Chapter 11

Zack

T he whole car ride back to our house is filled with suffocating silence. Cora hasn’t said a word since the dressing room. Her eyes have been fixed out the window, not even a glance over to us.

I hold my wife's thigh, rubbing soothing circles on her leg with my thumb. Kimmy is tense and I can tell she’s worried by the way she keeps looking in the rearview mirror. I hate seeing my wife upset, and I didn’t particularly enjoy seeing Cora upset back in the dressing room either.

This whole night isn’t what any of us expected, but I’m choosing to see it as a sign from fate. Cora, my little daredevil is in the car with us. After ten years, she’s finally back.

As we pull into the driveway and park, I look over at Kimmy. She meets my eyes with her anxious ones. I grab her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze and a small smile. She tries to give me one back, but I know she’s stressed and we’re all a little out of sorts.

“We’re here.” I look over my shoulder to see Cora’s gaze is still looking out the window. I don’t think she heard me, it’s as if she’s lost in her own mind. “Cora?”

She blinks a few times, as if coming out of a fog. “Sorry, what?”

“We’re here,” I repeat.

Her attention goes out the window again, but this time she seems to be registering her surroundings. “Oh.” She blinks.

My gaze shifts back to Kimmy as my own worry sinks in. Kissing the back of her hand, I let it go and get out. First, I open Kimmy’s door and offer my hand to her. She smiles up at me and takes it. I help her out and close her door before opening Cora’s.

When I hold my hand out for her, she stares at it. “It’s not going to bite.” I chuckle.

Her brows furrow. “How do I know?” She raises a brow. “You could just be saying that.”

My lip twitches. Cheeky little one she is. I can work with that.

“Guess you’re just going to have to take it and find out.” I grin.

She licks her lips, gaze dropping to my hand again. Hesitantly, she takes it and a thrill fills me as my large hand wraps around her soft smaller one.

Pulling her to her feet, she stumbles a little, sucking in a sharp gasp. My arm shoots out to catch her around the waist. “Careful,” I murmur, her face inches from mine.

Her eyes widen, lips part as her breathing starts to come in little pants. My eyes drop to her lips and the urge to dive forward and kiss her like I didn’t get the chance to all those years ago hits me hard.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she whispers.

“Like what?” I ask, fully aware that I still have her flush to my body.

“Like you want to eat me.” She frowns. “Your wife is right there.”

I look over at Kimmy to find her watching, amusement written all over her sexy face. “Oh, don’t mind me.” She waves it off casually.

Cora steps back out of my hold and brushes herself off. Holding her head high, she says. “So, what now?”

The playful mood disappears and I clear my throat. “Let’s go inside first.”

Cora nods and follows us up the steps and into the house. Closing the door, I look over to see Cora taking in the house. “For someone who had the money to pay at least five hundred thousand for a weekend with a complete stranger, I thought your place would be.... Bigger?” she says and Kimmy snorts out a laugh.

Cora’s face turns bright red as her eyes widen in horror. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” She groans. “I don’t mean it as an insult. I just meant... you know what, never mind, I’m going to shut up now.”

“It’s fine. Yes, this house is rather on the smaller side. But it's big enough for the two of us. And it’s not our forever home. Eventually, we plan on moving back into the family estate.” I can’t help but chuckle. “Do you know how odd it is to hear that word coming out of your mouth?” I ask.

She watches me for a second before shrugging. “A lot has changed since the last time you’ve seen me. I’m not the same person I was back then. I had to grow up, fast.”

That has my stomach sinking. I share a look with Kimmy and I can tell she’s just as curious and concerned as I am.

“How about we get you changed into something a little bit more comfortable? I have some pajamas you can wear.” Kimmy says.

“So, we’re really not, ahh,” she rubs her arm nervously like she’s trying to warm herself up. “Going to, you know...”

“Have sex?” I ask, raising a brow.

“Yeah.” She licks her lips. “That.”

Kimmy laughs. “As much fun as I think that would be.” I love how Cora’s eyes widen at my wife's words. “I don’t think now is the right time for that. Maybe later though.” Kimmy winks. And there's the blush I’ve been waiting for as a pink hue grows on Cora’s cheeks.

I can see the cogs turning in her mind, wondering if my wife is joking, or if she’s dead serious. With what I know about my wife, I’m going with the latter. And the idea gets me a little too excited.

