After placing my purse on the island, I make my way down the hall to his office. I don’t know why I didn’t knock. Maybe because I wasn’t expecting him to be in there but either way, I opened the door and stepped inside.
Kase jumps to his feet from the chair behind his desk. The look of shock on his face is quickly replaced by something else. Sitting across from him is a woman I’ve never met before—yet with her light brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes, she looks familiar.
“Delanie,” she purrs my name like we’re old friends. “It’s so good to see you again.”
“Um,” I fumble over my words. “Do I know you?”
With her eyes taking me in, her lips turn up with a look of distaste. “I know it’s been a few years since I’ve been back in Lincoln, but you were only weeks away from becoming my sister-in-law.”
Immediately a light goes off. She looks familiar because she has the same color of hair and eyes as her younger brother—my ex. “Annalise?”
“Now you’re just being rude for the sake of it, because I know this face is unforgettable.” She turns toward Kase. “Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart?
Being six years older, my path rarely crossed with Annalise’s. I was still in grade school while she was in high school, and she had long moved out of Lincoln by the time I started dating Carter.
For reasons that were never explained to me, Annalise and her mother don’t get along. To the point that Judith doesn’t even keep pictures of Annalise in the house. She was invited to the wedding but she was the only family member who marked unable to attend on the invite.
“How do you know Kase?”
She rolls her eyes, seemingly put out by question, then looks at him and says, “I never understood why you wanted to change your name. You don’t look like a Kase. James is much more fitting.”
Kase shakes his head, lowering his eyes to the floor. “What is she talking about?”
“Oh, sweetie, this is going to be hard to hear, but—”
“Anna, shut up,” Kase growls.
“My husband and I have an open relationship but…” Her gaze cuts to Kase than back to me. “I think he needs a refresher on what exactly open means.”
My voice cracks, “Your husband?”
Kase steps around the desk. “Delanie, I need you to—.”
“Yes, James here…” she nods her head toward to the side, “or Kase, as you like to call him, is my husband.”
My hands start to shake. “What?”
“We’ve been married for over ten years. Only one kid, but we’ll probably get working on number two soon.”
“Anna, shut the fuck up.”
Kase takes a step toward me while I take a large one back. With my hand in the air, I shout, “Don’t.”
“This sounds bad, but I can explain everything.”
Annalise laughs. “Oh, this should be fun. Yes, explain how you lied about being married, lied about your name, and you might as well come clean about everything and tell her how you paid that poor girl to claim she was pregnant with my brother’s baby when she wasn’t.”
It feels like the world has literally dropped out from beneath me, leaving my legs weak, my stomach turning, and my head spinning.
He lied, he lied, he lied.
Those are the only words I can process.
“Delanie, please. I need you to listen to me—”
I cut him off by asking, “Is that true?”
He sighs like he’s in pain but what he doesn’t do is deny her claims. “You’re married?” My eyes dart to Annalise’s then back to his. “And you lied about your name?”
“My name is Kase, and if you give me a second—”
“Oh please. His name is James Edward Thornton. He owns the company you work for and he’s hell-bent on sticking it to my little brother. If it weren’t for him,” she motions with her thumb to Kase, “you’d be days away from marrying Carter.”
“Anna, I’m serious. If you don’t shut the fuck up…” He balls his hand into a fist.
“Oh, you’re going to what…hit me? I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
He paid a woman to lie, hoping I’d call off my wedding? But…I didn’t even know him then but… “Did you pay that woman to pretend she was pregnant when she wasn’t?”
His nostrils flare and his eyes close but it’s not until he mumbles “yes” that my world truly falls apart. My relationship with Carter was lackluster at best, but the night he sat me down and told me his receptionist was pregnant with his child forever altered my life.
My mind still spins while a ringing buzzes in my ears. Annalise is yapping about something, but her words are nothing more than background noise as I spin on my heel, storming out of the room.
With Kase a step behind me, I scoop my purse off the island. “Delanie, please, just give me a second to explain everything. I know it sounds bad but—”
“Sounds bad,” I repeat. “You’re fucking married.”
“Legally speaking, yes, we are, but if you’d—”
“Legally speaking, you can take whatever excuse you have and shove it up your ass because I don’t give a damn.”
I move to step around him as he grabs my arm. His eyes widen when my entire body locks with fear.
He lets go of my arm and says, “Jesus, I’d never hurt you. I’m not him.”
My throat tightens but somehow I manage to reply, “Yes, you are. The mask you wear is different, but underneath, the face you show the world is nothing more than a man willing to destroy a person’s life to get what he wants.”
Not giving him another second, I turn and dart to the door and out to my car. It’s not until I’m behind the wheel, driving down the interstate that it hits me—I have nowhere to go. Most of my things are still at Brenna’s, and the rest are scattered around Kase’s bedroom.
Without having my phone to search for a hotel, I drive to the only place I can think of, hoping—no praying—they have a room available.
