Seb parked his rented Maserati carelessly at the curb side in front of the Sheraton Hotel and jumped out, he bolted into the foyer with Antti not far behind him, not even bothering to lock the car. He hadn't got time for such small details, not right now. The dark haired receptionist looked startled as he came to a stop and slammed his hands on her desk.
"I need the room number for Stephen Cole." He looked at her, now wasn't the time for a jobsworth receptionist to be in his way. She arched a brow at him, keeping her cool.
"I cannot just give out names and room numbers of guests sir." She replied back airily.
"No, no, no. You're not getting it, I need that room number. He'll be booked to stay here." He shot back impatiently.
"I'm sorry but I cannot give out names and room numbers to anyone, there's a Grand Prix on and a lot of important people staying here." She replied, making eye contact as if to emphasise her reply.
"I know there's a race weekend on, I'm a fucking driver!" He raked a hand through his hair, his eyes darting around until Antti stepped in front of him.
"Hi." He gave her his best smile. "I'm sorry for my driver's rude attitude, but we believe that his wife is here having an important meeting with Mr Cole?"
"So?" The woman shrugged and Antti put his arms out to stop Seb from getting in front of him and really losing his shit at her.
"We've had some really bad news from her family and we've tried to contact her but she won't answer her phone. Basically her parents have just died in tragic circumstances...." He briefly stopped as he heard Seb give a pointed cough and an angry jab in his back, obviously not liking the story he was spinning the receptionist. "We need to get her on the next available plane back to London. Please...." He stepped closer to the desk, giving her a worried frown, he could see the woman was wavering. "....we need to break the news to her." Behind him, Seb was holding his breath. The woman looked torn, knowing that it was breaking security protocol to give out guest information but Antti was putting on a convincing performance. "Please, we need to get her home to her grandmother, the poor woman is all alone dealing with the death of her daughter and son-in-law. She'll be devastated if she misses this flight." Antti watched as she tapped on her computer keyboard and sighed in defeat as she leant forward, not wanting to be overheard.
"Room 721." She said quietly.
"Thank you." Antti grasped her face with both hands and planted a smacker of a kiss on the astonished woman's lips before whispering the number to Seb who bolted across to the lifts. The doors opened, they both stepped inside and Antti waved and blew the receptionist a kiss as the door glided shut.
"Ok, don't milk it." Seb nudged him and allowed himself a smile as the lift took them up to the seventh floor.
"So what's your plan?" He asked.
"No plan, I just want to get her out of there. I just want her safe. But I'll do whatever it takes." He replied as the doors opened. He walked quickly along the corridor, scanning every door number until they saw the one they were after. Now all he had to do was get Stephen to open the door. He stood for a moment, himself and Antti either side of the door, he could faintly hear music playing, a track he recognised and one that he knew would be all too familiar to Chloe. Before he could move Antti knocked loudly on the door. He shot his trainer an angry look, this wasn't some kind of game or scene from a movie he was re-enacting, this was real. His wife was in there with the man who had once raped her, it could just as easily be happening again. The door opened with a click, just an inch or so and then shut. Antti knocked again. This time Seb was ready to strike. A minute later it opened again, just a fraction more than last time but enough for him to jump in and jam in his foot in the door while Antti put all his weight behind it and barged into it, nearly knocking Stephen off of his feet and letting Seb dart inside. He froze at the sight in front of him and his heart dropped into his stomach. There she stood, trembling with fear, trying to cover her breasts with her hands, a pool of black silk on the floor surrounding her feet, her eyes wide open, her face pale, an angry looking mark on her neck, a little blood on her bottom lip where Stephen had bitten her, visible faint new bruises forming on her breasts where her hands hadn't quite covered and red finger sized marks on her hips. She looked almost exactly like he'd imagined her to look the morning after that night when Stephen had drugged her drink and raped her. It was heart wrenching to see but at the same time Seb couldn't not look, it was like looking back into her past, standing beside her as she'd looked in the bathroom mirror, realising what had happened to her while she'd been knocked out and unable to say no. The need to get his own brand of justice for his wife returned and it was stronger than it had ever been before. This vile, sick, twisted monster had to pay.
