Exposed - Part Three (The Exposed Series, #3) Read online

  "Sadie, stop this," he pleads. "Come to my place. Let me explain."

  "You've got to be kidding." I'm startled by his bold suggestion. Does he not understand that I'm never going back there? "We're done," I state boldly. "Done."

  "No." He's shaking his head wildly back and forth. "Don't say that."

  "You are marrying someone else," I scream. "You're engaged to her and you fucked me. That's disgusting."

  "I don't want to marry her." His hands are trembling. "I want to be with you."

  "You're unbelievable." I take a step back to gain distance. I can't listen to him telling me he wants to be with me. He doesn't mean it. He can't mean it. She's wearing his ring.

  "Please," he begs. "Give me an hour to explain. One hour."

  "No." I turn to walk away. "You're a liar. I don't want to hear it."

  "I can't lose you." I hear him calling after me as I run through the parking lot towards the street. Once I'm certain he can't see me, I crumble to the grass and let out a deep, guttural cry.

  ***

  "I want to go visit Dylan." I try to sound convincing. I doubt my father is going to buy into this. He knows that whenever my older brother and I are in the same room, the air is filled with tension and resentment.

  "Since when?" He drops the newspaper he's reading so his eyes are peering over it. "Maria, get me another coffee, please."

  Maria throws me a sympathetic look. After running my speech about how much I missed Dylan past her in the kitchen a few minutes ago, she warned me that my father would have more doubts about my sincerity than she did.

  "I thought it would be good to go see him before school starts again." I sit across the table from him hoping he'll just agree so I can go upstairs to pack.

  "What are you running away from?" He places the paper on the table, pulls off his reading glasses and stares directly at me.

  "Nothing," I spit back a bit too eagerly.

  "Last week you and your friend hopped a train to New York." There's no discernable emotion in his voice.

  "You make it sound like we stowed away on a freight train." I laugh awkwardly. "We wanted to go explore the city."

  "No." He leans forward and lowers his voice. "You wanted to go see a man."

  "It doesn't matter anymore," I say fiercely. I refuse to tell my father about what happened. I don't want to confess that I was sleeping with a man who was engaged to someone else. I still have to broach the subject of my parent's meeting Coral's mom.

  "It does." His tone is insistent. I'm regretting ever bringing up the subject of running off to see my brother.

  "It's over, dad." I stand to leave the room. "It's not worth talking about."

  "You were seeing Zander Reynolds, weren't you?"

  I fall back into my chair. How did my father know that? How does he know his name? "How?" I manage to whisper.

  "I warned him to stay away from you." He slams his clenched fist into the table. "I told him there would be hell to pay if he went anywhere near you."

  I shake my head hoping to escape the horror of the moment. My father knows Hunter? He's spoken to him?

  "You know him?" I suck in a trembling breath. This can't be real. We can't be having this conversation.

  "He's been trying to talk to you for years. Years, Sadie." He bolts from his chair and walks towards me. "He wanted to use you to relieve him of all the guilt he felt over her death."

  "Wait," I bark at him. "You knew about Coral. You lied." I stand and point my finger directly at him. "I asked how much you knew about my donor and you lied."

  "It was better that way." His tone is dismissive and terse. "You're too emotional for your own good."

  The words bite. He's lied too. Every day since I got Coral's heart has been filled with lies.

  Chapter 5

  "Hunter," I whisper his name as he steps over the threshold into his apartment.

  He jumps at the sound and the overnight bag in his hand falls to the floor with a dull, empty thud. He stares at me as if he's trying to register what I'm doing in his home.

  "I used this." I point to the key I placed on top of the piano. "I wanted to return it and talk to you."

  "How long have you been here?" He slides his suit jacket off.

  "I'm not sure." I shrug my shoulders. "Hours, I guess."

  "I'm sorry I wasn't here." He moves towards me. "I should have been here."

