by Aly Martinez
My feet moved when I was told.
My head turned when someone was speaking to me.
I was able to prattle off Manuel’s phone number to a cop when they asked if there was anyone they should call about Nic.
It was like I had been on autopilot.
The same thing had happened to me when Penn died.
And then it happened all over again the moment I heard his voice in the hallway.
“Cora. Tell me where she is,” he demanded.
My whole body jolted, and then my mind checked out.
It was all wrong. Drew was fighting with Thomas. Isabel and River were hiding in the closet. Catalina had gotten caught by someone in the hallway.
And Penn was outside the door.
My ears started ringing as my hand lifted to the knob.
I couldn’t be right. It was impossible.
He was gone.
I cracked the door open. The wide, muscular back straining against a white T-shirt could have been anyone’s. But those tattoos? I’d traced them too many times to ever be able to forget them.
“I’m not here to hurt you, Catalina. I need to find Cora, and then I’m going to get you all out of here.”
He was…
Alive. Oh, so beautifully alive.
“Penn?”
He spun around so fast that I nearly fell when the tangible weight in his eyes hit me.
“Cora,” he breathed, his whole handsome face softening.
My nose started to burn, and he took a step toward me. Instinctively, I backed away. Shaking my head rapidly, I waited for him to disappear. It had to have been some kind of cruel trick Thomas was using to torture me with.
“You’re not here,” I croaked.
“I’m right here, baby,” he soothed in a voice so sweet and so kind that it crumbled reality.
Tears hit my eyes.
I was dreaming. That had to be it.
But I wasn’t.
He was too real.
Too perfect.
Too Penn.
I brought a shaking hand to my mouth. “How?”
He curled two fingers in the air. “C’mere, Cor.”
I couldn’t process any more words. He might have vanished by the time I got to him. Or maybe I was dead too. But no matter what happened after that moment, there was only one place I wanted to be.
I launched myself full body, all at once, into his arms and burst into tears.
“Shhhhh,” he breathed, palming the back of my head and tucking my face into the curve of his neck.
I shimmied in his arms. I couldn’t get close enough to absorb him the way I so desperately needed to.
The deep baritone of Drew’s voice interrupted our rose-colored reunion. “We gotta go. Cops are on the way.”
My head popped up, and even though my thighs were still wrapped around his waist, I waited for Penn to cease to exist.
Instead, he replied, “Where’s Thomas?”
Drew took his hand away from his head, revealing a gaping wound pouring blood from the side. “I don’t know. His fucking buddy caught me with a tire iron. They tore out of here.”
I felt Penn’s body go stiff.
Penn.
Fucking Penn.
Alive, well, breathing.
Penn.
He turned the blue stare that had been haunting my dreams for almost three weeks on me. “Where’s River?”
“In the closet,” I replied.
He gently set me on my feet, kissed my forehead, and marched over. I knew the exact moment he opened that door, because I was certain her gasp and then the sob that followed could have been heard around the world.
“Penn? Oh, God, Penn!”
I turned in time to see her dive into his arms much the way I had. No DNA test needed.
River wasn’t particularly cuddly with anyone but me. With the way she’d been raised, I’d never seen her hug a man. And there she was, wound around him like she too was trying to absorb him.
And, like he had with me, he held her, palming the back of her head and whispering something I couldn’t make out in her ear.
Seeing her with him—him with her—broke me in so many ways.
I wanted so badly for that to be real.
For her.
And for me.
I didn’t know what the hell was happening or when it would suddenly end, but I never wanted to wake up.
I could live a lie.
To keep that moment, I could live a lie for the rest of my life and die with a smile on my face.
“Mom?” Isabel croaked, shoving to her feet and sprinting into Catalina’s arms.
Catalina looked at me and asked the only question I couldn’t answer with a truth or a lie. “What the hell is going on?”
That would have entailed someone filling me in first.
However, I didn’t figure we had a hundred years for someone to explain to me how Penn had overcome the plague of death in order to save me all over again.
“We gotta go, man,” Drew said. “And I mean now.” He reached a hand out. “Cat, let’s go.”
She looked at me nervously and then moved toward him.
Penn set River onto her feet. The ink on his arm danced as he dug keys out of his pocket and threw them at his brother. “My car’s parked three houses up. Change the tag before you bring it back to the apartment.”
Drew looked at the keys. “It’s a two-seater.”
“Just you,” Penn clarified. Taking River by the hand, he marched over to me and curled me into his side before herding us both toward the door. “I got everyone else.”
Drew stood there for a beat, his jaw tight, flicking his gaze between the keys and Catalina. Then he finally muttered, “Yeah. Sounds good.”
Catalina caught my hand as we passed her, falling into step beside me. Her daughter matched our gait as we all power-walked to keep up with Penn’s long, purposeful strides.
Somehow, we all made it to the truck.
Somehow, I ended up in the front with my seat belt on—the same with River, Catalina, and Isabel in the back seat.
And, somehow, in the miracle to end all miracles, a dead man got behind the wheel.