"Here to watch the show Sebastian? Didn't know you were into voyeurism." Stephen stood close behind him while Antti let the door swing shut.
"Seb." Chloe whimpered his name. "This isn't what it looks like."
"It's exactly what it looks like." Stephen sneered as he stepped around Seb to walk back over to Chloe. "And now the world can find out exactly what sort of woman you've married." He pulled his phone out of his pocket again and went straight to his emails.
"No! Please! You can't do this!" Forgetting her state of undress, Chloe jumped up to try and grab the phone just as he tapped the screen and held it up above his head.
"Thanks to your husband spoiling our evening, everyone will soon know what a little slut you really are. Feel good to wreck darling Michael's marriage..." Stephen was cut short by Seb's fist making contact with his stomach. The phone fell from his hands and Chloe was quick to pick it up, that was until she looked at the cold, rage filled eyes of her husband.
"Get dressed and get the fuck out of here." He muttered darkly.
"Seb, no, hear me out. He blackmailed me!" She dropped the phone and went to him, she started to clutch desperately at his jumper. "I had no choice!"
"Antti, help her to get dressed and then get her out." He looked down at Stephen who was getting himself back to his feet, finally he had his chance and he was going to grab it with both hands. Grabbing the nearest thing to hand, the black dress, Chloe shakily pulled it on and then ran to the bathroom to gather the rest of her things. It was then when she heard Seb strike the first blow. It was a sickening sound, a thud and then a crack and she flew out to see Stephen staggering backwards with a bloodied nose.
"Come on then, if you makes you feel better." Stephen hissed.
"You sick, rapist bastard!" He spat as he lunged at Stephen. "You're a vile pervert!" He heard Chloe scream as he landed another punch to Stephen's stomach and then another to his ribs. The older man fell to the floor and Seb's rage exploded into a rain of savage punches and kicks. "You touch my fucking wife, I'll fucking kill you! You'll never touch her again!"
"Seb!" She dropped her clothes and lurched forward, grabbing at Seb's jumper again, only to be pulled back by Antti. "No! Please don't do this! He's not worth it!" She watched helplessly as Seb lost all self control.
"Come on, outside, now!" Antti firmly grabbed her arm and began to tug her towards the door.
"Antti! He'll kill him!" She cried as she tried to pull away from him. "Seb!! Listen to me! Please stop!!" Managing to escape from Antti's grasp she flew at Seb and jumped onto his back, knocking him off balance. She heard him curse as he tried to right himself and she tried to hang on, if he was struggling with her, he wasn't raining down blows on Stephen. She let out loud cry of frustration as Antti physically removed her from Seb and carried to the door, kicking out and struggling. He didn't put her down until they were outside and the door was firmly closed. "If he kills Stephen, it'll be your fault!" She spat as he stood in front of the door while she leant against the wall opposite him.
"Nah." Antti shook his head and pointed at her. "If he kills Stephen, it's your fault." He stunned her into silence with his quick comeback and she slid down the wall to the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest lowering her head in shame. Antti was right, if Seb went too far, it was all her fault. This could be the end for him, he could get arrested, be jailed here in Brazil, this could be end of his career, he could lose his family, he could lose everything. It would all be her fault. Antti looked down at her as she burst in uncontrollable sobs and he instantly felt guilty about what he'd said. "I'm sorry." He lowered himself down to the floor in front of her and placed his hand on her knee. She said nothing back, she didn't even lift her head from her knees. "Chloe, hey, come on." He moved to sit beside her and put an arm around her shoulders, he could feel her whole body shaking with her sobs. "I shouldn't have said what I did, I'm sorry." Consumed by her own despair, she barely heard a word he said and she was barely aware of Antti's arm around her. One stupid decision, one wrong move had destroyed everything. She was going to lose Seb, Stephen emailing those images and videos of herself and Michael and telling the world about real state of Michael's health didn't even register in her brain right now. All that mattered to her was Seb. Carrying Chloe's bag, with her clothes and shoes shoved into the top of it, Seb emerged from Stephen's room a short time later. His eyes fell to his sobbing wife on the floor. "I can't get her to stop." Antti said anxiously as he rose to his feet. Seb held her bag out for him to take without uttering a single word and he took it, watching as Seb lowered himself down to his wife who was still sobbing uncontrollably on the floor. Still without saying a word, he scooped her up into his arms and got back up to his feet. He felt her cling to him in almost childlike way and her sobs were instantly subdued into ragged, gasping breaths as she pressed her face against his shoulder. As he started to walk Antti immediately went ahead and pressed for a lift, luckily by the time he got to the lift the doors had slid open allowing them to step inside. As the lift took them down to the ground floor, he kept his lips pressed against her forehead, while he'd got her away from her rapist, he knew that her ordeal wasn't quite over yet.
