The Pleasure Room (38 page)

Felicity lightly touched his thigh. “I wish I could take it all back. Everything, Alistair, I'm so sorry.”

“We need to figure out our next move,” Alistair said, keeping himself focused, but also not wanting to address Felicity's guilt at the moment.

“Oh God, I'm so scared!” Felicity said as she looked from both Alistair to Allison.

Alistair reached over, taking her hand into his and squeezing gently. He could feel her trembling, her fear growing stronger as was his.

“Why didn't you tell them that the mayor is involved?” Allison asked.

“Because I wanted them to take me seriously. We don't have any proof to give them detailing Dwight's involvement.”

“What about your club?” Felicity asked.

“I closed the club tonight in preparation for the time we were to spend together.  My clients and employees will be safe for now,” Alistair said.

“Can't they break in and get that information?” Allison asked.

“It's possible, but they have to know how to crack my security system and my computer's password. Then be able to unlock every file on my computer's encrypted hard drive,” Alistair said.

“Okay, sounds complicated,” Allison said.

“It is.”

 “I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't think anything like this would happen,” Felicity said, once again, feeling the burden of his pain.

“I know Felicity. You thought the risk would be minimal, not really taking into account all of the players or angles,”Alistair said, each word clipped off in his anger.

“Felicity, please tell me you still have the camcorder?” Allison said, changing the subject. She crossed her fingers hoping her friend had the little device.

“Yes, it's in my pocket,” Felicity answered sadly. She couldn't help but feel responsible for everything that was happening. A part of her was wishing she'd never agreed to write the story even if so much was riding on it.

“Oh, thank God. You know if we can get that story out there, the mayor will be linked to the murders, and attempted murders. That's what our next move should be,” Allison said. “I don't care if we got to go on Youtube, we need to do this shit tonight. We can't run and hide forever until they kill off everyone who knows or may know about Dwight's crazy, sick-ass sexcapadeds.”

“Allison, remember, we're not judging,” Felicity reminded.

“Man, ain't nobody got time for that shit. Fuck that! When you start murdering people because you want to hide the fact that you're a filthy, fucking, sexually-psychotic, cheating bastard, I'm judging your bitch ass. Crazy ass probably wanted her to shit on him and that's why she wanted to drop his ass!” Allison retorted. “Fucking maniac.”

“There's definitely a Domme in there somewhere, I know it,” Alistair remarked.

“Huh?” Allison looked at him, confused.

“You have a very dominant personality, Allison. I could easily see you wielding a whip,” Alistair clarified.

“Don't be trying to drag me into your world. And since I'm on this rampage, don't think I didn't notice my girl crying. I might as well say this, too. Felicity's head-over-heels in love with you and I see why,” Allison said.

“Allison!” Felicity yelled.

“What? We're telling the truth around here, right?” Allison said. “I hope you know how lucky you are to have a woman like Felicity in your life,
Sir Alistair
.” She was Felicity's best friend and she took her job seriously. Checking your best friend's man is in the guidebook. Page seventeen. “Yeah she messed up and this whole situation is fucked up, but I hope you know how much she cares for you.”

Alistair cocked an eyebrow, but didn't make a comment.

Allison left it at that. The rest would be up to Felicity. “So how does my plan sound?” she asked, getting back to the situation at hand.

“After tonight, he didn't leave us any other option. It's not like he's going to just agree to leave us alone,” Felicity said.

“If he can kill over this, there's no telling how much blood is actually on his hands, metaphorically speaking,” Alistair said. “Incidentally, your sex scandal story may reveal a past darker than any of us could have fathom.”

“So, that's what we're going to do. We just have to have a computer and internet connection,” Felicity said.

“Do you have a computer with you?” Allison asked.

“No.” Felicity looked at Alistair. “Do you?”

“No, but Target is still open. We can purchase a laptop there,” Alistair said, then he drove off Lake Shore Drive onto Columbus.

“We have to hurry, they're almost closed,” Felicity said, looking at the clock on the cell phone.

Alistair turned down Roosevelt. “We'll be there shortly.”

“So, who's buying this laptop?” Allison asked, looking at Alistair.

Felicity turned to her, then to Alistair.

“I can tell by the amount of eyes I have on me that my wallet is being volunteered for this,” Alistair said.

“I didn't say anything,” Allison stated.

“Except implying that you weren't going to buy it,” Alistair pointed out.

“Yeah, you have me there. I just want to expose this bastard for what he did and for what he's still trying to do.” Allison leaned forward, putting her hand gently on his shoulder. “I'm sorry about your butler, Bernard,” she said, sincerely.

“Thank you, Allison,” Alistair said, acknowledging her sympathetic condolences.

He pulled into the parking lot and they all climbed out. Alistair fell into step beside Felicity as they walked into the store. They wasted little time gathering some first aid products for Allison's wounds, a disposable cell phone and a prepaid Visa card. Then they made their way to the electronics department, grabbing the first laptop that had a decent processor.

“He seems to be handling all of this well,” Allison said to Felicity as the two women stood off to the side waiting for Alistair to purchase the items.

“He believes in maintaining control over one's emotions. Trust me, he's super fucking pissed at me and probably you, too. But above all, I'm sure he's pissed at Dwight,” Felicity said.

“I know one thing, I ain't taking my black ass to work tomorrow,” Allison said.

“I wish I could see the look on that bastard's face once this story leaks out,” Felicity said.

“Try your source again,” Allison said.

“I can't. My phone died and you know Alistair's is out of commission. Even still, I couldn't reach him before,” Felicity said.

