The Trophy Wife by Evie Baxter
Twenty-Nine
We both drifted off to sleep again for a short while after the explosive morning sex. Having Tori in my arms felt so right, I couldn’t stop smiling. I smiled while we showered together. Whistled happily while I made coffee for the two of us and brought it back up to bed.
Grinned while I watched her blush at her nudity (despite all that we had done in her bed) as she bravely selected clothes from her wardrobe, not covering herself before me. That was a big sign of the trust I was building in her and my love grew that little bit stronger.
Later, Tori pulled bacon from the fridge and started cooking us breakfast while I sliced some bread to go with it. We worked alongside each other like we had done it many times before, a natural rhythm to our movements.
“I wish I knew what the hell happened with that fucker who deliberately drove into me. He’s been following me. I have no proof, but I know he has. That BMW was quite distinctive.”
Tori looked up from the frying pan, her face pensive. “Do you think it could be Robert?”
“Doesn’t he have enough to worry about right now without causing more mayhem?”
“You’d think, but you don’t know him like I do. He was obsessed with me, Bastian. Yes, he abused me but in his warped, sick mind I was always his. Tucked away in the countryside out of his sight was okay, but now I’ve poked the hornet’s nest at that AGM and, if he’s watching me, he will have seen you coming and spending time here.” She pushed the bacon aside and cracked some eggs into the pan.
“Do you feel like he’s been watching you?” I placed butter and a jar of raspberry jam that I found in the fridge on the table.
“In the beginning, when I first moved here, I felt like he was watching all the time. But I put that down to paranoia and fear. But lately? I don’t know. Just sometimes I get this prickly feeling at the back of my neck. I know that means nothing, but I feel like I’m being watched. I thought I was just being paranoid but now this has happened to you, I don’t know, Bastian. Something isn’t right and Robert is the only person I know who is crazy enough to do something like ramming into your car. He thought he was invincible, untouchable, and I just proved to him that he isn’t.”
She plated the bacon and eggs and brought them over to the table, sitting across from me.
“I don’t like the idea that he could be out there watching you when I’m not here to keep you safe.”
Tori gave me a soft smile. “I’m safe in the village. Everyone knows me here. My family and friends keep an eye on me. They’ve always been protective since I came home.”
“It’s not enough. Would you be averse to me coming up here and staying for a bit, just to make sure everything is okay?”
“Really? You’d do that for me?”
“Tori, I love you. I meant it when I said it last night, and the many times since.” I held up a hand when she went to speak. “You don’t need to say anything back. I’m okay with that. For now. Things are still new between us, but I just know how I feel. You can take your time. And yes, I’d do anything for the woman I love. So are you okay with me driving back to London when my insurance company gets the replacement car to me and bringing back some things so I can stay longer? Be your bodyguard.” I grinned as I watched a cheeky glint enter Tori’s eyes. “Having bodyguard fantasies, baby?”
“Maybe.” She shrugged and deliberately focused on her breakfast. I loved the odd dichotomy of the passionate woman I had bedded last night and the shy girl who had missed out on flirting and dating.
Isla chose that moment to come barrelling in the kitchen door, Claudia and the twins behind her. I would have thought that her interruption of the sexual tension between her mother and I would annoy me, but the way the little girl flung her arms around me, crawling up onto my lap and stealing a piece of my bacon, and welcomed me into her life there was no way I could be annoyed.
“Morning, Bastian. G’morning, Mummy,” she mumbled as she chewed on the bacon.
Tori smiled even as she said, “Don’t talk with your mouth full, darling. Did you have a good time with Daisy and Poppy?” She turned and extended her welcome to her friend and the two identical girls with her.
Claudia helped herself to a mug of coffee from the carafe on the counter and plopped down at the table. “Girls,” she instructed, “Go play in Isla’s room.” Isla slid off my lap and ran off with her friends, the sound of their footsteps pounding up the stairs thundering through the house.
“Oh thank God,” Claudia moaned into her coffee. “How can they have so much bloody energy when I’m hungover?”
Tori laughed at her friend. “Does that mean you guys stayed up a lot longer than we did?”
“Yup.” Claudia popped the ‘p’. “Lisa and I decided it would be a good idea to relive our uni days after the kids all went to bed. Robert took the girls home for me, and Lisa and I did shots. We are such idiots!”
Tori slathered up a slice of bread and passed it to her friend. “Here, eat that. It will help soak up the remaining fumes. Leave the girls here and go home and get a nap.”
“Are you sure?” Her friend looked at her with longing.
“Of course, I’m sure. You had them last night. And I had a good night sleep.” Then she grinned over at me. “Sort of.”
“I’d love to hang around and get all the dirty details but I’m going to leg it before the girls know I’m gone. I swear to god they are like sharks sniffing out fresh prey. They haven’t let me alone since they woke up at 6:30.”
“You’ll get your payback when they’re in their teens. Off you go. I’ll drop the girls back sometime this afternoon. I’ll let you know before we head over with them.”
So it was that I found myself kicking a football around the garden with three rambunctious four year olds while Tori fixed lunch for all of us a couple of hours later. If Adam and Drew could have seen me, they would have fallen over laughing. Strangely, I was perfectly content. It just showed how much a life could change in so short a period of time.
