First Sight (The Ivory Series Book 1) Read online

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  The entire contents of my wardrobe littered my bed and floor, stacked into piles of maybes and definitely nots. Why did I feel so nervous? Almost all of my clothes had been tried on at least once and then discarded into its appropriate pile. My nerves we making me jitter, I retreated to the kitchen, scouring the cabinet where mum kept her liquor. The only thing in there was brandy she used for cooking. The beige coloured label was faded and the sticker peeling in one corner from age. I pulled the stopper from the top and took a swig from the bottle; the amber liquid burned my throat and left me gasping for breath, my hand reaching out to the bench for support as I felt my eyes water. A car horn honked outside, quickly I pushed the stopper back in the bottle and ran back to my room, grabbing my purse and headed out the front door. Cassie and Bec waved and I slid into the backseat. “So Nicola, Bec tells me you were very keen to come to Ivory tonight. Any reason in particular?”

  I rolled my eyes “None what so ever Cassidy, it’s not like the music is any good.”

  Clutching her chest in mock agony “Ouch that hurts” she laughed.

  Bec turned and leant over the back seat, her faced screwed up and sniffed in my direction “Have you been drinking already?” she accused.

  “No” I defended as I put my hand over my mouth.

  “You smell like my Grandma, Nic” Bec wafted her hand in front of her nose.

  “No, I don’t. I only had one shot of brandy.”

  “Brandy!” Cassie’s eyebrows were almost lost under her fringe and she bit her bottom lip, holding back a wave of laughter she was ready to unleash.

  I shook my head and rolled my eyes “Whatever.”

  “Nice lipstick by the way Nic. Is it new?” Bec commented.

  My finger brushed over my lips and I smiled “Yeah, I got it last night.”

  “I love the colour; it’s such a deep red. So Cass, are you going to tell us the story with you and Ivan or not?”

  Cassie’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel, her eyes focusing on the road. “Nothing to tell” her voice was flat and emotionless.

  Bec snorted a laugh. “Doesn’t sound that way.”

  “Can you drop it?” Cassie snapped, and we travelled the rest of the way in silence. Cassie’s eyes focused on the road, Bec’s attention was out the passenger window.

  Cassie pulled into the staff car park behind the club and both sisters went their separate ways, neither looking back. “Thanks for the lift Cass” I called after her as she headed for the back door of the bar.

  “No worries, Nic.”

  I followed Bec out onto the street “I’m hungry, let’s get something to eat Nic.”

  We turned onto Main Street to the row of restaurants and trendy cafés which led away from the nightclubs; all the restaurants were on the bottom floor to multi story office buildings. The ones which sent the centre of town into darkness by mid afternoon and overshadowed tiny single story buildings like the one I worked in.

  “What do you feel like eating?” I asked, trying to keep pace as she stormed along the street.

  “I don’t care, you choose.”

  “Why are you mad at Cassie?”

  “I’m not mad at Cassie” she shot “She’s all defensive over this Ivan guy.”

  “Maybe she has a thing for him. It sounds like something happened in London.”

  “I know and that’s just it. She came back a year ago and now he shows up and opens a club in her hometown.”

  I shrugged “Maybe he likes her too.”

  “Well why has it taken him a year, and why hasn’t she mentioned him before now?”

  Shaking my head “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask your sister that one.”

  “That’s just it, she won’t talk about it. Like it’s a conspiracy or something.”

  “I’m sure you’re over reacting Bec. What about here?” I opened the door to a Vietnamese restaurant; the hostess at the counter was dressed in a pink and green Vietnamese silk gown and bowed as we entered.

  “Can we have a table for two please?” I asked

  She smiled and nodded “You wait one hour.”

  I looked at Bec “I’m not hungry anyway” and she turned and walked out of the restaurant, I followed her out the door and caught up with her on the street. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “Cassie and I use to tell each other everything. Now it feels like I don’t know her. Like she’s keeping secrets from me.”

  We linked arms and slowly walked back in the direction we came “Is it really so bad if she likes Ivan? He was pretty nice to us last weekend.”

  “I know, but I just wish she would tell me.”

  “I wish I was half as close to my brother as you are to both of your siblings. I’m lucky if I get to see Mark once a year anymore and we don’t know what to say each other. It’s like we’re complete strangers, meeting for the first time.”

  Bec sighed “I know. Hey, I wonder if we can get into the VIP room at Ivory again.”

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  As we walked back along Main Street, we heard a knocking sound from one of the restaurants we had passed. A table of six men in the window of a Thai restaurant were all waving to us to come and join them. Bec and I laughed and continued along the street, one of the men came out of the restaurant and followed us “Hey, wait” he called after us as we stopped and turned to face him. “Would you ladies like to join us?”

