Bared (Club Sin 2)

Samantha winked. “Next time I won’t let you win so easily.”

Aidan inclined his head, welcoming the challenge. He’d known through the entire case that Samantha wasn’t gunning for his client. He believed—with total certainty—if she wanted to get his client convicted, she would’ve.

He watched Samantha hurry down the street as another bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face. He swiped it away before he turned his focus onto Cora’s message.

We need to talk. Meet me at Palm Northwest Cemetery.

He frowned at his phone. While his chest lightened at her text, the place she wanted him to meet raced his heart. Without pause, he typed, I’ll be there in twenty minutes.

After he grabbed his blazer and briefcase, he jogged to his black Audi in the parking lot. Within two minutes, he was in the car. Within another two minutes, he was on the road. And within twenty minutes, he’d spotted the administration office and church at the cemetery.

A sour taste filled his mouth as he drove down the road, leading him into the cemetery gardens made up o

f ponds, angelic statues, and fresh flowers. As he headed along the paved road, approaching the old shade tree, he noticed Cora sitting in the private garden with the iron gate.

There was a heaviness in his chest as he pulled off to the side of the road, regarding her from a distance. Why had she come here, and why had she picked that place to sit? Chills made him shiver and his fingers became cold. It’d been a long time since he’d come to the cemetery.

The reminder of why was not something he wanted to revisit.

He exited the car and approached her, forcing air from his lungs. She sat on the grass near the tombstone. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and her chin rested on her knee. When he entered through the open gate, Cora looked to him. His chest ached under her troubled stare, and he grabbed the gate for support.

She wasn’t hiding her pain.

Her soul was bared.

While a wrinkle marred her forehead, her gaze remained undeniably gentle. A far different look than any he’d seen lately. Usually, she smirked with attitude or glared in irritation. He preferred those looks on her. The damaged soul exuding from her features shattered him all the same.

He released the gate, sat down on the cement bench, and stretched out his fingers. “You’re ready to talk?”

She dropped her head, sighing dejectedly. “I don’t think I have a choice anymore.”

Aidan agreed. The only thing that would save her now was getting whatever plagued her out in the open, so she could deal with it. Though it relieved him to know that soon the air would be clear, her puffy eyes made it impossible to imagine a positive outcome to this conversation. The place she had requested to meet him brought on a wave of nausea.

He refused to look at the tombstone. “Why did you come here?”

Cora regarded him before she glanced to the tombstone. “I brought you here to tell you that your plan backfired.”

He processed, still at a loss. “Cora, I don’t understand.”

“I agree about being at an impasse.” She stared at the grave, avoiding his gaze. “Something has to change, and I realize that now.” Turning to him, her voice softened. “I know you thought that spending time together would make me feel closer to you. And you were right. That’s exactly what it did.”

Aidan noticed the dark circles under her eyes and her pale complexion. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who’d had a rough time these past days. Weakness overtook his muscles and dullness stormed into his chest at what she said, since she hadn’t smiled with those words.

She paused, her puffy, red eyes searching his. “We can’t ever go back. Now everything is different.” She pushed off the ground and came to kneel before him. “You want to know what my problem is.”

“Yes, I do,” he asked, regardless that her measured look tightened his fingers around the stone bench.

She pointed to the tombstone. “It’s Lily. It’s a ghost that’s haunting you. It’s not me that’s the problem, Aidan.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she whispered, “It’s you.”

Speechless, he stared at her, and his heart nearly exploded from his chest.

“When I came to Club Sin I was so happy and excited to be there. Then I met you and you trained me.” She heaved a long sigh, placing her hands on her knees. “At first, I was so focused on pleasing you and learning your rules, I didn’t even know it happened.”

He swallowed deeply, forcing his voice out of his dry throat. “What happened?”

“I fell in love with you,” she said with a shaky voice.

His mouth parted to say something, but he found himself without words. You’re in love with me? Why had she not told him that before? Cora had never shown a deep and passionate love for him. They were friends. Although she cried when you made love to her …