Stephanie's Trial (15 page)

'I'm not your
slave,' Stephanie snapped.

'Really? Well,
we'll see about that. When we get to the castle we're going to have
a trial. A fair trial, with a judge and a jury. Of course if you're
found guilty then it'll be up to me to decide what to do with you.
And I have a very vivid imagination.'

'What am I
supposed to have done?'

'Oh, come on
darling...'

'You had a
choice. You didn't have to come to the castle. It was your
punishment. If you'd rather we'd gone to the police...'

'Shut up,'
Andrew shouted, his anger getting on top of him. Then he said more
quietly. 'You'll get your chance to defend yourself.'

The plane
began to bank slightly, changing to a more southerly direction.
Andrew slumped into one of the leather armchairs as Susie handed
him a large tumbler of vodka on the rocks. She handed the others
drinks too, then returned to the bar where she hoped she would
remain inconspicuous.

'Well, cheers
everybody. It seems we've accomplished our mission. Now we have the
queen bee here I'm sure the rest of the workers will be no
problem.'

'Can't wait,'
Mick said, slumping down on to the sofa. He stretched out his hand
and caught Venetia by the wrist, pulling her onto his lap as Paul
sat down beside him.

'She's
beautiful,' Paul said.

'Don't worry,
there's plenty more where that came from. The rest of the slaves
will be so glad to see us you'll have wall to wall women.'

Amanda walked
back into the cargo hold. In a few minutes she emerged with one of
Stephanie's cases. It was not locked. She pulled the case open to
reveal Stephanie's new clothes mixed in with the ones she had
brought from the castle. She tore open the various packages and
held up the clothes in front of her body.

'Look at this.
Must have cost a fortune.' She was holding up a camiknicker
Stephanie had bought in Bond Street.

'Suits you,
darling,' Andrew said.

Paul reached
forward and fingered the material obscenely. 'Feels like silk,' he
said, bringing the material to his face and letting it brush his
lips. 'As we've got some time on our hands, why don't we have a
look at our little prize?' He nodded towards Stephanie.

'Yes,' Mick
agreed. 'Come on love, give us a little in-flight entertainment.'
His hand squeezed Venetia's breast as he said it. She winced and
tried to wriggle away from him, a look of horror on her face that
perhaps only Stephanie understood.

'Well,
mistress,' Andrew sneered. 'I think you'd better do as you're told,
don't you?'

Stephanie said
nothing, looking Andrew straight in the eyes. He had been cocky and
stubborn at the castle and she was not at all surprised he had
organised this plot. Even when he had finally bent to her will she
had suspected there was still defiance lurking beneath the surface.
Equally she knew that unless she did exactly what she was told he
was capable of making her life a living hell.

'We're
waiting,' Amanda said, sitting on the floor among discarded
wrappings and new clothes.

'Take my
handcuffs off and I'll give you a show,' Stephanie said
steadily.

'No way
darling. You'll manage.' Andrew took a swig of his vodka. The ice
clinked against the side of the glass. 'Come on, we're getting
impatient. You've got a treat boys, she's a real looker I can tell
you.' Andrew got up from his seat suddenly and walked right up to
Stephanie. He squeezed her cheeks together between his thumb and
fingers. 'I know, don't I mistress? The way you used me to rub
suntan oil all over your body while I had that blasted pouch
chained round my cock. You do remember making me do that, don't
you?'

'Yes,' she
said knowing instinctively that she shouldn't show him the fear she
felt.

'Good. So let
my friends see what you've got.' Andrew went to the bar and slammed
his glass down on its small wooden counter. Susie quickly poured
him another drink.

How she was
expected to get her dress off with her hands cuffed behind her back
she did not know. She knelt on the floor and managed to catch the
hem in her left hand, wriggling it up over her thighs and waist but
she could not pull it any higher.

'She's stuck,'
Mick said, stating the obvious.

'Give her a
hand,' Paul said.

'Leave her,'
Andrew ordered.

Stephanie
managed to hook the dress on the arm of one of the chairs. By
dipping her body below the level of the arm she pulled the dress up
over her bra and around her neck, though of course it was still
trapped behind her shoulders. That was as far as she could get. She
stood up. Under the dress she was wearing creamy beige-coloured
French knickers, with matching suspender belt and soft cup bra. The
knickers had V-shaped inserts of lace over her navel and at the
side of her hips. Her stockings were beige too, their broad welts
pulled into peaks by the taut suspenders.

