I found them in Drake’s glass structure, talking and drinking. They all fell silent as I entered. Drake put his hand out to me. I went and curled up in his lap. He was in his favourite armchair. He petted my hair and let me bury my face in his neck.
“How was it?” he asked a minute later.
“Shit.”
He rubbed my back and kissed the top of my head.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. They just asked me so many questions. It was exhausting going over everything, but it’s okay. At least I’m no longer considered missing. Means I can go on with my life, you know. I don’t have to worry about being on their records or anything else.”
I sighed, rubbing my face against his skin.
“It got tense when they started asking me where I would go, what with Mum being dead, but then this lady officer came in and told them she would take it from here. She drove me home without any questions being asked. Like she’d been told to get me out of there when they’d finished questioning me.”
I turned my face up to his so I could meet his eyes.
“It’s a relief it’s over even if it was a lot to deal with.”
“You did so well, my good girl.”
My heart fluttered at his praise. He knew when I needed it and gave it freely. I would always be Drake’s brat, but right now, I wasn’t in the mood to push his buttons. All I wanted was to breathe him in. To let him comfort me and help me feel more at ease.
“You don’t have to worry anymore, Scarlett. We’ll take care of the rest.”
I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder again. There wasn’t anything to worry about. The thing about having dirt on the police commissioner was you could get him to do what you wanted. That included making sure I never had to deal with any repercussions regarding my disappearance after this. Not to mention he would make sure the investigation into the fire would be wrapped up quickly.
Stuart’s estate straddled the border between Kent and Greater London, meaning jurisdiction could technically fall under the Met’s purview. Drake had a conversation with the commissioner the day after the fire, essentially telling him to make sure the investigation was handled by his force, otherwise, we’d release the evidence we had against him. Safe to say, it had made the news because of who Stuart was. Good thing none of us had been linked to it. And they certainly weren’t going to find out about me, either. Drake had been very clear about my name being kept out of the public eye. He didn’t want me being all over the news and getting harassed. I guess I had the commissioner to thank for getting me out of that interview room and home safe.
“We have something for you,” he said after a few minutes had gone by.
“Another surprise?”
“You could say that.”
They’d already sprung the commitment ceremony on me. What was one more thing?
I sat up and gave him a look.
“I’m beginning to not like surprises.”
He stroked my cheek.
“You’ll like this one, little wisp.”
He encouraged me off his lap so I could say hello to the others. Then they were dragging me back downstairs into the penthouse. I fiddled with my ring on the way down. Prescott had informed me it contained a tiny tracker embedded in the metal. They didn’t want to be in a position where they couldn’t find me again after everything with Mason. I could hardly blame them for that. It made me feel safe and secure, so I hadn’t given them any shit for it.
When we got into the living area, Francis took my hand and pulled me closer to where the war room was. It was then I noticed there was no longer a bookshelf in front of it. A white door stood there now. Drake opened it and gestured for me to enter. I gave him a curious look before dropping Francis’ hand and stepping inside.
My hand went to my mouth. On one wall there was an open wardrobe space with all of my clothes hanging in neat lines. A whole section was dedicated to all my shoes and trainers. Then there was a beautiful chest of drawers. I walked over to them, finding a framed photo of the five of us when we were teenagers. It brought tears to my eyes seeing us like that. We’d been through so much since it was taken, but it was a reminder of a time when we were innocent of things to come.
I set it down and continued looking around. There was a dressing table on the opposite side of my clothes with a mirror on the wall and all my makeup set out. A large rug covered half the room. It was black with little silver stars running across it, representing the night’s sky. There was a huge dark blue sofa by the window facing the cityscape. I went over to it, running my fingers along the soft fabric. My eyes darted up to the picture hanging above the sofa on the wall. It was a painting of Nyx, the goddess of the night, and four horses below her, each representing the horsemen.
I’d complained to Drake about not having a space in the penthouse. And they’d made me one. They’d changed their war room with its creepy photo display into a room for me. A space of my own. It not being a bedroom didn’t bother me. It would mean my clothes were all in one place. My very own personal dressing room and somewhere I could come when I needed space.
I turned and practically sprinted across the room. Then I was jumping on Drake, who had to take several steps backwards to stay upright. My legs wrapped around his waist as I buried my face in his neck.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
He put his arms around me. I shifted my head back and started planting kisses all over his face. Not sure how he felt about it, but he was smiling by the time I was done.
“You’re welcome.”
It was definitely him who had made this happen. When Drake got an idea in his head, he usually followed it through.
“I won’t tell anyone else how sweet you are to me. I mean, they know already.” I waved at Prescott and Francis. “But it’ll stay between us.”
He laughed and set me down, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“Well, you can thank those two. They designed the room for you. I merely suggested we should.”
“When on earth did you have it all done?”
“We had people up here whilst you were at work to install all the wardrobe space. Today, we had all the furniture delivered and the finishing touches added.”
For Drake to be so thoughtful was a miracle in itself, but he’d changed so much since I’d broken down his walls. He’d become more like the boy of our youth whilst still maintaining the man he’d grown into. I got to see all sides of him and it made me appreciate him all the more.
“I love you so much.”
He bit his lip and stroked my cheek.
“My heart and all its love are yours, little wisp.
I rushed to Prescott next, who gathered me up in his arms, his blue eyes glinting as he smiled down at me.
“My perfect king made me a perfect room.”
“I’m glad you like it, little lamb. We wanted it to be special for you.”
“I love everything about it.”
He kissed me, making my heart melt. The way I loved this man and all his beautiful imperfections made my chest swell. He might like to think he was bad, but in my eyes, he was kind, caring, and compassionate. He loved me fiercely, knew exactly what I needed before I did, and never failed to give me whatever I asked him for.