Burned (Cunningham Security Book 5)

by A. K. Evans

  “What exactly happened?” Pierce asked.

  I took in a deep breath. “Are you sure you want to hear this? It’s mind-numbing.”

  “It upsets you, and I care about you, so yeah, I want to hear it. Besides, if this works out between us for the long term, I suspect at some point I’m going to have more than the five-minute interaction I did with your mom. I’d like to know now a little bit more about what I’ll be stepping into.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you then,” I suggested.

  He pulled his brows together and asked, “Why not?”

  “Because you might hear it all and realize that it’s ridiculous. And then I’ll end up never seeing you again because nobody in their right mind would want to be involved with it.”

  Shaking his head at me, Pierce leaned in and promised, “I won’t walk away from you because of your family. I know what I know about you, and I like it. A lot. No matter what I feel about them, I know how I feel about you.”

  That made me feel marginally better. So, I took in a deep breath and gave it to him.

  “It started with my brother’s girlfriend, Michelle, who has since become his wife. There’s always been something about her that rubbed me the wrong way. I ended up learning that she had some legal trouble. Apparently, she embezzled a bunch of money from her former employer. From that point forward, I never trusted her. As it turns out, I had every reason.”

  I paused and took in a deep breath before I continued, “I had moved out of my parents’ home several years ago. Most of my personal belongings were moved into my home when I did. I had a few things I didn’t take, so the minute I learned just who Michelle was, I knew had to go and get the rest of my things. Lo and behold, some of those things were missing. Most of it was inconsequential stuff, but there were two things that had sentimental value.”

  Pierce’s eyes widened. “What was missing?”

  I took a deep swallow and rasped, “The jewelry and afghans my grandmother left me.”

  “What?” he asked incredulously.

  I nodded and explained, “My grandmother made afghans all the time. She not only made afghans for her children and their spouses but for her grandchildren as well. Once she’d made them for all six of her grandchildren, she started making them for her great-grandchildren. Mind you, none of us had any kids at that point. Even still, she made each of us one for a boy and one for a girl.

  “On top of that, I was one of her two only granddaughters. She had a lot of jewelry that she’d gotten over the years during her trips overseas to her home country. She split a lot of that jewelry up between her two granddaughters. That jewelry and those afghans were the only tangible things I had left of my grandmother. I don’t have them anymore.”

  Pierce was stunned. “Zara, beautiful, I’m so sorry.”

  I just closed my eyes and shook my head.

  “How did you end up finding out what happened to those things?”

  I let out a little laugh and joked, “Gwen and I have always said that I could have had a very promising career as a detective.”

  For the first time since I started telling my story, Pierce not only smiled but let out a laugh.

  “Don’t worry,” I started. “I have no interest in trying to take your job from you.”

  He reached out and gave my hand a squeeze. “Good to know I can bounce ideas off you if the opportunity ever arises, though. So, what exactly happened that you now have such a strained relationship with your family?”

  Taking in a deep breath, I continued, “Well, when I realized the afghans and jewelry were missing, I just knew it was Michelle. I told my mom my concerns, but she brushed it off because I had no proof. Considering the importance of those items, I went straight to Michelle and asked her about it. She lied, insisting she had no idea what I was talking about, claiming that all I’ve ever wanted to do since meeting her is put up walls. Needless to say, I decided to search around. It took some time and a lot of patience, but ultimately, I learned that she’d stolen and pawned the jewelry. There was video evidence.”

  “So, you had the proof you needed then,” Pierce reasoned.

  “I went to my mom with the proof. She confronted Michelle again. Michelle lied. Again. With my brother standing there, my mom shared that I had video proof of her in the pawn shop with the jewelry. That’s when Michelle finally fessed up to it. She cried and gave them a sob story about how she didn’t have enough money that month to cover the fines she’s required to pay because of the embezzlement charges. Unfortunately, she still hasn’t admitted to taking the afghans and won’t say what happened to them.”

  “This all sounds logical,” Pierce started. “I don’t understand how things went south with your family.”

  “Michelle and my brother are living with my parents. I assumed after all this came to light, they’d kick her out. She was engaged to my brother at the time this happened. I honestly never believed any of them would stand for what she did to me. Stealing. Lying. Unfortunately, when it came down to it, nobody had my back. Everyone in the family says they know just what kind of person she is, but claim she’s the one who has to live with being that kind of person. That’s fine. I don’t care either way. I just don’t understand how they can be okay with being around her knowing the kind of person she is.”

  “So, have you and your mom fought a lot about this? Is that why you’re barely talking to one another now?”

  “Yes and no,” I started. “It mostly comes down to the fact that I feel so betrayed by her. Here I am, her daughter, and she questioned everything I told her. I’ve never lied to her in my life. Any time I figured something else out I’d share it with her. And every time I’ve told her something new regarding the situation, she doubted me. I always had to prove what I was saying was true. What really bothers me is that she’s basically thrown me away, even though she’ll say she hasn’t; yet, she’s actually supporting my brother and his wife giving them a place to live, even after Michelle stole from me. That is what’s most devastating.”

