Inferno Anthology

by Gow, Kailin

  I was happy to see the slurring words disappearing. “Bailey’s dad would.”

  “Bailey’s dad isn’t being a real dad, either. He’s throwing money at her and letting her do whatever she wants so he doesn’t have to deal with her.”

  “Still. It has to be better than living with a control freak, not to mention he may be a psycho control freak.”

  “Promise me one thing, please.”

  “What?” I asked, turning to stare at him. “If you ever feel you’re in even the slightest amount of danger, you’ll call me. I don’t care where I am or what I’m doing; I’ll drop everything to make sure you’re safe.”

  Normally, I would feel his request was overdramatic, but if it was true—if my dad had killed Tommy…I let that thought and its implications dwindle.

  “I promise,” I replied and he sighed, seeming relieved.

  “Is there anyone else you trust that you could talk to about this? Maybe your mom?”

  I shook my head. “No. Not my mom. But there is someone else I trust and I’m positive she will help.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Six

  “Brooklyn! What a surprise!” Dee Dee said as she opened the door and smiled widely, stepping forward to hug Brooklyn before glancing at me. “And Six! What are you doing here?” She embraced me, as well, and then stepping back, glanced at the two of us. “I have to say, I never thought I’d see the two of you darkening my door, together.”

  “I’m sorry to drop by so late,” Brooklyn apologized. “But I was babysitting for a neighbor until a few minutes ago and I had to talk to you about something before I went home.”

  Dee Dee opened the door wider. “Please, come in and sit down. It’s so nice to see you both.”

  A pang of regret whisked through me as we entered the small, but comfortable home. I hadn’t attended Tommy’s funeral and I’d given no thought to checking in on his mom. I’d only met her on a few occasions, before Tommy had moved into his own place. Unfortunately, she’d never crossed my mind afterward. Not until now.

  I’d always thought she was a nice lady, and Brooklyn said she trusted her, so I was going to need to trust her, as well. I was a bit nervous about coming here. Up to this point, only Bailey knew of our secret relationship. Now, we were about to take someone else into our confidence. I sincerely hoped Brooklyn was right about her.

  “So, how are you both?” Dee Dee asked after we were seated. Pushing a strand of her long dark hair over her shoulder, her brown eyes sparkled as they moved back and forth between us. She was a beautiful woman, and I had no problem understanding why the mayor had been attracted to her. “I didn’t even know you knew each other.”

  Brooklyn smiled and glanced at me. “We knew of each other because of Tommy. Six is my…we are….”

  “I’m her boyfriend,” I supplied, slipping my hand into hers, intertwining our fingers together and glancing back at Dee Dee.

  Dee Dee smiled widely. “Well, now I’m really surprised.”

  “I’ve had my eye on her for a while,” I answered honestly. “But when I asked Tommy about her initially, she was only sixteen. I decided I’d just have to forget about her and move on because she was too young.”

  “And now?” Dee Dee prompted, glancing between us.

  Brooklyn and I stared at each other. “I got tired of fighting my attraction to her. When I found out she’d like me for a while, too, I couldn’t resist her charm any longer.” I winked at Brooklyn and she smiled sweetly, blushing.

  “He’s been so good to me,” she said, turning back to Dee Dee, and I had to force myself not to chuckle. I hadn’t had the chance to do much with her other than stealing make out sessions and having sex, but at least she thought it was good. The thought depressed me a little as I thought about all the things I’d like to be able to do for her or with her—things our secret relationship didn’t allow. I needed to figure out other ways to do nice things for her. I wanted to give her a real romance, not just a pattern of sneaking around to hook up.

  “And what does your dad have to say about this relationship?” Dee Dee asked.

  Brooklyn sighed and glanced at me. I squeezed her hand. “He doesn’t know,” she answered honestly. “He’d never let me date someone like Six. He doesn’t like anyone who’s a friend of Tommy’s.”

  “I’m not even sure he liked Tommy, either,” Dee Dee said. “Tommy refused to be controlled, and Scott is all about controlling people. I imagine things have been a little hard for the two of you.”