“Is he ever that hard to reach?” Allison asked.

“Never. At least not in my experience with him.”

“What's his last name?”

“You know, he never told me, even when I asked him.”

“Where did you meet him?”

“Waiting in line at a grocery store. I told him I worked for the
Chicago Word
, it just came up in our idle conversation... I can't even remember how,” Felicity said, chuckling sadly. “When he got wind of the story, he thought I'd take him seriously and be willing to work with him under his conditions. I wanted the opportunity to move up, so it all worked out. Until tonight, of course.”

“Were you friends before that?”

“We saw each other on occasion at the store, but that was it.”

Alistair was done purchasing the items. He made his  way over to them, towering over both women. “We need to go,” he said. He pressed his hand on the small of Felicity's back as he led them out of the store. Back inside the car he began asking more questions.

“At what point did you think this story would cost you our relationship, Felicity,” Alistair asked her.

“I was hoping it wouldn't.” Felicity looked down at her hands as she fiddled with his cell phone.

“Why did you lie to me as long as you did about your real name? Even after I gave you the key to my home?” Alistair spared her a few glances as he drove.

“Can we not talk about this now?” Felicity asked.

“Fine, but when we get to the hotel, I want answers, Felicity,” Alistair said.

Allison was sitting in the back feeling grateful that Felicity opted to have their verbal confrontation outside of the close quarters of his extremely awesome automobile. She looked around admiring the nice leather and the beautiful dashboard.
I swear I can smell the money this car cost in the interior
, she mused.

It didn't take the trio long to find a nice hotel downtown. He pulled up in front of the Hilton on Michigan Avenue. Valet immediately ran to his driver's side door as he climbed out. Other valet attendants opened the passenger doors assisting the two women. Alistair handed him his keys, he took the ticket and the three of them walked inside. Again, the ladies stood off to the side as Alistair paid for the hotel suite using the pre-paid Visa. He didn't want to have to wait for a room to be cleaned out and the suites were readily available.

“Come on.” Alistair led them toward the elevator. When the doors opened, they stepped inside. “As soon as we get into that room, load up this computer,” he said once the doors closed.

“Did you see everyone looking at us in the lobby?” Allison asked. “They probably thought we were two hoes going to have a threesome with this rich dude. Or maybe they thought he was our pimp since I'm all beat up. I did feel some hateful vibes.”

“Perhaps they just assumed we were polyamorous,” Alistair said.

“What the hell is that?” Felicity asked.

“When a couple has no problem consenting to their lover's desire to have more than one lover,” Alistair said, explaining the term in its most simplistic definition.

“Oh,” Allison said. “I thought that was polygamy.”

“Not quite the same thing,” Alistair said. “For one, marriage is not a necessity and it can involve same sex relationships. This is our floor.”

The elevator doors opened and he stepped out with them following behind him. Once inside their suite, he handed Allison the computer, took Felicity by her arm and led her into the master bedroom, closing the door behind them. Allison looked at the closed door, feeling a bit worried for her friend, but this time she had to stay out of it. Instead, she opened the box and began setting up the computer.

Inside the room, Alistair stood over Felicity as she sat on the bed.

“My questions, answer them?” he demanded.

“God Alistair... I didn't know you from the man on the moon when I walked into your club. All I knew was that people were doing weird shit with their bodies and getting off on it. I went back, looking  for the mayor but he wasn't there yet again. Then you found me, standing in the doorway, afraid to go inside because I was beginning to like what I was seeing. Then you asked me to come back and I went back... not for the mayor but because you asked me to. I came back for you!”

“Go on.”

“You swept me off my feet and exposing the mayor seemed so unimportant when I was with you,” Felicity said. “I didn't tell you my real name because I was hoping when the story broke out, you wouldn't connect me, at least not right away. I'm actually surprised you didn't have me investigated before I signed the contract.”

“I find it more exciting to get to know the person you are one day at a time. It's part of the trust that I wanted to establish with you. You were taking just as much of a chance signing that contract as I was, even more so as you were agreeing to give me control over you. So no, I didn't have you investigated. Did you look my information up?” His jade eyes studied her.

Felicity shook her head. “All I knew was that I wanted you.”

“And I, you.” Something inside him began to warm up to her, his anger slowly subsiding as they spoke. “About your fake name. Wouldn't your newspaper place your photo next to your real name for the story?” Alistair asked pointedly.

“I was going to try to avoid using my photo for a while, at least until I knew...” her voice trailed off, then she sighed. “You're right. It probably wouldn't have worked out the way I was trying to plan it.”

“Until you knew what?” Alistair looked at her, growing impatient. “Felicity answer me!”

Tears started to flow again. “Until I knew you loved me as much as I loved you!” she yelled, before hiding her face in her hands.

She loves me.
The words took Alistair by surprise. He felt his heart tightening inside his chest as if caught in a powerful grip. The woman he loved, loved him back. It was the answer to everything he wanted to know about her. It's what he had to hold on to. It was also a double edge sword... the woman he loved who loved him also betrayed him.

“Oh, God, why am I telling you this!” She cried into her palms, distorting her words.

Alistair looked down at her, her vulnerability began to melt away his rage, but the feeling of betrayal was ever present and he had to address it. Kneeling down in front of her, he pulled her hands from her face.

“Look at me, Felicity,” he said in a softer tone.

She did, with tears running down her cheeks.  “I love you so much, Alistair, that I couldn't think straight. I felt trapped. I'd made promises to people before I met you. I was trying to keep all of my promises to them and to you. I wanted you to trust me... to... to love me.”