"This is great! Thanks Naoms." Emily pressed a kiss to Naomi's cheek as she returned from the bar with their drinks.
"I'm sorry Ems, for making you feel like a prisoner." The blonde apologised as she took a seat beside her on one of the oversized beanbags. "I was just scared."
"I know." Emily kissed her again, this time on her lips. "I was being stupid. I shouldn't have snuck out like that. I just needed to get outside for a bit. Clear my head…this is just what I needed. Thanks."
"Easy you two. Public place and all that." Cook teased as he sat down beside them. Panda and Thomas followed him, leaving Freddie at the bar with Effy.
"So nice to see you again Emily." Thomas greeted her politely.
"Yeah we thought you'd gone back home!" Panda added with her usual enthusiasm.
"I came back up to see Naomi for a few days." The lie rolled off Emily's tongue with practised ease.
"Oh, whizzer! Do you know there's a girl on the news who looks just like you? She was kidnapped weeks ago and her family are trying to find out what happened to her!"
Naomi choked on her drink and Emily's eyes widened in shock in response to the blonde's outburst. "It is alright." Thomas reassured them as Panda bounced off to the bar to get an extra umbrella for her drink. Why she had an umbrella and a cocktail stick in a bottle of WKD was anyone's guess. "I love Pandora deeply; but she is not, how do you say, the sharpest tool in the box? Your business is your own Emily."
"Thanks Thomas." Emily smiled at him, but the blonde beside her wasn't quite as reassured. The list of people who knew about Emily's kidnapping was growing longer by the minute. It was quite possibly the worst kept secret in history and not for the first time it was playing on Naomi's mind.
It had been almost a month since Emily had been taken and the media storm about the missing twin had been growing by the day. The blonde was beginning to seriously doubt whether they could really get away with it. Even if Cook did get something on White to keep him off their backs there was still the police to think about. They weren't likely to just drop the investigation when Emily was returned safe and well. For all Emily would try and throw the police off there was still a trail of evidence that led firmly back to Naomi's door. Literally.
JJ was proof of that. Emily's best friend had tracked them down through the mobile Cook had used and it wouldn't be long before the police would do the same thing, though they obviously had legal hoops to jump through with the phone company that JJ hadn't had to worry about. He had led Katie straight to Effy and eventually to Cook and Naomi. The blonde caught Effy's eye at the bar as she finished making a mocktail, an alcohol free cocktail, for JJ. The other girl flashed a rare reassuring smile instead of an infuriating smirk. It made Naomi even more unsettled. She knew Effy and Katie were on shaky ground after Katie's little tryst had been exposed. The oldest twin was a lose canon. If she said or did anything stupid she could blow it for all of them; though in truth neither Katie nor Emily were entirely innocent either.
When JJ made his way over to the table, suspiciously eyeing the bright purple drink Effy had supplied him with, he took a seat next to Cook. He'd become something of a second shadow for Cook after a yob had tried to pick a fight with the younger man outside the club. The bouncers had barely batted an eye lid as Cook had sent him packing. Naomi was genuinely surprised by his patience with JJ. He seemed to have adopted the attitude of a big brother and was doing his best to make sure Emily's best friend felt included. Whether he genuinely liked him, or was just trying to keep him happy so he wouldn't go running to the authorities, was debateable. Either way JJ stuck to him like glue all night.
Being out of the house had definitely cheered Emily up. She seemed a lot happier on the night out with Naomi and her friends than she had in weeks. Emily Fitch was a social creature and she fitted in seamlessly with Naomi's friends, as though they had all been friends for years rather than a matter of weeks. Though Emily seemed quite relaxed Naomi was far from it. She had agreed to go out to make Emily happy, but part of her was still on edge at the thought that it would only take one person to spot the redhead and call the police. She had spent the last month constantly worrying that the police could turn up at her door at any moment. The pressure was getting to her and putting a strain on her and Emily's already complex relationship. The added knowledge of Katie's affair hadn't help matters much either. Everything was playing on the blonde's mind, mounting up to an ever present migraine and a foul mood.
"You're quiet." Emily observed as she returned from the bar. She'd drank quite a few of Effy's infamous cocktails and was less than steady on her feet as she plonked herself down on to the blonde's lap. She giggled as the beanbag shifted below them. Her lips claimed Naomi's before the other girl could respond. Naomi's arms wrapped around her, keeping her steady as she finally pulled away and offered her an adoring smile.
"Just tired." The blonde shrugged. She didn't just mean physically.
"Let's go home." Emily grinned at her, mischief on her mind as she kissed her again. It was a welcome distraction for the other girl as her mind went blank. The only thing she could think about was the gorgeous redhead sitting on her lap.
"I think I'm falling in love with you." The words slipped out without Naomi's permission, but it didn't make them any less true. Naomi Campbell had fallen hard for the youngest Fitch twin and there was nothing she could do about it. Emily's face lit up.