I couldn’t stop staring at him as he put the truck in reverse.
“How are you here?” I whispered.
He did reply, but not with an answer. “How did he find you?”
Sirens screamed in the distance. “Who?”
“Thomas.” He glanced over at me, concern hitting his eyes. “Shit, are you okay?” His big, warm palm came down on my thigh.
I blinked at him some more, waiting for the oasis to fade. “I don’t think I am.”
“You’re gonna be,” he promised. “From here on out, you’re gonna be.”
It was sweet.
And impossible.
“You think he could have traced my phone?” River asked from the back. “They kept ’em locked up during the day sometimes. Do you think he—”
Penn snapped his fingers. “Phones. Everybody’s. Now.” Three little phones came over the seat. Penn took them all and pulled into a gas station before climbing out. I watched in awe as his long legs carried him to three different trash cans and then back to my door. He yanked it open. “Baby, I need your phone.”
I just stared at him.
And then I kissed him because…he was there.
He smiled against my mouth, his hand coming up to cup my face. His callused thumb stroked back and forth across my cheek. “Phone, Cor. I promise we can continue that as soon as we get you back to my place.”
“Yeah,” I breathed without moving.
And then he smiled, gorgeous and full of life. “Back pocket?”
“Yeah,” I repeated.
He kissed my forehead as he dug it out, and then he was gone to another trash can.
And then he was back, the truck was in drive…and Penn was alive.
Shock was weird.
It numbed your mind, only allowing a single emotion to b
reach the surface at a time.
It’d started with denial when I’d seen him at Catalina’s.
But by the time we got to Penn’s apartment, he’d yet to vanish into thin air. And I’d yet to wake up. So using the loose formula of A plus B equals C, I’d come to the definitive conclusion that I wasn’t delusional.
And it pissed me off more than words could ever explain.
But more, it hurt more than words could ever explain.
He’d left me. He’d lied to me. He’d…he’d broken me.
And, now, he was back?
Even knowing all of that, there was still a part of me that wanted to crawl into his lap and hold him for all of eternity.
It just wasn’t a big enough part to block out the mounting anger.
“You live here?” I asked when he cut the ignition.
We were in an underground parking garage connected to a high-rise in downtown Chicago. To my left was a white Acura. To my right, a royal-blue Mercedes. Considering I drove a sedan that had run the assembly line when Magnum PI was the world’s sexiest man, I wasn’t exactly the most-educated car enthusiast. But even as a novice, I could guarantee that there was at least half a million dollars in four-wheel increments all around that concrete hideaway.
“I bought it recently.”
I laughed and there was no mistaking the betrayal laced in my tone as I said, “Good for you. This is a big step up.” I slung the door to the truck open, careful not to damage the other cars, and then opened the back door for River. “I guess this means you had more than just a million dollars lying around, huh?”
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
He was sorry.
He. Was. Sorry.
My head was reeling. My heart was simultaneously aching and overflowing with happiness. It was sheer force of will that kept my shaking legs under me.
And he was sorry.
I slammed the truck door and walked around to meet him at the bumper. “For what?” It was only two words, but they contained no less than a thousand accusations.
His long, dark lashes fluttered shut for a second. “Let’s just get everyone inside and I’ll explain.” He reached for my hand, but despite the fact that my body was weeping for me to accept comfort from him, deep down, I knew that the weapon never healed the wound.
I snatched my hand away and deadpanned, “I can’t wait.”
Catalina sidled up beside me as Penn led the way to a small elevator. He did some digging in his pocket for God only knew what and then the doors opened.
We all filed in, like a good little herd of sheep following a ghostly shepherd.
Catalina was behind me, and when the doors shut, she leaned forward and whispered, “Where are we?”
I huffed. “I honestly don’t know.”
Penn used his superhuman hearing. “I’ve got a place on the sixth floor. We’ll be safe. There’s a security firm a few levels down. They keep a close watch on all the entrances and exits to the building. Thomas gets any ideas about showing up here, I won’t be the only one pissed.”
“And who exactly are you again?” she asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said sarcastically, waving my hand between them. “Allow me to introduce you. Catalina, this is my ex-boyfriend, Penn Walker. You know, the one I’ve spent the last few weeks grieving, after he”—I turned a wry smile on Penn—“died.”
Penn shot me an unimpressed glare. “And I told you I’d explain”—he pointedly tipped his chin up to a security camera—“when we get inside.”
I clamped my mouth shut and stared at the door as we rode up. I told myself that the humming in my veins was the remnants of adrenaline.
But I couldn’t even lie to myself.
It was the same way my body had always reacted to him—regardless of how much I wanted to hate him.
Biting my lips, I chanced a glance at him out of the corner of my eye. I regretted it immediately.
He was staring at me. His gaze was dark and solemn, but the faintest touch of a grin tilted one side of his mouth. It reminded me of the first time I’d seen him smile. It was that day when we were alone in Brittany’s apartment and he was fixing the ceiling fan. It felt like it had been a lifetime ago. But I could still feel the way my whole body had warmed as he’d pointed at his mouth and told me that it was a medical condition.
