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BOOK ONE ? PART FOUR
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has engaged with this story already! Your comments, feedback, favourites and ratings are wonderful and most welcome. Please enjoy this next part and leave a 5-star rating if you are so inclined, and let me know what you think through the feedback portal on my page, or in the comments.
I'm always open to hearing your input!
All sexual activity is between characters that are 18 or older. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to real persons, places or events is purely coincidental. The below is not intended to serve as a template for real life sexual encounters or relationships, nor should it be regarded as such. Stay safe, happy and healthy! :-)
P.S. Because someone asked, and I realise it's a unique name, Tecla is pronounced 'Tech-la' or 'Tek-la'. So, treat the C as you would in 'capitalism' or 'construction.'
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33 ? Sardonis
Edward Sardonis sneaked out of the ice-cold bedroom to get some sunlight. The woman he'd been with was fast asleep, not giving a damn about the temperature. He hated that about her -- much like he hated a dozen other things about her... Things as simple as her name and complex as the way she held a pen. But, he was old and prostitutes were only fun when he felt violent... He knew he was vile, and it made him grin happily.
There was a man out there who had damaging secrets at his finger-tips. A man who had to die.
When the little London operation failed, it was a massive surprise. After all, Sardonis new Orwell's exact plans for the night -- word-for-word. Yet, the gangsters chosen for the job fucked up. Edward should have never trusted something so important to street thugs. They were of a type that had failed him before, back when the killing was done for king and country.
Yes, it was always better to hire professionals, which is exactly what Sardonis was going to do next.
The thought of killing the kid who would've once been his 'son' put a smile on his face. Wickedness was fun for him -- murder was easy. At first, it was just business, but he started enjoying it after the third or fourth man he killed. He only wished he could do Oliver Orwell's elimination with his own two hands...
? ? ?
The decision to attend the tennis in Melbourne seemed like a great idea to Alicia. Her upbringing on a farm in South Africa meant she craved summers in the Southern Hemisphere, and moving around was a good idea in general. That's how she'd survived the last time there was a man who wanted her dead... Her father.
In her mind, the Orwell's would be totally secure as long as they kept hopping from one country to the next.
Fortunately, the twins loved tennis and their brother inherited a place nearby, so a quick trip made everyone happy. Another perk of all the travel was that he got to see his whole property portfolio before deciding what to do with the thing. Alicia knew he wanted to sell most of the houses, believing that a man should have no more than perhaps two homes. One for work and one for play, or something like that.
The other benefit of being in a new city was the chance to observe Natasha Orwell in new light...
As soon as they arrived, the former nurse turned PA wanted to visit a park in town. She picked the place herself, wandering through while keeping an eye on her security detail. Alicia had joined personally and she watched as Natasha anxiously tried to side-step her keepers. She was paranoid; frightened of getting caught.
Taking a seat at a concrete table, her cheeks turned red as she began... Fiddling. Alicia took a few steps closer, emerging from a blindspot beyond her mark's peripheral vision. Now, she could see clearly: Natasha was searching for something underneath the table! She panicked -- her movements becoming faster as she feared that what she was looking for wasn't there. Then, relief and ease followed as she laid her hands on it... Whatever it was.
Alicia could either let her go and observe further, or she could confront her. It was now or never, she thought. Now or never!
It was time for the truth.
Picking up her pace, the baby-faced head of security made sure she straightened her back, looking tall. She was ready for a runner and ready for a fight as she stood over Natasha; the boss's cousin filling with dread as she realised the game was up.
"Ma'am, could you please show me what you have there?"
"No! You work for me!"
"I work for Mr Orwell," Alicia shot back, grabbing Natasha's forearm and twisting it until she could see what the woman was hiding. "Oh... Oh my god."
Natasha looked utterly defeated as her secret was revealed. She let Alicia take the plastic bag, stuffed with pills, from her limp hand. They came in all shapes and sizes; colours and compositions.
"Ma'am... I'm... I'm going to have to tell your cousin."
Tears welled up in Natasha's eyes as she was finally caught out. She would've begged for Alicia to keep her secret, but she eryaman escort knew it wouldn't get her anywhere. No, her cousin's head of security was fiercely loyal, and nothing could stop her from telling him what she'd found...