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"Oh my god!" Britta jumped up to her feet from the sofa the second she saw Seb walk in behind Antti, carrying his wife in his arms. "Is she ok?" She pushed aside her shock at what she'd seen spreading like wildfire online and watched anxiously as he placed Chloe down on the sofa and she sat herself up, looking at her husband with desperate, pleading eyes; while he looked full of torment, clearly very deeply affected by whatever had happened, she was shivering as if she was cold, she looked exhausted and pale and Seb seemed as if he couldn't bare to look at her.
"Thanks, both of you." Seb looked at Antti and then at Britta. "If you don't mind, I'd like you both to leave now. I'll see you in the morning."
"Sure." Britta nodded, she had more than enough to be getting on with anyway and as her phone rang once more the look Seb gave her told her that he already knew, there was shit literally hitting the fan. The world's media was feasting on the scandalous pieces of meat that Stephen had thrown before them like a ravenous pack of wolves. Chloe watched nervously as Britta and Antti quietly left, now she was left alone with Seb, time to face the music. There was silence as they looked at each other. Seb took in her figure, encased in the black, silk slip dress, though disheveled, she still looked beautiful. But that dress, the song he'd heard playing softly in the background, the white open box on the bed and the Ferrari red ribbon that laid beside it - he knew if he hadn't got there and stopped things when he did, Stephen would have made her relive that whole night again, only this time he'd have made sure that she'd remembered every single detail. What the fuck had she been thinking, putting herself in that situation?
"I need a moment." He shook his head, turned and walked away towards their bedroom. As she watched him disappear, she stayed where she was, she daren't move, unsure of what he was going to do. A few minutes later he came back with a change of clothes in his hands, his clothes, which he threw at her in temper. "Get that dress off." He snapped before walking to the window to stand with his back to her. Still shaking, she stood up and quietly walked into the bedroom to get changed. Why had he given her his clothes to wear when she had her own? Was for it comfort or some kind of gesture of ownership? Seb took a deep breath, using the time she'd be gone to try and calm himself. He looked down at his red, sore knuckles, reminders of how he'd beaten Stephen and left him bleeding, battered and gasping for breath. What the hell had happened to him? What the hell had gone on today? He wasn't a violent man, he'd never beaten anyone before, but today he'd finally snapped. All the anger and hate he'd felt for Stephen since Chloe had first told him of her rape, how it had built throughout the season and today that bastard had dared to lay his hands on his wife once more and he'd finally snapped. Hearing her shut bedroom door, he turned around to see her standing there wearing the clothes he'd given her, a pair of his black sweatpants and a grey and white long sleeved t-shirt. She looked like she belonged to him again now and not Stephen Cole. Standing still she stared down at the floor. She looked apprehensive, almost scared and his heart went out to her; was she scared of him? She should never be scared of him and even though he knew he shouldn't be angry with her, he was. Deep down he knew the reasons why she'd done what she'd done today, but he was angry and hurt that she'd put Michael's marriage before their own. Again there was silence as they stood looking at each other until Seb finally walked over to her and spoke. "Did he hurt you anywhere else apart from here?" He brushed a finger over her slightly swollen bottom lip, she shook her head.
"Where did he touch you?" He asked softly. She shivered as she remembered, making his stomach churn. "Where?" He asked again. She looked into his eyes as if she was trying to tell him without saying the words, then she closed her eyes as she tried to gather the courage to speak. Seb stayed patient, waiting until she opened her eyes again and was ready to talk.
"Here." She placed her hands on her breasts. "And....." She lost her voice, instead he watched as her hand slid slowly down her body via her hips to between her legs.
