Sweet Possession (Carson-Fox Resorts #2)

Chapter 17

Fox

S itting back in my office chair, a triumphant grin spread across mylips as I finalized the last of my plans.

Cora was going to love everything I had organized for her. I wantedher to experience everything New York City had to offer, and I’d made sure to arrange as much as possible for us to do for our remaining time here.

Admittedly, it wasn’tthatI just wanted to show Cora the city, therewas another reason behind why I’d crammed so much in.

The next few days were going to be torture.

For us both.

After I’d finished the final interviews earlier, and appointed a newmanager, I’d whisked Cora to dinner at a charming little restaurant. The tension between the two of us was dynamite; I’d never experienced the raw need to drag a woman out of a restaurant and rip her clothes off so I could spend hours exploring her body.

And that’s exactly what happened…almost .

As soon as we’d finished our dinner, and the waiter asked if wewanted dessert, Cora gazed at me with nothing but lust in her beautiful eyes before telling me she was ready to go back to the hotel.

It was a miracle I managed to refrain from fucking her there andthenin the elevator as we made our way to the suite. The second the room door closed behind us, we were tearing each other’s clothes off, my hands and mouth trailing over every inch of her delicious skin.

But my intention to bury myself in her sweet cunt again came to agrinding halt when she winced in pain after I thrust a finger into her tight pussy.I should have known it was too soon though,thatit would take a fewdays for her to recover after I ripped her apart, but I was thinking with my cock, not my head.

Cora was as disappointed as I was, and despite her practicallybegging me to ignore her pain and fuck her anyway, she eventually relented when I told her I wasn’t going to break my promise to not hurt her a second time.

She asked if she could suck my cock again, and as much as I wasmore than tempted to agree, I told her no.

If she wasn’t getting any pleasure,thenneither was I.

So yeah, the next few days of abstinence were going to be torturous,and the only way of ensuring neither of us gave into temptation was to make sure we kept as busy as possible.

ContentthatI had everything in place, I began closing down the opentabs of work I should have been doing instead of making my plans, ready to curl up next to my girl and get some sleep. She’d gone to bed a few hours ago after we’d cuddled on the sofaand watched a film, the entire time I had to ignore my achingly hard cock as it rested against her ass.

Like I said.

Torture .

But before I could shut my laptop down, my phone rang with Nash’snumber flashing up.

“Junior, to what do I owe the pleasure at this late hour? Missing myhandsome face?”

“More like your ugly mug,” he snorted. “Just checking in.”

I narrowed my eyes at the computer screen. Aside from the fact we’dspoken earlier about the appointment of the new general manager and caught up on a few other bits, Nash hadjustshut down the opportunity to throw more insults my way.

Something was wrong.

“You’re a shitty liar, dude. Is Sav okay?”I asked, hoping like hellnothing had happened to her or the baby.

He sighed in resignation.“She’s fine, but I thought you’d want toknowthatI heard some information about Cora’s dad a few hours ago.”

A knot tightened in my stomach.“What’s the cunt done now?”

“Racked up another debt of half a mil.”

My gaze darted to my office door which stood ajar. I jumped out of mychair, peering into the darkened hallway to check the phone ringing hadn’t disturbed Cora before shutting the door.

“Do Ievenneed to ask who he owes money to?”I gritted out, angerbeginning to swirl under my skin.

“Probably not.”

I cursed under my breath as I paced the length of my office, thememory of Freddy’s bloodied face from the day he was dragged into Arnold Diaz’s casino swimming through my head.

I’d never wanted to smash my fists through a wall so much as I didrightthen.

“Freddy can’t fucking help himself,”I growled, fury getting the betterof me.“I should have dealt with him when I had the chance. ”

“You were giving Cora a chance to make a decision for herself,”Nashsaid calmly. How the tables had turned. Normally I was the voice of reason trying to calm him down.

“A mistake I won’t be making again,”I hissed, imagining all the waysI’d like to hurt Freddy.

And maybe Diaz for being a greedy prick and letting Freddy borrowmoney again.

“You and I both know you’re talking out of anger,”Nash replied, callingmy bluff.“You’d never forgive yourself if you ended him and she hated you for it.”

I let out a heavy exhale of frustration and shook my head, slumpingback into my chair. Nash was right. Cora was the only reason I hadn’t murdered Freddy the same night I’d killed Dwayne. She deserved to have a say in the fate of her father’s life, it was the right thing to do.

She’d been deprived of making decisions all her life by her cunt of afather, and I wasn’t going to be the one to takethataway from her now she had her freedom.

“There’s more to it,”Nash continued before I could start consideringmy options.“Freddy’s done a runner. He was seen getting on a bus heading out of the city three days ago, and there hasn’t been a single trace of him since. Diaz’s men ransacked his house, but Freddy had packed up most of his shit. Looks like he’s gone for good.”