  “Wait, what?” he asked.

  “What what?”

  “What do you mean she’s thrown you away?”

  I sighed. “My family, especially my mom and my brother, both had the opportunity to stand up and do the right thing in this situation. Neither of them did that for me. I just don’t understand. My grandmother meant everything to me. How could my parents allow someone to hurt me like that and continue to have that person live with them? It’s enabling at its finest form. The most hurtful thing is that my mother doesn’t even support me anymore in my career.”

  I paused a moment recalling what happened between us after I’d caught Brad cheating.

  “After I broke things off with my ex and realized I’d had enough of being burned by people I loved, I decided to move away from it all. When I told my parents, my mom lost it. She told me that I was doing it to punish her for how things had gone down between us with this whole situation with Michelle. I can’t say that part of that isn’t true, but I just felt like I really needed a fresh start.”

  “Christ, Zara,” Pierce bit out. “I knew you had the cheating ex you were coping with, but I didn’t know your family situation was this bad.”

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “I don’t want to kill the mood tonight. I really just wanted to say that I did some thinking this week and I think I need to try to figure out how to forgive. I’ve heard how they say that forgiveness isn’t for the person who hurt you and what they did to you, but that it’s for yourself. I feel a lot of anger about it still, though, and I’m not sure how to move past that.”

  Pierce sat back in his chair, still holding my hand, and declared, “I wouldn’t either.”

  “What?”

  “If my parents and my sister betrayed me like that and took the word of someone who wasn’t their own flesh and blood over mine, I’d be pissed. Take that a step further and I learn that they realize that person is a compulsive liar and they’re still content to be in that person’
s presence and allow him or her to live in their home, I’d have to seriously consider my relationship with them.”

  I blinked at him, surprised to hear him agreeing with my feelings on it. Nobody, other than Gwen, saw this situation from my perspective.

  Pierce wasn’t finished because he went on, “Even if I could find a way to forgive them and move past it while keeping them in my life, I think I’d always have it in the back of my mind that when it really came down to it, they wouldn’t be there for me. Something like this would prove to me where I stood in their lives and I don’t think I’d have it in me to put more stress and pressure on myself to make sure they’re happy. You’ve got to do what feels right in your heart, Zara, but if I were you, I can’t say I’d be feeling all warm and fuzzy toward my family. How do you feel when you are around them now?”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. When I opened them, I replied, “It’s not the same. I’m not myself around them, I’m really uncomfortable, and I always have this situation in the back of my mind, even if it’s not being discussed. Of course, now nobody talks about it at all, which is fine by me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t look at them now and have it all come back to me. And I keep things from them. I won’t lie to them, but I won’t just come out and tell them whatever they want to know either. I feel like they lost the right to know those things when they did what they did to me. And I’m referring specifically to my parents in this situation, considering I haven’t been around my brother in nearly a year and a half now.”

  Pierce leaned forward, resting his forearms on the edge of the table and shared, “In my opinion, there are situations in our lives when people will have the chance to prove to us what we mean to them. Some people will take those opportunities and not waste them. Others won’t. And when they don’t, you have to cut your losses and move on. I’m not telling you what to do in this situation, but I am telling you that it’s not healthy for you to be around people who make you feel uncomfortable because they did you wrong and expect you to act like it didn’t happen.”

  I simply stared at him, taking in his words and feeling them deep down in my heart.

  Pierce gave me the time to do that, but followed up and ended with, “No matter how bad they’ve hurt you, always keep your heart soft and open to love, both giving and receiving it. You deserve to have that, and you will.”

  My lips parted and I stared at him. It was like he knew every ounce of pain I’d experienced and how I set about coping with it. “Pierce,” I breathed.

  I didn’t get to say anything else because our waiter arrived with our food. Pierce and I ended the heavy talk there and decided to shift the conversation to much lighter topics.

  Just after we finished our dessert and Pierce paid the bill, a soft, feminine voice called, “Pierce?”

  I looked to the opposite side of our table at the same time as Pierce, and we saw a gorgeous woman who could have been a model, standing there with an equally as gorgeous man.

  “Hayley,” Pierce responded, his tone warm and friendly. “How are you?”

  “Great,” she answered. “This is my husband, Kyle.”

  Kyle extended his hand to Pierce, and they shook.

  Hayley’s eyes slid to me, assessing. Pierce immediately put a hand behind my back and introduced us. “Zara, this is Hayley. She and I went to high school together,” he revealed.

  I lifted my chin in understanding as I held my hand out and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You too,” she returned before looking back at Pierce. “I’d love to catch up with you, but I don’t want to interrupt your dinner and we’ve got to get home to the kids. We desperately needed a quiet night out, but when you’re so used to the noise, you start to miss it after two hours of peace.”

  “Not me,” Kyle interjected.

  Pierce and I both let out a laugh.

  “It was great to see you, Pierce,” Hayley ended. “And it was lovely to meet you, Zara. Maybe we’ll see you around.”

