Sweet Possession (Carson-Fox Resorts #2)

Chapter 24

Cora

H elpless, I watched as Fox sped down the driveway, dust kicking uparound the wheels of his car as he spun away so damn fast it was as if he was fleeing from the devil.

Brake lights illuminated when he reached the road, and for a second,I thought he was going to turn back around.

But he didn’t.

The angry roar of the engine filled the air as he pulled out of the drive,the noise diminishing the further away he got.

“Hey, what’s going on?”Savannah said, joining me at the front doorand staring at the empty driveway, frowning when she looked at the vacant space I was staring at.

“He thought I was here alone,”I whispered through my tears.

The look of utter devastation carved into his face when he stormedout of the house flashed through my mind. As the panic attack took hold of him, I tried to tell himthateverything was okay,thatSav hadjustpopped to the toilet, but no matter how loud I shouted, my words weren’t registering.

It was only when he grabbed me and I told him he was scaring methathe snapped out of it. He hadn’t hurt me. Sure, he’d left marks on my arm, but they were already fading. And I wasn’t scared of him, I was scared for him. I’d never seen him behavethatway, and I didn’t know what to do to help him.

When he turned and started running back to the house, I knew I hadno chance of getting through to him, he was lost in his head. Desperate to explain the situation, I chased after him, but he was in his car and speeding away before I could explainthatI wasn’t alone.

Nash and Savannah had bought me home from the hotel and hadstayed with me while Fox took care of some business. Nash didn’t say as much, but I had a feelingthatthe business he was dealing with was Lily.

I tried not to fret over it on the journey home, remindingmyselfthatI trusted Fox, andthatit wasjustmy demons trying to wreak havoc. But until Fox came home and told me everything was sorted, I knew I wouldn’t be able to silence them.

With it being such a beautifully warm afternoon, the three of us haddecided to sit in the garden and enjoy the sun. Savannah had quickly complainedthatshe was too hot though, but rather than go into the air-conditioned house, she’d suggested dipping our feet in the pool to keep cool.

The promise I’d made to Fox to steer clear of the pool was at theforefront of my mind. But I wasn’t alone, and I’d stupidly figured he wouldn’thave gotten mad if he knew Nash and Sav were with me.

How wrong I was .

The afternoon passed in quiet bliss. Sav had been sketching newdesigns in the sketchpad she held in her lap, her feet swaying in the water. Nash had taken up residence on a sunbed, his phone glued to his hand as he went through his emails.

As for me, I wanted to switch off from everythingthathad happenedthe previous night. I’d grabbed my Harry Potter book from the library, ready to lose myself in Hogwarts and learn all about Quidditch.

For a peaceful hour, the only soundthatrang out into the air was the sound of Sav’s pencil scratching against the sketchpad, and Nash tapping at the keyboard on his phone.

But when Sav announcedthatshe was craving peanut butter icecream, Nash had jumped to his feet, telling us he’d go to the store to get her a tub, along with chocolate ice cream for me.

He’d been gone less than ten minutes when Sav had visited thebathroom, typically right at the moment Fox had arrived home and assumed I was alone in the house.

“Why wouldthatbe a problem?”Sav asked, pulling myattention away from the end of the empty driveway, a quizzical look on her face when she saw the tracks of my tears.

“He made me promise to not go near the pool without him. I don’tknow for sure, but I think water may have something to do with his sister dying.”

Sav’s brows shot up, her hand coming to clutch her chest.“Oh gosh. Ididn’t know,”she replied, stunned.“I’ll ring Nash. He’ll know what to do.”

She scurried away, disappearing into the living room. Seconds laterher rushed tones filtered to where I’d sat down on the doorstep, returning my stare to the driveway .

Timeseemedto slow down. Every secondthatticked by and Fox stillhadn’t returned home was excruciating. My thoughts turned chaotic, my imagination running wild with intrusive thoughts. Images flashed through my mind of a car crumpled to the size of a tin can because it had hit a tree or a wall after the driver had driven too fast and lost control.

I felt sick.

Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Savannah had sat down next to meuntil she took my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

I had no idea how much time passed until there was a faint rumblingof a car engine, getting louder as it drew closer. I held my breath, praying like mad it was Fox, only to letthatbreath out in disappointment when Nash’s car turned onto the driveway. Sav and I clambered to our feet, our hands still clasped together asNash brought his car to a stop. When he got out, he stayed by the driver’s door, talking to us over the roof of the car.