Now is not the time to be in that mindset though.

“Are you sure?” Cora asks. “I don’t want to feel like I’ve ruined your night. You went to the auction tonight to find someone....” I haven’t forgotten the little thing she let slip back at the club. The fact that she wanted to ask Kimmy out. If I’m not mistaken, I think I see a little green monster in her blue eyes. “For you to play with for the weekend.”

“You didn’t ruin our night, Cora.” Kimmy says, stepping forward. “When we saw you up there, we knew we had to see you. You have no idea how much we’ve missed you.”

Cora blinks, eyes flicking between me and Kimmy.

“How about you go get changed, and then we can talk.” I say in a softer tone.

“Okay.” Cora nods.

“Come with me,” Kimmy says, reaching for Cora’s hand, but then stops.

I know Kimmy must be going out of her mind right now. When Cora left, Kimmy took it hard. Kimmy loved Cora; she was her best friend. The only person outside of me who never wanted anything from Kimmy. Apart from her friendship and her loyalty. Not her money, or the fact that her mom was famous. Just Kimmy. And it was a big deal for her.

After Cora left, it was just the two of us. Kimmy stopped putting in the effort to keep friendships that didn’t offer her anything in return. And while I was proud of her, I also hated to see a bit of her spark fading.

I wait for them in the sitting room, filling a glass of bourbon before downing it in one go, then pouring myself another.

Before I get inside my own head and overthink every single little thing, like I sometimes have a bad habit of doing, I need some questions answered first.

About five minutes go by before Kimmy joins me, Cora not too far behind her. Both of them are changed now. Kimmy is in a pink silk two-piece pajama set. Her face is makeup free and she tossed her long brown locks up into a messy bun. She’s fucking stunning and I feel my cock thickening against my slacks.

My eyes drift over to Cora and I have to hold back a groan. She almost looks identical to Kimmy but Cora is in a blue silk pajama set. Her hair is also tossed into a messy bun, face wiped free of makeup.

Cora stands awkwardly in the middle of the room as Kimmy takes a seat on the couch. “Sit,” Kimmy tells her, pointing to the chair.

Cora stares at the chair but doesn’t move. “The chair isn’t going to bite you,” I tell her with an amused grin as I take a seat next to my wife.

Cora shoots me a sassy look and a spike of guilt hits me as it makes my cock harder than before, she rolls her eyes and takes a seat.

“So,” Cora says, bringing her knees up and hugging them to her chest. “You’ve been married for five years? How did that happen.”

“Well,” Kimmy takes this question. “We started dating around a year after I graduated. With us going to the same college, we started spending a lot of time together. He finally told me how he felt a few months later and I guess we just stopped denying how we felt for one another and gave it a chance.”

Cora nods, a flash of hurt crosses her face that I hate. “So you dated for a few years then finally tied the knot. I’m happy for you two. I always knew you had a thing for Zack.” Cora huffs out a laugh. “Didn’t know for sure you felt the same,” she looks at me. “But I assumed. It wasn't hard to miss from the way you two danced together.”

“Danced together?” My brows furrow as I share a look with Kimmy before looking back to Cora. “When?”

She licks her lips. “Kimmy’s birthday. The party right before I left. I went to leave early, wanted to say goodbye and I saw the two of you pretty hot and heavy on the dance floor. Didn’t want to break the two of you up, so I went home.” She shrugs then looks down at her hands.

That night, I wondered where she took off to. Kimmy and I looked for her, but Tyler told us she went home.

After I made sure Kimmy got to bed safely, I caught an Uber home. When I got back, I went to Cora’s room and found her asleep. I remember wanting to go in there and kiss her sleeping lips, to tell her I loved her and how confused I was. How I wanted both of them so damn bad it hurt.

Then the next morning, everything went to shit.

“Oh,” Kimmy whispers.

“Anyway. That's the past. I’m glad you two are married and happy. No kids?” Cora asks, looking around the room.

My heart clenches, eyes meeting my wife’s sad one. Grabbing her hand, I give it a squeeze. She’s so damn strong.

“Not yet.” Kimmy does her best to smile. “We’ve been trying.” For five years now. And after years of trying, we’ve slowly been losing hope. I try to keep a strong front for Kimmy, but it’s hard when I know how much she wants babies.

Unable to hold back the question I know Kimmy and I are dying to hear, I ask it. “Cora, why were you at that auction tonight?”

