We pulled up to Alfie’s London house. I studied it through the window, feeling none of the warmth that I felt at Harrington.
“You can go back to Harrington tomorrow if you like,” Alfie said. “This was just closer. I didn’t want you dealing with a longer drive.”
I smiled at him. “Will you always be able to read my mind?”
“I’ll always try.” He gave me a grin that flooded my body with desire. I wasn’t ready for intimacy yet and neither was he, but my libido didn’t seem to care that I was still nursing broken ribs.
He walked me up to our bedroom and insisted on tucking me in and asking Ada to have food brought up. I didn’t need to be treated like an invalid anymore but Alfie wasn’t ready to stop just yet.
“Will you get in with me?” I asked but he shook his head.
“I have to go out, my love.”
“Out?” I frowned. “Where?”
He sighed and sat next to me, his hand slipping into mine. “How much do you want to know? I don’t want to lie to you but I don’t want you to worry either.”
“I can’t be in the dark, as much as I might want to be.”
He nodded, though I could see he wasn’t happy. “I’m going to the club. Julia is being held there.”
“Held?” My voice shot up an octave. “The hell does that mean?”
“It means she’s been punished for what she’s done to us.”
With everything that had happened, dealing with Julia had fallen to the bottom of my priority list. I’d assumed she would just disappear into obscurity. Apparently, Alfie wasn’t going to let her off that lightly.
“The Never Tell Club doesn’t handle things this way but there are other clubs like mine that take these matters more seriously. As a Dominant she’s been a member of that world for a long time and what she’s done has broken a lot of rules. I have to go and meet with Damien to make sure everything has been handled properly.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. An anxious feeling began to bubble in my stomach. “What did they do to her? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. They’ve done more damage to her ego than anything else.”
I tried to imagine what that meant, then decided I didn’t want to know. “She won’t retaliate?”
“No. We have photos of our own now to make sure she leaves us alone. I have to speak to her, see the footage of her punishment for myself. I’ll be as quick as I can then I’ll come home to you.”
I sat back against the plush pillows. “Why do I feel like I still don’t know you sometimes?”
“You know me, you just don’t know every sordid thing I’ve ever done. But you know the things I’ve done to you – where do you think I learned those skills? I went to these clubs and was taught by others.” He stroked my cheek, brushing his fingers over my skin. “That’s over now. No more play. No more drama. No more club. Just us.”
“No more club?” I asked and he smiled.
“That’s the other bit of business I need to discuss with Damien.” Before I could say anything else, he pressed a kiss to my lips. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Wait, I should come with you.”
“No, my love. I don’t want you there.”
“But—”
“I forbid it.” He kissed me again, his lips moulding over mine as they would thousands of times more. “I’m going to give you a beautiful life, Lola.”
I watched him leave. I wondered if it would ever stop feeling like he was taking a part of me with him. I wondered too what he planned for that beautiful life to look like. No more company. No more club. This man was changing his whole world for me.
The next day, I was already sick of London and Alfie finally agreed that I was well enough to visit Maia.
I had spoken to Sid and with his help, I’d arranged for all of the materials to be delivered to Natalie’s reception venue so we could build on site. He was already there, overseeing the delivery and getting started on the structure. I felt awful that I wasn’t there to help but I wouldn’t be a huge amount of use with this part anyway. There was no way Alfie would allow me up a ladder in this state.