34 ? Prescription
It was a cloudy day, just outside Melbourne.
The revelation was still sinking in as I reached for a tumbler of whiskey, only to put it back down.
My father was a drunk. His niece, a drug-addict.
I wasn't going to succumb to our family tendency. No, I wouldn't go looking for comfort in a bottle. I'd crawl to Alicia, to Skylar... I wouldn't tell my sisters because it was my job to shield them from these realities of life. I wanted to phone Isabelle, or simply sit in a quiet room, alone with my own thoughts.
Those were the glasses I'd drink from and the booze I'd use to soothe this pain and confusion. So, I set the whiskey aside.
My Australian residence was about an hour's drive from the state capital of Victoria. Ultra-modern and refined, wooden features in the architecture gave the place a Scandinavian feeling. It was large, spacious, well-appointed... Yet, I'd feel claustrophobic in Buckingham Palace with the news I'd just heard.
We were meeting in a small sitting room, off the formal dining. Skylar and Alicia joining Natasha and myself as we tried to... I don't know.
I had no clue what we were trying to do.
The pills they caught Natasha with ranged from anxiety medication to diet supplements. It was an irrational mix that seemed to cover any 'symptom' she could ever wish to self-medicate.
I was stunned, aside from saying, "I don't understand?"
My cousin didn't try to explain. She was avoiding my eyes and keeping a distance; mentally drawing a circle around herself and edging to the corner of the couch as she tried her best to make herself small.
I repeated my bafflement and told her I wanted to understand.
I wanted to help her.
After a few false starts, Natasha began telling us about a doctor she met at work. She explained that he helped her get different pills for her personal use.
In the beginning, it was to help her sleep. Those pills gave her a hangover during the day, so she needed another pill to perk her up. That's when the floodgates opened and she started experimenting with all sorts of combinations.
Eventually, the 'doctor' suggested she use a second phone to contact him, assuring her that she could get her fill anywhere in the world. That didn't work in Cape Town or Singapore -- she started getting headaches and wild mood swings as a result. When we arrived in Australia, he managed to hook her up. Luckily, Alicia was there to see it happen, and Natasha's secret was finally revealed.
It may not have been a plot to betray me, but it stung hard; making me feel I never knew this woman. That I never really understood her.
"Were you on drugs the night at the club, when we went back to the hotel?" I asked, not caring that Alicia and Skylar were in the room. They knew about that night and I needed them to always know everything -- I needed their absolute support.
"No," Natasha answered.
That helped. It meant she wanted to spend that night with me. She wasn't just high.
"And the day after?" I asked. "At the townhouse?"
"No."
I felt a little relief, then I asked my next question, "What about the night I got stabbed?"
My cousin looked down at her feet. She mumbled something inaudibly before grunting sadly and repeating her words. "I was basically passed out that night," she asked. "Before I was going to see you, I asked the doctor to give me something for stress. It made me sleep."
"We're going to get you help," I offered.
"I don't need help!" Natasha insisted; her eyes mournful and desperate. "I only take the pills when I need them."
"Not for lack of trying," I pointed out. "Your mood swings, the loss of weight... You've been using more, not less. Don't keep lying to me!"
Natasha threw her hands up in despair. "Okay. Fine... I burned through my supply a little faster than normal, but only because you got stabbed."
Tash became cross and determination rose in her voice. It was almost self-righteous as she declared, "There was no withdrawal, no craving--"
"Maybe... That doesn't mean it hasn't had an effect. What you're doing isn't healthy."
"Like you've never done drugs!" my cousin accused.
"Actually, I never have... You're hurting yourself, Tash, and you're hurting the rest of us."
My cousin scoffed, "How the fuck is this about you?!"
Now, I became angry. "You didn't think talking to an international drug smuggler would put us at risk?!"
"He's a doctor!"
"He gives you pills you don't need and shouldn't have! How does it work? Who does his heavy lifting?"
Tash was mute, her hands shaking and mouth slightly open to let through loud and nervous breaths. She got up and moved to a couch on the other side of the room, like she wanted to eryaman escort bayan leave, and Alicia went to sit beside her. "Natasha, we really need to know the details," she implored. "If this 'doctor' has been using you to get information before sharing it with the people who hurt your cousin--"
"Oh, god!" Natasha cried out. "I never thought he could do that! No, no, no! I'm the reason you got hurt!"
