Page 85 of Resist
“Is it money? Are you after money? Are you here to extort me, Sterling?”
“No, Corabelle. That’s not it at all.”
I don’t give him the chance to tell me what it is. “G-get out.”
“Corabelle, please.” He steps toward me, hands outstretched like he might try to grip my arms. “Please, just listen.” His face is twisted with the same brutal anguish lancing its way through my heart in slow motion. His eyes search my face like he’s looking for understanding. But I don’t, I can’t.
Just listen.
He steps on an invisible landmine with those words. As a strong woman in a man’s world I’ve been mansplained to, condescended to, and gaslit more often than I can count. This won’t be another of those situations.
“No,youlisten, Sterling Montgomery. You’ve got the wrong guy. My father was beyond reproach. He was a good man, a kind man. Yes, he was a ball buster in the boardroom. But he raised tens of thousands of dollars for domestic violence victims over the years. No one has ever said a negative thing about him.” I point my finger at him. “And you’re here to what? Smear his name, my publishing house’s name, and extort money for me on an unfounded, unproven allegation from when? Years ago? I don’t fucking think so. Get. Out.”
When he doesn’t move, I jab my finger at the door.
“Get the fuck out of my house you piece of shit liar, and don’t come back.”
He opens his mouth as though he has more to say, but after a fraction of a second, his soft, pained face turns hard, cold, and he gives a brief nod before he disappears. I brace myself against the door as I wait for him to leave.
It takes less than ten minutes for him to get changed out of his fake-sick loungewear, and I assume pack a bag before heleaves my apartment with a god almighty slam of the door behind him.
With trembling hands I manage to find my phone and open the text message box to send a message to my friends as I slide my way onto the floor.
Rule #5. 911!!!!
CHAPTER 33
Cora
I’melbow deep in aggressively bleaching my toilet for the second time when the cavalry arrives.
“What happened?” Phoenix’s voice carries through the apartment, and the rustle of plastic bags tells me they’ve brought snacks, though the nausea welling in my stomach won’t do well with any kind of food right now.
“Do we need to go to the ATM to get bail money?” Maddie’s voice rings out loud and clear. “Rule number two. We can’t help you with the body, but we can start working on an alibi.”
Tears stream down my face as I drop the sponge into the toilet and my head onto the seat as I let a wave of emotion work its way through my body.
“Coco? Where are you?”
“She’s here, right?” Phoenix asks while one of them drops the bags on my dining table.
“Her message didn’t say for sure. I assumed...”
“Me too. Cora? Where the fuck are you? We can’t help you if we can’t find you.” Foxy bursts into the bathroom. “Found her! Here you are! Why didn’t you answer us? And what’s the big emergency?”
I peel my forehead from the toilet seat and look up at my friend. She takes one look at my tear-streaked face, and her eyes widen just a bit, enough that I know she knows. She might not know what she knows, but she knows something.
“Let’s get you up.” She hooks an arm underneath mine and pulls me up off the floor. When I’m freestanding, my legs wobble, threatening to give way, and she brackets her arm around my back, guiding me out into the living room.
“Fuck. You stink of bleach.” Maddie wafts her hand in front of her face, but when she looks up, her skin pales. “What’s wrong?” She makes a beeline for the box of Kleenex on the coffee table and yanks one out before thrusting it at my face.
I take the tissue and crumple it into my palm. I’m not sad right now, despite my tears. At least, I don’t think I’m sad. I think I’m furious, so beyond angry that my rage juice is leaking from my eyeballs.
“Who are we killing, Coco?” Phoenix tenderly brushes my hair back from out of my face and tucks it behind my ear. She’s being affectionate, so whatever she sees on my face must be bad.
She sits next to me on the couch, picking up my hand and cradling it on her lap between both of her palms while Maddie perches on the edge of the coffee table. “Whatever it is, we can fix it.”
I sit in silence for a long time, battling with the feelings at war in my chest. Phoenix makes a pot of coffee, she uses the good shit that permeates the whole space before she even brings the mugs back into the living room.