Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
CORA
While I drink my two margaritas, I sit on his lap.
He holds me there, even when I try to move to sit next to him.
He doesn’t care that everyone is watching us.
He’s sinfully sexy, dangerous, intelligent, and powerful, yet when he looks at me like he is right now, I’ve never felt more desired, wanted, or claimed.
I’ve also never felt so swept up with any man before.
“Are you ready to leave?” he asks just before he bites my earlobe.
“Yes.” I go to stand, and he lets me this time.
A waitress comes over and whispers something to him about an incident that needs his attention, and I tell him I’ll wait out front.
“Stay inside, I won’t be long.”
I agree, then wait by the front door as requested until I notice someone I know standing outside, smoking a cigarette.
James.
When I push the door open, my intention is to say hello to him.
But then I step out and notice a car pulling up to the curb next to him.
He finishes his cigarette as I call his name, but he doesn’t turn around or give any indication he heard me.
I walk a little closer as he drops the cigarette and stomps on it with his boot.
“James,” I say it louder this time, and he finally turns toward me. I can tell he’s been drinking.
“What do you want?” he asks, and then there is a flare of recognition across his face.
“Rylas,” a woman calls out from the car.
When he turns back to the car, something on his left hand catches the glow from the streetlight. It’s a wedding ring. Disgust creeps its way into me. How could he do this? What a sad human to do this to a woman like Delaney.
Leaning down, I smile at the woman. She appears to be in her mid-thirties, hair tied up loosely on top of her head, and dressed in sweats.
“Hi, I’m Cora.” I offer her a small wave.
“I’m Monica, Rylas’s wife.” She nods to James.
I focus my gaze back on him and narrow my eyes. “Wife?” I ask him. She is meant to be dead. His jaw is clenched hard as I look back at his wife.
“I didn’t know he was married. So nice to meet you.” I smile at her. “How long have you been married?” She looks past me to where her lying scumbag of a husband is.
“Ten years,” she says proudly.
Just as I go to say something else, James, or should I say Rylas, pushes me out of the way and grumbles, “Ignore her. She’s one of Arlo’s whores.”
“Ohhh,” Monica says as he climbs into the car.
“How fucking dare—” I go to say, but Rylas drives off before I can finish.
I immediately call Delaney, but she doesn’t answer. She usually sleeps with her phone on silent.
“I told you to wait inside,” Arlo says from behind me.
Noticing a cab approaching, I raise my hand to flag it down. “I have a ride for us,” he says, and I step out of his way before he can reach me, looking back over my shoulder at him.
“You knew he was married,” I accuse.
He lifts his hand and scrubs it over his face. “Rylas was out here?” he guesses.
“Yes, your friend, James,” I hiss as I get into the cab. He goes to follow, but I hold up a finger. “If you dare, I’ll kick you so hard in the dick, you won’t be able to use it for a month.” His dark gaze fixes on me, his mouth in a tight, thin line.
I give the cabbie Delaney’s address.
How can a night go from so good to shit in a matter of minutes?
Arlo watches as I drive off, and I try calling Delaney again, but she doesn’t answer. Arlo tries to call several times, and I ignore each one. He knew James was lying to us. He could have told me. He had plenty of chances to do so. But he chose not to.
What else is he lying about?
Is he secretly married too?
He could be, and I would have no idea whatsoever.
When the driver stops in front of Delaney’s house, I get out and then start banging on her door, screaming out her name so she knows it’s me and not some stranger. Eventually, the door opens to a sleepy Delaney, and I push past her before shutting the door behind me.
“It’s late. Is everything okay?” she asks in concern.
I know I have to come out and say it, but I know it’s going to hurt her, which is the last thing I want to do.
She’s been doing so well lately. There are no health scares, and she is happy with her life.
And while he might be a part of that happiness, he’s also about to be a large part of her pain.
And I’m the one about to give it to her.
I start pacing the room, unsure how to spit it out without her hating me in the process.
“I ran into James tonight,” I tell her as I stop pacing.
“Okay…”
“He was outside of Arlo’s restaurant, waiting to be picked up.”
“And?”
“A car pulled up, and he went to get in…” She eyes me as I speak, and I know I’m about to break her heart, but I continue anyway.
“Curious about who was picking him up, I leaned down to see into the car, and I saw a woman there. I then proceeded to introduce myself.” Delaney’s face is white, but she doesn’t interrupt me. “She told me she was his wife.”
