followed you.”
I smile, squeezing my hand around his neck. “I’m glad you did.”
He chuckles. “So am I.” He looks me over. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head. “I’m fine. I just want to go home.”
“Can you stand up on your own?”
I nod my head with a smirk. “Yes.”
Placing me down, I lean up, giving him a warm kiss on the lips. “Thank you for rescuing me.”
A deep crinkle forms in his forehead. “I want to ask why he did this, but for now, I just want to get you home. Let’s go.”
Bending down, he picks up the baseball bat, grabs my hand, and leads me towards the Porsche I drove in.
“I’ll drive.”
Walking around the door, I frown. “What about your car?”
“It’s parked around the corner. I’ll get someone to fetch it later. For now, let’s just get you home safely.”
Nodding, I get into the passenger seat where David straps me in. In no time, he has the car started and is pulling out onto the main road.
“Are you going to tell me why he did that? I always knew he was a scumbag, but I would never have put him down as an abductor of pregnant women.” His eyes widen like it’s suddenly dawned on him what’s happened. “Shit!”
I watch for a moment, scanning David’s face as he keeps his eyes on the road. What do I tell him? The truth? I guess I owe him that much. He already knows I’ve led a dark and dangerous life in the past, but if I tell him, he’ll know everything. More than I’d ever wanted to tell anyone.
“He was a mark,” I finally say, closing my eyes. A mark that could be my father.
Shit!
“What?” David asks, wondering what the hell I’ve just said.
Here goes nothing.