Throughout most of the drive back into the city, everyone is silent. Zoe is curled up in my lap, asleep I think, and I'm pretty much speechless. I can't believe what Kyle has done for the two of us.  

"So what are your plans now?" Kyle asks, his eyes on the road in front of him.  

"I don’t know. I was gonna take Zoe to Mexico and hide out for a while. But now—“ 

"Now you're not on the run. You don’t have to go anywhere, man." I can feel Kyle's head turn toward me and when I look over at him, he’s smiling. 

"That's true," I say smiling back. “Really, I can't thank you enough—“ 

"Hey, you already have. But you haven't answered my question. Do you have any plans? Business-wise and all that?" 

I furrow my brow and squint my eyes at Kyle. I have no idea where this conversation is headed. "Well, I’m gonna have to find a job. I’m guessing I'm no longer a partner in our company, after the whole felony embezzlement thing." 

Kyle laughs. “You can forget about all that. I am more than cool with you staying on. But the company doesn't look much like it did before you left." 

"What do you mean?"  "Well, Graham and I had to do some pretty fancy footwork to replace the money you stole. We didn't have enough to pay our bills or the employees or anything."  "Jesus, don't remind me. I feel like a total jackass."  "No, that's not why I'm telling you this. What I'm saying is, that whole sex reality show idea, it really panned out. Way better than we expected. We raked in more during that week than we would during a really good six months when we were doing consulting. I’ve been working on some ideas too. I want to make the next one even bigger, involving a lot more people and at a much better venue." He looks over at me again. "You interested?" 

"You're serious? You want me to come back to the firm, or whatever it is now? After everything? What's Graham gonna say?"  

"Dude, I seriously can't wait to see his face when I tell him. You've gotta be there with me. It's gonna be awesome." "Yeah, as long as he doesn't kill me first." 

"Don't worry; he doesn't even own a gun." "Oh, well, that's a relief,” I say with a laugh. “What about Zoe?" 

"If she's into it she can totally work with us. She would have won. I mean, co-won, along with Aubrey. You know that, don't you?" 

“So this Aubrey girl won the whole thing instead?”

“Yeah. The money and … well, you know.”

“Actually, I don’t. What did she win?”

"Oh, come on," Kyle said. "You're really gonna make me say it?" 

“Yes,” I say, nodding my head to add emphasis. “Look, I was pretty preoccupied with trying not to get killed during that whole thing. I didn’t read the contest rules in the fine print when I looked at the site.”

Kyle lifts his hands up off the steering wheel. “Okay! Well, the whole thing was so Graham and I could find some very compatible chicks. That was how the whole thing got started in the first place. Sort of like an audition. It just went in a bit of a different direction when we found out we needed some fast money. But the grand prize stayed the same.”

“So, the two of you? You were the prizes?”

“Well, when you say it like that it doesn’t sound as good as it does in my head,” Kyle says with a big smile. “But yeah. Anyway, that’s not the point. What I’m saying is Zoe is good. She was really popular with the viewers. So whatever she wants to contribute is fine with me.”

“So she would have won you? Is that what you’re saying?” 

Kyle actually turns red at this point. I’ve never seen him squirm like this before and I almost start laughing.

“Hey! I didn’t even know who she was at the time. But, yeah, that’s what her prize would have been. Are you pissed?”

Part of me wants to keep him sweating, but I know it’s mean, especially after everything he’s done for me today.

"Nah, I’m not mad. You know that’s not why I made her quit. I was just afraid that Bellini asshole would see her and figure out how to find her."  "That's the whole reason?" Kyle asks. I don't say anything for a moment. I get the feeling he knows something he’s not telling me.  

"No, it's not the whole reason.” 

"Does Zoe know how you feel?" he asks, lowering his voice and glancing down at her where she’s still curled up against my chest. 

I pause for a long moment, looking down and making sure her eyes are still closed. "I don't know," I say in a low voice. "I've pretty much gone out of my way to make sure no one knew. I mean it's a little messed up. She's my goddaughter. She’s been my responsibly for a long time. You’re not supposed to fall in love with someone you’re taking care of.”

“I don’t think there’s any rules for this sort of thing, dude.” Kyle drives in silence for a while. "I think you should tell her."  

* * *

Kyle takes us to the hotel and we get our stuff together. Luckily, they left our room the way it was, even though we were only booked through that morning. I go to the office and pay for the extra time, then Kyle takes us back to my place.

Throughout this last month, with all the hotel-hopping I did, I honestly didn’t think I’d ever see my house again. I wasn’t even sure when or if I’d be able to come back to the country with those goons looking for me and Zoe. But now, thanks to Kyle, all that stress and pressure is gone.

"Look, Kyle, I don't know how long it's going to take me, but I’m going to pay you back." 