“Why were you?” she asks defensively.

I look at Kimmy and she smiles, nodding her agreement to tell her. “Because.” I take Kimmy’s hand. “Like I mentioned before. We were there to find someone for Kimmy.”

“Like, a girlfriend? Fuck buddy?” Cora asks.

“Man.” I let out a laugh. “It’s really weird to hear you talk like that.”

“And I told you. I’m not the same person I was before.” Cora narrows her eyes.

There's pain behind them, and it makes me mad. I want to take it away, to fix it. Whatever it is.

“To answer your question, we didn’t know,” Kimmy says, shifting in her seat. “We were... experimenting? The weekend was meant for me to, ahh...” I’m not used to Kimmy being so flustered and it’s kind of adorable. “Have fun with.” She clears her throat. “To experience things I felt like I missed out on. I didn’t really come to terms with the fact that I also like women as well as men until after Zack and I were together for a few years. Being the amazing man he is, he offered to provide me with a chance to live my life to the fullest.”

Kimmy looks over at me, giving me a loving smile.

“So why did you bid on me? You could be having crazy hot sex with some hot woman right now.” Cora says, almost spitefully.

“Because when we saw you up there, we knew we had to see you. It was the shock of both our lives. And no, we didn’t bid on you because we wanted to know why you were there in the first place. We bid because we didn’t want you to go home with anyone else.”

“Why?” she asks. And I don’t answer, not sure what to say. How do I just blurt out in front of my wife that the idea of another person fucking the girl I used to be in love with, my ex step sister, made me want to strangle whoever would have won her?

“We missed you.” Kimmy whispers.

“I missed you too,” Cora says, her voice breaking a little before she looks away. “Sometimes, I used to wish the two of you would show up on my doorstep and steal me away. To take me away from my nightmare of a life and be my saving grace.” Cora’s eyes water and she wipes it away before turning to look at us with a sad smile. “But it was wishful thinking that was never going to happen.”

“Cora. What happened? After you left with your dad?” My heart pounds in my chest at her words. Nightmare life? What am I missing? Because that's not the impression we were given.

“After I watched you beat the shit out of my dad for what he did,” she tells me and my eyes widen. I didn’t know she saw that. “He totally deserved it by the way, so thanks for that,” she adds. “You left with your mom and dad. Mine came storming up the stairs. He found me watching and told me to pack my shit. He also took my phone and banned me from ever seeing or talking to the two of you again. I knew he wasn’t a very nice person before, but that was the first time I started to see just how cruel he truly was. He threatened me and I was too scared to disobey him. We moved across the country. I started going to a new school and got a job. That was the start of the next ten years of being that man’s slave.”

“What do you mean, Cora?” I ask, so damn confused.

She shrugs. “I don’t know much about our parent's divorce. He didn’t talk about it and I didn’t dare ask. All I knew was by the time it was done, all we had left was the house. We were broke. He made me get a job after he lost his. I had to pay for everything.” She scoffs. “The lazy fucker couldn’t bother to find a new one.”

“That can’t be right.” I tell her and she narrows her eyes.

“How the hell would you know?”

“Because. In the divorce, my mom gave him a rather large settlement.”

“What?” her face drops. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.” I shake my head. “She wanted to make sure you were taken care of and everything. She loved you like her own and I know it killed her to see you leave too.”

I watch as Cora’s eyes widen, her breathing picking up. “That fucking piece of shit.” she croaks, standing up before she starts to pace back and forth. “You're telling me he had money. A lot of money?” I nod, my heart breaking because clearly none of that money was used for how it was meant to be. “I don’t know what he did with that money but I didn’t see any of it. He didn’t use any of it on the house, bills, or means of survival. Nothing! That bastard made me work day in and day out. He took every single one of my paychecks, leaving me with nothing.” She starts to cry. Kimmy moves to stand, her face concerned, eyes welling with tears.

“I tried to get out, you know?” Cora sobs. “I tried to save money, to hide it away from him. But when he found out, he took it all and then reminded me who owned me in a way I’d never forget.”

With each passing second, I grow more and more enraged. “What did he do, Cora?”

“He beat me,” she cries and Kimmy rushes over to her, pulling her into her grasp.

“I’m so sorry, Cora.” Kimmy cries with her. “I’m so sorry we weren't there to protect you.”

