Rocking a SECRET (8 page)

“Mind? Umm, no. It’s not your age that I
want, Stella. I want you for you. You could be a hundred and I’d
still want you. Because you’re you.”

“I’m not quite one hundred yet, so I think
we’re good.”

“We’re really good,” I tell her as I nuzzle
her neck.

“Yeah, Kace. We are.”

“So no more worries about the age
thing?”

“As long as your mom doesn’t kill me for
corrupting her baby boy, we’re good.”

“My mom has no room to talk. She’s not a
saint. But if she doesn’t like it, we’ll just show her we’re
serious and change her mind.”

I kiss Stella, pouring all the love I feel
for her into it. Yeah, love. I know I love her. It’s not time to
tell her yet, but I will soon. We also still need to talk. About
lots of things. Including how she can afford this apartment. Not
now, though. Right now, I just want to be in the moment. So, I shut
off my brain and just get lost in her.

* * *

Stella

I really love my outfit. It’s beyond sweet
and
sexy that Kace picked out something for me to wear. We
didn’t have time for me to thank him properly this morning, but
I’ll make sure he knows how much I appreciate it tonight. We’re
smiling and holding hands as we walk off the elevator into the loft
at the hotel. Until everyone sees us.

Conversation stops. Just literally stops as
people stare at us with their mouths open. Wayne is the first one
to recover. “Well, hot damn. This will be fun.”

“This has nothing to do with you, man,” Kace
tells him.

“But it could. Tegan told me all about her
and Stella and all the fun they’ve had. With lots of guys. I’m not
into you, dude, but we could all play together.”

I stop breathing. I can’t believe she told
him. How could she do that to me? Oh my God, I think I may die
right now. I’m snapped out of it as Kace lets go of me and lunges
for him.

“No. Stop, Kace. Don’t.” I yell as I pull
him off of a bleeding Wayne.

“He’s not going to talk shit like that about
you with me here.”

“You act like I was lying. I wasn’t. She’s
done multiple guys before. With and without her friend. Haven’t you
Stella?”

“Yes. I have,” I tell him as tears roll down
my cheeks.

I won’t deny it because I’m not ashamed of
what I’ve done. At least I haven’t been until this moment. In this
room with a guy I think I might love,
and
my mom. She’s seen
it all in her job, but she doesn’t need to know I’ve done it all. I
just have to get out of here before I’m forced to look at her and
Kace. I can’t take either of them being disgusted by me.

“Look at me, Stella,” Kace says. I shake my
head, and he leans close to whisper in my ear trying to catch all
my tears with his fingers. “I don’t care, love. What you did before
doesn’t matter. All that matters is now. You told me I was the best
you ever had and now that just means even more. No one’s going to
mess with you about this. Not if they want to have all their limbs
intact.”

I look up at him and there’s no disgust in
his eyes. Just concern, and God, love. His eyes are full of love.
“Thank you.”

That gets me a quick kiss and a smile. “Back
to work everyone. The fucking show’s over. And if any of you even
thinking of mentioning this to Stella
or
me, I suggest you
don’t. She’s with me—that’s all you need to know.”

Everyone turns back to what they were doing,
except my mom. She comes over to me and hugs me tight. “I love you,
Stell. I don’t care what you’ve done or plan to do in the future.
I’ll always love you.”

Kace moved away to give us privacy, so I’m
able to tell her what I’m thinking. “Thank you. That means
everything to me. I have to quit my job though, Mom. I can’t work
with Tegan. I can’t even stomach the thought of seeing her.”

“Talk to her. She’s your best friend. She
wouldn’t just tell him those things.”

“But she did. And she’s not my friend
anymore. She’s dead to me.”

“I’ll support you no matter what.”

“I know. I love you, Mom.”

We hug again, before she goes back to work
with Brett and I walk over to Kace. He tells me I can leave for the
day if I need to, but I don’t want to do that. If I leave right
now, I’ll do something rash. I was serious when I told my mom that
I can’t work with Tegan again, but quitting seems so wrong. I love
my job. And my other friends. I need to think about this for a
couple of days.

