The Gigolo (12 page)

Considering his own lifestyle he
could hardly criticise her one and only discretion, especially when it wasn’t even her fault. She’d been set up.

S
he was pretty sure that Jack wouldn’t go as far as to force her into his bed against her will but she was still uncomfortable being up here alone with him.

‘I want something from
you, first.’ Jack had stepped closer. His exhaled breath washed over her exposed cleavage as he pushed one fat hand inside the neckline of her shirt and pulled it aside.

Kara stepped back pushing his hand away.

‘Not that.’

‘Don’t be such a prude, Kara.’

‘I’d like to leave now, Jack.’

‘I own you, now and you should be grateful that it’s me rather than that man whore who ringed your sex.’

Kara
blushed. He’d viewed the tape. It suddenly struck her that Jack had used the same strange name for William that Luke Granger had used. They’d both called him a man whore. She didn’t recall ever hearing anyone use that phrase until today…

It was Jack!
Jack was behind this whole sordid mess! Now it was all becoming clear in her mind. He must have financed the filming of her embarrassing episode with William using Granger as his stool pigeon. Now she really was scared. If he was prepared to go to such lengths to get her up here he meant to have her.

Kara
scanned the room, looking for another escape route but unless her hero was waiting on the roof with a helicopter she was going to have to front it out and leave the way she came in.

‘He was no good for you,’ Jack said.

‘Who?’

‘Your man whore. The one who took it upon himself to video you in a compromising position and sell the tape.’

Kara
didn’t dare let on that she knew this was all down to him. She wondered if he’d had a conversation with William. If they’d discussed what he should do with her. She wondered if the ring that she’d loved so much had ever been William’s idea. She swallowed back her tears. She’d been completely taken in by him and that probably hurt more than anything else. It was evil! He was just plain cruel. Kara wondered what William’s price had been but she remained silent. Jack had taught her that – never give out too much information until you know what your opponent’s strategy is.

‘You have some
thing you want kept secret and all I want in return is sex. It’s a match made in heaven, darling.’

He made it sound so simple. Kara was disgusted with him.

‘Why me? You never seem to be short of a woman to share your bed so why me?’

‘Because you said no, Kara.’

Kara suddenly noticed movement from beneath his robe. He was getting an erection! It turned Kara’s stomach but she did her best to keep her face neutral. She didn’t want to risk angering him. He wasn’t the man she thought he was and she had no idea what this mad man was capable of.

‘I’m a fair ma
n and I won’t blackmail you but I believe you owe me for getting rid of Granger for you.’

‘I’m grateful for that,
Jack – truly I am – and I’ll happily do anything I can to repay that debt, but not this.’ She took a step away from him.

‘You’re not indispensable, Kara,’ he snapped. He was losing patience.

‘I believe my integrity was one of the qualities you admired in me when you first brought me in.’ Kara tried to reason with him.

‘For Christ’s sake, woman.
It’s only sex. I’m not asking you to fiddle the books. What I want won’t leave these four walls – you have my word on that.’

‘And the videos?’ Kara asked
. She wasn’t considering his offer she just wanted to see his hand.

‘I’ll give them to you and
no more will be said on the matter.’

‘
Kara was tempted. She’d dearly love to be able to draw a line under this dreadful nightmare and Jack was offering her that opportunity. In return she would become just another notch on his bed post.

‘No, I can’t do i
t, Jack.’ She remained firm. She knew she had to. If he sacked her here and now there was nothing she could do about it, but at least she’d leave with her head held high even if he’d managed to drag her self-respect through the mud. She could only pray that he wouldn’t sink so low as to expose the sex tape even if he did sack her.

CHAPTER
TEN

William arrived at Laura’s house feeling a little edgy
. He’d half expected not to hear from her again after that funny business with her old man, but she seemed completely unperturbed by recent events and invited him in with a smile.

When she slid the envelope across the table towards him William pushed it back.

She looked up at him questioningly.

‘Today’s on me if you’
ll tell me everything you know about Kara Kavanagh.’ William was worried how she’d react – they’d never really had a personal conversation before and he really didn’t want to be the first one to tell her that there might be something going on between her husband and Kara but he needed answers. He was worried about her. She’d tried to contact him earlier but they’d been cut off and when he’d attempted to ring her back he hadn’t been able to get through.

‘Why do you want to know about her?’ Laura sounded a little annoyed.

‘Is your husband having an affair with her?’ William was risking getting thrown out but Laura just laughed.

‘My husband doesn’t have affairs
, William.’ She offered nothing more and William realised that he was going to have to push her harder if he wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on.

‘
Then I’m worried that your husband might be blackmailing Kara.’

‘
Kara Kavanagh’s more than capable of looking after herself,’ Laura laughed.

William smiled. He’d learnt that much about her but this was different. He was afraid that he’d done something that could
have put her in harm’s way. He decided to tell Laura the whole story.

‘Kara
got in touch with me by email – at least I thought it was her at the time – and requested my services.’

‘Kara Kavanagh
did? I don’t believe it,’ Laura sounded shocked.

‘Why
wouldn’t she?’

‘She’s not the type of girl to hire a gigolo.’

‘Why not?’ William was slightly offended by her description of him. He might use it himself in his head but in reality he considered himself to be an ordinary guy just doing what he had to do to get through a rough patch.