Nostalgia hit me full force, making my nose sting.
And my temper flare.
“Stop looking at me,” I snapped.
“I can’t,” he whispered. “It’s surreal that you’re actually here right now.”
My brows drew together as I slapped him with a scowl. “I’m not the one who died, Penn.”
His grin grew into a full-blown smile, quite possibly impregnating me on the spot. I desperately tried to ignore it—and gave it a seriously half-assed effort to keep my gaze from dropping to his mouth. This task was rendered impossible when his hand landed on my neck. Chills detonated across my skin as his fingers sifted up into the back of my hair.
And then he leaned down, aimed his lips at my ear, and murmured, “God, I missed you.”
I bit my cheek as my vision swam. I’d missed him too. So damn much.
But I was allowed to miss him.
He wasn’t allowed to miss me.
“Don’t touch me,” I seethed.
Pure Penn. His hand fell away in the next beat—along with his smile.
For a split second, I almost felt guilty. And then, out of the blue, a thought hit me.
“Drew knew you were alive the whole time, didn’t he?”
He had the good sense to look sheepish as he muttered, “Yeah.”
My stomach dipped, and not in a good way. It was like someone had snatched not just the rug out from under me, but the entire planet. For fuck’s sake, was there anyone left who wasn’t playing me?
“Outstanding,” I hissed.
The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival, and I shuffled forward. The instant the door cracked open, I turned sideways, darting out and dragging River behind me.
I assumed Catalina and Isabel were following. But thanks to that hum in my veins, I knew for certain that Penn was hot on my heels.
There was only one door on the sixth floor, so I stomped toward it, my blood pressure rising by the minute.
Penn appeared, waved a little, white keycard in front of the handle, and then pushed the door wide.
My mouth gaped. I had known that the building was going to be nice based on nothing but the parking garage. But, apparently, Penn Walker—the man who had removed my toilet, cleaned mold from inside my walls, and slept beside me on an ancient, lumpy mattress on the floor—had so much money that he couldn’t even be bothered with the act of putting a metal key in a hole and twisting it.
Seriously, when was I going to stop being surprised?
“Ohhh, maybe when I figure out what the hell is going on?” I answered out loud.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I groaned. “Let’s just go inside so I can yell at you.”
A slow, gorgeous grin stretched his mouth. “Now, how’s a man supposed to resist an offer like that.” He shot me a wink.
A wink.
A fucking wink.
Dead men didn’t get to wink.
Especially when they weren’t really dead.
Penn got busy turning the alarm off while I stood in the foyer. His place was gorgeous. Even Catalina—who’d lived in quite a few mansions before going on the run—whispered, “Wow.”
Dark wood floors sprawled the massive expanse of the open living room, dining room, kitchen combination—the furniture being the only thing to delineate the areas. There were overstuffed chocolate sofas. A huge flat screen hanging on the wall. Stone countertops and oil-rubbed bronze fixtures.
But none of that was what made my heart lurch into my throat.
“Hey, you’re back,” she chirped, her red hair teetering on the top of her head in a top knot as she spun around. With a pint of ice cream
in one hand and a spoon halfway to her mouth in the other, her whole beautiful, healthy body jerked the moment our eyes met.
And that was the exact moment I lost it.
Again.
“Oh my God!” I cried, racing forward, not stopping until I had Savannah wrapped in an impossibly tight hug. Confusion, elation, frustration, anger merged inside me to create an unnamed super-emotion that made my heart sing, my chest seize, and my legs weak. “Oh my God,” I repeated, my hands shaking as I patted down her back like I was searching for an injury. “You’re really here.” I released her long enough to give her a visual once-over and then yanked her back in. “God, it’s good to see your face. How are you doing? Are you feeling okay?”
She laughed, giving me a lingering squeeze. “Yeah. Cor. I’m good.”
She was good.
She was good.
She was…
Oh, shit.
After the day I’d had, I was barely on my feet.
However, less than a second later, as the overwhelming weight of reality settled on my shoulders, there was no barely about it.
My knees gave out completely.
Penn
“Crap,” Savannah said as she and Cora, still locked in an embrace, headed toward the floor.
I was already on it. Hooking an arm out, I caught the pair and helped them back upright. Cora was too unsteady to stand on her own, so I anchored an arm around her hips and curled her into my chest.
Like a true asshole, I’d been so entranced in the elevator that I’d forgotten to warn her about Savannah. But seeing Cora standing there with me—no matter how pissed she’d been or how many mountains we’d yet to climb—had been intoxicating.
I’d only thought I’d missed her before that moment.
I’d physically ached to touch her.
To kiss her again.
To hold her.
But not like she was now: a shattered remnant of the woman I loved, dangling in my grasp.
“What is happening?” she cried.
“Shhh, I’ll explain everything.” Scooping Cora off her feet, I looked to Catalina. “Lock the door. Let me know when Drew gets here.”
She stared at me, concern dancing in her brown eyes, but she didn’t argue as I carried Cora down the hall to my bedroom.