'Well, just
look at that,' Paul said, studying her body closely.

'Come on,'
Andrew said irritably.

'I can't do
any more,' Stephanie said, stretching her wrists against the cuffs
to demonstrate her inability.

'Help her.'
Andrew's eyes fell on Susie.

'Me, sir?'
Susie's voice trembled with fear.

'Yes, you. Get
her dress off.' Susie didn't move. 'Now.'

Quickly Susie
came round the bar to stand in front of Stephanie. Their eyes met.
For the first time since she had known her, Stephanie saw a look of
sympathy in Susie's eyes: she actually cared.

'Sorry...'
Susie whispered.

'It's all
right. Just do it.'

Susie's hands
were trembling as her fingers pulled the dress up over Stephanie's
head and down over her arms until it was hanging by its sleeves
from the cuffed wrists. Seeing the problem Andrew stepped forward,
unsheathed his knife and sliced the wool away. The dress fell to
the floor. While the knife was out he slipped it into the strap of
the bra between Stephanie's shoulder-blades and sliced it in two.
He cut both the shoulder straps with equal ease and the bra fell
away from Stephanie's breasts.

'Pretty good,'
Mick said as Andrew gave Susie a shove to indicate she should get
back behind the bar. 'But not as good as these.' His hands wrapped
round both Venetia's breasts, weighing them as if they were some
sort of fruit. Again there was panic on Venetia's face.

'She's
gorgeous,' Paul said, staring. 'Gorgeous.'

'There's lots
more where that came from,' Amanda said, beginning to pack things
back into the suitcase.

'Well, this is
definitely the only way to travel,' Paul said, stretching back on
the sofa.

Andrew came
back towards Stephanie, the vodka glass in his hand. 'So now,' he
said, looking into her eyes, 'the boot is on the other foot.'

'It appears
so,' she said calmly, looking back at him unflinchingly. 'And what
do you think you're going to do now?' Her tone was icy.

'I told you.'
He touched the glass against her nipple. She did not move. The
nipple hardened. 'How long before we land?' he asked Susie.

'Thirty
minutes,' she replied, looking at her watch.

'Good. Now I
want you to tell the captain that he is to take off again the
moment we are out of the plane.' He was still looking at Susie.

'That's the
plan anyway,' Stephanie said.

'How
convenient.'

'What about
me?' Susie asked, fearing they were going to take her with them to
the castle. 'Am I to leave with the plane?'

'Would you
prefer to stay?'

'No sir.'

'You're free
to go. What are you going to do? Call the police? I don't think so,
do you? I don't think the mistress here wants the police crawling
all over the castle, do you darling?'

It had never
occurred to Stephanie before. What Devlin had organised at the
castle was not illegal but if it became public knowledge by being
splashed all over the tabloid press, as it undoubtedly would be if
the police became involved, it would seriously embarrass him and
his business empire. Andrew was absolutely right about that.

'Say nothing,
Susie,' Stephanie said.

'But...'

'Tell the
pilot he's to return to London and wait for instructions. You go
with him. Nothing else. Understood?'

Susie
nodded.

'That's a good
girl,' Andrew declared.

What Stephanie
really wanted to tell Susie was how to contact Devlin in Moscow.
But even if she could have said something she had no idea where he
was. There was a chance he would ring the main office in London but
it was unlikely. He was due back tomorrow and would leave
everything until then. Devlin would be walking into a trap and
there was no way to warn him.

Susie walked
towards the front cabin.

'And don't get
any ideas about telling him to go back to London. If this plane
changes direction you'll be the first to suffer. Do you understand?
Don't make the mistake of thinking I won't do it.'

'Do as he
says, Susie,' Stephanie said firmly.

Susie nodded
again, unlocked the front cabin door and went inside.

'Still giving
orders, aren't you?' Amanda said, standing up. 'Well, it's going to
be our turn to give orders now, bitch. I'm looking forward to
giving you some orders after what you did to me.'

'I didn't do
anything you didn't ask for. Either of you.'