My shoulders slumped. If Freddy had left Vegas and didn’t intend oncoming back,thatwould be a relief for Cora, but Diaz wasn’t the type to forget about a debtjustbecause Freddy had disappeared. He’d want the debt repaid, and if he found outthatCora was still in the city, he wouldn’t think twice about taking her as payment.

At least that was an easy problem to solve.

“Does Sav know?”I asked, resignation in my tone .

“No.”

“Good. Let’s keep itthatway,”I said, my mind racing with what Ineeded to do to solve this problem.“Can you get me a meeting set up with Diaz for when I get back?”

“It’s already done,”Nash replied.“And this time I’ll be coming withyou.”

The next three days were an absolute blast. We went everywhere.

We flew in a private helicopter over the Statue of Liberty before takinga ferry across to Liberty Island so we could climb the stairs and see the view from the top of the statue’s crown.

Next, we hired bikes and cycled across Brooklyn Bridge, the entiretime Cora laughed at my inability to balance on a bikethatwas far too small for my broad frame and long legs.

We walked hand in hand around Central Park Zoo, before taking ahorse and carriage around the park. When we visited the main terminal in Grand Central Station, I snapped a photo of her awe-struck expression as she gazed around the grandeur of the terminal, promptly setting it as the wallpaper on my phone.

On another day, we hopped on an open-top bus and toured the citywhere Cora absorbed every single bit of information the tour guide told us about the history of New York, unashamedly asking more questions to learn everything she could.

Each night we ate in beautiful restaurants with the most exquisitefood before heading back to our suite, exhausted from the day’s activities. Collapsing into bed, Cora would declarethatshe was having the best time of her life as she fell asleep in my arms.

I’d toyed with the idea of telling her about Freddy, but seeing howhappy and carefree she was, probably for the first time in her life, I’d decided to keep quiet until after we were home, and I’d had a chance to speak with Diaz about paying off Freddy’s debt.

Maybe with the knowledgethatFreddy was gone, she’d finally beable to be this version of herself but back in Vegas.

On our final afternoon, we decided to have one last walk throughCentral Park. Our plane was due to take off later tonight, and if it hadn’t been for the factthatI needed to get back to help Nash run the business, I would have quite happily stayed here in New York for the foreseeable.

Cora’s noticeable quietness suggested she felt the same.

When we reached a place in the parkthatwas fairly secluded, Ipulled her off the path and led her over to a huge tree, offering us shelter from the sun.

Sitting down, I tugged her into my lap. She laughed as she fell intomy arms, but quickly adjusted herself sothather back was to my chest, and her head rested against my shoulder.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, giving her neck a quick kiss.

“You’re quiet today, baby girl. Is everything okay?”

She sighed, and not one of contentment.“Yeah, guess Ijustdon’twant our trip to come to an end.”

“Me either, but we can do this again,”I replied, lacing my fingersthrough hers at her waist .

“I’d likethat,”she hesitated, she had more to say. I waited patientlyfor her to open up about what was on her mind.“I’m a little anxious about going back to Vegas as well, if I’m honest. For the first time in my life, I feel like I can breathe easily without the constant fear of what my dad might do next hanging over me, but I know when we go back,thatfeeling will go away.”

I deliberated for all of ten seconds as to whether I should tell her nowabout Freddy, but she’djustpresented the perfect opportunity for me to tell her the truth.

“Cora, your dad left Vegas a few days ago, no one has seen himsince.”

“What?”she spun to face me, her brows pulled high in surprise.“Heleft?”

“Yeah, baby girl. A few days ago. Apparently, he packed up all his shitfrom your old house. He was last seen on a bus heading out of the city.”

She gaped at me, her eyes wide and unblinking. After a few seconds,her entire body deflated like a balloon.“He got himself in debt again, didn’t he?”

Her eyes dropped to her lap, and my heart broke at hearing the hurtin her tone.

Once upon a time, I was in her shoes. Always hopingthata parentwould suddenly step up to the mark and become a decent parent, only to be let down time and time again.

No matter what Freddy had done to her, it was natural for her to hopethathe’d see the error of his ways and finally be the father she wanted. Only time would make her realizethatFreddy only gave a shit about one person- Freddy.

“Yeah,”I replied, refusing to lie to her.

She fell quiet for a few moments, staring down in thought at her lapbefore looking up at me. I expected to see tears in her eyes, but when her gaze met mine, allthatwas reflected in her orbs was acceptance.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, I can’t remember a time when he didn’t owemoney to someone. And it’s not like he has got another child he can sell, what other choice would he have but to run like the coward he is?”