  “We do a lot of sneaking around, I’m afraid,” I replied. “I hate it being that way, but I also don’t want to make things more complicated at home for Brooklyn. Her best friend, Bailey, and now you, are the only ones who know of our relationship, outside of my roommate, Brandon.”

  “Well, you won’t have to worry about me,” Dee Dee said. “Anyone who is thwarting Scott, is a friend of mine.” She laughed softly. “That sounds horrible, I know, but I’m always happy when someone can escape his clutches. I encouraged Tommy to stand up for himself and not let Scott run all over him. Scott always blamed me for it, and he was right; but I wasn’t about to let him control our son the way he tried to rule over me.”

  “I’m surprised he didn’t fight you for custody,” I said, not sure if that was a proper thing to bring up or not.

  “Oh, then he would’ve had a kid to raise by himself and that wouldn’t have worked for him. Scott is much too self-absorbed to raise a child on his own. Of course, I may have threatened him a little, too. I told him if he pursued custody, I’d leak some of his underhanded dealings to the press.”

  “That would do it,” Brooklyn replied. “Nothing can sully his reputation—which is kind of what brings us here. We need your advice on how to handle something that affects you, as well.”

  Dee Dee looked surprised. “Okay. What’s the matter?”

  “I’ll let Six explain.” Brooklyn turned to me and suddenly I was very thankful the coffee had helped to clear my head from the effects of the recent alcohol binge.

  “I was sneaking out of Brooklyn’s house, through the backyard, last night. I didn’t realize, until it was almost too late, that the mayor was in the gazebo on the phone. Thankfully, he was turned away from me and I was able to duck down beside the hedge, where he couldn’t see me. I overheard the end of his conversation. He was telling someone to take care of things and cover up evidence—that if the car that killed Thomas was traced back to him, his career would be over.”

  Dee Dee’s face drained of color and she gripped the arm of the sofa to stable herself. Immediately, Brooklyn moved to her side and took her other hand.

  “I’m so sorry to drop this on you like this. I know, I felt the same way. It’s not an easy thing to hear. Can I get you a drink or something?”

  Dee Dee released the couch and covered Brooklyn’s hand, patting it. “No. I’ll be fine. Just give me a minute to process all this.” Her mouth pressed into a straight line and tears filled her eyes. “I…I just can’t believe he would stoop so low—I mean, I can—but his own son? Is nothing important to him besides himself?” Her face flushed, showing her anger.

  Brooklyn and I remained silent as we waited for her to recover from the shock. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it might be like to hear that the father of your only child might be his killer.

  “While I’m glad you’ve shared this information with me, I feel it wise to warn you both to stay uninvolved. If Scott is messed up in something and he finds out you know. . . .” She didn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t need to.

  “I don’t know if I can do that,” I responded. “I can’t rest knowing Brooklyn is possibly living with a murderer. I debated on whether or not to even tell her what I knew. But if something happened to her, I’d never forgive myself. I want him caught and behind bars. It’s the only way she’ll truly be out of danger.”

  “That’s not entirely true,” Brooklyn said. “Dad was talking to someone else and who knows who t
hat was? At least one other person knows what happened.”

  “Rhonda.” Dee Dee added without hesitation. “That’s who he was talking to.”

  “How do you know?” I asked. She seemed so sure.

  Making a sound between a wry chuckle and a snort, she stared at me. “Because I know Scott.” She sighed heavily, glancing to Brooklyn. “I hate dragging you into all the mess that was our divorce, but the reason I left your dad is because he was having an affair with Rhonda. I’m not sure if your mom is aware of this fact yet, or not, but the affair is on-going. It never stopped. And Rhonda…she knows absolutely everything there is to know about your father. She’s his real wife, even if it isn’t legal.”

  Brooklyn looked shocked, her mouth open slightly as she stared at Dee Dee. Clearly her dad being unfaithful hadn’t occurred to her. It didn’t surprise me at all.

