Page 62 of Sweet Possession
“Racked up another debt of half a mil.”
My gaze darted to my office door which stood ajar. I jumped out of mychair, peering into the darkened hallway to check the phone ringing hadn’t disturbed Cora before shutting the door.
“Do Ievenneed to ask who he owes money to?”I gritted out, angerbeginning to swirl under my skin.
“Probably not.”
I cursed under my breath as I paced the length of my office, thememory of Freddy’s bloodied face from the day he was dragged into Arnold Diaz’s casino swimming through my head.
I’d never wanted to smash my fists through a wall so much as I didrightthen.
“Freddy can’t fucking help himself,”I growled, fury getting the betterof me.“I should have dealt with him when I had the chance.”
“You were giving Cora a chance to make a decision for herself,”Nashsaid calmly. How the tables had turned. NormallyIwas the voice of reason trying to calmhimdown.
“A mistake I won’t be making again,”I hissed, imagining all the waysI’d like to hurt Freddy.
And maybe Diaz for being a greedy prick and letting Freddy borrowmoney again.
“You and I both know you’re talking out of anger,”Nash replied, callingmy bluff.“You’d never forgive yourself if you ended him and she hated you for it.”
I let out a heavy exhale of frustration and shook my head, slumpingback into my chair. Nash was right. Cora was the only reason I hadn’t murdered Freddy the same night I’d killed Dwayne. She deserved to have a say in the fate of her father’s life, it was the right thing to do.
She’d been deprived of making decisions all her life by her cunt of afather, and I wasn’t going to be the one to takethataway from her now she had her freedom.
“There’s more to it,”Nash continued before I could start consideringmy options.“Freddy’s done a runner. He was seen getting on a bus heading out of the city three days ago, and there hasn’t been a single trace of him since. Diaz’s men ransacked his house, but Freddy had packed up most of his shit. Looks like he’s gone for good.”
My shoulders slumped. If Freddy had left Vegas and didn’t intend oncoming back,thatwould be a relief for Cora, but Diaz wasn’t the type to forget about a debtjustbecause Freddy had disappeared. He’d want the debt repaid, and if he found outthatCora was still in the city, he wouldn’t think twice about taking her as payment.
At least that was an easy problem to solve.
“Does Sav know?”I asked, resignation in my tone.
“No.”
“Good. Let’s keep itthatway,”I said, my mind racing with what Ineeded to do to solve this problem.“Can you get me a meeting set up with Diaz for when I get back?”
“It’s already done,”Nash replied.“And this time I’ll be coming withyou.”
The next three days were an absolute blast. We wenteverywhere.
We flew in a private helicopter over the Statue of Liberty before takinga ferry across to Liberty Island so we could climb the stairs and see the view from the top of the statue’s crown.
Next, we hired bikes and cycled across Brooklyn Bridge, the entiretime Cora laughed at my inability to balance on a bikethatwas far too small for my broad frame and long legs.
We walked hand in hand around Central Park Zoo, before taking ahorse and carriage around the park. When we visited the main terminal in Grand Central Station, I snapped a photo of her awe-struck expression as she gazed around the grandeur of the terminal, promptly setting it as the wallpaper on my phone.
On another day, we hopped on an open-top bus and toured the citywhere Cora absorbed every single bit of information the tour guidetold us about the history of New York, unashamedly asking more questions to learn everything she could.
Each night we ate in beautiful restaurants with the most exquisitefood before heading back to our suite, exhausted from the day’s activities. Collapsing into bed, Cora would declarethatshe was having the best time of her life as she fell asleep in my arms.
I’d toyed with the idea of telling her about Freddy, but seeing howhappy and carefree she was, probably for the first time in her life, I’d decided to keep quiet until after we were home, and I’d had a chance to speak with Diaz about paying off Freddy’s debt.
Maybe with the knowledgethatFreddy was gone, she’d finally beable to be this version of herself but back in Vegas.
On our final afternoon, we decided to have one last walk throughCentral Park. Our plane was due to take off later tonight, and if it hadn’t been for the factthatI needed to get back to help Nash run the business, I would have quite happily stayed here in New York for the foreseeable.
Cora’s noticeable quietness suggested she felt the same.