"I think I'm falling in love with you too." She replied with a goofy smile as she got to her feet and dragged Naomi up with her. "Come on, I'll show you how much."
After checking Cook was ok to look after JJ the girls slipped out of the cub and took a taxi home. Effy opened the VIP section back up and had one of the girls from downstairs take over the bar for her while she had a drink with the rest of the gang. It was early in the week and the club was pretty quiet. Effy was considering Cook's proposal to take the night off, and go out to another club, when Katie Fitch walked up the stairs. She was on the arm of some sleazy third rate division one footballer who was ogling at Effy's chest as the oldest Fitch led him over to their table. "Hi guys, this is Ryan!"
"Ray." He corrected, though it seemed Katie could care less as she smugly grinned at Effy.
"Whatever babes. Can you go get me a drink please?" She sent the dim witted footballer off to the bar to wait in the queue, knowing she would have to wait ages for him to be served. "Isn't he dishy?" She batted her eyelashes as she watched him saunter over to the bar. Though Effy caught the sly look she cast her way. The footballer was a thinly veiled attempt to make her jealous. What annoyed Effy most was that it was actually working. As Ray returned with their drinks and took a seat beside Katie, his arm slipped around her waist and Effy felt her blood boiling. Jealousy was not something she was accustomed to.
As the night went on Katie thought of more and more adventurous ways to wind Effy up. From pawing all over Ray to flirting with the barmaid Effy had got to cover for her. "Wow, you must work out." Katie giggled as she used both hands to cup the other woman's forearm as she poured a pint. The woman was used to drunken passes and laughed it off, Effy wasn't quite as amused. "Fuck me, Tyson's got you wrapped around her little finger." Cook guffawed as he watched his best friend throw daggers towards the bar. "Careful Eff, anyone would think you cared."
"Fuck you Cook." She growled out in response, her eyes still glued to Katie as she slipped on to the dance floor with some random guy. Ray sat on the other side of Cook, sulkily watching as his date threw herself all over some over guy. It made Effy sick to her stomach to think she looked as pathetic as Ray, watching Katie's every move with a scowl.
"Trying to make me jealous?" Effy's voice was as smooth as silk as she slipped behind Katie, pushing the random guy who had been dancing with her out of the way. Her arms snaked possessively around the smaller girl's waist.
"Why? Is it working?" Katie teased as she rolled her hips, the action sending shivers running through Effy's body.
"Yes." Her response was a feral growl as she snatched Katie's wrist and dragged the smaller girl the short distance to her office. She slammed the door behind them, loud enough for the noise to be heard over the blaring music. It locked a moment later.
"There goes our invite!" Cook grinned as he elbowed JJ. Ray looked like a deer caught in headlights as he stared at the office door his date had just been manhandled in to. A few moments later the bouncer from downstairs came up and 'escorted' him from the club. Cook roared with laughter, knowing who was behind his sudden removal. Sometimes it paid to be the boss. "Looks like it's up to us boys to entertain ourselves!"
"Count me out." Freddie downed his pint, his sulky expression a perfect copy of Effy's earlier sulking. His gaze was fixed on Effy's door.
"Come off it mate! It was fucking years ago!" He slapped the other man on the back as he wrapped his free arm around JJ's neck in a friendly headlock. "Stick with the Cookie monster boys! Tonight we're getting laid!"
Despite Cook's insistence Freddie left them once they were outside the club. He'd had a thing for Effy since college and what had been a one off shag for Effy had meant far more to him. "Come on then JJ! I know just the place for you to get a willy waggle!" He chuckled as he led Emily's best friend through the back streets of Bristol. They left the upmarket part of town that housed Effy's club and made their way to the dark dingy streets that offered less legitimate businesses. The building they approached had a pink neon sign hanging up outside, announcing 'massage services' and twenty four hour service.
JJ shifted nervously from one foot to the other as they stood in the reception. The floor was carpeted in a tacky pink carpet which was almost threadbare. There were fake diplomas and certificates on the wall accrediting top marks to the 'highly trained masseuses'. "Is this a whore house?" He croaked out, his voice faltering like a teenage boy's. Though with his braces and tight curls he didn't look much older than sixteen. It was hard to believe he was the same age as Cook.
"Whoa! Less of the whore, aye JJ?" Cook clapped an arm around the smaller boy's shoulder as a woman appeared behind the reception desk. She was dressed in some sort of imitation silk kimono that reached her knees. Her bottle blonde hair had been straightened within an inch of its life and a cigarette dangled from her thin pursed lips. "Hello there fair maiden, I'd like to sort my mate out here with the second loveliest bird you've got. Obviously he can't have the first, 'cause you're working." He winked at the woman as she critically appraised the young man trembling beside Cook.