We ate lunch outside as dark clouds gathered, threatening rain later on. Poppy and Daisy regaled us with tales about their new kitten. Isla badgered her mother for a kitten because she was convinced Alfie must be very lonely. And because, of course, kittens were the best thing ever.
My hire car was delivered mid-afternoon and I decided to leave for London right away, so I could be back early evening. I gave Tori a kiss in front of Isla, which had the little girl squealing with delight.
“You’re kissing Mummy! Does this mean you love her?” She bounced from toe to toe as she looked up at me where I stood by the front door, my arm still around Tori’s shoulders.
I looked down at the little sprite, then at her mother, who shrugged her permission at me. Crouching down, so I could look Isla in the eye, I said, “Yes, I do love your Mummy. Very much so.”
Her eyes went as round as saucers, she blinked twice, then asked in a small voice, “Do you love me too?”
That was a no brainer. I swept the delightful child into my arms. “I love you very much indeed, Isla,” I whispered in her ear, breathing in her fragrance of grass and bubble-gum scented bubble bath.
Her arms squeezed me tight, and she whispered back, “I love you too, Bastian.”
I stood, still holding her, and looked at her mother with tears threatening. Tori wasn’t holding them back as she smiled at me, the tears trickled down her face.
“Why are you crying, Mummy?” Isla asked crossly. “Loving someone is happy stuff.”
“Yes, it is, darling. Yes, it is.” Tori kissed her daughter’s cheek and took her from my arms. “Let Bastian go so he can get back to us tonight.”
“You’re coming back? Right away? That’s the best thing ever!”
She had no idea why her mother and I laughed so hard, but I was still grinning as I drove out the village, looking forward to my return later on in the day.
I entered my house less than an hour and a half later, dashing out of the rain that was falling heavily. Shaking the droplets from my hair, I grabbed a small pile of post from the letterbox and sorted through it as I wandered down the stairs to the new basement level where the kitchen was now located.
Junk mail, more junk mail, a couple of bills and a white envelope with my name printed on the front in bold block letters. No address or postage stamp, which indicated it had been hand delivered. Sliding my finger under the flap, I ripped it open and pulled out the single sheet of plain A4 paper.
STAY AWAY FROM HER. SHE’S MINE.
That was it. Just harsh pen strokes denoting the belligerence of the writer. I had no doubts that it was Robert who had ran me off the road now. I pulled my phone out my pocket and scrolled through my contacts until I found David’s name. He had given me his details over the weekend after he heard about the incident with my car.
“Hey,” he answered, “What’s up?”
“I’m pretty sure it was your father that ran me off the road. I’ve just come home to a letter that says nothing more than ‘Stay away from her. She’s mine.’. It’s got to be him, doesn’t it? Tori has never been with anyone else, from what she tells me.”
David cursed several times before replying to me. “That bastard! It’s definitely him. No one else has ever even thought to claim Tori in such a vile manner. And I was the closest she ever got to dating someone properly before he got her hands on her. She used to refer to herself as a late bloomer.”
I paused, then forced myself to ask, “You’re not still interested in her romantically, are you?”
“God, no! Sorry, that came out the wrong way. I was years ago but after everything with my father, Tori is like a sister to me. I mean, Isla literally is my sister. I’d do anything for Tori, but date her? No, we moved beyond that long ago.” It was like Tori had told me. I could hear the guilt over his father’s crimes in his voice. He blamed himself somehow.
“Sorry, I had to ask.”
“No worries, mate. I’m glad Tori met you. She deserves someone good in her life.” The man was being genuine. I rather thought that over time he could become my friend as well as Tori’s.
“Right, I have to get back to Tori as soon as possible. I’m packing a bag and taking my laptop up to hers. I don’t like what’s going on and don’t want her to be alone.” I moved through the house as I spoke, taking the stairs two at a time until I reached my bedroom. I dropped the overnight bag I had been using on the floor of my walk in closet and grabbed a small suitcase from high on a shelf.
“I’m going to call Peter. Ask him to go over and spend time with her until you get back. And I’ll try to find out where my father is. If I can track him down, then maybe we will know if she is safe.”
“You track him down and I’ll hire a detective or someone to keep tabs on him. I’d like to know if he gets anywhere near her ever again.” I pulled a handful of briefs out a drawer and put them in the suitcase, following them with socks.
“I appreciate what you’re doing, Bastian. Listen, if you have any meetings you need to attend in the city, let me know and I’ll come up and stay with Tori while you’re out. Between you and I, the board of directors has decided to go ahead and press criminal charges against my father. With luck he will soon be locked up and Tori will be out of harm’s way.”
“I’ll raise a glass with you if they manage to make the charges stick. I’m sorry, I know he’s your father but…” I trailed off.
“He stopped being a father to me the day I found out what he did to Tori. I have had nothing to do with the man since then, other than when I needed to acquire information about his goings on from under his nose. I despise the man, so go ahead and say whatever you like about him to me.” David’s voice was gruff. A father’s sins were a heavy burden to carry.
I said goodbye and fifteen minutes later I was tossing my suitcase in the boot and getting into the Mercedes I had been provided with. My phone dinged to signal an incoming text.
Isla and I are going to Peter’s for dinner. I’ll forward you his address. See you soon x
I put the car in gear and headed back to my woman.