  "Don't be silly," I say as I walk to the bank of windows so I can distance myself from him. "You have a life in New York." I know the words will sting but I don't care. He can't grasp all the pain he's caused me.

  He pulls in a heavy sigh and sits on the piano bench facing me. "I deserve that."

  "I deserve the truth," I counter. "I don't expect it from you. I really don't but there is something I need to understand."

  "What's that?" He rests his elbows on his knees as he cradles his face in his hands. "Whatever it is, I'll help you understand."

  "When did you meet my father?" My voice cracks even though I rehearsed the question countless times before he arrived.

  His head shoots up and his eyes catch mine. I can see the shock in them but it's still only a fraction of what I felt when I was hit with the realization that he was marrying Coral's sister.

  "How do you know about that?" He clears his throat. "Who told you I know him?"

  "It's the reason you didn't come to dinner that night, isn't it?" I toss the words carelessly at him. Ever since my father said Hunter's name I've been replaying that night in my mind. It's no wonder he backed out at the last minute. How could he have come to that restaurant and faced my father after he was warned to stay away from me?

  He nods. "I couldn't. He hates me."

  "I can't believe you know each other." I reach to the edge of the piano to steady my balance. "You're both such good liars."

  "Stop that," he hisses. "You haven't let me explain. Don't put me in the same category as your father before you know my side."

  "Your side?" I glare at him. "What's your side? That you somehow forgot to tell me that you were getting married? That you actually own the restaurants you pretend to be helping with? Clive said you were an asshole and I have to agree with him."

  "What?" He pulls the word through his clenched teeth. "When did you talk to Clive?"

  "That's none of your business." I exhale harshly. "Who I talk to about you or anything else is no longer your business."

  "He hates me," he snaps back. "They all hate me."

  "Hardly," I laugh as I reach for my purse on the piano. "You're marrying one of them."

  "You're not leaving until we settle this." He jumps to his feet and steals my purse from my grasp.

  I cross my arms across my chest. "Hunter, I don't want to settle anything. You're a liar and a cheat. That's all I need to know."

  "I am an asshole. Clive was right about that," he says in a rush. "I'm an asshole for letting things with Christina get as far as they have."

  "You mean asking her to marry you?" I almost laugh at the audacity of the words. "You realize you're not making any sense, right?"

  "It's complicated, Sadie." His jaw tightens. "I don't love her."

  My heart jumps at his announcement but any joy is brief and fleeting. He's marrying her. I saw the ring. I saw her rush into his arms. I was at their engagement party.

  "Then end it," I push back.

  "I can't." His shoulders tense and he heaves his head forward. "I can't."

  "Then we have nothing left to say to each other." I pull my purse from his grasp and march towards the door.

  "I love you, not her," he says as I put my hand on the doorknob. "Only you, Sadie."

  I shake my head as I step through and listen to the door slam closed behind me.

  Chapter 6

  "He told you he loved you?" The giddiness in Alexa's voice is both misplaced and unnerving.

  I pull both my eyebrows up in mock surprise. "This isn't a cause for celebration."

  "Why not?" She genuinely
seems shocked.

  "He's marrying someone else." I lean forward as if my stance is going to help her to absorb the words. "Did you forget that part?"

  "He won't marry her if he's in love with you." She turns to refill a napkin holder. "He's going to end it with her, rush in here and sweep you off your feet."

  "If we were part of a scripted reality show that would happen." I smooth my hands over my apron. "He said he couldn’t end the engagement."

  "He actually said that to you?" She turns so quickly that she knocks the napkin holder onto the floor.

  I wait for her to bend down to retrieve it but she stands stoically staring at me. I sigh before I kneel to pick up the holder and all the wayward napkins that are now strewn everywhere. "He said it."

  "Leave that alone." I feel her grab the top of my apron trying to pull me to my feet. "This is an emergency."

  "What is?" I glance up at her. "That Hunter is a cheating bastard who has no intention of leaving her for me? How can you be surprised by that?"

  "Stand up," she barks. "Now, Sadie."