  We both laughed nervously and Bec looked the guy up and down, she flicked her hair over her shoulder and tilted her head to one side, just as she always did when she flirted “Maybe later.”

  “Where are you headed?”

  “Ivory. What about you?”

  “We were going to Sportsman’s Club, but I could make a stop along the way” he smiled and his teeth shone white against his tanned skin.

  Bec looked him over once more, he had broad shoulders and his shirt seemed almost too tight, it alluded to every muscle on his chest and arms. The ending of a tattoo was visible from the bottom of the sleeve of his shirt. “You’re a footy player?”

  “Yeah, we had a win today, so we’re out celebrating.”

  She bit her bottom lip seductively “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

  “Maybe.”

  With that, Bec turned and strutted away leaving me to follow in her wake. As we crossed the road at the intersection we walked past the Irish Pub on the corner next to Ivory. From the open door you could hear a live band playing, smoke was wafting from the doorway. The sound of pool balls clinking together and lots of shouting made it only inviting to a certain type of patron. Bec grabbed my hand “Let’s try our luck” she led me to the front of the line and approached the bouncers. They were the same two as last weekend. “Hi, remember us?” Bec asked

  The bouncers stepped aside “Of course ladies, Ivan’s been expecting you. The VIP lounge isn’t open yet though, but Anna will take care of you in the downstairs bar.”

  “Thank you” we chimed in unison. Bec turned to me once inside “That was easy.”

  I looked around the room, it was starting to fill with people. Above the bar was a cocktail list written on a large chalkboard in neat calligraphy. Bec and I maneuvered our way toward it, ordering drinks. “Good evening ladies. It’s nice to see you both again” Ivan appeared beside us; he was wearing the same dark suit and tie that seemed to hot, but didn’t bother him. “Cassidy told me you would both be here. The VIP bar is now open; you ladies are free to go up there whenever you wish.”

  “Thanks Ivan” Bec said as she lifted her cocktail. Ivan smiled politely and disappeared into the crowd.

  Bec craned her neck and looked over the crowd for the man she had met on the street, and then sighed in disappointment “Let’s go upstairs.”

  A loud wolf whistle screeched over the music as we neared the staircase, Bec grabbed my arm and spun me around “Look, there he is?” she pointed to a group of men in the crowd. He weaved toward the staircas
e where we stood, followed by a friend. Bec took a few steps up to see better, doing her best Juliet pose. “You made it” She commented casually as she leaned on the railing.

  He smiled back and put one hand on the rail, next to Bec, taking a step forward so they were now facing eye to eye “Told you I’d swing by.”

  Adrian was at the door again and pulled aside the velvet rope for us, “Ladies” he said as we walked past, making no acknowledgement of the two men that followed us.

  The same table had been reserved for us and Bec started chatting with Brad, the man she met on the street.

  “Hi, I’m Matt” his friend introduced, holding out his hand. Politely I shook it “I’m Nicola.”

  “Is this your first time here?”

  “No, we came last weekend for the opening. What about you?”

  “First time. We had an away game last week.”

  “You play football too?”

  “Yeah, Brad and I have known each other since we started playing football as little kids.”

  I nodded my head and pretended to listen as Matt started talking about himself; my attention was drawn over his shoulder towards the bar. Heidi and Gerri were there, but no sign of Vaughan. Gerri looked in my direction and waved, I smiled and waved back as the door to the side of the bar opened and Vaughan stepped out, my stomach clenching momentarily. He seemed more breathtaking than I remembered. I felt myself relax and start drifting into a trance just watching him when Matt brought me back “Nicole, can I get you a drink?”

  “Nicola, my name’s Nicola.”

  “Oh right. Can I get you a drink?”

  “Um, sure” I looked across to Bec who nodded excitedly.

  Bec grabbed my shoulder as soon as they were out of hearing range “Brad is soooo nice, and hot. I know you don’t like footballers, but what’s his friend like?”

  “Matt? He likes to talk about himself, a lot.”

  “He’s cute though.”

  I shrugged my shoulders “I guess.”

  Bec followed my gaze to the direction of the bar to Vaughan “Ah, I see why you’re distracted.”

  I rolled my eyes and smiled “Whatever.”

  “Shh, here they come.”