"He over sixteen?" She grunted in a thick eastern European accent. JJ's cheeks flushed red as he fumbled in his pockets and brought out his ID.
"Twenty two, ma'am."
Cook snatched the ID out of the other man's hand before the woman could get her paws on it. The establishment he had taken JJ to was definitely a no names kind of place. The woman cast another scrupulous glance over the pair of them before nodding towards the PVC leather couch off to the side of the reception. "Wait there. I'll sort something out." She left them sitting while she went off to prepare a 'massage' for JJ. Cook was just about to ask if JJ was still a virgin when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. A pair of attractive brunettes were walking down the stairs dressed in skimpy leather lingerie. "Look I can come show you how to set the swing up real quick, but I can't leave White waiting in six much longer-" Cook's ears pricked up as he heard the name White. So Johnny White, leader of the notorious White family, paid for strange? Cook was never one to pass up a golden opportunity and he dragged JJ to his feet. A quick visit room six was in order.
The door was thankfully unlocked, but Cook had a quick spy through the keyhole before venturing in. He wanted to get some dirt on White, not get on his bad side. "Fucking hell!" He startled JJ as he fell back from the door, roaring with laughter. A second later he was waltzing through the door, strutting around like he owned the place. "Hello, Johnny. How's it hanging mate?" He chuckled at Johnny's stunned expression. The older man was shackled to a metal bedframe that stood on its side against the wall. He was completely naked except for a leather thong and a collar around his neck. Shock quickly gave way to anger as he growled at the two young men who had barged in on him.
"Get the fuck out of here Cook, now!"
"Oh, I don't think so Johnny." Cook grinned as he shut the door over and propped a chair under the door handle so it couldn't be budged from the outside. A loose plan was quickly forming in his mind. "Do the Heston's know about your little guilty pleasure? Do they know you like to be tied up and hit by girls?" White bristled at the mention of the Hestons. They were a rival crime family in Bristol. White certainly couldn't afford to lose face in front of them. "Or is it boys that float your boat?" Cook winked at him as he caught sight of JJ. The other young man looked nervous and lost, unsure of where to look.
"How about a picture? JJ, take your shirt of and go stand by Mr White."
"What?" Both men spluttered. White was looking at Cook like he wanted to strangle him with his bare hands, which if they weren't tied above his head he probably would have.
"Jay, It's for Ems, trust me, yeah?" JJ reluctantly nodded and unbuttoned his shirt before standing cautiously beside White. He was small and skinny, his pasty white flesh as hairless as a new born baby. He really did look like a teenager. Which just added to the effect as Cook pulled out his phone and started taking photos. He chuckled again as he pocketed his camera and JJ put his shirt back on.
"Seems little boys are your thing, eh?"
"What do you want Cook?" White wasn't stupid. He knew Keith and he knew his nephew would never pull such a suicidal stunt if he wasn't on the take. "Money? Drugs? Both? What is it going to cost me to get those pictures deleted?"
"Protection. I'm gonna tell you something, and afterwards I want you to sort it so that me and mine don't get touched. Understand?" White nodded, his curiosity peaked. It was a rare man who wasn't out for money or riches. "That girl you had me look after, Emily Fitch-" White erupted in to laughter as everything fell in to place.
"I knew you couldn't have killed her. You weak fucker. What did you do to her then? Did you shag her? Was that it? You got that little bitch stashed somewhere-" It was White's turn to fall silent as JJ struck him. The blow to his face barely registered, but his gaze snapped on to the trembling boy.
"Don't you ever talk about Emily that way!"
"You heard the man." Cook laughed, applauding JJ as he clapped him on the back. "Ems is a good kid. She didn't deserve to get messed up in any of this shit. So here's the deal. She gets to go home, she doesn't say a word to no one about any of us, and you and your boys leave her be. Me and mine don't cross your path again-"
"And you delete the pictures." White grunted as he pulled at his restraints, trying to regain some dignity as he brokered the deal.
"I keep the pictures. I lose these and you put a bullet in my brain, right? Well I've just sent them to my mate, nice guy. Anything happens to me and he knows what to do. So, we got a deal?"
"Deal. Now get me the fuck out of these!"
"No chance Johnny boy." Cook knew that regardless of what he had on White the other man would likely kick the hell out of him if he got loose. "I'll leave that to the help." He winked before dragging JJ out of the room, ignoring White's roars of anger.
"Come on JJ, I say we go celebrate, get your cherry popped and then tell Red the good news."
Apologies that I haven't updated in like two weeks. I went back to work last week and I'm still waiting to get my eyesight sorted so it took a lot out of me. I spent most of this week down south for a work thing; with my future boss trying to set me up with one the girls who works in her store…sometimes I love my job XD
Anyway, I did get some writing done on the lovely five hour coach trip home but most of it was illegible so it's taken me a while to type up. I hope to have the next chapter up in a few days or so.
