She’d told them to release Hayes from his cell and had him watch the surveillance tape of Ren’s “lawyer” coming inside. The guy had been smart. Had worn a hat and had kept his face angled away from the camera, but Hayes had been able to identify at least one thing—it wasn’t their lawyer.
So without wasting any more time, her mom had gone along with two squad cars to the location Cora had pinpointed from Gordon’s phone. They hadn’t expected to find what they’d found. Ren bleeding out and tied up in the garage. Cora didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if they’d been delayed any longer or if her mom would’ve questioned her again. The possibilities would give her nightmares for a long time.
Hayes rubbed his hand along her arm, chasing the goose bumps. He’d been quiet, his thoughts probably running the same routes hers were. Despite his stoic expression, she could feel the quick pound of his heart against her cheek.
She blew out a breath. “He’s going to be okay. That’s what we need to keep reminding ourselves.”
Hayes gave a stiff nod. “As okay as you can be after the person you fear the most beats you, tries to kill you, and . . . whatever else he put Ren through.”
She shivered. That was hovering at the edge of her thoughts, too. They didn’t know details. But she couldn’t imagine Gordon would have left any lines uncrossed. Her stomach twisted. Sexy, funny, lighthearted Ren. What kind of monster would want to hurt someone like that? But she knew the answer. Someone who couldn’t tolerate that kind of joy in a person unless he was the owner and controller of it. “He would’ve killed him.”
The words slipped out, her scariest thought escaping the confines of her mind. She knew enough about obsession. Gordon would’ve been satisfied by only two conclusions. Owning Ren’s love. Or killing Ren so that no one else could have him.
“I know.” Hayes pulled her a little more tightly against him and kissed the top of her head. “You saved him. Saved us both. I’m not sure I would’ve been able to live in a world that doesn’t have him in it.”
She heard the catch in his throat, but when she looked up at him, he covered the chink in his armor quickly. He was trying to be strong for her. She turned in his hold and lifted her hand to brush along the stubble that had grown there. “Hey, it’s okay that you’re freaked out. You can lean on me, too. I care about Ren. But I won’t pretend to know what you’re going through right now. What you guys have runs deeper than I’ll ever know.”
He met her gaze at that, his eyes softening. “I don’t know if I’d say ever.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “I’m not that old. We’ve got time. You know, to get deep.”
“To get deep?” She smirked. “If Ren were here, he’d jump all over that one. Let’s go find a closet and get deep right now.”
Hayes chuckled under his breath. “That’s exactly what’d he say, the fucker.”
She smiled but then looked down, the eye contact too much, her thoughts all over the place. “All I’m saying is that we’ve gotten thrown into serious shit really quickly. It feels intense. Emotions are high. But I’m one hundred percent aware that I’m the third wheel in this picture. I don’t want there to be, like, this obligation to continue things just because I got involved in all this. I w
ould’ve tried to help regardless of how I feel about you two because it’s the right thing to do.”
“So you think in exchange for your concern about our well-being and use of your brilliant hacking skills, we’ll feel the need to repay you with dates and sexual favors?”
She sniffed. “You make it sound ridiculous when you say it like that.”
“Because it’s ridiculous.”
She looked up.
He gave her a soft smile. “You know what kept me from losing my mind in that jail cell this time?”
“Hmm?”
“I kept thinking about the other night. Replaying it in my head. There were so many great things about that night, but most of all I remembered standing in the shower and listening to you and Ren teasing and horsing around in the bathroom as you dried each other off. Y’all were loud, the laughter bouncing off the walls, everything so silly and light. And I found myself smiling like an idiot. I couldn’t believe that after everything I’d been through in the last few years, I’d somehow found not just one but two people who lit me up. Each of you alone is more than I deserve. But both of you? It was like the universe was somehow paying me back with interest. And that if it took three miserable years in prison to be able to get what I had right there in that moment then it was worth it. That I’d do it all again.”
Cora’s breath caught.
“You’re not obligated to us. That street goes both ways. And Ren will have his own feelings and thoughts on all of this.” His hand slid to the back her neck, a light touch. “But I fell for Lenore a long time ago. Not her body or her image, but her words, her humor. You, Cora. And after the other night, how right everything felt?” He shook his head. “I knew then that even though part of me knows we’ve just met, the other part is already gone on you. I don’t want you to walk away. I want this to be the beginning for all of us. Not the end. But only if you want that, too.”
Cora didn’t realize she was crying until he wiped a tear off her cheek with the back of his hand. The words were so big, open, and heartfelt from such a stoic man that she could barely breathe them in. What he was suggesting was so much more than sex or kink or even friendship. He was inviting her into his life, his relationship with Ren, his heart.
It was a lot. Everything she wanted but terrifying at the same time. Her whole life, she’d plodded along so carefully. Every move had been calculated. Even looking back now, she realized why she’d stayed with Kevin so long. Not because of insecurity or convenience or hope it would turn into more. None of the labels she’d put on it. She’d stayed because it was safe. She and Kevin would’ve never fallen in love. They didn’t fit that way. She could get hurt, but only a little. A surface scratch.
But with this, with Ren and Hayes, this would be tearing open her collar and offering her throat up to a sword that could slice right through her. She didn’t remember all of their night together. But she remembered the feeling of it, the utter sense of rightness, that sense of finally finding a place in the world that didn’t require her to adjust or tweak anything about herself. These men wanted her just as she was. And if it didn’t work out, if the two of them decided they just wanted each other, that this kind of complicated relationship wasn’t worth the trouble, she’d be flayed by it.
That was the risk. That was the danger.
She dipped her head, pressing her forehead to Hayes. But before she could say anything else, a throat was cleared somewhere behind her. A familiar throat-clearing. Cora lifted her head and turned.
Her mom stood there, her gaze darting between Cora and Hayes but offering no clue as to how she felt about what she was seeing. “The doctors said you can both go in now. He’s stabilized, but is on painkillers so may be in and out.”
Cora got to her feet, Hayes right behind her. Her heart began to pound. She’d only seen a glimpse of Ren when they’d wheeled him in. She needed to brace herself for how he might look, try not to let her worry show on her face. Ren didn’t need to see her freaked out.