"Mrs. Porter, do you recognize the man who shot?"
Juliet stared at the men lined up in front of her. Trying to hide her nervousness behind controlled breaths, she successively put her eyes on each one of them. Her strategy almost faltered when she met Ronald Kray's hallucinatory gaze. A mixture of suspicion and misunderstanding hung in his eyes, and an ounce of threat could be in the way he had to roll up his nose.
Forcing herself to exhale normally, she went on to the next, looking like nothing happened.
"I have never seen these men, officer." she finally said to the agent near her.
With a quick glance she saw Ron's expression relax, but his gaze remained unchanged.
"Are you sure, Madam?" the policeman insisted.
"I'm sorry, as I told you before; I was taking my break when it happened … I was not in the room."
She finally allowed herself to breathe on the way home, releasing the tension that had accumulated in her shoulders and chest. She could not, however, relax completely; you know it's not over, pounding a small voice in her head.
Juliet hated to always be right when the next day a car slowed down beside her on the road to her home.
A big black sedan purred for a few moments, continuing to move at the same pace as her steps until she stopped moving forward and turned to the window at her height.
It lowered slowly, revealing Reginald Kray's face, which tilted his head with a smile from the backseat.
"Good evening, Mrs. Porter," he said with an angelic air.
Shit, she thought, feeling the nervousness invade her again.
"Get on, I'll drop you off," he added.
"No thanks, it'll be fine," she answered hastily, looking at him apprehensively.
"Mm … I'm sorry, did that sound like a request?" he retorted slowly, narrowing his eyes, a slight smile on his lips before closing the window.
Shit, shit, shit … she curses inside again. She was beginning to have trouble breathing at the prospect of being locked in a confined space with this man. A mixture of fear and haste was twisting her belly as she opened the door, while Reggie slipped to the middle of the bench in his impeccable dark suit.
As she sat down she saw his gaze lingering on her legs that protruded from her skirt and could not hold back a sound swallowing, trying to occupy as little space as possible on the small end of bench that Reggie left her.
He stretched an arm on the back of the bench, leaning towards her, visibly reveling in her discomfort.
Driven against the door, Juliet, crossing her arms under her bosom, tried to avoid his gaze as she watched the driver and then looked down the street slowly through the window, before breaking the silence, saying in one breath "I said nothing…"
"I know, darling," he cut in a whisper.
She finally turned her face to him; a slight jolt raised her chest realizing the proximity of his face.
"What do you want from me then?" she said plaintively.
"I wanted to thank you, Juliet, that's the least I can do, right?"
Her legs tightened in an unexpected spasm at the sight of his eyes and his half-opened lips, almost stretched towards her face.
"Okay … but no need …" she answered slowly before being interrupted.
"My brother was very impressed, he said that you were a very good … liar, have you ever lied to me?" he resumed with a mischievous look.
"No …" she whispered slowly, a slight cold chill of panic rising in her neck.
An equivocal pout appeared on his face. "You cannot stop yourself, can you?" he chuckled with disdain. "You have guts, I grant you that, if I did not already know that you had left your husband down, I would surely have believed you …"
At his words, Reggie brought his free hand close and put it firmly on Juliet's knee.
She jumped at the touch, staring at the broad hand whose fingers tightened the inside of her leg.
Her breathing quickened as the hand gently moved up her leg, tight enough to take the fabric of her skirt with it.
"Does your husband know what you're doing away from him?" He whispered suggestively, moving closer to her ear.
"It's not your business …" she said distractedly with a slight gasp in spite of herself, not being able to take her eyes off the still-rising hand.
Reggie reached her thigh and tightened his hold on the softer flesh, causing a jerky, almost sonic breath.
When he raised his thumb and touched her crotch that shuddered on contact, she contracted and tightened her legs while holding her breath.
He did not leave her eyes, delighted by the contradictory emotions that appeared on her face as he caressed her sex. The fabric was thin enough to let him guess the curve of her labia. He pushed his thumb up the crack that separated them and clearly felt the shudder that shook her back.
"Stop … Please …" she stammered almost inaudibly, her supplicating eyes going back to his. Her cheeks had turned scarlet and her breathing quickened.
"Oh … you're even lying to yourself … it's stronger than you, isn't darling?" He blew into her face.
His hot breath was accompanied by a sudden pressure of his thumb on the top of her pussy, compressing the already inflated button of her clit under her panties.
She let out a short moan that she tried to restrain by biting her lip. Her face lifted uncontrollably and her lips brushed Reggie's, still stretched in a tormenting smile.
Her hands clenched on her arms as she felt the thumb that tormented her still squeeze in a slight circular motion on the sore spot between her legs, but her breath was cut off when Reggie's tongue gently inserted in her mouth, gently licking the space that separated her lips.
She dared not move, uncertain whether her next move would be to repel him, what her brains were constantly suggesting to her, or to seize his neck to suck his fleshy lips, which her body begged with all its fibers.
"Ask me to stop again …" he murmured, provocatively.
That's…twisted, she thought suddenly. That this man could be exhilarated by her resistance to succumbing to him triggered all sorts of alarms in her brain. He was dangerous, and, against all odds, this thought excited her all the more.
Damn … I need to get out of here, she ordered to herself. She had already lived that, she knew all too well the torments that were announced if she gave in to her urges.
"Let me go," she suddenly demanded in a hard voice, pulling back her face and burying her back in the seat.
An ounce of surprise crossed his eyes. His thumb stopped moving, releasing pressure on her pussy.
Then he smiled again, somewhat resignedly but who did not admit totally defeated.
Reggie removed his arms from the bench behind her and from her crotch. Backing away from his seat, he took a box from the inside pocket of his jacket and took out a cigarette before lighting it. He sucked a long puff and then blew smoke in front of him before resting his eyes on her.
He looked relaxed, but she could tell by the thrill of his nostrils and his tense jaw that he was furious. She could almost feel his resentment as a sticky substance in the cabin of the car, which suddenly seemed even less spacious than before.
"You have arrived, Mrs. Porter, take care of yourself," he said in an exhale, with a polite air.
She looked out the window and saw her door just ahead. Without waiting she opened the door and closed it behind her as soon as she could stand without turning around.
Taking great breaths, she waited for the car to move away, but it did not happen right away.
She heard the glass bend down again and turned to see Reggie Kray's eyes through the opening. He winked at her without a word before nodding to the driver who restarted the car. As the vehicle moved away, they did not leave each other's eyes.
This man will be the end of you. That was the only point her brains and her body seemed to agree on.