  I pull as many of the napkins into my hands as I can. "Why are we debating this?" I stand and look directly at her. "Why bother?"

  "You think he's not breaking up with her because she's better than you." It's a statement, not a question and it irks me.

  I train my gaze over her head. I can't look her in the eyes when I respond or she'll see right through my thinly veiled attempt to be strong. "He's marrying her. That's what he said. End of discussion."

  "Why did he say he loved you then?" I hear the irritation in her tone. I know she wants me to fight for him but what is there to fight for? A man who repeatedly lied to me? A man who apparently thought it was okay to fuck me while he was planning a wedding with someone else?

  "I don't care, Alexa." I turn to straighten the napkins on the counter. "I have to forget about him. I have to."

  She wraps her arm around my waist, pulling me into a tight embrace. "You can't. You love him too."

  ***

  "I'm going to meet the mother of my heart donor tomorrow." I throw the words out casually as if I'm announcing that I have an appointment to get a manicure.

  Both my mother and Maria turn in unison. "You're going to what?" My mother drops the apple she's been peeling onto the counter. It starts to roll before Maria scoops it up in her hand.

  "I'm going to have dinner with Coral's mother," I say the words proudly.

  "Coral?" she asks tightly. "Who is that?"

  "It's the name of my heart donor." I tap my foot in frustration. "Please don't act like you don't know her name."

  "Don't take that tone with me." She drops the paring knife she's holding onto a plate. "I don't know her name. I've never known her name."

  Her reply jars me. How could she have not known? My father knew who Coral was. He even knew Hunter.

  "Dad knew," I spit back. "You're telling me you had no clue."

  "Your father knew?" she asks, her voice trembling slightly.

  "Yes." I don't move from my spot near the kitchen's entrance. "He knew all about Coral and how she died."

  "For how long?" She pulls her hands into her lap to hide the fact that they're shaking.

  "I don't know." I suddenly feel a pang of guilt for throwing this at her in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon. I thought she knew. I thought she and my father had agreed to hide the truth from me.

  She bows her head towards her lap. "Why didn't he tell me?" she mumbles in barely more than a whisper.

  "Do you want to come with me?" I know the timing is horrific. She just found out that my father had knowledge of my heart donor and now I'm asking her to face the mother of that woman in a little more than thirty-six hours.

  Her eyes dart up and lock with mine. I see a faint hint of sadness wash over them. "I can't. I can't, Sadie."

  Chapter 7

  "I'm so glad you came, Sadie." Christina greets me as I walk through the door of Axel NY. When I spoke to Clive on the phone and he suggested the restaurant as the destination for my dinner with his mother and sister, I almost hung up on him. Finding the strength to board the train and travel back to Manhattan, and this place in particular, wasn't an easy task.

  I don't look at her. I can't. This is the woman who is going to marry Hunter. She's going to have a life with him. All I had were a few fleeting weeks when I believed he could actually be my destiny.

  "My mother is over there." She points to a small table tucked away in a corner near the back of the room. "She's so excited."

  I nod silently as I follow Christina across the crowded space. I breathe a small sigh of relief when I realize that the table is only set for three. Hunter won't be here.

  "You were never properly introduced." Christina stops as we near the table. "This is my mother, Faye Parker."

  The petite woman stands and reaches to embrace me. I pull her into my chest knowing that this is just the first moment in an evening that is going to be filled with deep and difficult emotions.

  As she pulls back I'm instantly aware that she's staring at my chest. I chose a black dress that completely covers my scar for tonight. I didn't want the constant reminder of her daughter's heart to overshadow our time together.

  "Do you always cover it up?" She motions to my chest.

  I'm staggered by the boldness of her question. "Normally, yes."

  "Are you ashamed of it?" She sits next to Christina.

  I lower myself into a chair opposite them. "Not at all." I know my voice is trembling. I had imagined the evening in my mind all afternoon as I rode the train into the city. This particular scenario, of Coral's mother launching, without any small talk, into a conversation about her daughter's heart, wasn't what I anticipated at all.