Kase
“You’re a fucking bitch, you know that?”
With a smirk, Anna walks into my kitchen. “And I told you what would happen if I found out you were playing me.”
“Playing you? Oh, that’s rich coming from you.”
Her eyes linger through my house, taking everything in and I hate every fucking second she’s here. “I always wondered what this house looked like. You’re a dick, by the way, for never inviting me here.”
“Apparently, you didn’t need an invite or you wouldn’t be here now.”
She glides her hand down the island. “Now, today was different. And maybe…” She laughs. “Maybe if you weren’t ignoring my calls, things would have been different.”
“What you just did.” I point toward my office. “You better have enjoyed it because that’s the last thing you have on me. It’s over.”
Her evil smile, one I’ve seen too many times, makes an appearance. “Nothing is over until I say it is.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Anna. And I don’t expect you to believe me because God knows you know everything, but by this time next week, you’ll be out on your ass and you’ll have no one but yourself to blame.”
She studies my face before blowing out a long sigh trying her best to appear bored. “My husband is still as hot as ever, but unless you plan on taking me upstairs to fuck my brains out, then it’s time for me to go.”
My stomach lurches at the thought of touching her. “This is the last warning you’ll get. Sign those papers, Anna, because if you don’t, you’ll spend the rest of your miserable life regretting it.”
She smirks again but this time, she doesn’t say anything as she finally makes her way to the door. It’s not until I’m alone that I finally drop to the floor, rubbing my hands over my face while visions of the woman I love play through my mind.
Some things are impossible to fix, and I’m praying my relationship with Delanie isn’t one of them.
; Chapter Twenty-Three
Kase
Delanie Charles is like a beacon of light in the middle of a stormy night. Unfortunately, I watched as my lies caused that light to dim, possibly even go out. Where Delanie is concerned, I was as honest as I could be, yet I lied about everything.
The memory of the day I first set eyes on her haunts my every thought. I was pissed and crabby, and even after I snapped at her, she beamed the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. It was in that moment her beauty and innocence wrapped around me like a fresh breath of air—air I felt desperate to consume. But when her name rolled off her tongue, it clung to me like a bad day that wouldn’t end.
I’m not a man who desires what he can’t have. The world is filled with agreeable woman, so why waste time on one who’s not? Meeting Delanie was something else entirely—something that felt out of my control—regardless of the reason she was in my path.
Complements of my childhood, I’m not certain God exists. Yet from the second she walked out of my front door, I’ve found myself begging, praying, if a higher power does exist that Delanie will find her way back to me, because I’m afraid a thousand apologies will never be enough. I set out on a mission to fix my life by destroying another’s. There was always going to be an aftermath, I just never expected to have a front-row seat.
Delanie
I loved my apartment in Lincoln, minus the fact that my mother was the one who purchased it. That aside, it was more of a condo than an apartment. I had a ton of space and a view of the mountains that even a beach bum could appreciate.
Rent in Los Angeles is another story. The city is filled with luxury apartments, but luxury doesn’t fit my current budget. Yesterday, when I left Kase’s, I drove straight to Sapphire Heights and signed a one-year lease on a one bedroom apartment. Afterward, I drove to Target and purchased an air mattress, something to sleep in, a couple of items for the bathroom, and an outfit for the next day.
My mother would spit nails if she knew I walked into work in anything less than a designer outfit, much less one purchased from a retail store, but in the long run, it didn’t matter because I wasn’t going to work. Instead, I looked for Paula—only to be told she was out of town for business—then I looked for Dalton—but his office was empty.
Annalise called Kase ‘James,’ James Thornton to be exact, which if that’s his real name, then he’s somehow connected to this company—a place I was already questioning working for. Therefore, I popped off a resignation email to Paula, grabbed my phone, and marched my ass back to my car.
Only a fool signs a year lease on an apartment just to quit her job hours later—but if the last ten years of my life are anything to go by, then I was quite possibly born with the word fool stamped across my forehead.
After a long call to Regan—telling her everything—and a quick call to my dad—only giving him the highlights—I opened a bottle of wine and crashed on my air mattress.
Kase
With Roan by my side, we pull into the dark parking lot shortly after midnight.
Stage two of my long-awaited plan is in full effect. I’ve waited years to finally rid myself of Anna once and for all. I should be excited but I’m anything but.
The day after my world went dark, Roan called to inform me that Delanie quit without notice. She emailed her boss within hours of leaving my house, a fact we only know because Roan had the IT department monitoring her emails. I was ready to jump on a plane and fly to Lincoln, to do what exactly, I’m unsure, but Chris, my P.I. in New York, called to inform me that Delanie’s name appeared on a lease at Sapphire Heights.