'We didn't
have any choice, did we?' Amanda replied, her eyes blazing with
anger.

'Calm down,
Mandy. There's plenty of time for that later.'

'I'd like some
time for this now,' Mick said, pawing Venetia's body more
aggressively.

'Take her in
the back then,' Paul suggested.

'Don't be so
coy. Do it here,' Amanda said.

'No,' Venetia
cried. 'Please, no... not with a man... please.'

'There's
time,' Andrew looked at his watch. 'Plenty of time.'

Mick started
to unbutton the front of the black one-piece that Venetia wore. She
twisted her body, pulling the buttons out of his grasp.

'No, no, no,
no. Please.' Venetia managed to free herself altogether and
scrambled to her feet, running over to Andrew. She dropped on her
knees in front of him. 'I'm not like her,' she said, looking at
Stephanie standing alone in the high-heel boots, stockings and
French knickers, her breasts naked and proud. 'I'm a slave just
like you were. Devlin caught me embezzling. He used me just like he
used you.'

'What are you
talking about?' Andrew asked.

'They've got
files on me just like they have on you. I stole from Devlin. I'm
just like all the other slaves. Just because I'm good with
computers he needs me in London. Otherwise I'd be in the cellars
with the other slaves.'

'Is this
true?' Andrew asked Stephanie.

'Yes,' she
said quietly. It was perfectly true and Stephanie didn't blame
Venetia for trying to save herself. If anyone had to be punished,
if anyone was to be put on trial or whatever else Andrew's mind had
thought up, it was her, not Venetia. Venetia was not bisexual. She
was a lesbian through and through and being fucked by a man was a
violation for her. It had happened once; Devlin had been forced to
allow it to happen once, but otherwise because of her special place
in the system he had respected her sexual proclivities. At the
castle she had only been used by the female guests. Stephanie knew
the terror Mick's fondling had already instilled in her.

'Well... let
me think...' Andrew said nothing for a moment.

'It's a
set-up, Andy. Come on.' Mick was stroking himself to erection
through his trousers.

'No, no. If
it's true she could be very helpful to us, Mick. Very helpful. You
know all the computer codes?'

'Yes.'

'You can get
it to wipe our files?'

'Yes.
Easily.'

'Is everything
stored on the computer?'

'Yes. But
there are hard copies too.'

'You see,
Mick. She didn't have to tell us that.'

'We can order
them to destroy the files on us,' Amanda said. 'They'll believe
her.'

'Exactly.'

'I'll do
anything you want. Except sleep with a man... I just can't...'

'OK. You've
got a deal.'

'I won't let
you down.'

'You better
not.'

Venetia
strained at her wrists as if asking for the handcuffs to be
removed. Andrew took a set of keys from his shirt pocket, twisted
her round and unlocked the cuffs. Venetia rubbed her sore wrists as
soon as she was free.

'I don't trust
her,' Mick said grudgingly.

'I'm on your
side,' Venetia said with conviction. 'I've had to work like a dog
for years because he had that bloody file on me. You think I liked
it? Especially when this bitch turned up.' She indicated Stephanie
with a dismissive wave of her hand. 'She's got Devlin eating out of
her hand. He'll do anything for her. He's besotted by her. If
you're going to have a trial you can count me in. I'll give
evidence against her, lots of it. The way the bitch has treated
me.'

Andrew started
to laugh. 'Well, that's great. And you know all Devlin's little
secrets?'

'All of
them.'

'Well, we're
really in business then.' Andrew went to the bar and reached over
it to find the vodka bottle. He poured more into everyone's glass
and gave Venetia a glass too. She drank a silent toast with the
rest of them.

They strapped
Stephanie, still naked from the waist up, into one of the leather
armchairs as the plane banked to come in to land. She could see the
whole of Lake Trasimeno laid out under the plane as it descended,
the castle on the island with its extensive orchards and walled
garden and vineyard revealed in every detail. She had never been
less glad to see the place.

Curiously, she
was not frightened at the prospect of what Andrew planned. If you
live by the sword you will, inevitably and metaphorically, die by
it sooner or later. She had played a dangerous game. And now it was
her turn to pay for it. She had ruled the castle and enjoyed every
minute of it. But the tables had turned...