  "You're a very lucky young lady." She takes a heavy swallow from a glass of red wine. "If it wasn't for us you'd be dead."

  I cringe at her words. How dare she? How does she expect me to respond to that? For a brief moment I wish I had asked Alexa to come with me. "Excuse me?" I ask hoping that by some small and unexpected miracle I misheard her cold and insensitive words.

  "If my Coral hadn't died that night, you wouldn't have made it." The words spill out of her with very little discernable emotion.

  I move my gaze from her face to Christina's and I'm instantly struck by how gleeful she looks. She's nodding in agreement. I feel as though I've stepped into a lion's den and I'm their bait.

  "I would have stayed on the donor list until another heart was available," I whisper.

  "Your dad said you were on the list for months."

  Christina's mention of my father so casually bites into me. I silently wonder how long he's been in contact with them. He knew I was meeting them tonight, why didn't he warn me they were vultures who would instantly be circling my heart?

  "I was sick for a long time," I offer. I feel vulnerable and exposed. Sharing details of my illness with them feels like too much. It's obvious, by the first five minutes of our time together, that who I am matters little to them. It's Coral's heart to them.

  "Now you're fine because of my daughter." Faye empties her wine glass in one quick gulp and I watch silently as Christina reaches over to refill it without any prompt.

  "I'm very grateful." I try to sit up straighter.

  "You should be," Christina spits back. "If Zander hadn't killed her, you'd be the one in the ground."

  The words are so bitter. I don't respond. I stare into her face. He's marrying her. He's choosing her over me. This spiteful, mean woman is going to walk down the aisle and he's going to promise to love her forever.

  "I'm sorry I'm late." As if on cue, I feel his hand lightly brush my shoulder as his voice greets me from behind.

  "That’s typical for you, Zander," Christina snaps. "Sit down. We were just getting started."

  Chapter 8

  "What did I miss?" He lowers himself into the chair next to me. I watch Christina's face as he sits. They don't acknowledge one another at all.

&
nbsp; "We were just telling her how grateful she should be to us." Faye motions for a waiter. "You took so long to get here, Zander. I think my blood sugar is dropping. We need to order."

  I clench my fist on my lap at her mention of my need to be grateful yet again.

  "Sadie is very grateful," he offers as he reaches to fill both of our glasses with wine. "We've talked about Coral a lot."

  "Why didn't you tell me that you found her?" Christina hisses in a hushed tone as her gaze is locked on him. "How long ago did you talk to her?"

  "Not long." He nods at the waiter as he finally approaches.

  I order and sit in stunned silence watching the three of them casually order their dinners. I can smell Hunter's cologne. The table is tucked into such a small, cramped space that his leg is pressed against mine. I know I should pull it away but it's offering me comfort and a sense of stability right now. As much as I know that Hunter has lied to me, the cruelty that these two women have exhibited is disorienting me to the point that I'm unsure whether I can even make it through dinner.

  "When Zander?" Christina asks as soon as the waiter takes his leave.

  "When what?" He swallows half of the wine in his glass in one swift movement. I stare at his hand as he lowers the glass to the table. That hand. It's the hand that cradled my face, and held mine and brought me so much pleasure.

  "When did you find her?" She enunciates each word in between clenched teeth.

  "Recently," he offers. "How was the train? Did you get in on time?" He shifts his entire body so he's facing me directly.

  I look into his eyes knowing that if I don't temper what I'm feeling for him, both of these women are going to realize that there's more to Hunter and my friendship than a shared interest in Coral's heart.

  "Zander." Christina exhales loudly. "Don't ignore me. Answer the question."

  "I did." He loosens his tie, never once shifting his gaze from my face. "Did you travel alone or is Alexa in Manhattan too?"

  "Who the fuck is Alexa?" Christina slaps her hand against the table. "Stop talking to her. I'm sitting right here."