Chapter 38: Cora

To sayshe was unimpressed with her final days in the villa would be, somehow, both an overstatement and an understatement. Maxon had gone home and while the other contestants were told that he had to leave for "personal reasons," Cora knew that those reasons were actually that he was "forcibly removed from the manor."

So she was left without a partner.

At least in the eyes of the public.

Behind the scenes, she was actually as far from single as she'd ever felt, though she and Carter had not taken the time to put an actual label on it. They spent their time consumed with other pursuits, such as how quickly they could rip off each other's clothes.

Cora hoped he wouldn't be too rough with her finale dress.

The production team had spoiled them with a "girl's outing" which had turned out to just be another wing of the manor where a stylist had set up shop with a plethora of evening gowns. Her eyes had immediately been drawn to the bright red number and, when she'd pulled it off the rack, it was to find a handwritten note.

Knew you'd go after this one.

Can't wait to see you in it.

C

The simplest explanation to how he'd known would be that Cora was predictable. Only, she didn't feel predictable. She just felt seen. Good thing that was exactly what the dress called for.

It was slinky and silky and the dramatic dip of the back had it draping exquisitely over her ass. There was no slit, like she might usually go for, but the dress didn't really call for it with the way the fabric clung and moved over her. The stylist had recommended old Hollywood waves for her hair and the whole thing felt quite Jessica Rabbit.

She'd even put in a request for some purple shoes to tie it all together—it was way too hot for gloves.

The other ladies were knockouts in their own rights. Maia had chosen a tight baby-blue number with a high neck, the type of dress only her brand of blonde could pull off. Willow's glowing skin and auburn hair was complemented by the most brilliant shade of sunshine yellow and Cora loved that she didn't shy away from her reputation or her body because the thing was practically just an extension of her. And then there was Eloise, who looked like an angelic little forest nymph in her swathy sage gown.

It was a shame that the boys weren't going to get this same treatment. Honestly, Cora was surprised that she was when she was without a partner and pretty much rendered ineligible for any significant role in this finale. To be fair, with the other rules Carter had already broken for her sake, she didn't know why this would be any different.

Their very last day was the worst reminder of this. All Honeymooners were to be sequestered in their suites while a crew came in and prepped the backyard for a live crowd of cameras and reporters and influencers and basically anyone that would give the event some visibility.

She imagined that, in the other rooms, those couples were chatting and laughing and professing their love/like/lust for one another. Reminiscing on their journey through the manor to give the editing team fodder to play already-shown clips.

But Cora was alone.

Carter was caught up in the preparations and didn't really have time to sneak away to keep her company. She had no one to pore over memories with, no one to stave off the boredom. She felt like a little kid in time out, waiting for her parents to come release her and let her get back to play. She couldn't exactly sleep, either—her nerves wouldn't let her.

So when morning had come, Cora was still just sitting there. Waiting. Her hands folded in her lap and her dress hung on the door frame between the bedroom and the en suite. It had given her ample time to think. She didn't know that she'd done much of it since entering this manor.

She'd been too caught up in the show. In her desire. In whether or not it was reciprocated. Well, now she knew that it was but what did that really mean? Was it enough?

And did it matter if it was enough? Because while Carter had told her that he wanted her and that he didn't want what they had to stop, he hadn't actually uttered the words I want to be with you. Neither had Cora. Maybe because she'd been so concerned with his want that she hadn't really stopped to examine her own.

So it was hours of that. Of making a decision on a possibility that hadn't been presented to her.

She was grateful when the voice came over the speakers and instructed all the girls to prepare themselves to be escorted. The crew member was one of those no-nonsense ones, collecting Cora's dress and rushing her out the door with blinding efficiency. She strode ahead of Cora down the hall, sending what Cora was sure she thought were surreptitious glances her way. If it was because she didn't believe Cora should be there or because she was suspicious about what was going on between this girl and her boss, Cora couldn't say.

Their destination turned out to be the same room in which they'd had their "outing" and Cora couldn't hold back the snort. Why had they bothered sending the dresses with the girls when they were coming right back to where they started? She knew it couldn't have been Carter who'd made that call. He'd likely have preferred there to be a big reveal for each of the couples and she knew she'd told him at least once about her disdain for getting-ready sequences in reality television.

Regardless of her distaste for watching, though, Cora found she enjoyed her time prepping for the finale. They teased Maia endlessly about her pairing with Killian, cheekily asking when their real honeymoon might take place. Maia, in pure Maia fashion, pretended to be annoyed by their line of questioning and insisted there would never be a honeymoon because she planned to ghost the boy as soon as they stepped foot outside the manor.

She was lying, of course.

