CHAPTER FIVE

That night while Chloe got ready for bed, Derek went up top and looked around; just making sure that all looked well. He didn’t see anyone or anything out of the ordinary, but he really did trust Chloe’s instincts. After he made sure that everything was secure, he made a phone call to his Dad. It was late, but he was sure his father would still be up. Kevin rarely went to bed before midnight. He was a workaholic and he was very dedicated to his clients when he took a case.

Kevin answered on the first ring, “Hello son, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, Dad. Things are good. Sorry to call so late.”

“Ahh, you know I was up…working. What’s going on?”

“I didn’t want you to worry and also I wanted to let you know that you can give the security guys the weekend off. Chloe and I are going to stay in New York with the Whitemore’s for the weekend.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I hope you and Chloe have a great weekend, son.”

“Thanks, Dad, I hope yours is the same. There’s more.”

His dad chuckled and said, “I thought there might be.”

“You know that Sarah had a twin…”

“Yes, of course. The baby died at birth, right?”

“That’s the story. The thing is that after I met Chloe, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to her looking exactly like Sarah than coincidence. Chloe had a hard time coming around to it at first, but she agrees. I’ve done a lot of investigating on my own and I’ve found out there was some baby dealing going on twenty-four years ago. The doctor who delivered them was never formally charged, but he was let go and there seems to be a lot of circumstantial evidence anyways. Chloe and I shared all of this with Trevor and Samantha. Of course, they have big hopes. They were practically ready to accept her with open arms at that point, but Chloe wanted to take a DNA test, so she did.”

“Wow…this is incredible news. So what did the DNA test show?”

“We will find that out this weekend,” Derek told him.

“My god,” he said. “Well, my thoughts will be with all of you. I know you have strong feelings for Chloe, but I get your need to protect her even more now. Just let me know if the two of you or the Whitemore’s need anything.”

“I will Dad and thank you so much for all you’ve done for us.”

“Anything you need, son.”

Derek hung up after saying goodnight to his father and went downstairs. He found Chloe already curled up in the bed. She had her eyes closed so before he slipped in next to her he made sure to announce himself.

“Hey babe, it’s me.” He saw her lips curl and without opening her eyes she said,

“Were you afraid that I was going to kick your ass again?”

“Hell yes,” he said with a laugh as he slid in next to her.

She was on her side, so he snuggled in close and pulled her back up against him. He kissed the side of her face and they lay there like that in each other’s arms. Derek wondered if she was worried about the DNA test or if she was looking forward to finally knowing for sure. He wanted to ask her, but at the same time, he didn’t want to upset her.

He was just drifting off when she said in a quiet voice, “Will it change the way you feel about me if it turns out that I’m not Sarah’s twin sister?”

Derek pushed himself up off the bed and used the arm around her to roll her towards him. Looking down at her beautiful face he said, “Not even a little bit.”

He put his hand on her face and looked into her pretty brown eyes and realized he saw doubt there. He was suddenly angry with himself for not making sure that she was convinced that he was not with her because she looked like Sarah.

“Chloe, the feelings I have for you are completely separate from those I had and still have for Sarah. I know that’s hard to understand and probably even hard to believe since I sought you out because of your resemblance. At first, it was curiosity and then it was infatuation…and then I got to know you. Do you know that you are one of the strongest women I have ever known?”

“You’re just saying that because I kicked your ass,” she said with a giggle.

“Well, of course, that’s part of it,” he said with a laugh. Turning back serious he said, “You have survived every bad thing that has ever happened to you, but you’ve done so much more than that as well. You’ve held onto your own belief system and your own values. You held onto your hopes and dreams for the future. You’ve taken care of yourself and at the same time, you’ve done everything you could possibly do to better yourself. Of course, I find you beautiful, I’d have to be blind or a complete idiot not to…but that is such an incredibly small part of why I’m crazy about you. I’m drawn to you, not because of your startling resemblance to my late wife, but because you have the most amazing spirit that I’ve ever been privileged to have a glimpse of. I’m in awe of you, Chloe…literally.”

