The Anti-Victoria War Council was deep in debate in Edward's library. Suggestions of appropriate methods of revenge ranged from public humiliation (Alice) to financial ruin (Emmett). I was listening with half an ear as his suggestions became increasingly complex when my Blackberry started vibrating with e-mail alerts. Idly, I pulled the device and started scrolling down the list.
"Holy fucking hell!" I bellowed holding out my Blackberry to Edward. He scanned the e-mail and his face transformed into a mask of fury.
"She has gone way too far." He said decisively. "Whatever we do to her can't be bad enough."
"What, what, what?" begged Emmett. "Tell me."
In a voice tense with rage, Edward read out the e-mail informing me that I was under investigation by my bank for removing client data without permission. A hearing would be held, to which I could bring representation, and I was hereby informed that the penalties included termination of my license, being pursued for damages or imprisonment for up to six months if damage to either company or clients could be proven.
"Well fuck me" said Rose. Not eloquent but certainly heartfelt. "Did you?" she asked bluntly.
"I did!" She took a sharp intake of breath and shook her head. I continued "but only because I was told to. My boss said I should print out details so I could contact clients and inform them of arrangements in my absence."
Edward breathed deeply. "Then we're all good. You just need to prove it. Where are the documents now?"
"In my room somewhere…" my voice tailed off as realization hit me like a brick. "She took them didn't she?" I said slowly, looking around the room. Everyone nodded.
"Yup" said Jasper "that'd be my guess."
"Well then I'm buggered. They could be anywhere and I 'll be done for losing confidential information on top of the rest." Prison, Jesus. One of my greatest fears was of being locked up. Solitary confinement I could deal with but the thought of being stuck in a room with one person and unable to escape was my idea of hell. Boarding school had a lot to answer for.
"Now listen" Emmett looked thoughtful. "The solution is obvious. You work for a bank? That means that every call in or out is recorded for compliance. The call instructing you to contact clients will have been logged. The hearing will be a formality and the bigger question is how we deal with this in a way which will cause maximum distress for Victoria."
"We are assuming it's her… maybe it was someone else…" I began weakly.
"Darlin' you are as dumb as a doornail if you believe the horseshit you're peddling" snapped Rose. Emmett nodded.
"Got it…" said Edward "We go over, attend the hearing, file a case in London and then come back and sue for defamation here. We can prove she entered your flat if Miss Irina co-operates and I'm pretty sure I can make that happen. I think we can safely assume that she was behind the anonymous accusations so generously shared with your ex-husband's colleagues and Toby's bank should have a log of the call she no doubt made to his secretary. "
"Useless to bother filing in Louisiana" Jasper replied "maximum fine is five hundred bucks. Victoria spends more than that on those horrid plastic nails she wears. Damn those things are grim, like hens' claws."
Alice looked at her own neat fingers with a touch of smugness.
"And up to six months in prison don't forget!" Edward told him, a devious grin on his face.
"And the public humiliation" Rose chipped in. "The Times Picayune will definitely cover it."
"On that note," Alice interrupted. "Am I the only one to notice that Victoria has suddenly acquired money? She's gone from K-Mart to Karl Lagerfeld almost overnight and I swear she's had two new cars this year already. I know that there's no family money. Not that it would matter if she wasn't just so hoity toity, bless her heart! I happen to know for a fact that her momma lived in a double-wide trailer up near Basille, met her daddy in a bar when he was on a huntin' trip and trapped him into marriage. You'd never have known it to meet her, she behaved like the Queen of England. Not a good bone in her body."
"Well that explains a lot" said Rose "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!"
"She had me fooled" said Edward sadly. "I really did believe that she was sincere about convertin'. What a thing to pretend." He shook his head and shrugged. Was I shallow for noticing the way that his muscular shoulders stretched the thin cotton of his shirt? I think not.
"Oh she is good, son" said Emmett "She had me thinking that she was the perfect red-neck princess! Right up my alley. Didn't take long to see through it but I was fooled for a while there. Thank God I found me the perfect woman." He added quickly, turning to Rose.
"Oh darlin' you callin' me a red-neck, you sugar tongued devil?" she drawled, throwing a cushion at him with surprising speed and, based on his hurt expression, impressive power. He retaliated by lunging at her.
"Ok you two, knock it off before you lower the moral tone and scare my dogs! Emmett, you have a look at her finances. Jasper, you get your I.T. guys looking and see what you can find." Edward ordered
"Yes Sir!" Jasper replied, raising his hand in mock salute. In return, Edward raised a single finger.
"Well now who's lowerin' the tone Mr Prim and Proper?" asked Rose, smiling. "And what will you be doin' as part of this hey?"
"Well, we'll be going to London, of course" replied Edward, looking straight at me and making my breath catch with anticipation. "And more to the point, you're not spending another night under Miss Irina's roof. You're movin' in with me."
"Good grief! Heavy handed much?" I asked "and my Mr Cullen, what will the neighbours say?" I added, pretending to fan myself and gazing at him under my eyelashes.
"Well fiddle de dee" he answered "we'll just have to find out!"
After a very entertaining trip back to collect my things which included receiving a signed confession after veiled and not-so veiled threats of police involvement for Miss Irina's complicity in Victoria's snooping, and the concealment of three large prawns in the curtain rod which would certainly cause some fun in the not too distant future, we sat in Edward's massive dining room eating takeaway Po'Boys on what looked like Sevres china.
Sitting next to Edward and taking advantage in the others' involvement in a heated argument about whether Victoria's father was gullible or "dumb as a box of rocks" as Rose put it, I turned to Edward.
"I can't ask you to come over to London and do all this for me."
"You don't have to" he answered simply "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. I'm staying with you. At the risk of tootin' my own horn, I am a damn good lawyer and you aren't going to walk into the lion's den unarmed."
I nodded, reaching for his hand under the table. I stroked his thigh, feeling the strength of his muscles through his jeans. It was all I could do not to rip his clothes off on the spot.
"And" he whispered, his index finger stroking the inside of my palm and making me melt, "imagine a few nights alone in those big four poster beds at Claridges' Hotel. Darlin' the things I will do to you…"
"Quit groping you two! Focus!" shouted Emmett, backing up his point with a well-aimed gherkin.
I tore myself away from Edward's gaze, blushing like a lunatic to see the four idiots grinning like fools.
"Well it is a pleasure to see you smiling again. " Jasper said to Edward. Raising his glass, he added, "Give our regards to London and come home soon!"
So it was official. London it was.
Victoria had no idea of the fury she had just unleashed but she was about to find out. And, I would have Edward alone in the city where we had first fallen in love. I couldn't wait to get on that plane.