“What happened?”he asked, alarm evident in his voice which onlyset my nerves on edge all the more.

“I think he had a panic attack when he saw me with my feet in thepool. He must have thought I was alone because you weren’t here and Sav had gone to the toilet,”I said, hopingthatwas enough of an explanation.

“Fuck,”Nash replied, his shoulders slumping.“Yep,thatwould do it,”he muttered to himself, confirming my suspicionthatNash knew why Fox had reacted in the way he did.

“Do you know where he might have gone?”Savannah said, taking thewords out of my mouth.

“Yeah, I know where he’ll be,”Nash replied after a few tense secondsof him chewing the inside of his cheek as he thought. He began to lower himself back into the driver’s seat .

I yanked my hand out of Savannah’s grasp, taking three big steps tothe car and tugging the handle of the passenger door open, determination streaking through me.“I want to come.”

“Cora, I’m not sure that’s a good idea-”Sav started, making mepause with one foot already in Nash’s car, but Nash interrupted her.

“Actually, sweetheart, I think she is exactly what Fox needs,”he said,looking past me to where his wife stood with her brows pulled together in concern. He moved his gaze to me.“Get in, Cora. Let’s go find your man.”

I stared out the window as Nash pulled off the main road, taking anarrow, winding road through towering treesthatcast long shadows across the manicured lawn on either side of the road.

When the trees opened up to reveal the beautiful grounds behindthem, my mouth dropped open in astonishment.

I’d never been to a cemetery before, but I’d never envisioned them tolook like the one Nash was driving us through.

The bright green, manicured lawn stretched as far as I could see. Neatly trimmed rose bushes lined the road we were driving on, and ahead was a quaint little building, the only giveawaythatit was a church was the white cross on the roof of a tall tower.

It was a beautiful home for a final resting place.

I swallowed nervously as I took in the rows of graves, most withmarble headstones in pristine condition, some older and weathered over the years. A chill ran down my spine. I didn’t believe in ghosts or the afterlife, but being this close to death made the hairs on the back of my neck prickle.

“Is this where Jessie is buried?”I asked, turning to Nash.

We’d barely spoken throughout the thirty-minute drive here. I’d beentoo worried about Fox to talk, somethingthatseemedto be reflected in Nash too.

“Yeah,”Nash replied, taking another turn which took us away from thegraves, and along a narrow gravel track with thick hedges on either side.“Has he told you anything about her?”

“Onlythatshe died when she was four. He said he’d tell me one day,but…”I shrugged, letting out a sigh.“I guess he wasn’t ready.”

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered on more than one occasionabout what happened to Jessie, but Fox never pushed me to talk about something until I was ready, so I wasn’t going to force him.

Nash pulled into a space in a small parking lot designed forno more than three of four cars. The only other car present was Fox’s. Relief washed through methatwe’d found him.

“He struggles to talk about it,”Nash said, killing the engine butkeeping his gaze on the hedge in front of us.“It took him a long time to open up and tell me what happened to Jessie. For years, I thought he’d always been an only child. In fact, I think I’m probably the only person he’s ever told.”

I didn’t know what to say so I kept my mouth shut. Nash shifted in hisseat to face me, a sorrowful expression on his face.“He had a lot of therapy to process what happened, but there are days when I know he still blames himself.”

He fell silent, his gaze trailing over my shoulder and fixing onsomething behind me. I reached out to place my hand on top of his, and it was atthatmomentthatI realizedjusthow much Nash and Fox meant to each other. If one of them was hurting, so was the other.

My touch made his eyes snap back to me, warmth seeping into them.

“You know, I always felt like Fox had a part of him missing. But sincehe met you, he’s different. Like he’s genuinely happy instead ofjustpretending to be happy.”He moved his hand out from under mine but instead of removing it completely, he took my hand in his.“You’re good for him, Cora. He’s finally found the other half of him.”

I grinned, my gaze locking on where Nash held my hand.“He’s goodfor me too.”

“Yeah.Justdon’t tell himthattoo often, his ego is big enough as it is,”Nash said, chuckling before turning serious again.“Behind you, there’s a paththatwill take you to Jessie’s grave.”

I looked over my shoulder to see where Nash had indicated, finding astone paththatdisappeared between two thick hedges.

“What if he doesn’t want me here?”I whispered, remembering howFox had told me to stay in the house.

Nash squeezed my hand, giving me a kind smile.“He does.Justbepatient with him.”

I swallowed down my anxiety. Fox had always been there for mewhen I needed him. Now it was my turn to be there for him.