  Matt and Brad sat back down with our drinks and the conversation picked up to where it had left off. Matt continued talking about his football career and where he wanted to be in 5 years time. I let him lead the conversation and did my best smiling and nodding, every now and then my eyes would stray over his shoulder and to the bar towards Vaughan. Occasionally I would take a sip of my drink to be polite and add an “hmmm” to the conversation. My head started to feel light and dizzy, so I pushed my drink away. Bec leaned over to me, falling onto my shoulder “Brad wants to go to the Sportsman’s Club. Are you ok? You look pale. Ah, you look like one of them” Bec slurred as she pointed to the bar, in the direction of Vaughan, Heidi and Gerri “Maybe it’s that sexy new lipstick you’re wearing” and she blew an air kiss at me.

  “I’m ok, just a bit hot” I said fanning myself with my hand.

  “You only had one drink. You cheap drunk” the words seem to mesh together as they dribbled from her mouth.

  “I’ll just go to the bathroom” I said standing up and holding the chair for support.

  “Ok, we’ll meet you outside.”

  “Don’t you want to come with me?” I tried to give Bec the, you have to come with me look, but she didn’t seem to pick up on it.

  Her head lolled from side to side “Nope” she popped the P.

  “Ok.”

  Bec stumbled when she stood up and Brad caught her by the arm and laughed, slipping his arm around her waist for support. Matt turned to me “Do you want to finish your drink?”

  I looked down at the half empty glass and shook my head. “I’ll meet you outside.”

  He followed Brad who was now almost carrying Bec down the stairs. I went to the ladies room and checked my reflection. I did look pale, my head started spinning and my vision blurred, I fanned myself and ran the tap, dabbing the cool water on the back of my neck. I managed to get down the stairs and outside without incident. Bec was gone. I looked in both directions along Main Street, and couldn’t see her, Brad or Matt. One of the bouncers appeared next to me “Your friend went that way not long ago” he pointed in the direction of the Sportsman’s Club “She didn’t look too well” his eyes seemed to be full of concern.

  Great I thought to myself “Thank you” and started north along Main Street towards to Sportsman’s Club. It was a three block walk and my shoes were definitely not made for walking in. My knees felt weak and I stumbled a few times on the uneven path, catching myself on the chain link fence that surrounded a block of prime real estate that was for sale. How could Bec have left without me, to walk this distance alone, on a Friday night? There were too many alleys and deserted car parks I had to walk past to get there. I crossed the first block and narrowly dodged a taxi driving by. The driver slowed to yell some foreign obscenity at me and continued on his way. I started along the bend in the road, where Main Street meets Montague. The first alley I passed; I heard a woman’s muffled scream. My eyes squinted into the alley, at the silhouette of two people at the end. Both were against the wall. It was dark and I could not make out anything definitive, but my instincts told me it was Bec. Trying to clear the woozy feeling from my head, I took a deep breath and stumbled into the alley. “Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I shouted, leaning against the wall for support as my legs started to shake. My brain screamed at me that this was incredibly stupid and dangerous, but I couldn’t let my friend get hurt. My vision focused just enough to make out the silhouette of Matt as he turned and started to walk towards me “You finally joined us. I was waiting for you” his voice was calm, almost seductive.

  I stopped halfway down the alley and opened my purse, rummaging through the contents. “Don’t worry, I’ve got protection.” he laughed as he patted his pants pocket.

  My skin crawled at this thought and I managed to pull my perfume out of my purse and stumbled forward, spraying him in the face. He screamed in pain and held his hands to his eyes. Steadying myself against the wall with one hand, I kicked him in the crouch and he fell to the ground, moaning. Brad let go of Bec and she slumped down the wall and to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete with a loud crack. He turned and started toward me, grabbing me by the hair and pulled me along the alley and threw me down. My feet slipped from under me as I whimpered and crawled to Bec in the darkness. Her body wasn’t moving. Brad grabbed me by the hair again and pulled me to my feet and against the wall. My fingers scratched wildly in the air and connected with his face. The skin balled under my nails, he let go of my hair and held my wrists above my head. I closed my eyes and pleaded “Please don’t hurt me.”

  Brad pushed his body against mine and whispered in my ear “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to have some fun” his breath was hot on my cheek and my face tried to cringe away from him, but he seemed to be everywhere on me, his hot wet mouth on my neck and moving down my chest, his hands released my wrists and fondled my breasts, then he pushed himself harder against me, the bulge in his pants pressing into my stomach. I squeezed my eyes together tighter and cried silently to myself.

