His Lordships Daughter (19 page)

“Please! You are being silly.”

He swung round on her. “Let me see if I have this right. Let me hazard a guess at your modus operandi. Your words.” His voice crackled with suppressed anger. “You and your family chose a small manufacturing company – like mine for instance, and you load it with work. Then the lovely daughter of
my
lord
jumps
into bed with the Managing Director…”

“You are
going too far Steven.” she
warned.

“Now here comes the clever part.” He went on, ignoring the advice. “You spring the trap getting your banking pals to pull the plug on the company overdraft,
and
then you move in and pay it off.” He looked at her in admiration. “It’s beautiful, really! Now who has a
lien
*
on my company, and
anytime
, anywhere, anyhow, when it suits you can pull the plug in the same way your banker pals did, I could be out on the streets.”

She
put her hands over her
ears. “I’m not listening
,
...
I don’t believe this is happening.”

He looked at her again, trying to match her gaze but failed. “It all adds up though, doesn’t it?”

“Yes! Well, it will wont it? If you keep saying it over and over again. Black becomes white if you work at it.”

“No wonder you refused to marry me.” He said scornfully, as if he was glad she did. “The only long term commitments people like you
look for is with money!”

Phyllipa had herself under control, but she having to struggle at it. She knew her temper
wouldn’t take much more
just clenched her fists and stood there, digging her nails into the palm of her hands. “I did what I thought was right.” She slowly explained, enunciating every word as if talking to a child. “Right at the time! I knew if I you couldn’t find the money to clear the debt, your company would shut down. I didn’t want that to happen.”

Steven gave a bark of laughter. “Do me a favour.” He said contemptuously. “You and that Braseby guy strung this together.”

“You are not only wrong, you’re being stupid. All I did was to pay off your overdraft. Nothing else has changed!”

“If it was good intentions all the way, why didn’t you talk to me about it?” he asked pointedly.

*
Lien (meaning) payment or debt

“I did offer to lend you some money, but you turned me down.”

“I didn’t wish to borrow any, and I still don’t!”

“As I just said.”
C
o
ntinuing
pressing her point. “I didn’t want the company to fold.”

He looked at her with disdain. “What a load of rubbish! This was all about money! And you know it. From start to finish your plot was to do with money and power.”
H
is
temper
was rising again and his face showed the anger he felt. “So, you now own most of the company, but I am still the Managing Director and I don’t wish to work with you anymore, so I am terminating your employment, with effect from today, you’re sacked. Phyllipa you’re out of here! As of now you don’t exist in this company except as an item on the balance sheet.” He rumpled his hair with his hand.

“T
here is just one other thing before you clean your d
esk out,
H
is voice straining with emotion. “In my opinion, you are nothing but a cheap blue blooded whore!”

“Crack!”

Phyllipa’s hand, strengthened by years of controlling wayward horses, caught him across his right cheek bone. The blow was so heavy, that it bounced and nearly swung her off her feet, whilst Steven, completely caught off guard, staggered back in pain. For a moment there
was complete silence. her
eyes were ice cold as she watched her former boss.

“Blue blooded, perhaps? A whore in your mind, probably! But, never cheap.” Her words cracked across the room, startling Steven. Except for the blood red stain where the blow had landed, his face turned white but the grey eyes loo
ked strangely dangerous. ..”
Two can play that game!”

Opening a cupboard door he took out a bunch of fresh gre
en nettles, causing her
to back away in alarm, her voice trembling. “What are you going to do with those?”

“I bought them in to dry in the boiler room, but I can think of a better use for them.” Phyllipa looked around in trepidation, wondering how she could get out of his office, but Steven was between her and the door.

“You are always telling me to hurt you.” His voice was almost apologetic as he swished them through the air. “Now I am going to do as you wish!”

“Not with those.” she
begged. “It’s the wrong hurt! They will injure me. You can’t…” the words choked in her throat as Steven grabbed her by the waist. She fought, punching his face again and again with her clenched fists whilst kicking him hard, but to no avail. Holding her in a grip of steel, he dragged a chair out from behind the desk, sat down and draped her body, still struggling, across his knees. Pulling her skirt up to her waist, he tore the panties from her body
with a snatch of his hand,
bought the bunched nettles viciously down across her buttocks.

The pain cut into Phyllipa’s flesh causing her to cry out, which she instantly stifled
. She knew the nettles, at their worst could give her a nasty stinging rash, but at their best, could give her a lot of pleasure. Wincing as her buttocks took the brunt of Steven’s anger she managed a small delicious groan as the heat in her loins erupted sending rivers of delight shafting through her. Gritting her teeth from the rain of pain, as stroke after stroke descended, badly marking her quivering flesh, she cleverly switched her mind to happier times, when any such punishment was earmarked for pleasure only. Suddenly, becoming aware that the beating had stopped, she relaxed her now inflamed bott
om, only to gasp again as he
roughly stood her back on her feet. Ripping his flies open he pulled her head down, then rammed his rapidly engorging manhood between her lips. “You act like a whore.” He snarled. “So I’ll treat like you one!” Phyllipa smiled to herself as she happily suckled the swollen flesh, teasing the sensitive tip greedily as she accepted the full flow of his tribute as it spurted hotly into her mouth. Snatching it from her, he quickly tucked the rapidly diminishing pe
nis back into his trousers,
his finger stabbed at the door. “Now you can get out of my factory!” he growled, his fury undiminished.

