by Shay Savage
“Yes, it will. Trust me.”
Nate lowers my jeans and panties down to my knees and then grabs my left ankle. He slides one leg out of my clothes altogether and then pulls me up on his lap. The cold air hits my ass as my knees are pressed into the boards on either side of Nate’s thighs. It’s not the slightest bit comfortable, and I feel ridiculous even attempting this, but as soon as I feel the head of his cock pressing against me, all of that changes.
He directs my movements as I raise and lower myself over him, and I completely forget where I am as I feel him inside me. I forget the cold, the storm, the recent attack on us, and all thoughts of the mystery surrounding my parentage. Nothing exists except my body and his, entwined together and moving in perfect harmony. I feel my pulse in my clit as Nate’s body collides with mine over and over again.
He slides his hands up my thighs, and I feel his chilled fingers on my bare skin. I don’t care that it’s cold—I only want more of his touch on my body. I slide a hand inside his coat, wanting to feel his bare skin, but I have to settle for the steady thrum of his heartbeat against my palm.
With my free hand pressed against Nate’s good shoulder, I move up and down, faster and faster. The pressure on my knees is insignificant as a warm, tingling sensation fills my body. Nate tightens his grip on my ass, pulling me down to him as he angles his hips up, grinding against me. I hold my breath, squeeze my eyes shut, and focus on the buildup of sensation.
“Come for me.” Nate’s hot breath coats my neck. “I want to feel you come on me. Let go…do it…come!”
I gasp at his words, and my head spins. I barely remember who or where I am. Though I can feel the rough wooden slats under my knees, they simply aren’t a concern. I’m quite singularly focused.
“Ahh!” I cry out as I bear down on him, screaming his name as I wrap my arms around his neck. My thighs are shaking, but Nate’s grip on me doesn’t falter as he pushes deeper into me, grunting with each stroke.
“Oh, baby…” He groans loudly, slams into me once more, and stills.
My muscles give out, and I slump against him. Nate slides his hands up to my back and hugs me close as he pants against my throat. I drop my forehead to his shoulder and let out a long, trembling sigh.
Nate coils his arms around me, holding me tightly for a few minutes until he slips out of me, and the cool air causes me to shiver. He helps me up, and we both get our clothing back in order, and then I sit back down on his lap.
My head is still foggy, and the tension and release must have gotten the best of me because I fall asleep with my head on his chest. My rest is brief, but I’m a little disoriented when I wake.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“Not late,” Nate says. “The wind has calmed down outside, and I think the snow has stopped. We should try to get back to the house.”
“What if they’re there?”
“I’ll deal with them if they are. They can’t surprise me again.”
The snow has partially blocked the door to the outhouse, and Nate pushes against it with both feet until it finally gives way. Though the sun has nearly set, the bright white snow outside the darkened building is enough to blind me for a moment, and I rub at my eyes to clear them.
“Looks clear,” Nate says as he peers out. “I don’t see anyone around, and the storm has passed.”
“Do you think we should go back to my house, or should we call the police?”
“The police?” Nate glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “Are you serious?”
“Well, someone was shooting at us,” I say. “I mean, I guess…I don’t know what the proper procedure is for gangsters. I know Pablo would have called them, though.”
“Gangsters!” Nate shakes his head and grins at me. “You need a better word. Besides, how many cops are there in Accident?”
“Like, in Accident? None. The county sheriff has to come up from down south.”
“How about you just let me handle it, then?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means getting to your car and getting my gun, for starters.”
“Oh.”
Nate takes my hand, and we make our way through the snow toward my house. Nate moves his head from side to side, looking for anyone who might be after us, but there isn’t a soul to be found in the area. Between the Drane House and my Accident residence, there are only fields, a pond, and the doctor’s office where I received my as yet unshared news. I don’t even see any signs of another person until we get closer to my house, and a car moves slowly down the slick street.
“Is that them?” I ask, grabbing Nate’s arm.
“No. The car I saw before was black. I think they’ve been here and gone.”
“They’ve been here? To my house?”
“In your house.” Nate points to the back door, which is slightly open, and I can see footprints leading from the front of the house to the back door. He quickly fishes through his overnight bag and grabs a sleek, black handgun. “I know we didn’t leave the door that way. Stay here.”
I’m not about to stay by myself, so I keep behind Nate as he walks cautiously up to the house and peers inside the door. I look down at the partially covered prints in the snow. I can see prints both coming and going, but I’m not sure how many.
Nate looks through the house, gun drawn, but he finds no one inside.
“They were obviously here at some point,” he says, “but they’ve left. Is there anything missing?”
“Not that I can see from here.” I look around, wondering what they might have taken.
“I’m surprised the place isn’t turned upside down,” Nate says.
“Should we even be in here?” I ask. “I mean, isn’t this the first place they’re going to look for us?”
“Assuming they are still in town, yes,” Nate says. “They were betting on a surprise attack, and that didn’t work out so well for them, so they may have backed off.”
“What will they do next?”
