"You should have never brought the situation then!"
"What did you expect? For me to obey all your demands?"
"You had been listening to me since ever then what was new in that?"
"You were teaching me then, Mr. Knight. There is a difference."
"If you had stayed you would have known why that happened on your birthday. You never gave me a chance Elle. Were you toying with me until then? Our time together, everything we achieved together, was it all a ploy?" Roy had screeched his chair closer to hers now, their knees touching which was ignored with the both of them staring hard at each other; the past events rolling around their minds.
"If you are talking then let's talk. What happened that night Roy?"
"Not so fast milady. I am not serving you with your answers until you give me mine." His voice sensuous and with clear mischief of playing with her.
"Fair enough. What do you want to know?"
"What is your relationship with Nick Brooks? Truth only Ella."
"We are very close acquaintances."
"Since when?"
"My turn", Ella said sipping the water, "What happened on my birthday?"
"You have got to be more precise darling." He said smiling back at her.
"What were you going to say to me if I had stayed?"
"That there were plans for you."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"It's the truth", she looked into his eyes glaringly and concluded that she had to find out answers in her own way.
"My turn. Since when?" He asked with his face remaining expressionless.
"Since two months."
He gazed upon her dauntingly and said, "And you seemed to have found your soulmate then."
"What plans? Tell me everything."
"I'm not sure whether I'm at liberty of sharing something closely related to the corporation to someone who is finding ways of getting out of it."
"I'm here now, am I not? I'll be giving you the one thing that you always desired. More power. You owe me that much."
For a moment he didn't say anything at all. Then he spoke, "You were to be introduced in the corporation just like every Kingsly before you. You were going to be the command and I the executioner. We were going to be the matching pair! The world would have gone under a new evolution under your rule with my assistance. Isn't that what we dreamt of Elle? Together."
"You are straying from what actually happened", she said quietly feeling the loss of words. She knew they both had those dreams because they shared it as one precious gem.
"Of course darling, have some patience. As I was saying, everything was going as planned; but your father had to always be the one to disturb the peace in our lives! Remember the week before your birthday when I told you your father wanted to talk to me urgently," she nodded her head as that was the time when they had gone out for shopping. He continued, "Your father wanted to tell me that the corporation was at risk. The oil sector was in jeopardy. The middle-east ones were suddenly demanding a lot of money for the oil supply, which was almost 60% of the Kings' wealth. Your father was very adamant on making out a deal with reasonable consideration, but the situation just got worse."
Ella was listening to him very attentively. She had missed upon a lot of what happened after she was gone, he said, " The Saudis demanded for a prolong relation with the Kings'." This was not what she expected him to stop at.
"What does that mean?"
"You are taking my turn."
"You can take away mine afterwards, first answer me."
"The Saudi prince offered marriage to the next heir of the throne."
Ella went rigid and slowly sat back in her chair. After listening to Roy, she started putting the puzzle pieces together. Now that she remembered, Roy was being a distant from the day after they came from shopping when her father would have broken the news to him. She had thought it to be the pressure of some work that would have gone wrong, but it persisted till the day of her birthday; maybe that's why she was more inclined on leaving him. But one thought didn't sit well with her, "You said that the price was almost 60%; how did they know about the total wealth of Kings'? The generations have kept that secret. It was the prime reason for the corporation to still have the most influence until today."
Roy smiled at her, knowing that she would pick upon the necessary question. It made him almost pounce upon her to kiss her hard; to feel her and be proud for having such a remarkable woman beside him. "That was what I picked upon. I was busy in digging up that after your father told me." He went silent again to which she glared at him saying, "This is not the time to play your tricks with me now."
"I don't know what you are talking about", he said innocently, but his eyes showed anything but. Ella was about to leash upon him to give him a piece of his mind and she stood up from her seat to do just that, when he spoke, "Think it yourself. What are your theories? I would like to know whether my woman is still having her talents with her." He stood up too walking closer to her and took her hand in his crook while leading her to the railing of the patio, looking over the whole of London city lights.
"I'm not your woman."
"Then? Nick's?" He taunted at her while grabbing the hand tighter looking at her eyes with a significant frown.
She didn't say anything about it as they were again straying away from their topic. She thought about what he said and was conjuring her mind in thinking about the possible circumstance that could have led to this; all the time Roy watching her. "We have always only traded with the middle-east nations for oil. Which I remember was around ten million pounds, more or less, they never had any objections with it other than any fluctuations with the price; but it was controllable."
"Go on. I'm listening."
"Either they want something through this offer or", she looked at him, "we have a traitor". Roy kissed her right then and there. Waiting for this since a very long time, he was nowhere close to being gentle. He shoved his mouth in her determined jaws, pulling her towards him ensuring no space left between them. Ella was not sure whether to be surprised at the possibility of having a traitor or having him suddenly on her lips and everywhere his hands went. Embarrassingly he had to go for her breasts first. The way he was feeling them it felt like he was measuring every inch of it around her. She then tried shoving his hands away from her, when he took hold of her hands and broke away from the kiss to look at her eyes, showing the desire he had in them. "You can't take away what I want", his voice came raspingly. She was breathing too hard to form any words where he spoke close to her ears, "And I know you don't dislike it. At all." The way he said it emphasizing on every word, only made Ella forget what they were talking about. Her eyes were starting to mirror his and if not for a knock, she would have gladly given herself to this devil.
Hearing that Ella was quick to free herself from him, but he was holding it firmly; she looked at him and then her eyes glanced behind him to the door to see a maid standing there.
"What is it? Didn't I say I don't want to be disturbed?", his voice came out differently; unlike how he had spoken with Ella. It caused goosebumps for both her and the maid. She didn't know whether she should still try to move to free herself.
"I-I appol-logize sir. Ther-re is a-a visi-itor."
"Don't you know how to treat the guests?" He spoke still staring at Ella and his back facing the maid. All Ella would have liked now was to go away from here to her room and sleep, but he was still holding her refusing to let go.
"I-I did. He's ask-king for you, s-sir", the maid spoke meekly. For a moment she sympathized for the maid, Ella whispered to him, "You should go."
"I don't think it's worth my time."
"Someone has visited this late. It could be important."
"One condition." She looked at him warily. "Don't worry it's not another test. I think I have tested you enough for tonight." She didn't know whether to decipher his word as 'test' or 'taste' in his last sentence. Her face flushed and she looked away from his eyes.