  “But, if that’s the case, why didn’t he just marry her after the two of you divorced?” I asked, none of this making sense.

  Shrugging casually, she smiled slightly. “How would it look if his wife left him and he married his publicist/campaign manager? The media would’ve had a field day with it.”

  “But you never said anything.” It seemed to me that if she were free of him, she would’ve blabbed it to anyone who would listen.

  “It was part of what I agreed to in the settlement in order to keep undisputed custody of our son. I wanted Tommy away from Scott more than I wanted to ruin Scott.”

  “I wonder if this is why my parents fight all the time,” Brooklyn said, obviously still stuck on the previous revelation. “But I can’t imagine my mom staying with someone who was cheating on her. She’s not a pushover like that.” She paused before continuing. “This is driving me nuts.”

  “I’m sorry to upset you,” Dee Dee apologized.

  Brooklyn shook her head. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Dad’s worse than I thought he was, I’m finding. I guess I’m just naïve.”

  “Not naïve, kind.” I hated seeing her looking so sad. “You want to believe the best in people. There’s a difference.”

  “We need to find out what happened,” Brooklyn said. “Right away.”

  Dee Dee sighed. “I think you’re playing with fire. It’s not safe.”

  “If he killed Tommy, I refuse to sit by and do nothing about it!” Brooklyn’s voice rose higher. “I have access to my dad, to his office at home and his campaign offices. I’m the one who can look without suspicion. Somebody has got to try to do something. If he’s guilty, then he needs to pay.”

  “Wait. If you insist on trying to do this, at least let me offer some advice,” Dee Dee said, placing a hand on Brooklyn’s knee. “We need his phone. If we can look through the numbers, we can see if it’s Rhonda that he was talking to. At least then we’ll have a starting point.”

  “I can get the phone, but I’ll need to watch him to learn the pass code, first, so we can get into it. That might take some time.”

  “Okay. Do that. If you can check it and manage to return it without him knowing, that would be even better. Otherwise, he may be extra careful if he believes he has a reason to be nervous.”

  Brooklyn nodded. “Okay. I’ll take pictures of anything I might find, too, in case we need proof.”

  “My brother is a lawyer in Arizona. He can give advice on how to handle this situation; but please be careful,” Dee Dee added. “If he had anything to do with Tommy, he’s already proven his career comes before his children. I don’t want anything to happen to you, too. You know you can always come here if you feel you’re in danger, as well. I’ll do my best to protect you.”

  “Come to me,” I said, not liking that idea at all. Scott could still do damage to both of them. “If you’re in danger, come to me. He doesn’t know about me and he already doesn’t like Dee Dee. Then he wouldn’t be able to find you.”

  Dee Dee nodded. “That might be smart. I just wanted to keep you from getting dragged into this, Six.”

  “I’m already in it. Brooklyn is my girlfriend. Anything that concerns her, concerns me.”

  “Well, then, if either of you need my help, my door is always open. And if you find proof of anything, bring it to me. I will take it to the police. I’ve already dealt with Scott. There’s no need for you to end up on his bad side.”

  “You mean there’s a good side?” Brooklyn replied, giving a slight eye roll.

  “There used to be,” Dee Dee said. “Sadly, I’m not sure if any of that man is left. That was the man I fell in love with to begin with.”

  Scott must’ve been one hell of a magician, in my opinion. He’d managed to get two beautiful women to fall in love with him without realizing he was a snake in the grass. His publicist was beautiful, too, but apparently she was the serpent lying beside him.

  I didn’t want Brooklyn anywhere around any of them.

  Chapter Twenty

  Brooklyn

  “How much longer do you have?” Six asked as we sat together in my car, parked in front of his apartment.

  “I told my mom I was going to check on Dee Dee. She knows we like to visit, but I’m supposed to be home by ten o’clock on school nights.”

  Six glanced at the clock on my dashboard and sighed. “That’s in forty-five minutes, minus another several minutes for you to drive home. So, not enough time for all the things I want to do with you right now.”