“Plan again?” Nate shrugs. “I don’t know for sure, but it is best we finish up here and get back home where we have more support. I hope we aren’t in for a dozen more clues to the treasure. I’ve had about enough of this mystery game.”
“Well, let’s check the bookcase, then.”
I lead Nate to the Victorian bookcase and show him the embedded latch on the side of it. He pushes it, and the side wall pops out at the bottom, revealing a small safe.
“Do you know the combination?” he asks.
“Yes.” I turn the dial and open the safe.
Inside is the deed to the house and the store, still in Virginia Bay’s name. I wonder briefly if I’ll be able to get the name changed to mine, given that the real Virginia is living on an island somewhere. Though I’d spoken briefly to a lawyer before I moved in order to get access to the bank account and life insurance proceeds, I hadn’t gotten around to trying to change any of the property into my name. Aside from the deeds, a passport, and some other legal documents, there is nothing of interest in the safe.
“There has to be something else,” Nate says as he shuffles through the documents again.
“There are some other hidden places in this bookcase,” I say. “That’s the only one with a safe, though.”
I open up a few other little compartments, but again, we find nothing significant. Nate pulls out the note we found in the shop and reads it again.
“It says ‘Victorians weren’t all about safety.’ I guess I should have figured it wouldn’t be in the safe, but where? What’s on the opposite side of the safe?”
“That section doesn’t open,” I say. “Only the left side hides a safe.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well…I guess not.” I feel around on the right side of the bookcase, looking for a similar latch. “This era of furniture was kind of infamous for having a lot of secret places. The opening mechanism could be anywhere, assuming it’s there at all.”
“Can’t we just
grab an axe and smash through it?”
“Don’t you dare!” I glare at him. “I love this bookcase.”
“Fine.” Nate huffs out a breath. “Where else could the latch be hidden?”
“Maybe inside one of the other hidden areas,” I say. “I think I’ve looked everywhere else.”
I feel around inside the safe, around the safe, and along the bottom of the bookshelf. Nate takes the top, since he’s taller, and pokes around in all the compartments up there. Finally, in the back of another hidden drawer, I find a small latch. When I hit it, I hear a click down by my feet, and the right-side panel opens slightly.
“There we are!” Nate pulls the door open and peers inside. “There’s something way in there, but I can’t quite reach it.”
I get out of the way as he leans down and reaches into the back of the space. I hear a slight scraping noise, and then Nate pulls his hand back out, revealing yet another envelope. This one is bigger than the others we’ve found and sealed with tape. Nate runs his finger over the back of it, ripping open the seal, and then pulls out a single, folded piece of thin paper.
As he unfolds the small, rectangular document, I see the wording at the top, stating the document is from the Ohio Department of Health and Division of Vital Statistics. I see the State of Ohio seal at the bottom of it and then the spaces for the mother and father’s names. I see the birthdate, the county, the weight and length. All the information is filled out on the single piece of paper.
My throat tightens up. I can’t seem to draw a breath. I barely hear Nate’s faint voice as he reads the name aloud.
“That…that can’t be right,” I finally manage to say. “This must be a forgery, too.”
“It’s not.” Nate coughs, clears his throat, and stares down at the paper again. “This is the actual, original birth certificate with the state seal, not a copy. Copies can be forged but not this. It should be in the vital statistics office, but clearly it was stolen from there. This is real. No doubt.”
“But…but that means…”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it before,” Nate whispers. He shakes his head and closes his eyes. “You even look like her. I should have realized…”
“No. No, Nate, it can’t be.”
“It is.” Without making eye contact, he offers me the paper with a shaky hand. He lets out a long, labored breath. “You are not a member of the Ramsay family. You were born in Ohio, and your birth parents are Carlo and Rosa.”
I read through the whole thing, and my hands start to shake as well. Nate speaks slowly and deliberately.
“Your real name is Cherice Angelica Orso.”
Chapter 22—Family Dynamics
The pieces are falling into place, and the picture they reveal is not a pretty one.
“Nate?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we…?”
“Are we what?” I look over at her. Cherry has her hand over her mouth, and her eyes are wide as she stares down at the paper. Clearly, she isn’t willing to voice the only conclusion in front of us. I swallow hard. “We’re siblings.”
“That can’t be true.”
“It is. You know it is.”
“But we…we’ve been…” She can’t finish the sentence any more than I can think it in my head.
“You have a tiny bit of brown in your left iris,” I say. “My mother had a spot in her eye just like that.”
“What?”
“And those freckles. Mom had a lot of freckles as well though her hair was darker than yours. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.” I laugh hollowly. “Obviously, I’m a complete idiot.”
“We didn’t know,” Cherry whispers. “We couldn’t have known. Oh, God!”
Cherry rushes off to the bathroom, and I’m pretty sure I can hear her puking. I want to do the same. I can’t even process what’s on the paper right in front of me.
At this point, I don’t even know which bombshell in my life is worse. My brother and Pops are dead. I’m still recovering from a sleep disorder than caused me to hallucinate visions of my dead father, and the woman of my dreams—who just agreed to marry me—is actually my sister.