Alicia tried to soothe my cousin, "We don't know that, but we need more information. How do you order the pills?"
Natasha was trying to control herself, huffing loudly as she rolled her shoulders and pursed her mouth. She was sweating and shivering. Part of it was just not having had more pills than she 'needed', but most of it was shame and regret. She felt awful.
None of this was her fault.
One day, my cousin stumbled and someone took advantage. Ever since then, each time she stumbled it felt like the end of the world and like there was only one solution. Pills, pills, and even more pills.
Dangerous cocktails.
My cousin mouthed an apology in a silent language, and I joined her on the couch, at her other side. Holding her hand, I wished I could soak all her pain into my body so that she didn't have to feel the way she felt. "I still don't understand, cuz. You're a nurse... You know how these things work, and that addiction is dangerous--"
"I am a nurse," my cousin repeated. "I work long hours and see sick people every day. Victims of crime, cancer patients, dying kids, people with psychiatric conditions... It's exhausting, so I need uppers and downers and everything in between. My dad might not have died, but my parents' divorce... It affected me!"
"How do you order the pills?" Alicia asked again. She was turning from sympathy to utility as she took on her persona as my head of security.
"There's a spreadsheet that I access online," Tash explained. "It lists prices and availability. I call him and tell him what I want, and he arranges to get it to me. Sometimes, we talk a little. He knew... He knew I was going to see you at the club..."
"Sounds sophisticated. He gets the pills from the black market?"
"Yes."
"He works with some kind of syndicate?"
"Yes."
Alicia was filing away the scraps of truth, so that our people could investigate. She would see if this doctor had been sharing information with the criminals that tried to kill me, or with anyone else for that matter.
"What are you going to do to him?" Natasha asked.
Alicia explained, "We'll have our people in London talk to him"
"Talk? Are they going to hurt him?"
Alicia was reluctant to answer, but at this stage I lost my pose. "Of course they're going to hurt him, Natasha! I want his business torn down brick by brick! He's been exploiting you, manipulating you, getting you hooked on poison!"
"Fuck," Tash whispered, holding her head in her hands. "What have I done?"
"Nothing... You've done nothing wrong," I said, keeping my cousin's shivering body close to mine. I'd let my anger get the better of me, and that's not what she needed.
For a few minutes, we simply held each other as we waited for our emotions to pass. There was a dark cloud hanging over us, but it did lift -- it did evaporate. We loved each other, and that was enough to change the mood from something sour to something sweet.
Here were two people -- two best friends -- who'd been through hell and wanted to pull each other through to the other side.
"Tash, you need to get help and not because you did anything wrong," I assured. "l'll be there every single day to hold your hand. I'll pay for you to go wherever you need to go, and we'll get you away from this toxic crap.
"The pills haven't been doing anything for you. If you're scared of being without certain medication, I'm sure we can make a plan that's safe and supervised by a doctor."
"Supervised?" Tash spat. "That's the problem! I don't need someone to quiz me every two months. I don't want to have to prove myself to get access to the meds I need."
"You want to be in control," I observed, now negotiating.?
"Yes."
"Well, I don't want to take control away from you. I also don't want you being controlled by someone or something else. Not by pills and not by some skeevy doctor. Now, let's start by calling your mom."
Unhappy with my idea, Tash plead, "No, please! Please don't tell her! Please, Olly..."
I nodded reluctantly, feeling that a very heavy secret was now weighing on my shoulders.
My shoulders alone.
Seeing me struggle, Alicia -- ever loyal and ever in my corner -- put a hand on Natasha's thigh and started suggesting solutions. "There are great rehab centres in Australia. We can stay here for a few weeks while you go through the process. First, we should get you an appointment with a psychiatrist... For that, I think we should fly someone in from London. One of our type; old-school and trustworthy."
My cousin shut her eyes escort eryaman and held her hands in prayer. "I'm not an addict. Sure, I'll see the doctor, but I'm not going to do some 12-step programme. I also want to keep working for Olly; I've only just begun, and I enjoy it."