I make it through the day, ignoring the
stares. Because people are staring. They won’t say anything since
Kace threatened everyone, but they can’t help but stare. I’ve never
regretted my choices, or what I’ve done in the past, but today I
feel dirty. And a little cheap. I can’t believe it’s my best friend
that made me feel this way.

By the time I fall asleep that night with
Kace next to me, I have fifteen missed calls from Tegan, and twice
as many text messages. I don’t look at them, or listen to the
voicemails. I just can’t. It hurts to know she betrayed me. And I
don’t even understand why she did it. I know I could ask her, but
honestly, the thought of seeing her again makes me want to throw
up.

Stella

I enter the Foundation offices a few days
later and nod at Alex. I called an emergency meeting, so she knows
I’m not in the mood for small talk. I wish I could say that I
wrestled with my decision, but I didn’t. I just had to drum up the
courage to actually go through with what I know I have to do. Kace
only knows that I want to break off my friendship, and while he
told me to talk to Tegan first, I just can’t. I just need to get
this over with.

Alex takes care of the phone system, and we
enter the conference room together after passing the security
scans. Everyone is already inside as I take my place next to
Mallory and Darcy. I don’t sit down.

Jane stands and addresses me. “Stella, you
know that calling an emergency meeting is not something to be taken
lightly. Please tell us why we all had to be here today.”

“I’m not taking this lightly. I called this
meeting because I need to quit.”

“What? Stella, no,” Mallory says, jumping
out of her chair.

“I have no choice.”

“There’s always a choice, Stella. You know
that,” Jane lightly reprimands me.

“I can’t work with Tegan. In fact, it’s
taking everything I have in me to stand here calmly and not rip her
fucking throat out right now.”

“What, Stell? You’re quitting because you’re
angry at me? For what? You’re my best friend.”

“Angry doesn’t even begin to cover what I’m
feeling. And you know why, so stop acting like you don’t. I
thought
you were my best friend. Until I walked into work a
few days ago with Kace. And Wayne told everyone that I liked to be
with multiple guys, sometimes with you participating too. My mom
was there, Tegan.”

“Holy shit,” Aiden says.

“Shut up, A,” Matt tells him with a
glare.

“I-I…”

“You what? You just had to tell him that? He
forced you at gunpoint to tell him about my past sexual encounters?
Why? Why would you do that to me? I would’ve never told someone
something like that. And you had to know he’d tell Kace. You know I
like him. He’s the first guy I’ve ever wanted to be with like this.
Were you trying to ruin that for me?”

“Yes.”

I reel back like she’s punched me.
“What?”

“Ainsley’s in love, Faith’s in love, and now
you—you’re maybe in love—and it’s too much. I kept thinking about
who was going to go out with me to clubs? And be my best friend?
Then I saw how sad you were, and how fast Kace said yes when I went
to bring him to you. I was happy for you then, but it was too late.
I’d already told Wayne. I’m so sorry. I mean it.”

Damn it. I know her background, and I
should’ve known she’d freak out. And now my anger has faded, and I
realize my mom and Kace were right. I should’ve just talked to her.
“I’ll still go out with you. I said I’d be your wing woman. I’m not
going to abandon you just because I’m with Kace. But you can’t ever
do anything like this again, Teeg. The way people have been looking
at me…I’ve felt so gross. And bad.”

“Kace said some shit to you? He’s dead!”

“No, Matt. He’s protected me, and told me
the past doesn’t matter.”

“Of course he did. I mean, damn, what guy
doesn’t want to hear that his woman’s pretty wild?” Nate says.

“You’re such an ass,” Jade tells him.

I flip him off and tell them the rest. “He
said all that matters is now, and us. And he said he’d fuck up
anyone who messed with me about it.”

“That’s so sweet,” Isa says.

“Yeah. And he dressed me today,” I say
gesturing to my clothes. This is the second day in a row. I hope he
keeps it up. I can tell he really thinks about what he’s picking,
and both times, he’s chosen a perfect outfit for me.”

“He picked your clothes? And you let him?
Damn, I knew sending him to you was the right thing to do. But,
umm, does your mom hate me?” Tegan asks.

“No. She told me to talk to you before
quitting. I was just so mad. And hurt.”

“I really am sorry, Stell. Please don’t go
through with quitting. We all need you.”