  The pressure against me freed and I stumbled forward onto my hands and knees. Brad had backed away from me. A low hissing echoed through the alley, then a bone crunching crack. There was a moan then silence. My eyes were still blurry and I squinted furiously to see what was happening. I could make out the shapes of other people in the alley. Brad was on the ground holding his head. Matt was being held in the air by another person, his feet scrapped on the ground and his voice rasped desperately as he tried to suck in breath. I shrank down to the ground next to Bec and threw my arms around her, another figure approached from the end of the alley and walked towards us. I wrapped my arms tighter around Bec, protecting her. The figure knelt down in front of me and I held back the urge to screa
m. “It’s ok Nicola. You are safe now.”

  The smooth voice was familiar “Ivan?”

  “Yes. You’re safe now” he assured me, his tone soothing “Vaughan, take the ladies back to the bar. Adrian and I will take care of things from here.”

  “But Ivan...” he started to protest, but was cut off.

  “We will take care of it” Ivan said more firmly this time, and there was no further discussion.

  Matt dropped to the ground and coughed, heaving for breath and I saw Vaughan kick his legs, Matt howled in pain clutching his knees. Vaughan knelt down in front of me and held out his hand “It’s ok. I won’t hurt you” His voice was soft and silky. I shifted on the ground and tried to support Bec’s weight. Vaughan moved towards her, scooping her up without effort. Bec’s head lolled from side to side and she moaned as she tried to look up “Nic, is that you?” the words came out in one jumbled slur and her head fell back.

  “I’m here Bec” I managed to assure her as Ivan helped me stand. As I stumbled forward Vaughan offered me his elbow, the rest of his arm was under Bec’s legs and he led us back to the bar through the back exit and to Ivan’s office.

  Vaughan laid Bec onto the cream coloured sofa that lined the far wall of the room. The lighting was soft and atmospheric, which helped my eyes adjust to my surroundings. Parisian scenery decorated the walls; The Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, River Seine. In the corner was a large mahogany desk, with green leather inlaid into the top and a matching mahogany coloured leather chair. The adjacent wall was lined with filing cabinets and a large flat screen TV was mounted on the wall. The picture was split into four images; they were the CCTV frames from the VIP lounge, the downstairs bar, front door and the back door. I turned to the lounge; Vaughan was leaning over Bec, opening her eyes and moving her face side to side in his hand. “Her drink was spiked” he answered without turning and I felt my breath catch at the sound of his voice.

  “How do you know?”

  “All the symptoms fit” He stood and walked towards me, taking my face in his hands. My skin felt hot under his touch and it made me shiver with excitement. He seemed to notice this reaction and dropped his hands as he looked into my eyes. His, were the deepest blue I had ever seen. Butterflies turned in my stomach and I wanted nothing more at this moment than to pull him to me and kiss him.

  “I think your drink was spiked too, your pupils are dilated” Vaughan said as he took a step back.

  It took a few moments for me to comprehend what he was saying, my emotions still on a high from the feel of his skin against mine. “How did you know where we were?”

  He pointed to the TV on the wall “Marcus saw Rebecca being carried out of here with those…” he stopped and took a deep breath, composing himself, he closed his eyes as his jaw tensed “Men and told Ivan” his voice was forcibly controlled as he gritted the words through his teeth, I knew he wanted to say more but thought better of it.

  “But we weren’t inside the club, why would Ivan care what happened?”

  A look of anger flashed across Vaughan’s beautiful face and his eyes looked almost black and thunderous under the light. I took a step back “Were we just supposed to let those animals do vile things to you?” he raised his voice, fists clenched. I flinched away from him and wrapped my arms around my body. I stepped towards Bec and knelt beside her.

  Vaughan stepped closer and I felt him kneel beside me, his voice was quiet pained when he finally spoke. “I’m sorry I scared you, I’m just mad at myself. I should have seen them slip something into your drink at the bar. When Marcus told him what he saw, we went looking for you. Ivan would never forgive himself if anything happened to Rebecca.” I could feel the sincerity in his voice.

  I turned and looked at him, his eyes were smoldering and only inches from mine. “Because she’s Cassie’s sister?”

  He nodded.

  “Is that the only reason you came?”

  His eyes searched mine for a brief moment and I could feel myself getting lost in his gaze. Vaughan seemed to be a deep, troubled soul, someone who held many secrets. Heat prickled across my skin like fire. I wanted to reach out and touch his perfect face, run my fingers over his smooth lips, and more than anything I wanted to make him mine. Not because Cassie thought I couldn’t do it, there was something about Vaughan that made me want him. Want to know everything about him, unlock his secrets. He turned toward the door as Cassie came running in. She threw herself beside her sister “Bec, Bec. Is she ok? What happened?” Ivan was now standing in the doorway.