  We waved them off and I watched Hayley as she and her husband left. I couldn’t get over how pretty she was. When she was out of sight, I turned back to find Pierce was looking at me.

  “She seemed nice,” I stated.

  “She is,” he agreed.

  I knew I shouldn’t ask, but I couldn’t help myself. “You were just friends in high school?”

  Pierce shook his head. “No. She was my first serious girlfriend. We dated each other all through high school and were the prom king and queen, but we broke things off at the end of our senior year.”

  Just like that, jealousy flooded me. My stomach pitched and my throat got tight.

  Pierce dated her.

  And it wasn’t just a few dates either.

  He seriously dated her.

  For three years.

  She was his first love.

  I just met his first love and she was easily one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen in my life.

  And even though Pierce always called me beautiful, I knew I didn’t even come close to Hayley’s level of beauty.

  I would never lie to Zara, but I was questioning just how sane I was for telling her that Hayley was my first girlfriend. Initially, I didn’t think twice about it because Hayley is a distant memory for me.

  We dated and she was my first. Our break up wasn’t ugly, so there’s no bad blood between us. We just weren’t meant for each other.

  Now, sitting next to Zara after the two of us had had a fantastic dinner followed by dessert and seeing the look on her face after I’d shared that information with her, I was thinking that sharing might not have been the best idea.

  The lighthearted mood she’d been in had been replaced with a troubled look. I didn’t like seeing it.

  I reached my arm out and wrapped my hand around hers. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Zara quickly shrugged off whatever was going through her mind, offered me a smile that I knew wasn’t genuine and nodded her head.

  “Are you ready to get out of here?”

  “Yeah,” she agreed.

  We arrived back at Zara’s place, where I held her hand as we climbed the stairs up to the main entrance to her loft. Once we were inside, Callie greeted us. We both gave her a little bit of love before she’d decided she’d had enough and stalked off to the living room.

  Zara looked at me and asked, “Would you like something to drink?”

  I took a step toward her as I shook my head. “You look so beautiful, Zara,” I said as my hand went to her bare shoulder and my fingers traced delicately over the skin there. “I’d much rather have a kiss instead.”

  I watched as her lips just barely parted. Other than that, she made no move.

  “Kiss me, baby,” I urged her.

  Being in heels, she didn’t have to tilt her head to reach my mouth. She leaned forward, curled her fingers around the back of my neck, and touched her lips to mine. The moment she made the connection with our mouths, I pulled her close as she melted into me, giving me her weight.

  The feel of the soft curves of her body against mine as I tasted her had me ready to tear off her dress right there. I wanted to touch more of her, see more of her, and I only hoped she was ready to take things to that next level.

  Bringing my free hand up and driving my fingers through her hair, the hand that was around her waist dropped lower until it glided over the curve of her ass. I squeezed her there and she tore her mouth from mine as a moan slid up her throat.

  Zara and her noises.

  I first heard them a week ago, after she had fallen asleep in my arms. Little moans and whimpers.

  I’d never heard anything sexier in my life and couldn’t get the sound of her noises out of my head ever since.

  My head dropped to her neck. I kissed her there.

  “Pierce,” she whispered, her voice hot with desire.

  I pulled my mouth from her just enough to reply, “What, beautiful?”

  “Please,” she begged. “I need more.”<
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  I brought both hands to her waist and lifted her up onto the countertop where she immediately parted her thighs to allow me to press close to her.

  My mouth went to the exposed skin at the top of her chest while one of my hands moved from her waist up her side and over her breast. I swiped my thumb over the center of it as Zara let out another moan and scooted her hips toward me.

  Zara’s mouth sought out mine. Once her tongue began gliding along mine, my hand that had been resting just above her knee started moving up her thigh. I slipped my fingers underneath the hem of her dress, continuing my ascent toward the prize. The closer I got, the more she squirmed.

  Seconds later, I used those fingers and applied a bit of gentle pressure between her legs. She pulled her mouth away, whimpered, and dug her nails into my shoulders.

  My other hand joined in the fun, pulled her panties to the side, and I slid my fingers through her.

  Wet.

  Completely ready for me.

  I couldn’t wait to be inside her.

  But first, I wanted to see her come.

  One finger slipped inside.

  Tight.

  So tight.

  “Pierce,” she whimpered.

  I smiled at her, loving the look on her face.

  I pumped my finger several times before adding a second one. She moaned louder, her pussy clenching my fingers tight. My thumb found her clit, circled it, and worked her harder. Faster.

  Her breathing grew shallow, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

  On any given day, I thought she was the sexiest woman I’d ever laid my eyes on. But right now, seeing her like this, I wondered what I’d done to deserve the shot at having someone like her.

  She was close, I knew it, and I wanted it.

  “Give in, Zara,” I encouraged her. “Come on, beautiful. Give it to me.”

  Within seconds, she threw her head back and came.

  And that sound was, by far, the best thing I’d ever heard. So sexy and raw, it’s a wonder I didn’t come in my pants just listening to her.