Before Bosa made an unexpected trip to town, she had several appointments lined up to view other apartments but I’m guessing with everything that happened, she decided to call the only place she viewed. I hate the fact that she’s renting an apartment with an adjoining wall but I guess I should be grateful she didn’t up and skip town altogether.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
I glance at Roan, giving him a look a lesser man would find intimidating. He rolls his eyes with a chuckle. “Okay, I get it. There’s no talking you out of this. But I’d like the record to show, I’m stating this is a horrible fucking idea.”
“And what do you suggest? I let someone else rent the apartment next to hers?”
“Yeah,” he states like I’m the crazy one out of the two of us.
“Fuck that. She signed a lease the same day she applied for an apartment. If they do a background check like they claim, then it’s a fucking shitty one.” Which means God only knows who could end up living next to her, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.
“She quit her job and she’s not returning your calls. I think she’s made it clear she wants nothing to do with you.”
“She’s pissed, and I get that but I can’t just turn off how I feel because she decided to stop talking to me.”
He nods his head like he understands, but he doesn’t. He fell out of love with Elissa long before they agreed to end their marriage. “Renting the place is one thing. Moving in… Well, that’s a whole other issue and you know it.”
Delanie was only given a handful of pieces to a complicated puzzle. If I have any shot of her forgiving me, then she needs to know everything and not just the things Anna chose to tell her.
“This is the only foot in the door I can think of.”
Roan’s eyebrows pinched together. “I hope you’re speaking metaphorically, otherwise your ass might end up in jail.”
I open the truck door on a groan, “Will you just shut up and help me?”
“Whatever, asshole.”
We both grab a box and head inside my new apartment. I only packed things I didn’t want to go without, the rest I purchased, and movers should arrive in the morning. But I want to get in and settled before she learns I’m her new neighbor.
Delanie
In Lincoln, I had little to no living expenses. My mother purchased my condo, my dad purchased my car, and Carter paid for everything we did together. The majority of my paychecks went straight into my savings account. When the reality hit that I didn’t have to find a job immediately, I purchased furniture for my apartment then I discovered the perks of my Netflix account. One day of binge-watching turned into two which lead to a week. I didn’t peel myself off the couch until I ran out of food. Looking like death warmed over, I stripped off my pajamas, ready to climb into the shower, when I hear the water in the apartment next to mine shut off.
Damn it. I slipped the dumb girl who works in the office a hundred-dollar bill to ensure the apartment next to me wasn’t rented unless it was the last one available and I highly doubt that was the only apartment available.
With clean hair and a fresh change of clothes, I feel a thousand times better.
Maybe while I’m out, I’ll pick up a newspaper and see what jobs are available?
Grabbing my purse and keys, I hear someone knock on my door—at least I think it’s my door and not the apartment next to mine. I didn’t tell anyone where I’m staying so I’m expecting it to be the dingy front office girl but it’s not…
“Regan?”
My best friend practically shouts, “The one and only.”
“How did you know where to find me?” She knows I moved, but I didn’t tell her where.
“I’m still following you on Find A Friend. You mentioned you were on the ground level and on the smaller side of the unit, so I knocked, hoping I was at the right place.” She steps around me and inside. “Which I was.”
My eyes unexpectedly tear up. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Oh, sweetie.” She pulls into for a hug. “I could tell by the tone of your voice when we talked the other day that you were feeling defeated. I wanted to get here sooner but I had to wrap up some projects at work.”
“No, it’s fine, but I’m glad you’re here.”
Regan Huber Bosa is beautiful in an understated way. She typically keeps her long brown hair pinned up a
nd is always wearing neutral colors and for as long as I’ve known her, she’s been a natural peacemaker. But under that goody two shoes personality she bestows upon the world is a feisty female who’d do anything for someone she cares about.
When she lets go of me, her eyes scan my apartment. “Jeez, you weren’t lying about this place being small.”
“It’s enough for one person.”
“Well, this week it better be enough for two, because you’re stuck with me for the next seven days.”
My face breaks out into a huge smile. “Are you serious? You’re staying for a whole week? I thought you were for just the weekend?”
Her nose scrunches in confusion when she says, “It’s Tuesday.”
“Oh, yeah, I knew that.” I point to the TV. “I’ve been on a long date with my Netflix account and I guess time has gotten away from me.”
“I hope your TV is ready for a break, because this week is going to be epic.”
Regan was exactly what I needed. I was spiraling into a state of depression, one Netflix series at a time, and I didn’t even realize it. There’s nothing wrong with binge-watching TV—as long as you aren’t doing it for a living. The fact that I was going on two weeks—not one like I thought—frightened me. But with Regan at my side, we did everything a typical tourist in LA would do. We spent almost an entire day while she posed for a picture next to every single freaking Hollywood star. We toured Universal Studios and even scored last minute tickets to a Dr. Phil’s show—which happened to be about a couple hooked on drugs. For a few brief moments, I was reminded that life could definitely be worse.
But tonight, after spending the day at the beach, we’re sitting in a bar in West Hollywood where Regan ordered a bottle of wine and four shots seconds after we take a seat in a booth next to the empty dance floor.
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