Phyllipa eased her distressed body and glared defiantly at her ex boss and his bloody face. Happy to see his left eye already swelling up
from her accurate punching. Then smiling, she opened her mouth and spat his recent offering full in his face, causing him to spring back in alarm as the glutinous liquid splashing into his eyes, dripped from his cheeks.

“Thank you Steven, but I don’t want anything which belongs to you.” She told him sweetly, the smile on her face deepening as she haughtily walked from his office.

Easing her car up the long drive to “Rosewood”, Phyllipa sighed. She was very disappointed in Steven’s reaction to her unsolicited help. Alright! She told herself for the umpteenth time, none of this would have happened if she had not involved herself with SG Packaging, and for that she felt a little guilty, but, he could have listened to her side of things and he could have chosen his words more carefully. Braking the Aston Martin in front of her garage she admitted that things had not quite gone has she had planned. Maybe she had not been vigilant enough? Life is like that. Happiness needs constant watching! It has this rightful trick of suddenly sliding into oblivion.

Strangely enough she didn’t feel any animosity towards her former employer. In fact she felt slightly elated, believing her inbuilt barrier had surfaced to protect her, but the almost imperceptible spark of excitement which she was feeling wouldn’t go away. After all, apart from her father and Clive, Steven was not only the longest male friend she ever had, but was the only guy she had never backed away from, but the agreea
ble equation was not foremost on
her mind.

Picking up the car phone, she dialled David, but was unable to locate him. “Damn it!” she swore as she replaced the receiver. She needed him. The contretemps with Steven had not only sharpened her sexual appetite but had put her first gear of arousal on to hold, and it was not going away until her pleasure buds had been satisfied. Leaving her car she walked up to the house where her father, sitting in his favourite chair in the library, looked up in surprise. “How nice, are you in for lunch?”

Phyllipa greeted him with her usual family kiss “From now on, I am going to be in for quite a few lunches.”

“Is something wrong?”

His daughter smiled wryly. “You’ve won your bet!”

“There are still quite a few months to go yet.” He pointed out.

Shaking her head, Phyllipa sat opposite him, a sure sign she wished to talk. “It wouldn’t matter if there were only twenty four hours to go, you’ve won.”

“Do you wish to tell me about it?” Henry Inchcape-Gore was very fond of his offspring and anything which upset her, upset him.

Phyllipa shrugged her shoulders. “Steven found out I was responsible for shifting the company overdraft.” She shook her head despondently. “He didn’t like what I had done, Father! So he sacked me.”

“Really!” her father carefully folded up his morning newspaper. “I think you have been caught up in some
thing not of your own making my dear
, so I am minded to call the bet null and void.”

Phyllipa vigorously shook her head. “Oh, no!” she objected. “I went into it with my eyes wide open. I weighed up the
pros
and
cons
carefully and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but, in my defence, I didn’t foresee the intervention of outside influences. Bloody Braseby!” she leaned over and kissed his cheek again. “So you win father. You won it fair and square and I lost it square and slightly unfair, but, that’s the way some bets go. Congratulations!”

For a few moments her father smiled at her in sympathy. “I gave you the name of two companies. “Locotrend” and “Kristex”
have you moved on them yet?”

“I’ve got that in hand.”

“Good.” Her father said. “Let me wish you well in that direction.”

She smiled. “Actually, I feel quite confident. There is nothing quite like an offer that is difficult to refuse, is there?”

Her father chuckle
d “You’re learning fast
!”

Suddenly, the butler was standing by her side with eyebrows lifted.

“Break out the champagne Bradford.” Ordered his Lordship “And kindly inform cook my daughter is in for lunch.”

“Yes!” Phyllipa
murmured
as the butler left the room. “But then I have to go out. I have a few loose ends to clear up.”

“Perhaps you will keep me informed.” The newspaper rustled almost angrily. “Things are getting very interesting.” Her father admitted. “Pity about Steven though, Sultan is going to miss him!”

Chapter 17

In the cosy lounge of the “Bulls head” the soda water and ice were already waiting for Phyllipa. June watched expectantly as her friend made herself comfortable.
And take a sip of her drink.

“That is nice and cold.” Phyllipa said.

“I haven’t seen much of you today.” June hazarded.

“I don’t work for SG Packaging anymore.” Phyllipa explained shaking her head and looking at the Tag Heur on her wrist. “I cleaned my desk out at precisely ten o’clock this morning.”

Her friend’s face showed astonishment. “What the hell’s going on?”

“I was sacked!”

Steven’s secretary’s head up shot up in the air. “You don’t mean it?”

Phyllipa shrugged. “I do mean it. It was his accountant who whispered things in his ear and he wouldn’t listen to my side of the story
. So he gave me, what is colloquially called, the elbow!”

June shook her head in dismay. “Just after you left this morning, he banged off out and didn’t return. Did you see his face? It looked to me as if he had gone ten rounds with a
Rottweiler
.” Picking her gin and tonic from the table, she noticed Phyllipa’s knuckles. They were scuffed and the skin had been damaged on her right hand. “Where did you learn to box?”

“At
school in Switzerland!” she
chuckled. “In my “Stay Alive” class!”

June choking on her drink, started to giggle with her, quietly at first but then it got louder as she looked into her
friend’s
face, until both were engulfed in
paroxysms
of bubbling laughter. Phyllipa dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief as she fought to control her emotions, whilst June just flung back her head and bellowed.