I take the lift down to the garage in the basement of the building. I don’t usually drive, but I needed my car in case I needed to go and get Harry. I can’t imagine he would really want to have to use public transport after having been locked up for two days. I press the button on the fob and the car beeps in greeting. She stands out like a sore thumb amongst the sleek black and silver German saloons. The cherry red paint shines under the fluorescent lights. I open the door and slide into the seat. The smell of Italian leather engulfs me. I love this car far too much to sell it…again. Parting with the last one was hard enough. This one is even nicer. Theo will have to pry the key from my cold dead fingers. I plug in my ipod and Adam Levine’s voice blasts through the speakers. I’m in a good mood. Harry is getting out. Theo and I are good. Things are falling into place, and I feel like maybe happiness isn’t so unattainable.
I wait anxiously outside the court house. I’m pacing back and forth when my heart leaps at the sound of Harry’s voice. “Lilly.” He rumbles.
I spin on my heel and face my brother as he reaches the bottom step of the wide concrete stairs. “Harry.” I can barely raise my voice above a whisper. I run and throw myself into his waiting arms.
He squeezes me tight, and it’s as though everything is right in the world again. I feel like I’ve been missing a piece of my soul being separated from him. He holds me for a long while. When he pulls away he smiles at me, his green eyes warm and affectionate.
“Don’t cry, baby girl.” He brushes a tear from my cheek, and flashes me that smile of his. That smile has restored my faith in humanity many times.
“I’m so happy to see you.” I choke. “I missed you.” God, I love my brother. There are some people that you just cannot function without. My brother is one of those people. He’s the other half of my soul. When two people endure the things that we have endured, an unbreakable bond is formed. Harry is my brother, my best friend, my protector.
“It was two days, Lilly.” He grins.
I smack his arm. “I thought you were going to be put in prison.”
“Still might.” He shrugs. “It’s not worth worrying about, so don’t.”
Guilt batters away at me. Harry is suffering now because he helped me. It’s all so wrong. “It’s my fault.” I say quietly.
He frowns and shakes his head. “No. Never think that. I don’t for a second regret taking you Lilly. I would do it again in a heartbeat.” He pulls me into another bone crushing hug. “I love you more than my own life Lill’s. Never forget that.”
“I love you.” I sniffle. God, I’m such a pansy around my brother. I get little sister syndrome. “Lets go before I turn into a sobbing mess.”
“Can I drive?” He grins.
I roll my eyes and throw the keys at him. “Only because you did hard time for me.” I point a manicured finger at him. “Scratch her and I will scratch your eyes out.”
He smirks. “Just checking you haven’t turned into a total pussy.”
“Dick.” I say with a stupid grin on my face.
CHAPTER SIX
THEO
I pull into the empty car park, next to a black Mercedes, the only other car parked here. Picking up the envelope from my passenger seat, I switch off the engine and step out of the car.
I open the rear door of the Merc and slide into the back seat. “Ellis. How are you?” A deep voice asks.
I turn and meet the lined face of Judge Gregory Manning. “I’m well, and you?”
“Very well, thank you.” He’s always the same. He likes his polite small talk, despite our less than ethical relationship.
“Thank you once again for your help today.”
He smiles. “Well, that was a small favour, considering your past transgressions.”
I shrug. “True, but no less valued.” I hand him the envelope. “Your payment.”
Gregory and I have had a healthy relationship for some years now. Whenever I find myself in need of a little leniency from the law, Gregory delivers. It may be that a company I wish to buy is in legal difficulties. It may be that I myself am being investigated, or charged. I have had more assault charges brought against me than I care to admit, all simple bar fights, but of course, everyone always wants to press charges, because they think they can make some money. Gregory gets me out of a lot of holes, and in exchange, I pay him. I don’t pay him in money, that would be too obvious. Like any man, Gregory seeks to earn and expand his enterprises. I have an eye for money, and so I buy shares in companies I believe will expand and earn, I then gift him these shares. There’s less of a paper trail, and I suppose it’s more…ethical. Needless to say, I have made Gregory a very rich man over the years.