Earn My Trust

Chapter 19 - End to a Successful Day

Hannah was the first to get into the limousine once all of their shopping had been put in, and she was astonished and a little guilty that their shopping spree filled not just the boot, but the entire back of the limousine too!
"Oh god, what have I done?!" She breathed after she'd sat herself down and waited for Ethan to come in.
He pushed a bag out of the way so he could stretch his legs out and sat himself down, grinning at her.
"Successful day, I think!" He quipped, then his face fell when he saw her gazing guiltily at the shopping.
He shuffled himself up the seat closer to her and put an arm across her shoulders while the limousine started to move off.
"Baby." He said, pulling her into him. "Don't feel so bad! It's my shopping, remember? Technically, you had nothing to do with it."
"I shouldn't have done that! They're going to think I'm a gold digger!" She breathed, feeling so numb as she stared at the bags.
So much for giving a good first impression and upholding her image in front of the press! She'd ended up doing exactly what they and Ethan had wanted and expected.
There was also her inner voice taunting her that she was allowing him to trap her.
He'd finally convinced her to allow him to flaunt his money. Next, he was going to take away her job, her freedom.
He was going to make her reliant on him so he could control her.
"You're not a gold digger!" Ethan's voice snapped her from her thoughts.
"They will think I am! They saw me getting into a limousine filled with shopping bags from Harrods!"
"Yes, but so what if they do. Trust me when I say this, I wouldn't be sitting here now if you were a gold digger!"
She looked up at him to see his expression dead serious.
"You wouldn't?"
"Fuck no! I hate them with a passion! I became very sour towards women after Bianca. You were the one that changed all that." He sighed. "I went on that app trying to find someone that was less... obvious than the other women with their pouting lips and shaved legs for profile pictures. That's why I messaged you. You didn't give anything away. You were a mystery. It was kind of exciting, to be honest."
A small smile crossed her lips. "What did you think when you first saw me?"
"Honestly?" He smirked. "I thought you were a gorgeous Goddess that was stuck in the nineties with your outfit."
She gaped at him for a second and laughed.
"I thought you looked like you belonged in an episode of baywatch."
He laughed and pulled her closer, kissing her head.
"Ahhh. Then you met me properly, and you thought I hated being with you at that moment." He sighed. "That day was the most difficult day I've ever had to go through! I'd been trying to work out a way of telling you for a week by that point, realising you were genuinely a wonderful, beautiful, stubborn woman who had a heart of gold. I was trying to build up the courage, and then you suddenly ran into me."
She bit her lip. "I got my Karma before I'd even done anything to deserve it that day." She giggled then sighed. "I still feel guilty."
"I know what will cheer you up!" He leaned in to kiss her before looking deeply into her eyes. "Imagine her face the morning of her birthday to see all these presents waiting for her..."
That instantly made her feel better. She imagined her precious daughter coming out of her birthday, used to seeing the pitifully small pile of gifts on the table with a card, only to see the mountain waiting for her. She was going to be so happy!
Bea had never complained about their financial situation.
She had gone to many birthday parties, where the child got a huge amount of presents from their school friends, but had never shown any jealousy or resentment towards Hannah.
Mum and dad helped make up for the dismal amount of gifts she'd get in the morning by providing a few more, better quality presents at their home, along with the homemade cake for her to blow the candles out.
This would be the first one where she'd be given exactly what Hannah had always wanted to give her.
That was the fickle thing about children. They never truly understood the amount of love a parent held for them until they saw a visual representation of it. And even that didn't come close to how much she was loved in reality.
She looked into his swirling chocolate eyes, which held such exhilaration as he imagined the same thing, and she felt another chunk of the wall she'd built around herself crumble away.
"I love you." She breathed, mesmerised by his eyes. "I love you so much. I wish I had met you first!"
He leaned in and gave her a healing kiss, one that took away all her worries and doubts about everything. She moaned into the kiss, yearning for more, but he pulled away.
"If you had met me first, you wouldn't have Bea. Don't regret your life's choices. We met when we both needed each other the most." He breathed, his breath fanning her face.