“She’s dead,” Delaney says, shaking her head.
Just then, her phone starts to vibrate. We both turn at the sound, then she picks it up to see who it is. “It’s James.”
“His name is Rylas,” I tell her. She needs to know the truth.
“What?”
“She called him Rylas.” I take the phone from her hand and reject the call. “Don’t answer it.”
She gives me a helpless, pain-filled look before dropping onto the couch, then tucking her feet in and hugging her legs. I hate seeing her hurt in any capacity, and to know this was done by a man, I want to tear open his insides and check if he really does have a heart.
“He lied to me,” she says quietly, and my heart breaks at her words.
“He did.” I sit next to her and take her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe she meant she was someone else’s wife.”
“No, it was his wife. He was wearing a wedding ring.”
“Maybe I should call him and see what he has to say.”
“Don’t, Delaney. Don’t let that man have any more of you.”
She starts to cry, and I pull her in and hug her.
Her phone keeps vibrating, and we both ignore it as I rock her in my arms.
* * *
I’m woken abruptly by the sound of Delaney screaming. Rubbing my eyes, I get off the couch and find her at the door, her hands waving around in circles. I peer over her shoulder to see James, I mean Rylas, standing there pleading with her. That is, until he notices me.
“You,” he growls. “You’re lying to her.”
“Am I?”
“Cora doesn’t lie to me, James.”
“His name is Rylas,” I remind them unnecessarily.
“James is my middle name,” he admits, which makes Delaney glare at him.
“I found your wife on social media,” I inform him. “You have children together. Do you let your kids know you fuck other women besides their mother?”
“How dare you. You think just because Arlo is fucking you, that you can talk to me like that?” he blusters.
“What the fuck does he have to do with anything? I am talking to you this way because you are a cheating asshole who thinks he can have two different lives. You knew Delaney wanted marriage, and you lied, cheated, and God knows what else.” I throw my hands up in the air and shake my head in disgust. Turning to Delaney, I say, “Shut the door in his lying face.”
“She doesn’t listen to you,” James yells.
But Delaney does listen to me.
She starts shutting the door on James. Shit, I really need to start calling him by his real name in my head.
“Del, let me explain,” he begs, but she shuts the door anyway. He tries calling her name a few more times as we walk to her kitchen, and she looks at the door longingly and lets out a sigh.
“How was I such a fool to let this happen?” she asks miserably.
“You weren’t a fool. You were in love,” I correct.
“That was a mistake.” She starts tidying up her already-clean kitchen. “You can go. I think I want to be left alone.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“Please, Cora. I promise I won’t let him in. I just…”
“Okay, no problem. But I want you to call me if you need me. I’ll come no matter what.
” I grab my bag and slip my feet into my heels before I wrap her in a tight hug that leaves no question that I’ll always be here for her.
“I’m sorry, Delaney. But remember, you are a fucking amazing woman. Fuck him.”
She releases a soft laugh as she steps from my arms.
“You are, too, you know. Amazing, that is.” She wipes at her tears, her face swollen from crying.
“Thanks, babe.” As I walk out the door, I look back one last time, and I find her staring at the sink. “I’m coming back later with dinner,” I call out, catching her attention.
“Sounds good,” she replies, her gaze still locked on the sink in front of her. I shut the door behind me and walk out to the road to wait for Matty to come pick me up.
“You had to tell her, didn’t you?” An angry voice comes from somewhere on my right.
I turn in that direction to find Rylas sitting on the curb.
He glares up at me. “You’ll pay for that,” he says and stands, and as he does, I see a knife in his hand.
He steps up to me, backing me up to the brick wall with the knife pointed at my throat; my heart rate picks up, and I try my best not to start shaking.
He gets so close that the knife touches my skin and breaks it just a little.
I’m frightened, but if he hurts me or worse, at least I’m going down fighting and defending Delaney.
“You cheated and got caught, yet here you are, placing blame on someone else,” I scoff and shove him with all of my might, and he stumbles back slightly, but it’s enough to remove his blade from my neck. “That head of yours must really be fucked up,” I say to him.
Matty pulls up a moment later, and I sigh in relief. Rylas takes a few steps back and slips the knife back into his pocket. Matty immediately gets out of the car and opens my door. His gaze flicks to Rylas, who is still staring at me, and I shake my head as I get in the car.
Some men are just fucking dumb.