Nerves thundered through me as I got out of the car and took thepath. Ahead of me, a clearing with the same manicured lawn came into view, and as the hedges fell away, my breath caught in my throat.

In the middle of the small clearingthatwas enclosed by the thickhedge was an immaculate grave all alone.

A grave small enough for a child.

The gravestone was beautiful, made out of white, gray, and blackmarble, with words in gold writing etched into it .

Jessie Fox

Born 05.05.2001 Died 06.11.2005

Forever in my heart,

Love, your big brother, Jesse xx

I read the words several times as birds chirped merrily around me,not a care in the world. Below the writing, lying at the foot of the gravestone was a bouquet of fresh blue roses. Glittering gemstones covered the top of the grave, catching the sun’s rays and making it appear like spots of sunlight were dancing. Around the edge of the grave, outlining the size were white marble stones.

“I should have known Nash would find me.”

My head whipped to the side. I hadn’t seen Fox sitting on a bench,one long leg crossed over the other. He didn’tseemupset anymore. In fact, he looked calm.

Serene.

“I can go if you want to be alone. Nash is waiting,”I said hesitantly.

Fox uncrossed his legs, standing to his full height and taking severalsteps to where I hovered in the gap between the hedges. He stopped in front of me, but he didn’t touch me, keeping a small gap between us.“No, I don’t want you to go, Cora. I never want you to go.”

A sad smile crossed his lipsthatmade me shuffle closer to him,wanting to show himthatI’d never go away. His eyes flicked from one of my arms to the other, before he reached up and slid a warm palm over the area where he grabbed me.“Did I hurt you?”

“No, Daddy,”I replied honestly, my gaze dropping to my arm wherehe was tentatively stroking my skin. The marks left by his fingers had long faded.Evenin his state of panic, he’d been aware to not hurt me.

“You promised me you wouldn’t go near the pool,”he said, betrayalheavy in his tone as he took his hand away, leaving me bereft of his touch.

“I’m sorry. I know I did, but Sav was only gone for a few minutes soshe could go to the toilet-”

“Sav was there?”Fox said, a frown creasing his brow.

“Yeah. Nash went to get ice cream. I guess it looked like they’dleft me on my own. I never would have gone anywhere near the pool otherwise. But I thought you wouldn’t mind because I was with Sav.”

He exhaled a heavy sigh, his body sagging as he squeezed his eyesclosed.“I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions,”he said, opening his eyes which were now filled with agony. “I’mjustso fucking scared of losing you, baby girl. After what happened at the party, I was already on edgethatyou were slipping through my fingers.”

I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his broad waist andresting my cheek against his chest.“I’m not going anywhere, Daddy.”

He kissed the top of my head, sighing again.“When I saw you sittingby the pool, I couldn’t think straight. All I saw in my head was your body floating in the water.”

I pulled back so I could see his handsome face.“Was…thatwhathappened to Jessie?”

His head turned to look at the grave beside us as I held my breath,waiting for him to answer.“Yeah, she drowned.”

My heart cracked at the sorrow in his voice.“How did it happen?”Iwhispered, hoping I wasn’t crossing a line by asking himthat.

His eyes met mine again, his jaw tensing. Nash’s words echoed in myhead.

Be patient .

Justwhen I thought Fox was going to close down, heunwrapped my arms from around his waist, but taking one hand, he led me over to the bench, pulling me into his lap.

He chewed his bottom lip, debating how to start his story.“I’ll neverforget the first time I met Jessie,”he started, affection heavy in his tone.“My mom brought her home from the hospital the day after she was born. She was swaddled in blankets and she looked so small. So innocent. I was only six, but I remember thinkingthatI was going to spend my life making sure no one hurt her. Least of all my dad. He was horrible to me, but I was going to make damn sure he couldn’t hurt her.”

My lips curled into a small smile. Fox had been a protectorevenas ayoung boy.

“But I didn’t need to worry about him hurting Jessie. He barelyacknowledged her existence.”

In any other world,thatwould have shocked me. How could a fatherdeny their daughter’s existence? But I knew how cruel parents could be, and arguably, being ignored by a parent wasn’t as bad as being at the end of their vile treatment.

“Why?”I asked, the question slipping from my mouth.

Fox sighed.“Thatwas something I used to wonder myself. Jessiewas a cute baby, and anevencuter kid. As she got older, she had me wrapped around her little finger.”He smiled fondly, but it soon slipped. “My mom had gone back to spending most of her time avoiding the house, and the nanny she’d hired to look after us was terrible. So I spent most of my time looking after Jessie. I was only a kid myself, but I did more for her than what my parents did combined.