For the sake of her safety, Cherry agrees to return to Cascade Falls with me. While she packs some things, I call Reid to have him get her apartment ready for her. I already know the furniture she left behind is still there.
It’s late, but the roads have cleared and the winter storm has passed, so we decide to go ahead and leave. Cherry doesn’t seem up for it, so I drive. As we get in the car and head back to Ohio, she slips off the engagement ring I gave her and lays it down on the console next to the gear shift, and I know exactly which bombshell hit the hardest.
I feel pressure behind my eyes and have to stop myself from telling her to put it back on. I understand why she did it, but I don’t like what it represents. It’s not like I want the damn ring returned. I just want to go back to where we were before all of this started.
I’ve been fucking my sister.
My stomach clenches and I taste bile in the back of my throat. I am half tempted to drive off a bridge, but I just stare at the road. I don’t look over to Cherry. I don’t want to see the tears running down her face.
How am I going to explain this to the family? What happens afterward? Does Cherry come to live with us in the family house and take her rightful place—whatever that may be—in the hierarchy? Will she want to insert herself into the family business even though she really doesn’t know what she’s getting into? Will Nora set up the bedroom next to hers for Cherry to live in? She’d be sleeping right down the hall from me, and I don’t know if I can handle that.
I shake my head. I can’t think clearly about any of this, and for the first time since I was confronted with Pops’ death, I wish he would reappear and tell me what I’m supposed to do. I glance in the rearview mirror to see if he’s in the back seat, but he isn’t.
The ride back home is silent. Cherry sits and stares out the window, an occasional tear running down her cheek. I want to say something comforting, but I can’t even think of words to comfort myself, let alone her.
As we approach Cascade Falls, Cherry lets out a long, shuddering breath.
“Do you want me to explain everything to the family?” I ask. They are the first words I’ve uttered in hours. “I mean, I can tell them for you, or we can do it together—whatever you want.”
“I don’t really care what you tell them,” Cherry says softly. “I think I want to just get a room at the lodge for tonight.”
“Reid has your apartment exactly how you left it,” I tell her. “The key is under the mat. I thought you might need a…a place to retreat.”
“Thank you.” Cherry’s eyes are wide with surprise, but her voice is hollow. “I don’t know how long I’m going to stay though.”
“Why?”
“I can’t just move back here now, Nate! Not after everything that’s happened. Eventually, everyone is going to figure out that not only am I an Orso, but I’ve been messing around with my brother the whole time I was here. I can’t live such a public life under those circumstances, Nate. I can’t even imagine facing your family right now…”
“It’s your family, too. You came here to find your family, Cherry, and you have. I know...I know it will be a little weird—”
“A little weird?” A single burst of laughter erupts from her mouth. “You think?”
“I just meant it will take some time to adjust to everything.”
“I can’t adjust to this, Nate. There is no adjusting to this.” She waves her hand back and forth between us. “I can’t even say the words. I feel so sick—you don’t even understand.”
“Yeah, I do.” Does she think I don’t feel the same way?
“No,” she says quietly, “you really don’t. Anyway, the idea of facing anyone with this knowledge is too much for me.”
“I just…I meant…” I stammer over my words, unable to form a complete sentence. “We should
at least try to work it all out.”
“To what end?” Cherry asks, turning toward me with cold eyes. “You want me to step up and be a part of the family business? I’ve barely come to terms with what all you do, and I only made those concessions because I wanted to be with you.”
“You…you have options. You are an Orso, and there are benefits to that.”
“No. I don’t think I want any part of it.”
“You need some time to think about it.”
Cherry sighs and stares out the window before she finally responds.
“I still love you, Nate. I love you, and not like a brother. I can’t do this. I just can’t. I thought being a part of a large family was going to be wonderful. I thought my loneliness was the worst thing in the world, but it wasn’t. This is worse. I’m here to sort things out with the Ramsays—to tell them I want nothing to do with any of this—and then go back home where no one knows anything about all of this.”
Tears stream down her face, and she turns away to look out the window again. I don’t know what to say, so I just drive her to the front of her apartment building and stop. Cherry grabs her overnight bag from the back seat and opens the passenger door. Before she closes it again, she leans over and looks me in the eye.
“You were right, you know that?”
“Right about what?”
“The first night we met, you asked if I was sure I wanted to know who my real parents were. You said I might end up disappointed, and you were right. I wish I had never come to Cascade Falls at all.”
She closes the car door and disappears into her apartment building. I drive off slowly, trying to hold back my own tears as I wonder if I will ever see her again.
“Hey there!” Antony waves from the porch. “You got back fast! Did you find a PO box? Did you guys get caught in that storm? Did you…”
Antony continues to ask rapid-fire questions, but I don’t even hear them. I walk past him, and he finally closes his mouth as he looks at me with confusion.
“Nate? What happened?”
“Get everyone together,” I say. “Everyone—Kate included—in my office in an hour. I’ll explain then.”