I look around and see everyone nod. I
finally settle on Jane. “Can I take it back?”

“Yes. But please just talk it out next time
you think about leaving. Any of you.” She looks to Tegan. “What you
did is not acceptable, Tegan. Not just as a friend, but as a
sister. We keep each other’s secrets, not spill them to the some
random man. Especially not with the intent to harm.”

“I know.”

“You’ll be off missions for at least two
months, and will be expected to be here at the offices every day
helping wherever you’re needed.”

“Of course. I understand what I did and how
bad it is.”

“Good. Now, I’m actually glad that
everyone’s here. Well, almost everyone. Alex, can you call Miles in
here? I need to talk to all of you about something.”

We all sit there quietly as we wait for
Miles. Jane seems really serious, and a little sad. As I look
around, we all look lost, even Reina.

“Sorry it took a minute for me to get here,
Gram. I was on a call.”

“Not a problem, Miles. Please have a
seat.”

She takes a deep breath, and I’m even more
scared. Especially when Mallory, Maggie, Helen, and Cyndi go to
stand with her. She seems to gain strength from her friends and
opens her eyes.

“I’m not exactly a young woman anymore. And,
well, I can’t continue to run both the C & C Foundation, and
the Society. It’s too much. I’ve been feeling a little weak and
tired the past couple of months. I want to stay on as a mentor and
help wherever I can, but I need to give up control. This isn’t an
easy decision for me, especially because it puts all of you at
risk.

“As you know, my husband had a condition
written in when he created the Foundation. It will only continue to
function if a Corrigan woman is in place to run it, unless there
isn’t one available. This wouldn’t have mattered even a month ago,
but now that Alex and Miles are married, things aren’t as
simple.”

“Because I can’t run the Foundation or the
Society,” Alex says.

“I love you my dear, but no, you can’t.”

“It wasn’t a question, Jane. I know I’m not
cut out for that.”

“There’s only one other option. Matt, I need
you to get married. It will only have to be for a year, and then
you can get divorced, and the last name can be retained.”

By Reina. She’s not saying it, but we all
know that’s who she means. There’s no one else. And none of us
would marry Matt in her place anyway. Not with knowing how much she
loves him.

“Okay. I can do that for you. Of course I’ll
do that for you,” we all know he’s trying to convince himself as
much as he’s convincing her. He’s the biggest player in the room.
“Do we draw names or something to see who the lucky girl is?”

Reina stands so fast that her chair rolls
back to slam into the wall. “You bastard. I hate you so much.”

“Good,” he tells her, standing as she stalks
towards him. “Then maybe you’ll really move on and stop looking
like a sad little puppy when you’re around me.”

“Really? You want me to fucking move on?
Because you didn’t seem to enjoy seeing me with Rick.”

“I was being selfish, knowing that I
couldn’t have you in my bed when I needed you, Princess.”

“Because that’s all I am to you isn’t it,”
she screams as she gets in his face. “Just a body to help you when
you need it. You couldn’t even give the ‘puppy’ a pity fuck when I
told you I needed you. And I’ve put up with it, taken what you’d
give me because I thought maybe one day you’d think I was good
enough for more. But now I know I’m not. I’m just a piece of trash
for you to use and throw away.”

“Don’t fucking talk about yourself like
that, Rei.”

“It’s true. And I finally have to accept it.
I’m nothing to you, and I never will be.”

She staggers away from him, and I think she
may fall over, but Matt grabs her. She immediately starts fighting
him, but he holds her tight pulling her closer and closer to him,
as she slaps and kicks him. When he fuses his mouth to hers, she
stops fighting and puts her arms around his neck. She kisses him
back until he pulls his mouth away.

“Marry me, Reina.”

“I won’t share you.”

“I wouldn’t cheat on you when we’re
together. Not ever.”

“And you’ll be with me? Really with me, in
every way?”

“I’m a bastard for it, but yes. You have to
know it’s only for a year, though. I can’t give you forever.”

“I’ll take the year. For now. So yes, I’ll
marry you, Matt.”

“Perfect. We’ll get Candi to take the
engagement photos and then release it to the press. It will take a
few months to get everything together for the wedding since it will
need to be big. Unfortunately, that means the girls can’t stand up
for you.”