“He is a coward,”I said, cupping her cheek.“A coward, among manyother things. But the biggest thing he is, is a fool for not realizing how incredible his daughter is.”

She gave me a small smilethatdidn’t reach her eyes.“Will anyonecome looking for me?”

“No, baby girl.”

She held my gaze for a few seconds, the cogs whirling before hereyes narrowed on me.“You’re going to pay his debt again, aren’t you?”

I pulled her closer to me.“Yeah, I am.”

“You shouldn’t have to,”she said, a hint of defiance I’d never heardfrom her before shining through. She pulled out of my grasp before rising to her knees.“You shouldn’t have to keep paying his debts off, Fox, that’s not fair.”

“Fox?” I replied, raising a brow.

Her cheeks flushed a gorgeous shade of red.“Sorry. Itjustmakes meso madthathe thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to run up debt and leave other people to face the music.”Her voice rose several octaves as anger gripped her. I didn’t interrupt, letting her get her emotions out for once.“How many times does this have to keep happening for him to learn? I mean, what the hell is wrong with him? He’s a grown man for fuck sake, he should grow up and start taking responsibility for his actions! ”

I folded my arms across my chest and chuckled, earning me ascathing look from her.“I’ve never heard you swear before, baby girl. You know, you’re kinda adorable when you get mad.”

All the anger rushed out of her as her shoulders dropped, and a slygrin crossed her face.“You’re a bad influence on me, Daddy.”

I grabbed her, pulling her down and laying her on her back.“Ohyeah?”I said, tickling her waist and eliciting playful giggles from her.

“Stop! Stop!”she begged as I managed to slip my hand up her topand tickle the soft skin over her ribs.“You’re not a bad influencereally!”

I granted her mercy, pulling my hand out but not moving away fromhovering over her.

“What if he comes back to Vegas?”she said after a pause, her tonesoft but serious.

“Thenwe’ll deal with him, baby girl. I meant what I said when I firstbrought you home. The decision is yours as to what happens to him.”

She didn’t reply straight away, instead, she sucked her bottom lipbetween her teeth as she thought.

“You know, I remember when I was five or six, I had the flu,”sheeventually said, her voice a mere whisper.“It wasreallybad, and I probably should have gone to the hospital, but he wouldn’t take me because we didn’t have insurance. But he sat with me for three solid days, watching me to make sure I was still breathing. He fed me chicken soup and made sure I had cough medicine.”

Her eyes glazed over as if she was disappearing into the memorybefore shaking her head, her gaze hardening.

“Of course, as soon as I was better, he told me off for being ill andmaking him lose three days of gambling. But it didn’t matter, he’d looked after me in his own weird way. I hate him, Ireallydo,”she paused, inhaling a shaky breath before continuing.“And yet despite everything he’s done, I don’t want to see him dead. I can’t bear the thought of him hurting. Doesthatmake me pathetic?”

I leaned down and kissed her lips lightly.“No, Cora. It makes you adecent human being. Your father doesn’t deserve your mercy or your forgiveness, but you’d give it anyway because that’s what makes you and him polar opposites. You have the kindest heart I’ve ever known, whereas he doesn’t have a heart at all.”

I moved off her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a sittingposition so we were face to face.“Baby girl, I don’t want you to fear your dad because I will never let him, or anyone else hurt you. So yeah, I’ll pay off his latest lot of debt, because it’ll mean keeping you safe. And if he is stupid enough to come back to Vegas,thenI’ll make sure he crawls right back under the rock he’s currently hiding under.Thatman will never bother you again.”

A steely resolve flitted through her eyes.“I don’t want to fear him anymore, Daddy. I’ve spent my life scared of what he will do. I don’t want to give himthatpower anymore.”She reached out and took my hand, lacing our fingers together.“One day, I want to be strong enough to tell himthatI never want to see him again.Thatall I ever wanted was his love, but now he’ll never know what it’s like to have his daughter’s love. One day, I want him to wake up all alone and regret every minute he wasted being a lousy father.”

I gave her hand a squeeze.“Thatday will come, Cora, becauseyou’re stronger than your dad ever gave you credit for. Stronger than you give yourself credit for. You’re a fighter, baby girl, and if that’s what you want to tell your dad when you’re ready,thenyou will.”

She smiled again, only this time it reached her eyes. Shestraightened her spine as determination washed through her .

“Well, now that’s sorted, there’s something else I need to do,”I said,grinning at her mischievously and wanting to lighten the mood.

A cautionary look crossed her face.“What?”

I leaned forward and kissed her lips.“Punish you for callingme Fox.”

She didn’t have time to protest before her high-pitched squealgrabbed the attention of a young couple walking by when I launched at her and began tickling her again.