“One night, when Jessie was three, I heard her crying. I went to settleher back to sleep and I heard my parents arguing. My dad was shouting all sorts of crap at my mom. I’d lost count of the number of times I’d seen him angry, butthatwas nothing compared to how mad he was at my momthatnight. Andthenhe shouted somethingthatmade my blood turn to ice.”

“What did he shout?”

“He said he’d known from the minute my mom told him she waspregnant with Jessiethathe wasn’t the father.Thatmy mom was a whore who’d slept with so many different menthatshe didn’t know who the real father was. Andthenhe saidthatno matter what, he’d never accept Jessie as his daughter, and there were times when he looked at her and wished she was dead.”

I gasped as I covered my mouth in disbelief. I knew my dad neverloved me, but he’d never wished me dead. A heavy weight settled in my stomach. Had Fox’s dad killed Jessie?

“Jessie died a week before my eleventh birthday,”Fox continuedbefore I could ask himthatquestion. His eyes had grown distant as he relivedthatday. I put my hands against his chest to let him knowthatI was with him,thathe wasn’t back there as the ten-year-old boy.“My mom had gone away for the weekend, and the nanny had called in sick. My dad had to stay home from work to look after us. Well, I say look after us. His version of babysitting was to shove us in the playroom with the TV on and leave us to it. But I didn’t mind. Jessie and I had each other, and if my dad was busy with work,thenhe wasn’t being mean to me.”

He leaned back against the bench, his pained gaze now fixed onJessie’s grave.“I’d had this bright idea to make a fort out of the furniture and some blankets, and we were playing a game. Jessie was the princess and I was a monster. She had to get from one side of the room to the safety of the fort without me catching her. If I caught her,thenI got to tickle her.”

“Sounds like a lot of fun,”I said, imagining two small children playingthe game .

“It was. A little too much fun as it turned out. Every time I caughtJessie, her squeals got louder. Every time they got louder, I tickled her for longer. It didn’t occur to methatwe might be making too much noise. Not until my dad barged in. He ripped Jessie out of my arms and went to hit her, but I got in between them. My dad, he was furious. He was so angrythatwhen he yelled, spittle flew from his mouth and landed on my cheek. It’s funny how I can still rememberthat.”

He fell silent as I reached up to stroke his cheek as if I could wipeaway the memory of the spit, a day’s worth of stubble brushing against my palm.

“What happened next?”I asked softly.

Fox swallowed, his throat bobbing.“My dad dragged me down to thebasement,”he said, only now there was raw pain in his voice. “I was used to being locked in there, but the nanny was usually at the house to make sure Jessie was okay.Thatday, I spent the entire time pacing the basement, worrying about Jessie and what my dad was doing to her.

“I was down there for about an hour when my dad let me out, tellingmethathe couldn’t look after Jessie and make all the calls he needed to make. He told me to take her up to my bedroom and to keep the noise down or we’d both be locked in the basement. When he went back to his office, I went to get Jessie, but I couldn’t find her. Our house was big, so it took me a few minutes to go to each room to see where she was, but when I couldn’t find her, I started panicking.”

My heart began to pound in my chest. Fox’s words were starting tocome out faster as he recalled what happened. I bit my lip to stop myself from saying anything, wanting to let him get everything out now he was on a roll.

“I didn’t want to disturb my dad, so I was calling her name but tryingto keep my voice down. Once I’d checked the house a second time, Ireally began to panic. AndthenI realized the door to the garden was open. I ran outside, and I saw her straight away.”

He broke off as tears gathered in the corner of his eyes. Seeing himhurting the way he was made my own eyes brim with tears.

“She was in the pool. Her little body face down on the surface withher brown hair floating around her. For a few seconds, I was rooted to the spot, frozen in terror. But I must have been screaming her name ‘cos my dad came storming out, furiousthatI was making noise again. When he saw what had happened, he jumped in and dragged Jessie over to the side. Somehow, I managed to snap out of my daze. I tried to help him lift her onto the side, but she was so heavy, her clothes were soaked through.

“When I saw her face, my legs buckled and I fell down next to her.Her lips were blue, and her eyes were closed. I thought I was going to puke at how pale her skin was. My dad started CPR, and I remember falling back onto my ass to watch him, but I knew she was gone.”

His voice broke, along with my heart, when he added,“I was too late.”