After All - Part Fifty Four

Chapter Fifty Four

Sorry again at the huge delay, summer is proving to be more than hectic. This chapter isn't really complete, but I've posted earlier than intended where a natural break appeared. Will crack on tonight and have next part out tomorrow. 

The end is in sight!

Her protests of “what do you mean?” fell on deaf ears. Dylan absorbed her into a bear hug and was snoring in a few moments. Leaving her to stare at the ceiling. Visiting her father, that was the purpose of this trip, but suddenly it was the last thing she wanted. Her brother would pour scorn on her decisions, she knew that, and that was what she feared, he and Dylan had always had a volatile relationship. They didn’t need any added stress, not at this stage...not that Gareth was speaking out of turn really, he’d seen how devastated she’d been, he’d seen her personal hell, and there was the added fact that Dylan could do no wrong in their mother’s eyes, she knew that Gareth was envious of that. And who could blame him. He’d grown up in a well rounded normal family, and didn’t appreciate what it was to have supportive parents, Dylan having had the opposite was overwhelmed by her parents and the way they supported him, and his actions and reactions only reinforced that. It had led to a standoff with Gareth.

So why were they visiting him? There was no need to get them all involved. She didn’t want them to know about Dylan until she was comfortable and confident in her own way. And she was a long way from that. Now he was about to change that in typical controlling Dylan fashion.

She took a deep breath; this was his problem, not hers. Her family would be glad to see her; he could deal with the animosity. He’d forced this. That was her final thought as she succumbed to much needed sleep.

Matilda could barely lift her eyes lids, she was aware it wasn’t dark anymore, yet she was exhausted, but then she’d done more thinking than sleeping the previous night, her mind wasn’t keen to turn off. She could hear movement in the adjacent lounge, Dylan was an early riser. Glancing around the room, she spotted a shirt of his, not the one she’d virtually ripped off him the previous night, but another one. Sliding it over her naked body, she stretched, rubbed her eyes then moved into the lounge.

Dylan was hunched over his laptop talking urgently into his phone, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation, he was hissing, trying not to raise his voice, but she could hear the anger, see the tension in his shoulders. He was only wearing a pair of board shorts, which seemed ridiculous when he was engrossed in so technical and deep a conversation.

Seeing her out the corner of his eye, he looked up and gave her a smile, then ended the call abruptly.

                “David, I don’t care who authorised it, it wasn’t me. So I suggest you find out and deal with it...I am on vacation!”

As he tossed the phone on to the table beside his laptop he turned to her and pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her waist, which meant that still seated his head rested on her stomach. She placed her hands on his head, appreciating the poignancy of the moment. Eventually he gave his head a little shake and looked up at her.

                “New York?”

He nodded, pulling her astride his thighs, “yep. Some huge screw up that only I can deal with apparently!”

                “Ah.” She lowered her head to his shoulder, suddenly not able to think about time without him now that he’d thrust himself into her life.

Chuckling, a deep sound, he lifted her head, looked into her eyes, “and I told them to get over it. Wild horses or economic collapse will not drag me away from you. I will not make that mistake again, ok?”

Smiling she accepted his kiss, the warm reassurance of his lips on hers, but she couldn’t make him do that, not deep down.

                “If you have to go, then you must.” She felt emotional as she said it, but she couldn’t expect him to put everything on hold for her.

But he was shaking his head, “I employ people on HUGE salaries to deal with this shit. Someone screwed up when I was away...so they need to deal with it, if you’re in charge; you take the rough with the smooth.”

                “But...”

He placed a finger over her lips, “I haven’t had a holiday in years, I have a luxury yacht chartered for an hour’s time, and a deluxe breakfast is en route from the restaurant as we speak.”  

Again she opened her mouth and he lifted an eyebrow, “not good enough?”

She laughed, “it’s perfect...but I don’t want this to be an issue, you know, that every time something crops up you’ll be obliged to do right by me. There are other things in your life. I know that.”

                “I have to decide what’s right for ME, and for too long that was being the best...now it’s keeping the best...YOU. OK?”

How did you answer that?

Matilda did the best she could, by landing her lips on his. Devouring him with an attentiveness that made him moan. He was just loosening the buttons on her shirt...HIS shirt when the doorbell rang.  With a groan, he lifted her from his lap, then groaned again as she propped herself provocatively against the desk, far too much flesh on show as he made for the door.

Breakfast. That was what they both needed.

Sat on the veranda overlooking the cerulean sea that was millpond still, the early morning sun already warm, the aromas from breakfast...Dylan wondered if he’d ever been this content, this happy before. Matilda was sat opposite him, indecent in just his dress shirt, and his aviator sunshades which he had to admit looked better on her than on him. She was nibbling rather erotically at a strawberry and he couldn’t see her eyes, but knew they were watching him, he could see the hint of a smile of her lips.

                “What?” He put down his coffee cup.

                “Nothing...just can’t believe you’re not going to sort out your shit.”

He laughed, “and what exactly would you have said if I upped and left you here? You’d never have forgiven me so don’t try and trick me. And anyway, I’m exactly where I want to be. Ok?!” He was quiet for a moment, toying with the fruit salad in front of him, “it was the worst thing I’ve ever done...”

She looked up at that, “what?”

He sighed, “abandoning you, seeking out success at your expense.”

Sitting back in her chair she looked at him for a moment, “really?”

He nodded, “I told you that, I’ve had a long time to rue what I did, and even longer to work out exactly what the hell I was playing at. I won’t make that mistake again...”

He watched Matilda drop her head for a moment, “my father? You’ve spoken to him?”

He nodded, “he called me, seems your brother was worried that I called him.”

                “Shit. What did he say?”

He gave her an enigmatic smile, “you’ll see and hear for yourself in a couple of days.”

                “Was he awful?”

Laughing he gave his head a shake, “if he’d treated MY daughter the way I’d treated you, I’d have been nowhere near as lenient, but then your father is a gentleman of the old school variety.”

He could see she was pondering what that meant, but he wasn’t lying, he had no intention of hiding from Jimmy Davies, and he wasn’t about to hide from his role in the past. This was the new him, he just had to convince her of it. This new Dylan Wallace was feeling great to him, suddenly the disappointment, the hardship, the void in his life that his success didn’t seem to fill, it was all changed.

An hour later he was in her room helping her fill the bags that she’d brought with her, moving her into his suite. That was the minimum that had to happen, he kept insisting.

                “Come on, come on!” he was jumping from one leg to another as she cleared the bathroom shelves.

                “What’s the rush?” she snapped.

                “The boat!”

She rolled her eyes carrying on at her own pace.

Back in his room he left the bags in the bedroom, “I’ve arranged for a woman to come and empty them, she’ll launder what needs it and hang the rest up. COME ON!”

Again rolling her eyes, she allowed him to pull her out into the corridor.

                “That’s not a boat!” Matilda announced stood staring at the huge luxury motor boat at the harbour in front of them.

He shrugged, “it’s a motorboat, admittedly it’s high spectrum...” He turned to her, “two things, firstly, a yacht, sail boat or smaller engine wouldn’t cover the distances we need to get to the delights of the coast in a day, and secondly, I can afford it...and you are MORE than worth it.”

The look that accompanied that comment warmed her to her toes. With him she felt worth it, he was openly affectionate, complimentary...honest. And as he leaned close and murmured his desire to swim with her in the most beautiful beaches, she literally melted into him. Maybe she just had to get used to living at the level he now did. That shouldn’t be difficult. Should it?