"You can definitely keep working for me," I guaranteed. "But if the doctor wants you to join a programme--"
"I'll do it, but only if that's what the shrink insists."
Taking Natasha's hand, I promised her everything was going to be okay. It didn't feel like she believed me. I wasn't sure if I believed myself.
Alicia gave us a moment, then took a deep breath. "C'mon ma'am, let's go to the study and pick a psychiatrist for you."
Natasha nodded. "Okay."
As the women left, I turned back to the glass of whiskey I'd poured when the news hit. It was unpleasant, but I swallowed it all down and felt the booze take its numbing effect.
That's what Natasha craved -- the bottle she got it from just looked different from the fine-glass of the one I reached for.
Skylar had fallen into the habit of keeping me company whenever the two of us were free. She would sit around and mind her own business, sometimes even bringing a novel to read. Now and then, we'd fall into a conversation; random chattering about anything and everything.
My protector somehow managed to always look totally put-together. Her short blonde hair trimmed and curtained over her eyes in a model-like and photograph-ready swoop. The trademark bright-pink lipstick she wore was evenly applied and millimetre perfect, and her suits more expensive than mine. To top it all off, we were in her home country, which meant the world around us complemented everything about her look.
I turned to her that afternoon, asking how it all happened. "Why didn't I see it?"
"My mother used to shop for pills," Skylar said matter-of-factly. "She went to multiple doctors, stockpiled, and controlled her dosages. Mom was actually quite good at it, and I imagine your cousin being a nurse makes her even better. I'm not surprised there were no obvious signs."
"Do you know why she did it?" I asked, not sure if we were talking about her mother or my cousin.
My shadow shrugged. "Nah."
"Addiction?"
"Maybe a certain kind of addiction, but not what you and I think of when we use that word. You must know people who do it? I've known many, and most of them have been women. It's subtle and socially accepted. People are usually quite open about it. The fact that your cousin hid it means she's ashamed of it, which is probably better than being cavalier."
"Do you think a rehab programme will work?"
My protector didn't answer, at first.
I could see Skylar wrestle with something that was so near the tip of her tongue I could almost hear it. I think she considered telling me she had no clue and that this really wasn't her problem. Of course, that's fair.
I now had staff sorting out personal issues, family issues, medical issues... Her job was to watch out for my safety and I constantly tested how far that brief goes. Yet, as I saw the corner of her bright pink lips turn, I knew she accepted the challenge.
"Your cousin will get the help she needs, sir," Skylar asserted. "Meanwhile, we're going to bust down the door of the 'doctor' who has been supplying her. If he's been using her to get to you, we'll find out."
"Don't hurt him... Unnecessarily."
"I'm afraid I won't have much say in it, sir. The gents we'll be contracting for the job are rough blokes."
Secretly, the thought of the man who got my cousin hooked getting a beating delighted me. I wished I could go do it myself...
Dark impulses were finding fertile ground in my confused mind. Violence, lust... I wanted to practice and perfect all seven sins, as money and power and doubt intermingled to make me colder and more cynical.
Angrier.
I consoled myself by saying, "Who wouldn't want revenge when someone hurts their family? Who?!"
The Natasha I grew up with was happy and cheeky and smart. There was nothing she couldn't do or wouldn't try. Maybe that curiosity got the better of her, or maybe things change and things fall apart. Whatever the case was, I knew she wouldn't have ended up doing what she did if this doctor hadn't pushed her. Now, I wrestled with my own morality and weighed what justice should look like.
"First the inheritance, then the murder attempt, then the truth about my father... Now, Natasha is an addict. What next?"
I was about to order the elimination of that damn doctor, but Skylar gave me a pat on the back and snapped me out of it before I could utter the words.
"C'mon, sir, you need to put on a brave face for your sisters."
My shadow was right. This was no time to descend into darkness. As had always been the case, I needed to put my family first and let my emotions take a backseat.
I had to think about them, long before I could dare think about myself.
35 ? Running Out
The home gym was ample. It had been built in the same style as the rest of the house, consisting of the same modern wood-clad lines that gave every space a bit of an edge while retaining warmth. A fantastically large window formed a wall of glass that looked out on the ocean -- we were right on the beach -- with an astonishing backdrop for any workout.