Surrendered(6)

“So, she didn’t even come looking for you?” I ask tentatively, moving away from the obvious subject.

She shrugs nonchalantly. “She was probably trashed for a week before she even noticed either of us were gone.” God, that’s so sad. “She doesn’t give a fuck about anything except her next drink. Even when she did find us, all she cared about was the money, clearly.” She’s right. The woman obviously has no shame.

“I wish I’d known all this Lilly. There is no way I would have paid her off. I’d have her dealt with her in an entirely different way.” I murmur.

“I’m not going to drag you into my shit, Theo.” She huffs.

My eyes snap to hers. “Are you fucking serious? After everything, you are now going to tell me that you don’t want to drag me into your shit.” I laugh humourlessly. “Sugar, we are knee fucking deep in each others shit, and that’s exactly how I want it.”

A small smile pulls at her lips, and she tilts her head to the side. “Really?”

I move around the breakfast bar until I can reach out and touch her perfect face. “I don’t know how you fucking do it sugar.”

“Do what?” She asks quietly.

“Function. Keep going. Not only endure, but thrive from the worst situation.” She pulls me closer until I’m stood between her legs. She winds her arms around me, pressing her face into my chest.

“The world can be a shitty place. The best you can hope for, is that someone will hold your hand whilst you walk through it.” She mumbles into my chest. Fuck, I love this woman. I think I’d be suicidal at the cruelty of it all.

“I love you sugar.” I tell her.

“I love you.” She pulls away and tilts her head back, flashing me a small smile. She places her hands on my chest and pushes me away. “Now go make me pancakes.” She barks.

“You’re such high maintenance.” I grumble.

“I am not!” I can’t help but smile. I don’t really know what just happened, but I know it was huge. She let me in.

I open the fridge and grab some eggs. I hope I have flour. I don’t do the food shopping, and I can’t imagine Maria buying flour for me - although she does make cakes for me sometimes. I know, best house keeper ever. Aha, and there is flour.

“Do you even know how to make pancakes?” She asks.

I turn around and look at her. “I’m offended.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Now this, I have to see.”



I manage to get her to eat two pancakes, which feels like a small victory.

She puts her fork down and checks her watch. “I have to go.” She sighs. “The police are still waiting on a statement from me. I said I’d go down to the station this afternoon.”

I nod. “Do you know what you are going to say?”

Her eyes meet mine, her usual tenacity shining through. “Whatever I have to say to get him out.”

I don’t disagree. He’s her brother, and I know she will do and say whatever she needs to. That said, I’m worried that she’s not looking at the bigger picture here. If she goes into that station and tells them what she just told me, the likelihood is that they will deem this as mitigating circumstances and release Harry. However, it wouldn’t take much for the press to get wind of this. They would have a fucking field day with this. I can’t let that happen to her.

“Look, I think that for now you should say as little as possible, see how this plays out. They haven’t got anything to hold him on anyway.”

She frowns. “If it were me in there, he’d do everything.”

“Do you really think he would want you to do this?” I counter. She doesn’t respond, because she knows I’m right. “I’ll speak to Claudia. She’ll go with you. She can advise you.” Claudia will control the situation, and make sure Lilly doesn’t throw herself on the fire to save her brother.

She shakes her head. “No, you don’t have to do that. I know how much money that woman charges per hour. It’s enough to make me move into criminal law.” She mumbles.

“Lilly, I swear to god, if you start quibbling about money right now…”

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, okay. Thank you.” She hops down off the breakfast stool, smoothing her skirt down. I spin on my stool to face her. She chews on her thumb nail nervously. I grab her wrist, pulling her hand away, and using it to pull her to me. Her body fits perfectly between my thighs.

I cup her face in both hands. “It will be fine sugar. Just listen to Claudia, and I promise I will get Harry out. Okay?” She nods mutely. I lean forward and place a kiss on her forehead. “Will you be coming back here later?”