  “Then we should quit wasting time, shouldn’t we?” I smiled at him, my eyes dropping to his full lips.

  Getting out of the car, he came around and opened the door for me, offering a hand and helping me out. We walked in silence together, hand in hand, as he led me up the stairs and inside.

  “Hey! You look a lot more sober. Hi, Brooklyn.” Brandon said when we entered. I wasn’t one bit surprised when Bailey appeared from his bathroom.

  “Is everything okay?” Bailey asked, coming closer. “Brandon said something was wrong.”

  “We’ll fill you in later,” Six replied, continuing to move toward his room. “We have limited time at the moment.”

  “Things will be fine,” I said as we passed, flashing a smile. She raised her eyebrows knowingly.

  Surprisingly, I didn’t care. I just wanted to be with Six right now; and I didn’t care who knew or heard. He’d become my rock, today…the only stable thing I had in this whole mess.

  Closing the door behind us, Six dragged me to him, dropping his lips to mine, kissing me briefly, and then lifting his head. “I’m sorry for being the bearer of bad news, earlier. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it. I simply want you to kiss me until I forget everything but being with you.”

  Concern passed through his eyes as he stared at me for a couple seconds longer. He opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something, but then he changed his mind; instead, he glanced toward the clock on his nightstand.

  “Don’t,” I said, turning his face back toward mine. “Forget about the time and focus on me. I want to be with you.”

  “I want that, too.”

  “Then kiss me.” I grabbed the hem of my shirt and lifted it off, dropping it in a puddle on the floor. “It’s time to satisfy the monster you’ve created.”

  Finally, a smile creased his lips and his features relaxed a bit. “I could never think of you as a monster.” Reaching behind me, he unhooked my bra, pulling it off and dropping it to the floor. I took a step backward, toward the bed as he fondled my bare breasts, the feel of his warm skin on them causing heat to flood straight to my core. “You’re so beautiful. I’ve told you that, right?”

  “On a few occasions.”

  “I could spend the rest of my life staring at you and never get tired of it.”

  More heat coursed through me at his words. I loved when he spoke about a future between us. “I like the sound of that.”

  I knew one thing for sure, Six held my heart in his hands. I was in love with him. If I lost him, I couldn’t imagine myself with any other pe
rson. I’d end up some shriveled old maid because I didn’t ever want to be with anyone else this way.

  What I wasn’t sure of, was if he felt the same about me. He’d had past relationships. Had those been like this, too? People to pass the time with until the relationship fizzled out? He’d been in love with his last girlfriend and now he acted like he hated her. Would we end up the same way?

  Just the thought made my panic levels raise. I was going to enjoy every second I had with him. I didn’t want to waste any of them. I wanted his body over me, in me, filling all my senses.

  Leaning toward me, his mouth captured mine once more, this time his tongue sweeping heavily inside, tangling with mine. Fire raced through me, pooling straight into my already heated center.

  How could he elicit such a strong reaction with simply a kiss? I wanted to curl up and live interwoven with him forever, two halves that made up the same whole.

  My hands ran around his neck and into his hair, as his hands continued to play with my body, one on my breast, the other slipping into my pants and rubbing me there. Mouth dropping lower, his teeth teased at my bottom lip, biting and tugging until he sucked it into his mouth. The burn inside me rose, growing stronger until it was coiling inside me like a snake ready to strike. I was desperate to feel him inside me.

  Releasing me, he tugged off his shirt and I went to work at removing my shoes and pants while he did the same, until we were finally both naked. Turning around, I bent to toss the covers back and he groaned.

  “What?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at him.

  His eyes were fixated on my butt. “You’re killing me. That’s what. Climb onto the bed just like that. Keep that pretty ass in the air.”

  “Okay,” I replied with a chuckle, goose bumps flaring over my skin at his hungry expression. I did as he asked, moving forward enough that he could join me.

  “Spread your legs a little wider,” he coached and I heard him ripping open a foil wrapper that held a condom. “I’m going to introduce you to a new position, tonight. It happens to be a favorite of mine.”