Without saying a word, Chloe brought her lips up to his. The electricity between them was so hot that sparks practically flew from their skin. Derek just watched her. Everything with her was intense. She says she’s not adventurous, but she’s wrong he thought. Being with her is like sucking every second that we can get out of life whether we’re enjoying each other’s bodies or traipsing hand in hand around the zoo. She took a man who was somewhat broken for the loss of his wife and the guilt from that and she restored the life that had bled out of him. Not because she looked like Sarah but because she was Chloe. His hand slid up from her waist, over her ribs, and stopped just beside her breast. She moaned and arched my back in an attempt to get him closer, but his hand stayed put.

Derek felt her soft hand slide up and her fingers gently touched along the edges of his ribs. He moaned against her mouth and she said, “Oh no! Did I hurt you?”

“No, that was a different kind of moan,” he said. Derek covered her mouth again with his and let his hands begin to travel her sumptuous body. Once again, she had brought him to the edge of her restraint.

**

Jesse waited until Derek went back inside and he saw the lights go off on the yacht before he left the marina. He had a bad taste in his mouth. He was going to buy a bottle of Jim Beam on his way back to the flea bag motel he was staying in and see if he could quell it. He knew that Derek Stark was in there right now fucking that pathetic bitch. He was so tempted to just light the fucking boat on fire and let them both burn. But that would be too easy.

He wanted that slut to know she was going to die before it happened. He wanted her to suffer. He wanted to savor her last breath as he took it away from her and watched her eyes as the realization set in. Stark was not relevant to him. If he got his way, he would kill him. His life was inconsequential as far as Jesse was concerned. Kelly, on the other hand,— her life was his and the cunt would know that as she drew her last breath. He had watched her tonight, standing on the deck with a glass of wine in her hand, looking like the cunt that she was in one of Stark’s shirts. It was like she was flaunting it. It had been so hard for him not to take her tonight. He didn’t want to be hasty though. He needed to plan this carefully. He wasn’t going to get caught. They would never find the bitch’s body and once she was gone, he would finish off the other one too, that Chantelle bitch that should have just died the first time. Next time he would take his knife and slit her throat so deep that there would be no question about whether or not she was still breathing. Then there would be nothing to charge him with and he could go on with his life. The world would be a better place without tramps like that in it. He just had to be patient. He had to do it right.

Jesse stopped at a liquor store. He was driving a piece of shit Nova that he’d bought off of some farm worker with the money his mother sent him. It was non-descript and that was what he was looking for. He went inside and bought his bottle. On the way back to his car he caught sight of a whore standing on the corner. She was dressed in a barely-there mini-skirt and six inch heels. The faux fur coat she wore was matted and looked like it had come from road kill. But what struck Jesse about her was the dirty blonde hair and the way she twirled it around her finger. Kelly used to do that. She’d been doing it that first day at the campus coffee shop when he’d met her.

He stopped at the car and put the bottle away and started across the parking lot. Acute and used to looking over her shoulder, the whore turned around and looked at him when he was about three feet away. She had big, dark brown eyes. She was practically emaciated, probably from drugs or just life on the streets. She wasn’t curvy and muscular the way that bitch on the deck had been tonight. He liked his women thin and petite. Kelly knew that. Her new body was another slap in his face. It was another thing he would make her sorry about as he made her pay for ruining his life. The whore looked him over, sizing him up and licking her lips when she finished.

“Hi, baby. Are you looking to party?”

He was so tempted. His balls were aching and turning blue it had been so long since he’d gotten any. But he had to be careful. If he got arrested for soliciting he’d be screwed. If he killed the bitch, he’d have to spend all that time and energy getting rid of her. There was too much to lose. He would have to wait until his job was finished. He turned back around and left the whore to call after him. He got into the Nova and headed back to his motel, leaving temptation in the rear view mirror for now.