Luc took his thumb and brushed it along my cheek. “Don’t hold it inside, pretty girl, you need to talk and I want to help.”
As I stared into his eyes wishing that I could, wondering how he could help me out of this mess. I did something I didn’t even expect from myself. I talked. “He’s blackmailing me,” I said, looking to the ground in front of me. I felt ashamed and I knew it was because Scott Wellington made me into a helpless victim that night.
“What does that mean, Vicky?” Luc asked. His question was harder to answer than he thought but I guessed since Bryce had been open about my paternity he might as well know too.
“Bryce is my father, Luc,” I said and Luc exhaled. I didn’t understand and I crunched my eyebrows together.
He held onto his heart. “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that.”
“What? Why?”
“For now, it doesn’t matter why, Vicky. We are both not ready to discuss why, but please tell me what this has to do with Scott.”
“I was going to meet Bryce as Scott was leaving his office. Bryce surprisingly introduced me as his daughter. The problem is that I knew Scott from before,” I explained as I felt a darkness descend over my body.
Luc put a hand over my shoulder, guiding me over to the side of the lobby, so that we were not in the center of all the busy people strutting by. “I met Scott at a sex club…I went home with him…” I paused because the next part is too embarrassing to admit. Luc will think I am a nutcase.
“It’s okay, Vicky, after all the things I’ve done and seen you won’t be scaring me…talk, pretty girl.” He urged me forward looking at me with reverence. My heart clenched. I felt too much for him after meeting him only days ago.
“He’s blackmailing me, he made a tape of our time back in Toronto…I didn’t know he was taping me….now he said if I don’t sleep with him, he will show the tape to Bryce or even better, he said he will sell it to the media for a good dollar since I am Bryce Andrews’ daughter.” As I finished speaking I could see that Luc’s posture had become rigid and his jaw was ticking.
“I can go kill the bastard,” he said with clenched fists by his side.
“Luc, please…you told me that fighting isn’t for you and I don’t need to get you into trouble. I will find a way out of it,” I explained, hoping to calm him down. He was clearly larger than Scott and probably trained to inflict pain, but I didn’t want to put him through the exact thing he had been trying to escape from with his own family.
I realized that Bryce’s driver should be waiting for me outside. I wondered if he had left. I was supposed to leave for the motel. “Vicky, I need to keep you safe, Scott Wellington is a scum bag.”
“You have no idea,” I huffed out, rolling my eyes.
Luc’s face constrained. “What does that mean? Did he hurt you?”
“Luc please…” I bowed my head to the floor.
He held onto my arm gently as if he was scared I would run. “Vicky, tell me, I need to know, did he hurt you?”
“Luc, I told you, I was messed up. Trust me when I say that I am doing you a favor, you don’t want to know the likes of me.”
“Vicky, stop it…right now…whatever this is that you are running from, I can handle it. You are in trouble and I’m not walking away so, please….” The irritation in his voice died down. “Please talk to me,” he whispered softly as his eyes pleaded with me.
I closed my eyes remembering the pain. “I can’t say it, Luc…but Scott Wellington is a bad man.”
“Okay, I’m not going to push you. You will be safe with Bryce’s driver, he is trained… but please give me your phone number, so I can call you and make sure that you are okay.”
“The driver will be taking me to one of Bryce’s apartments, but he didn’t say where.” After exchanging numbers with Luc, I left out the front door and a kind man that was waiting outside of a black SUV greeted me.
“Ms. Molino?” he smiled.
“Yes.” I smiled back.
“Derek. I’m Mr. Andrews’ driver. Where to?” he asked as I got in the car.
“Motel Lafayette,” I said as a light pink crawled up my cheeks.
“Of course,” he smiled again and moments later we were merging into another Manhattan traffic jam.
Chapter 10
Vicky
Bryce’s driver insisted on following me into the motel and ensuring my safety, per Bryce’s orders. The truth was I couldn’t argue with him. Not after what had happened with Scott. I was still shaking from the inside out. As Derek walked into my motel room, I knew he was trying to be polite and help me pack, but I could see the disgust in his eyes at how gross this place was. That was why I had to take Bryce up on his offer for the apartment. If I was going to spend some time in New York, it couldn’t be living here. I never unpacked my duffle, so Derek and I made it back to the SUV in record time. When he insisted on paying my motel bill, I declined politely but he insisted on paying, per Bryce’s orders.
Back in the SUV I watched the bright lights of the big city come into view. I already knew we were headed for the nicer part of town. Looking at my watch I realized it was already seven o’clock. It was already nighttime, my loneliest time of day, when everything was quiet and I had plenty of time to drown in my past.
As the driver pulled off to the side of the road, he stopped in front of a brown building with stone facing. The two large entrance doors in the front were clear glass and the view of the extravagant lobby could be seen from outside. My heart sunk into my stomach when I realized that this building looked too much like the one that Luc lived in. I quickly rummaged through my purse, looking for the address from the sex party that I had scribbled onto a random piece of paper.
“This is it, Miss Molino,” the driver looked back at me through his rearview mirror with a kind smile. Then he stepped out of the car, I’d assumed to open the door for me. I finally found the crumpled piece of paper and opened it up. Fifteen Park Avenue, I swiftly glanced to the address written in cursive writing at the top of the glass. Shit, it’s a match…
“Miss Molino?” the driver asked, almost questioningly as he stood holding the door open for me, probably wondering why I had not exited the SUV. I was going to be living in the same building as Luc? How was I supposed to resist this man when I was living and working in the same place as him? “This way ma’am.” The driver motioned to me with my duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. The doorman held the door for both of us.
“Miss Molino,” the doorman smiled brightly. “I am Tim, I take care of security around here, if you need anything, there is an intercom in your unit. Don’t hesitate to give me a shout,” he explained, while his eyes roamed my body quickly before landing back up on my face.
As I followed the driver up to the apartment my stomach flip-flopped wondering if I would bump into Luc. I was glad to hear this place had tight security, even though I doubted that Scott would be stupid enough to show up here. As the elevator rose, I noticed the driver had pressed the twenty-third floor, one floor below Luc. Holy crap.
“Here’s the key,” the driver said, passing me the key to open the door. He had his hands full with my oversized duffle. As I opened the door my mouth opened into a large O. This was not a small apartment by any means. Yes, it looked smaller than Luc’s apartment that had two floors but, holy shit, this place was massive and modern, with dark wood floors and intricate trim on the ceilings and walls. The walls were a pristine white and all the furniture was white, everything was white except for the very colorful modern paintings that adorned the walls.