"Just come work with us again. I'll find plenty of jobs for you to do." 

"So we're in the sex industry now? No more advertising or web design?" 

"Oh, there's still plenty of that. Just in a different demographic. I think you'll get the hang of it really fast.” 

I shake Kyle’s hand and he pulls me in for a hug. Then when he steps back, Zoe runs up and throws her arms around his neck.

"Thank you for everything, Kyle," she says. "You're an amazing person." 

"Hey, just doing what I can to make the world a better place.”  

“You cornball,” I say, then slap him on the back. Kyle turns and gets in his Lamborghini, then waves before taking off down the street.  

"Let's go inside. I'll order some food,” I say as I unlock the door and grab my bags. "Good, I'm starving.”

Zoe walks into the living room and throws her bag on the floor next to the couch. "Everything I own is nasty.” Then she looks up at me like she’s expecting me to say something. “I feel really gross too. I'm gonna take a shower." 

I glance at her, then down at the floor. I still don’t know how to tell her how I feel, so I just skirt the subject once again. "Sure, you know where the bathroom is. We can eat when you get out.”  

Now that Zoe and I are alone I can barely look at her. I don’t understand what’s wrong with me. I’m never like this. Not with other women or clients or anyone. This isn't me at all, but suddenly I'm terrified.

This is the most confusing and bizarre relationship I've ever had. I wish we could skip over the fact that I’ve practically been a father to her for the last few years and I could hold her in my arms again. But I can’t figure out how to get myself from one to the other.  

I hear Zoe turn on the guest shower and decide to take one myself. I haven't shaved or anything in a couple days and I feel like if I get myself cleaned up, then maybe my ability to act like a man who knows what he wants will come back to me. 

I head into the master bedroom and turn on the shower in there, then step in under the hot stream. I close my eyes and let the water run down my head and face and body and try to wash away all the horror from the last month.

I've literally been in a state of panic ever since I took the money out of the company bank accounts and tried, but failed, to pay Griff’s debt off. In a matter of days, I'd turned into a paranoid, anxious, angry person and started behaving more like a cornered animal that a human being. I really thought my life was over and the only thing that made sense to me was doing everything in my power to keep Zoe safe.

Now that it’s all over, I’m so relieved I can barely keep myself upright. I lean against the tile wall and take deep breaths and thank the universe that I’m finally back home.

But as I stand there, almost falling asleep against the shower wall, I hear Zoe’s voice.

"Evan?" It’s low and sexy, and it fills me with a surge of longing. For a minute, I think maybe I’d nodded off and Zoe’s voice was a dream. But then I hear the shower door click and she's standing in front of me, naked and wet from her own shower. "Can I come in?" 

I don't know what to say to her. I’m still terrified of what I’m feeling for her, but what I want more than anything in the world is to hold her in my arms. “Yes,” I say. I can feel a smile curling up on one side of my mouth and it quickly spreads across my whole face. I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy in my life.

Then the second she steps into the shower and her body is pressed up against mine, everything I've ever wanted and ever been comes rushing back. I grip her hard and push her up against the stone tile wall of the shower, pressing myself against her soft flesh.  

I look down into Zoe's eyes and when I see the way she looks up at me, so in awe of the passion that is pouring out of me, I know that there's nothing in the world that can stop me now; nothing that can come between me and this perfect angel that I've been in love with for I don't even know how long.  

I lower my lips to hers, and even through the steam-filled air, I can feel the heat of her breath on me.  

I lower my face a bit, and let that moment just before our lips touch wash over me. I close my eyes before I let it happen, and when they do meet, it's like nothing I've ever experienced before in my life. The intensity that builds inside me is matched by the way Zoe pulls me into her. She wraps her hands around my head and almost devours me.  

"Oh God, Evan," she gasps when I move my lips down her jaw and to her neck. "I was so scared. I thought you didn't want me anywhere near you." 

I pull back and look down into Zoe's beautiful eyes. "I want you with me, Zoe. I always have. I want to protect you and take care of you, but I thought …" 

"What," she asks, holding my face in her hands. 

"I thought there was no way I could go from being your guardian to being more. I didn’t think it was fair of me to ask that from you. I was afraid to tell you how I felt because I was convinced you needed a father figure more than anything, and it was selfish of me to want you all to myself.” 

"I've always wanted to be with you, Evan. Always. This is like every fantasy I've ever had, and they’re all coming true. You have no idea." 

I kiss Zoe again, pressing my cock into her stomach while she wraps one of her legs around my thigh. With my tongue still deep inside her, I pick her up and hold her firmly against the wall. I want nothing more than to enter her and finally claim her, but more than that, I want to hear her come while my face is between her legs.

After that, I’m going to slide myself inside her and fill her up like she’s never been filled in her life.