“Fuck!” I roar, grabbing handfuls of my hair. He fucking touched her, he put his fucking hands on her. He hurt my Daredevil. “I’m going to fucking kill him.” I vow with everything in me.

“Too late,” Cora tells me. “He died a few months ago.” She pulls back from Kimmy’s hold, wiping at her eyes. I hate seeing her so broken. I hate knowing what she’s been through and we could have done something to help her. “That's why I’m here. Not only did that asshole fuck with my life while he was alive, he thought it would be fun to ruin it from beyond the grave in the form of a seven hundred grand debt.”

“What!” I gape at her.

“Yup.” she laughs but there's no humor behind it. It’s utterly sad. “Even with selling the house and everything in it, it didn’t touch much. I knew that I could work my ass off my whole life and never pay it off. I wouldn’t think too much of it if it wasn’t for the fact he also opened a bunch of credit cards in my name, maxed them out, never made a single payment, fucked me over and ruined my credit.”

Cora takes a deep breath and fans her face as she starts to pace again. “But that's not your problem. It’s mine. And part of getting a good chunk of it paid off is using the money from tonight.”

“Let me pay it.” I tell her, stepping forward. “Let me pay it off and keep the money from tonight.”

“No.” Cora shakes her head. “Not happening.”

“Cora,” I growl at her stubborn ass. I have more than enough money to help her out.

“No!” she shouts. “This is my life and I choose how to deal with my own problems. I don’t need you taking pity on me and bailing me out.”

“Cora,” I try again but Kimmy steps in front of me.

“Zack,” she says in a warning tone. “Don’t.”

I grind my teeth together and bite my tongue. I let it lie, for now. “I wanted to come for you.” I tell Cora, changing the subject before I force the prideful woman to take my help and probably drive her away.

“What?” Cora frowns.

“I wanted to find you and bring you home. But, my mother asked me to stay away and wait until everything was settled. Then we could look into seeing you again. Only when that time came, my mom contacted your father and asked if you could come and live with us. He said no. Told her that you were his daughter and he would die before losing you.” I feel sick knowing the reason why he wouldn’t give her up. “I didn’t listen at first. I tried to get her to tell me where you lived. But she told me your dad said you were happy. You made new friends and even had a boyfriend. That you built a new life and we would just be ruining it.” I let out a heavily frustrated and pissed off sigh. “Clearly, that was a lie.”

“Yes,” Cora says. “I didn’t have any friends, I didn’t have enough time for friends. I was always working or going to school. As for a boyfriend.” Cora snorted. “I tried dating a few guys and girls, but he fucked that up too. He didn’t want me to be happy, he wanted me focused on working so he could drink and gamble my money away.”

Cora wraps her arms around herself and I hate how small she looks.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Cora.” Regret and pain fills me. “For everything. I shouldn’t have listened to what he told my mom. I was so wrapped up in college and working for my dad, I stupidly didn’t want to risk rocking the boat.”

“It’s not your fault.” she says. “You had no obligation to save me, Zack.”

“I did.” I growl. “You were my best fucking friend and I failed you.”

She shakes her head and turns towards the window. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It hurts too much and I’m so tired.”

“Come on. I’ll bring you to the guest room.”

As I watch Kimmy take a broken Cora out of the room, it takes everything in me not to trash this room in a fit of anger.

I was a stupid confused teenage boy. I could have saved her. I could have taken her from that hell. What would our lives be if I had? Would Kimmy and I still be together, or would I have had the balls to tell both of them how I felt and the three of us could have been together.

I’m three glasses of whiskey in when Kimmy comes back. “She’s sleeping.”

“Come here.” I place my glass down and open my arms for my hurting wife.

The moment she's wrapped up in my embrace, she breaks. It wrecks me. Seeing either of them cry makes me want to do anything to make it stop.

“Shhhh.” I kiss the top of her head. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”

“Her life, Zack. All the pain she went through while we were happy and living care fucking free,” she says angrily and I hold her tighter.

“I know.” I rub her back. “I know. But we can't change the past. All we can do is make sure she never has to suffer again.”

“I don’t want her to leave, Zack. I finally have her back.” Kimmy looks up at me with sorrowful eyes.

“We won’t lose her. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Promise?”

I kiss the tip of her nose. “She’s back, Kimmy. I promise you that we won’t lose her again.” And I’m willing to do anything to keep that promise.