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Porter studied the pictures, knowing they had the perfect way to sway Adrik into leaving Kenzie alone. Though he also knew he would need the assistance of Sawyer to get this done. But it was damning enough that Adrik could be arrested. It was certainly enough to get Adrik to rethink his decision to force Kenzie’s hand. Trickles of hope rose in his chest, and he felt like they finally had something they could go on, but he knew the type of man he sat across from. The emptiness that lay in his soul. The greed that came along with this type of information. “I’m taking it you want something for these. What’s your price?”
“Half a million,” Rocco said, without blinking an eye.
Chloe’s heavy sigh filled the room.
Half a million dollars was a hefty price. Porter never paid that much money for anything. Typically, photos cost about ten grand apiece. “Is that a firm price?”
Rocco nodded. “You want Adrik. I want the money that Adrik took from me.”
Porter’s lips parted to request that Rocco elaborate on that, though he figured it was likely a business deal that went bad, or Adrik had promised funds and hadn’t delivered. He decided to close his mouth, not caring what happened between Adrik and Rocco, focusing only on Kenzie.
She didn’t have this money, he was sure of that. Her store might’ve been successful, but she didn’t drive a fancy car and her apartment’s furnishings appeared to be from the eighties. Porter sighed, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck, when his phone ringing snapped him out of his thoughts. He grabbed it from his pocket and looked to the screen, seeing it was Sawyer. A cold blast of concern washed throu
gh him as he clicked the phone. “What’s happened?”
“Kenzie’s left the store.”
Porter rose from his seat. “What do you mean she’s left the store?”
Sawyer’s voice vibrated with an equal intensity. “I couldn’t see her through the window anymore and kept seeing another woman, so I went to check in. It appears that another employee came in and Kenzie went out the back.”
Porter gritted his teeth, barely managing to say, “Alone?”
Sawyer sighed. “Alone.”
—
The sun blazed down on Kenzie’s shoulders as she took a seat on the river’s edge. The light breeze brushed across her, fluttering the long grass. She had tried to stay at work this morning, but after an hour she knew she couldn’t be there today. Needing to be somewhere else, she called in her daytime employee and left when Sammy arrived. She had known that once Sawyer found out he’d call Porter. Kenzie imagined he’d be less than thrilled, but this moment wasn’t about Porter, it was about her.
Earlier this morning when Porter issued the spanking, something broke inside her right then and there. Something she couldn’t run from anymore. Perhaps her soul awakened, and she realized she didn’t want Porter to make her feel better—she wanted to feel better on her own. He gave her what she needed—of course he did, with the spanking—and that centered her in a way she hadn’t been grounded since she’d had her first scene with Porter. She couldn’t depend on anyone else but herself to heal, and that’s what brought her to the river today.
The drive had taken half an hour and was a quiet drive, with a sunny day guiding her way. She wondered if she would have forgotten the directions to the lake that forever changed her life, but after she parked her car at the entrance and headed into the forest, she knew exactly where to go. The lake had clearly been burned into her mind.
She strode along the pathway, heading through the thick forest, knowing things had taken a turn far worse then she could’ve anticipated. The intensity of their scene this morning gave her clarity, and with that, she seemed only to see how much of a mess she truly was, and how much she wanted to change that.
More than anything, she was tired of running from herself.
Before Porter she’d been okay, or so she’d thought. Now she recognized that she had avoided her issues for too long and hid from herself for far longer than she should have. She thought she’d been strong, but now she doubted that belief. Her heart clenched as she accepted that she had portrayed strength, when in reality she’d simply given up, hiding away so no one could see how much she was hurting.
She glared down into the dark water that stole her sister’s life, and everything seemed to catch up with her now. Memories were no longer haunting her; they were simply there…all the time…
Kenzie curled her legs up underneath her on the couch. People were stuffed into her small house. Some people were crying. Others were sharing stories of Joslyn. Kenzie didn’t know what to do, except sit there. No one talked to her, and those who did looked at her with pity.
Unease crept through her as she wondered if everyone would always watch her that way. She didn’t like the whispers they were sharing while they kept a close eye on her.
She’d never been to a funeral before. She hoped she would never go to one again. Such a weird thing, she thought. Her mother was busy preparing food for everyone, and Kenzie figured that was simply to keep her mind off what happened. Teachers from Kenzie’s and Joslyn’s school talked about how wonderful Joslyn was while they ate the small sandwiches, and an ache formed in Kenzie’s chest.
What would she do without Joslyn?
Needing to get away, she rose and pushed through the crowd, seeing everyone inspecting her. That poor girl, their eyes reflected. She looked to the floor, despising how people observed her as if life would never be the same for her again.
Once she reached the back door, she inhaled a deep breath and exited the house. The air was fresher and not as thick out there. She moved quickly to the swing and jumped on it, instantly pumping her legs to go higher. She leaned her head back, shutting her eyes, wishing this was all some nightmare she could wake up from.
“Kenzie, my dear.”
She scraped her feet against the grass, coming to a halt and noticing Gran in front of her with her arms open. Gran’s eyes were soft and the wind rustled her short gray hair. “Come with me, sweetheart.”
Kenzie pushed off the swing, moving into Gran’s warm arms and being led to the bench on the back porch. Gran sat first and Kenzie followed, snuggling herself into Gran’s hold as the dark sky reflected her mood. “I couldn’t be in there anymore,” she whispered.