"So you didn't....you know?" He felt nauseous knowing that Stephen had touched her like that.
"No." She replied.
"Chloe, why put yourself through all that?" He stepped back from her and rubbed the back of his neck. "What made you go to him?"
"He said that if I spent one night with...."
"You were going to stay a whole fucking night with him?!" Seb rose his voice, aghast that she'd even consider doing something like that. "Are you out of your fucking mind?! You still remember what he did he to you before, don't you?! All the shit you went through afterwards!"
"It was either that or he released photos and videos of me and Michael!" She stepped forward, hating the gap between them, needing to be close to him. "He had a new video and he was going to leak details of Michael's health to the press and tell them that I knew all along and that I'd seen him recently. If I spent the night with him he was going delete everything. Except that now it's all out there anyway."
"And when did he make you this little offer?"
"In Japan." She lowered her head in shame.
"That was a month ago! You've known about this little arrangement for a fucking month! This just gets fucking better and better!" He shook his head in disbelief. "So you were going to sleep with Stephen just to protect to Michael?! What about us Chloe?!" He yelled. "What about our marriage?! What about me?! Does he mean more to you than I do?!"
"No!" She went to step closer, but again he backed away. "No! Please you have to believe me! It was part of it, I admit I wanted to protect Michael and his marriage but I also knew if it all hit the press then they wouldn't leave you alone, us alone, I'd be dragging your reputation down with mine, you'd be faced with the humiliation of knowing that images of your own wife having sex with a married man were being viewed by anyone and everyone and then I'd lose you because if you didn't end it with me there and then, then I'm sure Ferrari would have made you! And now..." She took a breath and took in the widening gap between them. "Now it's..." She bit her bottom lip, making herself wince in pain, feeling like her world was slipping away from her. "Now it's all out there, you'll get shit from the media and press and I've lost you anyway! I won't blame you if you want a divorce, I won't stand in your way, I love you too much." She crumbled in front of him, everything she'd feared had become reality. "He's won." She started to sob, while Seb just stood and watched. "He's got what he wanted. He's won."
"Why didn't you come to me?" He took a step closer to her, as far as he was concerned Stephen hadn't won. Far from it. "All this time I knew something wasn't right and you lied to me when I asked."
"I wanted to." She wiped her eyes on the sleeves on his top, the hit of his scent she got from it did little to soothe her. "I should have done."
"Then why didn't you?"
"He was going to release everything if I told anyone and I knew you'd go after him if I told you." She touched her bottom lip, her tears were making it sting and as she looked at her fingers she could see blood. "Im sorry, I only did it because I felt I had no other option."
"There was always an option Chloe, always, we could have worked something out to stop him, to prevent all this." He stepped closer to her again, now that he was within touching distance she didn't hesitate in reaching out for his hand. To her relief he linked his fingers with hers, the small gesture made her cry all over again and he pulled her into his chest, letting go of her hand to wrap his arms tightly around her. "He hasn't won. Believe me, he has not won."
"He has." She clung onto his jumper as she spoke. "I've lost you no matter what happens."
"No you haven't." He swept her hair back behind her shoulders as she lifted her head to look at him, his eyes fell to the mark Stephen had left on her neck and he lowered his head to kiss her there, then he tried to wipe her tears away with his hands. "No more tears. I love you too much to ever walk away." He pressed his lips gently to hers, too aware of the small cut on her lip, and he felt her respond, kissing him back through ragged, gasping breaths.
"Fuck Seb, I love you so much." Her words came out with such conviction that he couldn't help but kiss her again, only stopping when he felt her wince with pain.
"We'll deal with whatever shit they throw at us, I promise you. Britta will have already been onto lawyers trying to stop as much as she can."
"What about you? The police could be here any second...." She stopped as he shook his head at her.
"He knows that's not an option. He raped you, it might have been a long time ago but he doesn't want historical allegations like that to come to the surface and he knows he wouldn't be safe from me, even I was in prison."
"So you didn't...."
"Kill him?" Seb chuckled, he couldn't quite believe he was smiling at the thought. "No, I didn't kill him, he was definitely breathing when I left that room. I know we'll have the fall out to deal with..."
"No, I'll have the fall out to deal with."