When Cora had asked them to tone it down in front of Eloise, Willow had only scoffed and commented that, if Eloise was going to pretend to still be bothered by the way things had ended with Killian, then she should perhaps be a little quieter with Silas or, at the very least, close their window.

The revelation had sent Cora reeling, especially after all the comforting they'd had to do for Eloise after Silas had said something boneheaded.

"I bet she's happy," Maia'd said. "The mean ones are always good in bed."

"Humble brag," Cora had teased.

"Nothing humble about it."

Once they'd had their fill of laughter and a grazing breakfast while their hair set, the girls were painted and stuffed into their gowns. Plied with warning not to mess anything up because the finale wasn't supposed to start for, like, ten more hours but they needed to get b-roll shots of all the couples at different locations around the manor.

That, unfortunately, had taken five hours, after which they were subjected to another bout of glam to fix anything that had drooped or dripped. Cora's session had been quick and easy because the only one she'd want to muss her up was busy doing very important showrunner things.

Maybe he could spare her a second, though.

It was easy for her to sneak away, mostly because no one really cared what happened to her today. She was the spare. Someone they were forced to invest in because she'd been around since the start and hadn't done anything to warrant being kicked off—anything, at least, that they knew about.

She tried the backyard first, sneaking glances around the semi-transformed space. They'd kept the pool glistening and uncovered but had erected a little fence around it so whatever guests they'd invited wouldn't be as likely to fall in. They'd even added a little floating fountain, complete with blinking lights, to make the space feel more like a party.

The loungers had been gathered in another roped-off area, likely reserved for the VIP guests, and the beds had received the same treatment, if a little less mobile.

All that change, but still no Carter.

Sticking close to the house, she tried the side yard next—the one where they'd held nearly all the challenges. In this space, they'd installed a modern-day dais set to a backdrop of bursting florals in a heart-shaped arch, a neon logo for the show strung through the center. It wasn't original, by any means, but it was pretty and it was firmly in-genre.

But Carter wasn't there, either.

The next area she tried, she didn't actually believe he'd be there. She hoped, though. It might be a bit poetic if he holed himself up in the diary room, waiting for her to find him in a place where they'd done such…steamy things together.

He wasn't, of course.

She'd been avoiding the control room. She knew she wasn't supposed to be seeking him out but seeking him out in his place of power felt extra risky today. Who knew, really, what he was dealing with or who might be in there with him, prepping? She'd almost talked herself out of it by the time she got to the cracked door.

But then she'd heard the voices.

"I'll ask you one more time, Benton, where's the damn footage?"

"And I'll tell you one more time, if I knew where it was, you'd have it on the drive in your hand."

The man with him sounded as if he had the same stiffness that Carter had complained of when he'd told stories of Gavin Holland. Clearly, he was putting on airs of being older and distinguished and fancied himself superior to every other employee of the network, even the ones who far outranked him. Carter'd mentioned how the man tended to rankle him, believing that doling out punishment to Carter would make him look better. More managerial. More worthy of a better title, better pay.

Leave, she ordered herself. You wouldn't want him hearing you get dressed down by your boss.

But what footage were they talking about?

Against Cora's better judgment, she pressed herself against the wall and continued listening.

"See, I don't know that I believe that," Gavin drawled. "Seems awfully convenient that a man under your care is claiming he was assaulted by you and the video evidence of the night it happened has been erased."

"There is video evidence of that night," Carter corrected. "I've shown you the clips of him charging and threatening Ms. Gordon."

"It's what happened after that I'm interested in."

"Why? The clip is more than enough to be considered a breach of our conduct clause, which renders our promise of care null and void. It's none of our business what happened after he broke the rules, only that we removed the threat from the other contestants. Which we did," Carter pointed out.

"It's our business when he's claiming a member of our staff punched him in the face!"

"If that's his claim, I welcome him to bring me the proof."

"And the bandage on your hand? That's not proof?"

"I punched a wall," Carter lied. Easily. If it had been any other situation, Cora may have been perturbed by the ease at which it fell out of his mouth but, right now, she knew it was necessary.

"And where's this damaged wall?"

"It was one of the stone pillars out front. I'm flattered, really, but even I'm not strong enough to damage solid stone."

"And where's the footage of that?"

"You already know the front of the manor isn't surveilled constantly."

"Convenient."

"Yes, I imagine it is convenient for Mr. Moore to not have concrete proof I'm innocent of what he's accused me."

"You have an answer for everything then."

"You'd rather I have no idea what's going on in my manor?"