‘I don’t know, she just isn’t. She’s too straight – too morally upstanding, I suppose.’
Laura said it as if she thought these attributes were a bad thing. William was remembering Kara lying in the wheat field with her legs spread wide in invitation. He knew different.

William carried on.

‘The email detailed exactly what she wanted from me, including her wanting me to make it seem like a real date…and videoing the sex.’

‘
Christ! You didn’t do it, did you?’ Laura suddenly seemed to take an interest in what he was saying.

‘
Yes, I did but now I think she may have been set up,’ William added.

‘
By my husband?’

‘Perhaps.’ William wasn’t sure.
It looked that way but he couldn’t work out a motive other than sex and Laura seemed adamant that Jack wasn’t unfaithful.

‘Jack wouldn’t
do anything like that.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

Laura sighed and fiddled with the tissue in her hand. She looked a little fearful as she started to speak, as if she was about to impart something of great significance.

‘You can trust me to be discreet,’ William
coaxed her gently. They had a strange relationship but he believed that she trusted him.

‘My husband and I have a rather unconventional
marriage.’ Laura stood up and crossed the room. She seemed to want to put some distance between them before she continued. ‘I love him dearly.’

William
enjoyed listening to Laura speak. Her upper class accent hid a soft Irish lilt that occasionally managed to escape and when it did he was able to see the girl in her that she kept hidden – skipping through the heather with her hair flying free – less bleached – less coiffured – less stiff upper lipped.

‘
He’s a good man.’

‘It didn’t feel that way when he was holding me warmly by the throat the other day.’

‘I don’t understand.’ It was Laura’s turn to look confused.

‘He warned me off Kara. He paid me handsomely not to contact her again. Why do you suppose he would do that if he’s not having sex with her?’
He’d said it, now. He waited for Laura to get angry ad throw him out.

Laura sighed and looked at the ground.

‘My husband’s impotent, William,’ she whispered. ‘We have never had penetrative sex and as Jack was my first and only love I believe that officially makes me a virgin.’

‘Shit!’
William couldn’t hide his shock. It was the last thing he’d been expecting to hear. It sounded ludicrous.

‘I
suppose you understand my motives for hiring you, now?’ She blushed and looked at the floor

‘Actually I don’t. Why do you feel the need to be punished so regularly?’

‘It’s guilt. I can’t live without some sort of sexual stimulation but I would never cheat on Jack so I bought myself a vibrator and use that when he’s not around.’

‘That’s understandable given your circumstances. That doesn’t deserve a beating, surely?’

‘Because Jack’s the way he is he likes to try and please me in other ways. He still likes to be the one who makes me come, but sometimes his finger’s just not enough, William. Sometimes I crave a hard cock. It would break him if he knew.’

It wasn’t right that such a beautiful vibrant young woman should be trapped in a marriage with such a repulsive man. William couldn’t understand why she stayed.

‘Do you think your husband would go as far as to set Kara up so that he could blackmail her for some other reason?’

‘Never!
What possible reason could there be? He holds her in high esteem.’ Laura was adamant. William had to believe her even though he remained unconvinced. In his experience he’d found that if something smelled like bullshit it usually was and this stank to high heaven. The Jack that Laura described was nothing like the thug who’d been leaning on his doorbell on Monday morning.

‘Can we get on with this, please?’ Laura pushed the envelope back across the table. ‘I’d feel
happier if you took the money.

Thank you for your honesty, Mrs Finnegan. You can rely on my discretion.’

‘I know, William – otherwise I would never have invited you into my home in the first place.’ She smiled and left the room. She had a purity about her that was at odds with modern day life. He wondered if this is what appealed to Jack Finnegan.

William waited
in the kitchen for her to change out of her flowery cotton dress and into her gymslip. He was flattered that she trusted him, but Christ what a fucking revelation! This job had certainly given him new insight into the weird and wonderful complexities of the human race but it didn’t give him much hope for the future. Did no one have normal healthy relationships anymore? Or was it just the idle rich that sported such dysfunction? Perhaps they needed to employ their minds on something more productive. But Kara was anything but idle and here she was buying the thrill of a new boyfriend without ever having to suffer any of the commitment of a long term partner. That wasn’t natural either.

Laura was standing next to her husband’s desk, staring at the floor, when he entered the office. She didn’t look at him.

‘Take off your knickers.’ He fell into character and she obeyed him as if their recent conversation had happened to someone else but today he felt slightly disgusted with himself and his performance was automated as his mind constantly wandered back to Kara.

Afterwards he
emerged from the office and into the hallway to be greeted by Laura in her cotton sundress holding the door for him to leave. He studied her face for signs of dissatisfaction but found none – only her usual eagerness for him to leave.

‘Thank you, William
,’ she managed as he stepped out of the door.

‘See you next time
, Mrs Finnegan,’ he replied but he wasn’t entirely sure there would be a next time.

William
stopped off at the coffee shop at the end of the road. He ordered an Americano and sat alone at a small table on the pavement to drink it and ponder the thoughts that were racing around in his head.

The street was busy but he felt
strangely lonely and slightly grubby after his appointment with Laura Finnegan and he was still no closer to discovering what had happened to Kara.
How the hell had he gotten involved in this – he was a property developer, for Christ’s sake!
The bane of his life used to be council officials – now it was mafia style tycoons threatening to make him disappear.