"We will have the fall out to deal with, but he won't be bothering you again. He's settled his score, he can't harm you again." He felt her shaking body relax in his arms, but only for a moment.
"Oh god, what about Michael?" She pressed her face against his chest. "This could seriously set his recovery back."
"Chloe." Seb grasped her face in his hands, the mere mention of Michael's name starting to make his anger reawaken and his possessive side go up a notch. "Forget him. You're married to me, not him."
"I've wrecked his marriage." She whimpered as she felt Seb's fingers digging into her cheeks.
"He's wrecked his marriage, not you."
"The world won't see it like that, Corinna won't see it like that."
"Fuck what everyone else thinks."
"The press and media intrusion on him..."
"Let him deal with that!" He drew his hands sharply away from her as though her skin was burning his. "Stop thinking about him!" He yelled at her in exasperation, trying hard not get angry again. "Stop trying to protect him! What's more important is us, right here, right now! Forget him! You can't protect him anymore! Please Chloe, let go of him, put us first!" Feeling sick and with her headache worsening, she sat down on the sofa; leaning her elbows on her knees she held her head in her hands and heard Seb let out a big, heavy sigh as he sat down next to her. "Sometimes I feel like I'm in his shadow." He murmured quietly. "Like he was your first love and no one can ever compare. I feel like he could click his fingers and you'd go running back to him."
"No, never!" She gasped and lifted her head. "You showed me what love really is, not him. I've never loved anyone the way I love you. I've never fallen so hard and so quickly for someone like I did you." Turning to face him, she looked into his eyes and stroked a hand down the side of his face before slipping her fingers into his hair at the back of his head. "I love you so much to the point it's become an obsession." She leant in towards him, pulling him towards her until she was pressing her forehead to his, still making him hold her gaze. "It's in my blood, I can't get enough of you and I feel it in every single vein in my body. You set me on fire every time you look my way and I constantly crave you whenever we're apart. No one has ever made my body come alive and feel the way you do." She brushed her lips over his, noticing how he closed his eyes and his breath hitched in his throat. "No one has ever loved me like you do, makes me scream with pleasure more than you." She whispered against his lips, feeling herself getting turned on by her own words. "No one makes me come as hard as you." Seb groaned as he kissed her with a desperate hunger and pushed her back down on the sofa. Clambering on top of her he kissed her so hard that he could taste her blood from her cut lip but her words had affected him and aroused him so deeply that he didn't care. He felt her love pouring into him and consuming him as she kissed him even harder and deeper than he ever thought was possible while her hands slid down his back to his behind, applying pressure as he ground himself against her. Neither of them had expected to end up like this but neither of them was wanting to stop as he lifted his hips and started to tug down the sweatpants and knickers she had on until she managed to use her legs and feet to remove them, kicking them off while he hastily unzipped his jeans. Leaning up on his hands, he watched as she lifted his t-shirt over her head and then tugged on the jumper he was wearing. He got up onto his knees to remove it, dropping it to the floor before lowering himself back down onto her naked body. Pausing for a second, he soaked up the feeling of her skin against his and wiped away a few smears of blood from her lips before covering her mouth with his own, their tongues and groans making the kiss deep, erotic and overwhelming. Her hands slid down his back, her fingers and palms savouring his warm skin and the feel of every muscle that rippled beneath them as he continued to grind against her, making the heat build inside her to what felt like an almost painful level. If he kept going like this, she knew she'd explode from this alone. Slipping her hands into the back of his jeans she dug her nails into his bare behind making him growl into her mouth and lift his hips again to tug his jeans down just enough to free himself. He didn't give her a second to prepare as he hooked her leg up onto his hip and filled her in one go, freeing her body from the memory of Stephen's vile touches, losing himself in her and making them both live in their one blissful moment.
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With a glass of whiskey in his hand, and his phone to his ear, Stephen hissed in pain as he sat down in the chair by his hotel room window.
"I don't care, if you know what's good for you, you'll do as I ask." He paused and raised the glass to his lips. "I want to know what their plans are, where they are and when. Now I've got to lay low while these bruises and wounds heal it's up to you to keep an eye on them. If he thinks this is the end then he's very much mistaken. He pays for what he's done, I've not finished with his precious wife just yet."