"That was very philosophical again..." she smiled, reaching up to cup his cheek and stroked him with her thumb. "Even if it was flowery bullshit."
He gawked at her for a split second before snorting and laughing alongside her.
"It sounded good in my head." He reasoned, kissing her again and pulling back before he initiated something he's wouldn't be able to stop. "Anyway, where next?"
"Let's head back and get all this hidden away before the others get back."
He nodded and held down a button on the cars door. "Thanks for that. If you could just head back to mine now, please?" He let the button go and sighed, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes.
"Why did you say thanks for?" She asked in bewilderment.
"He's been driving around until I told him where we were going." Ethan said simply. "It's what Martin tells them to do if we've come out of a meeting outside of London, and we don't know if we're going back or elsewhere."
"Speaking of Martin, where is he? How come he didn't go with Mum and Lisa to the museum?"
"He's sorting out everything with Liam regarding future security needs and the case with your dad."
Hannah had achieved what she'd wanted out of today, that was for sure. She'd momentarily forgotten about her dad's situation in amongst the thrill of the day.
"What do you think will happen?" She asked, taking his hand for comfort.
He pulled her closer to him and surrounded her with his arms.
"This is his first arrest, so it's likely they'll be lenient. Possibly a compensation payment or civic duty as a punishment?"
"How do you know?"
He pulled out his phone and showed her the multiple messages between him, Martin, and Liam Venson.
Liam had already stepped in and told the authorities that he was representing her dad, had his meeting and interview with him and the police earlier today, as well as them saying Jake's condition had been confirmed as severe bruising but no broken bones.
She didn't miss the disappointment that rushed through her when she read Jake hadn't been hurt enough. Now, the shock and trauma had left her system. All she felt was venomous rage towards her ex. The man deserved to be sent to a slaughterhouse!
"We will be making sure that it's put on record that your dad reacted because that cunt was bullying his daughter and granddaughter. A full-grown man making petty insults to a defenceless mother and daughter will not sit well in court at all." He pocketed his phone and kissed her cheek. "We have it all under control, baby. You don't need to worry about anything when you're with me."
The shopping had to be taken up to the apartment in two trips. They filled the entire lift and sent Hannah up with two guards first, then they sent the lift down empty so Ethan and the other two guards could bring up what rest.
"Where would you like this, ma'am?" One of the guards asked her, kindly picking up the bags that were waiting to be sorted in the hallway.
"Oh, if you could just help me into the living room, that would be amazing?" She beamed at him.
Just as the guard was bringing in the last remaining bags from their pile, Ethan followed close behind with his two guards, all struggling to carry the armful of bags they'd brought in.
"Thank you, gentlemen. That will be all for today. We very much appreciate your protection today and look forward to seeing you all again soon." Ethan said, nodding his head once in farewell.
The men all nodded and turned to leave as Hannah waved them goodbye.
"Let's sort this all out then, but first... Where's my new coffee machine?" Ethan said, looking around at all the bags.
Hannah laughed and started looking in the bags closest to her. "Does that mean I get to keep the one at my place?" She asked as she picked up one bag that held presents and put it on the sofa to separate it off from the rest, ready to be hidden later.
"I'm kind of hoping you never will go back, but yes. It's yours if you want it." He replied, picking up two and putting them with the one she'd picked up as they held gifts too.
"The one at mine is huge, though. None of these look big enough." She picked up another bag of gifts.
"This is a sleeker model than the last one..." he explained and added yet another bag of gifts to the sofa before picking up another one and putting it in Bea's room. "Did you want to try swimming later? I got Bea her costume."
Her head snapped up at that. "Shit! I don't have a costume."
He met her gaze and smirked. "I may have added one in for you..."
"You bought me a swimming costume?!" She gasped, then narrowed her eyes. "I agreed you could get her clothes, not me!"
"And let you sit out on swimming with her this evening? Like fuck!" He laughed. "I messaged Lisa to get herself and your Mum one too. I wasn't sure of their sizes. Otherwise, I would have covered them, too."
She bit her lip and fought back her protest. She gave in and went back to her hunt for the coffee machine with him.