"Your manor?" Gavin asked, his voice rising in disbelief. "You didn't even want this project and now you've grown possessive of it? I'll remind you that you're still under our employ. What you meant to say, I'm sure, is that you have no idea what's going on in my manor."

"I know exactly what's going on," Carter answered. "That's what you apparently have a problem with."

"Except for what happened to the footage."

Carter hummed. "Let me make sure I'm understanding. You've chosen to take the word of man, of which we have video proof of volatility, and believed that I, the one you've employed and therefore trusted to oversee this manor and the safety of the contestants in it, have assaulted this man. And then you believe that I've taken the time to erase all footage of the manor from the time the assault supposedly took place until the middle of the next day. What reason could I possibly have for that? Are you thinking I spent those twelve or so hours just torturing him or is there something else you're accusing me of?"

"You—"

"We're in the age of technology, Holland. Cameras glitch. Shit gets erased. But have I not been working to make up for the lost footage and to make this finale a success? Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to that."

Cora imagined that Carter had, actually, done exactly what he'd been accused of doing. He'd erased the footage of him punching Maxon. Erased the footage of the night they'd spent in Cora's suite.

It was smart of him, really. A protective measure that could probably be reversed if someone had the drive and the knowhow to do it. But Carter was so competent, she was sure that the execs, aside from Gavin, wouldn't want proof of their employee's bad behavior. They'd more than likely wish to plead ignorance.

And Cora knew it was unreasonable—really, she did—but the erased footage scratched at something in her heart. She wanted to believe that Carter wasn't ashamed of her. Ashamed of what they did together as two people who didn't make sense. But knowing that he'd taken steps to protect that secret didn't soothe her worries over what was to come next.

She waited. Tried to talk herself out of her mood until she could stomach returning to her suite or to their makeshift dressing room or to wherever they wanted her to go. But her chest was still rising and falling violently when Gavin stomped out of the control room, not sparing a single moment of attention for the overdressed girl curled into the corner.

She should follow him. She'd wait until he got far enough away, and then she'd follow him.

"You can come in, Cora."

Of course, he knew she was there. Of all the lies he did tell, Carter hadn't been dishonest about knowing what was happening in this manor.

She stepped into the control room and tried not to let her shoulders sink in relief at the sight of him. He was in his own finale garb, though he likely wouldn't be on camera at all. His tux was fitted over his tapered frame, the silver of his bowtie and his pocket square highlighting the sporadic hints of silver in his hair. His shoes looked pristine and expensive and Cora was distracted by the thought of them striding towards her.

He looked beautiful.

The hands she loved so much found the insides of his pants pockets. "So you heard all that."

It wasn't a question. He knew she had. The way he was positioned behind the monitors even suggested that he'd been watching her the entire length of that conversation, directing Gavin's gaze away.

"You deleted it?" she asked, rather than answering him.

"No." When she raised her brows, he continued. "I transferred the footage to my personal drive. Then I deleted it."

Her mouth fell open and she got confused about what, precisely, she was upset with him about. "That's so reckless! What if someone found it?"

"No one will find it," he assured her.

"But what if they did?"

He shrugged. "Then I guess I'd just have to kill them."

"Carter!"

"No one will find it, baby."

She sniffed. "Because we're a secret?"

"No." She watched understanding dawn over his features. "I mean, yes. Until tonight, we're a secret. But after tonight? I'm going to take you home and fuck you on my balcony so the whole city knows who you belong to. And when you're not there, I'll open my windows and pant your name while I fuck my own hand to the video of us I saved. I'm not interested in keeping us in the dark."

Color rushed to Cora's cheeks. She always was an obvious blusher. "That's why you saved it? So you could watch us?"

"Yes,"

"Seems risky."

"You're worth every risk, Cora. But I won't risk you. I won't risk your privacy or your safety. I won't let anyone use this against you," he insisted, holding up his own thumb drive. "Besides. That night? That was for us. No one else."

"Can I watch it?"

Carter grinned and she loved the sight of his teeth. She loved?—

"Of course you can."

She stepped all the way into the control room, done hovering in the doorway like she wasn't welcome. Carter had made it clear that wherever he went, she was to come along. She didn't stop until she had him cornered against the monitors and the switches.

His hands wrapped around her waist. Not to hold her back but to keep her close. Just how she liked it.

"Hey, baby," she purred. "Do you love me?"

Carter laughed but he didn't deny her an answer. He knew what she wanted to hear. "Desperately, Cora."

Had anyone ever told her that before? That they loved her? No, she thought, not like that. And she hoped he'd be the only one for a long while that ever did.

She pressed herself to him and didn't feel self-conscious about it in the least. He wanted her to. She knew he did.

And she smiled.

"Good," she said. "I love you, too."