  “Vaughan, thank you for bringing her back here” Cassie hugged him tightly then turned to me, pulling me to my feet and squeezing me to her “Oh Nic. Are you ok? Gerri told me your drink had been spiked and Ivan was going to get you. Are you hurt?” she asked as she held me at arm’s length, assessing me the way I know my mum would when she found out.

  “I’m fine, just a bit shaken up.”

  Cassie then turned to Ivan “Thank you, you saved my sister’s life. I owe you so much” she hugged Ivan, burying her face into his chest. His hands wrapped around her back and he leant his cheek on the top of her head, closing his eyes. He looked comfortable holding Cassie like that, it was obvious he was in love with her, and no matter how much she denied it, she was in love with him too. Ivan held Cassie close to his chest and whispered something I couldn’t make out. Vaughan nodded and walked to the lounge, scooping Bec up in his arms “Vaughan will take you both home” Ivan said. Cassie lifted her head and wiped tears from her cheeks “No, I’ll take them.”

  “You are in shock; I don’t think you should drive right now. I will take you home later. Sit with me for a while.”

  Cassie nodded and moved to the lounge and sat down. Ivan sat beside her. I followed

  Vaughan outside, Adrian held the back door open as we left and nodded his head in farewell. I smiled back politely. He followed us into the car park and opened the back door of a sleek black Masarati, where Vaughan laid Bec across the back seat. My hands were still shaking and my stomach queasy. The reality of what had almost happened was slowly sinking in. Vaughan opened the car door for me. He then slid into the driver’s seat beside me and handed me a phone. “What?” I asked, confused.

  “You should call Rebecca’s parents, so they don’t worry when we show up with her like this” he nodded his head in the direction of the backseat.

  My fingers misdialed a few times from the shaking before I got it right. The phone almost rang out when Beth answered, sleepy. “Hi Beth. It’s Nicola. Sorry to wake you.”

  “Bec’s not here right now, sweetie.”

  I tried not to laugh “I know she’s with me. We are on our way home. Bec’s not well.”

  The realisation sobered Beth and I could hear the panic rising in her voice “What’s wrong, is she hurt? Where’s Cassidy?”

  “Beth, calm down. Everything is alright. Someone put something in her drink, but she’s ok. Nothing happened” I shuddered at the mental image which now haunted me of what almost occurred “We will be there soon. I wanted to let you know.”

  “She’s ok?”

  “Yes”

  “Is Cassie with you?”

  “No”

  “Who’s driving you home?”

  “Vaughan, he works at the bar with Cassie. She’s too upset to drive, Ivan’s going to bring her home later.”

  “Ok, I’ll see you when you get here. Thanks Nicola” I could hear the forced control in Beth’s voice.

  “Bye Beth” I hung up the phone and let out a long sigh, resting my head against the seat as I stared at the roof of the car.

  “Are you ok?” Vaughan asked me after a few minutes.

  I nodded and looked over the back seat to Bec, she looked so peaceful. As though she were asleep, not drugged. “Should we take her to the hospital to get checked out?”

  Vaughan shook his head “She just needs to sleep it off. She will have a bad headache tomorrow, but she will be fine.”

  We pulled into t
he driveway of the Pearson house and Beth and Martin ran outside in their dressing gowns. Vaughan got out of the car and opened the back door, lifting Bec and carried her to the house. “Come in, come in. Bring her this way” Beth gestured to Vaughan. She starting fussing over her daughter and Martin over me “Are you ok? Did someone put something in your drink too?” he asked as he checked my face, my clothes.

  “I feel ok, a little dizzy is all.”

  He let out a long relieved sigh “You were both very lucky tonight, Nicola.”

  “I know” I agreed and followed Martin into the house. We passed Justin’s room along the hall; he stood in the doorway in his boxers and white Bonds tee shirt. I let Martin pass as he followed Beth and Vaughan to Bec’s room “Hi.”

  “Are you ok? Did anyone hurt you?” he asked, protectively. His hand rested on my arm.

  I couldn’t help but smile “No one hurt me.”

  “What about Bec?”

  “She’ll be fine.”

  “Who hurt her?” he asked as he straightened his posture, broadening his shoulders, his hands were now clenched into fists.

  “Nobody hurt her. She will have a really, really bad headache tomorrow though. She hit her head pretty hard.”

  Vaughan came back down the hallway, followed by Martin “Thank you for bringing the girls home safely. We really appreciate it.” he said as he put his arm around me and led me in the direction of the front door.

  I looked over my shoulder “Bye Justin.”

  “Bye Nicola” his voice sounded deeper than I remembered it being. He seemed to be looking from Vaughan to me suspiciously. I waved my final goodbye and walked out the front door.