Society Girls: Waverly (11 page)

“TMI Matisse,” I tell her, but she just shrugs as I follow her out the door.

K
nox

“I think I’m going to pass on dinner, but thanks for the invite,” I tell Kendrick. I don’t think I could handle seeing Waverly enjoy her friends while ignoring me. Even if I deserve it.

“Please,” the woman in question says, walking down the stairs in a dress guaranteed to make men’s hearts stop. Mine stops and starts back up again, because she wants me there with her. “We want to take everyone somewhere special.”

Everyone. Of course. She just wants us all there. My pride is mortally wounded, so I strike out. “I didn’t sleep last night, and I have training in the morning. Maybe another time.”

She runs down the last few stairs, and comes to stand in front of me. “I’m sorry. I know you’re tired, but you have to eat. Come out with us.”

“If he doesn’t want to go with us, we’re not going to force him, Wave,” Kendrick says, and I can feel his glare even though I haven’t taken my eyes from the woman in front of me.

“Stay out of it, Doc,” Matisse tells him. “It’s time to let your little girl use her wings and fly.”

“I’ll go,” I say, because we only have a few nights left, and I’m interested to see where they want to take us. It has nothing to do with Waverly looking at me like she’s breaking. Nothing at all.

I dress quickly in a button-down shirt, and dress pants, and meet them all outside in the driveway. They’re trying to figure out the driving situation, so I make it easy on them. “I can drive Cohen, and the rest of you should fit in your Range Rover.”

“I thought you’d want to ride with Waverly,” my friend, the traitor, says.

“She hasn’t seen her friends in weeks. They should catch up.”

“I’d like to ride with you. I’ll sit in the backseat,” Waverly says.

She probably just wants to tell me it’s over. I already know that, so what’s the harm in letting her say what she needs to say?

“Whatever,” I say with a shrug.

She looks like she’s going to cry, and it cracks my heart in two. Why is she looking at me like that when I caused her pain? She made it clear she didn’t want me around her, but she’s upset because I didn’t want to ride with her? I don’t know what to think anymore.

I get in the car, and wait for her and Cohen to do the same. I know he’ll open her door for her, so I don’t feel bad about getting in first. Sure enough, I hear the back door open and close, but the front one doesn’t open. What the hell is he doing out there? It’s not until I hear the other car leave that I look around and don’t see him.

“He went with them,” Waverly says from the backseat. I meet her eyes in the rearview mirror and see the tears she’s still trying to hold back.

“Fuck,” I say, slamming my hand onto the wheel.

“I’ll get out. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Knox.”

I get out before she can, open her door, and then hold the passenger door open for her. “You can sit up front.”

“Are you sure?”

No, I’m not sure about anything right now. “Yeah.”

She gets in the front, and so do I. She tells me the name of the restaurant we’re going to, and I plug it into my GPS. Once we’re on the road, she speaks again.

“Can we talk tonight when we get back? On the daybed, maybe?”

“Do we have anything to talk about?”

“I want to tell you everything about my past if you’re willing to listen.”

I hit the wheel again, and she flinches. “I know it’s my fault, okay? If it wasn’t for me, your…that woman…she wouldn’t have known you were here. She wouldn’t have tried to ambush you.”

“You think it’s your fault?” she asks, reaching out to touch my knee.

“It
is
my fault. Isa found out she saw pictures of us, and recognized you somehow. Maybe you look like she did when she was younger. I don’t know, but that’s how she knew. She invited me to the gala on purpose.”

“I look like a combination of both my parents, and I’m glad she found me. I never thought I’d get to tell her how I feel about what she did, and how much it hurt me. Now she knows.”

“You don’t blame me?” I ask, when we pull into a parking spot close to the restaurant.

“Not at all, Knox.”

“You pushed me away.”

“Because I was ashamed of my past. I didn’t think you could want someone like me.”

“And I didn’t think you wanted me because I took you there where you saw her.”

“I think we were both wrong.”

“Thank God. I want to kiss you. Can I kiss you?”

“If you don’t, I might not make it through dinner without climbing on your lap.”

“As much as I’d love that, I have a feeling Kendrick wouldn’t.”

“He’s protected me for most of my life, but he wants me to be happy. You make me happy, Knox.”

I kiss her then, giving her all my fears, along with all of my love. She kisses me back just as fiercely, and we’re both breathing hard when we finally break apart. “I can’t wait to peel you out of this dress later.”

“I was hoping you’d like it.”

“Like? That word doesn’t even come close to what I feel about this sinful thing. Every man in that restaurant is going to be wishing he was me.”

“So you think I’ll have some options, then?” I ask as he helps me out of the car.

“No. You’re looking at the only option for you.”

“Lucky me.”

I kiss her again, because how can I not. When some guys walking by whistle, she buries her face in my chest as we both laugh. “We better get inside.”

“I suppose,” she says, taking the hand I offer her.

As we walk up to Gold, the restaurant we’re eating at, I notice the mannequins wearing traditional African outfits. “We’re having African food?”

“We are indeed.”

“Cool.” I’ve liked all the seafood we’ve been eating, but we haven’t gone too far off the Western path as far as food is concerned. Walking inside, we’re met by a hostess who leads us to where everyone else is already waiting.

“Looks like you two made up,” Cohen says.

“We had a misunderstanding or two, but we’re good,” I tell him, sending him a look that lets him know to drop it.

Before anyone else can comment, we’re led to a drum circle. Waverly speaks to the woman in Afrikaans, and then nods to me and Cohen. Kendrick says something, and Isa laughs, shaking her head, and telling them something else. The woman nods, and gestures for Cohen, Matisse and I to step forward.

Once we’re close, she motions to the extra drums. I’m not musical at all, but when I look to Waverly, and she smiles, I sit my ass down on the little stool. If I can swim in the Olympics, I can sure as hell beat on some drums to please my girlfriend.

After the three of use make utter fools of ourselves, which was documented by the other three to their extreme enjoyment, we go into a courtyard and perform a ceremonial hand washing. We’re then led to our table, which is covered in vibrant cups and plates. The chairs are draped in traditional African fabrics, and I’m already in love with this place before a singer comes over and blows my mind.

“Wow,” Cohen says out loud, echoing my thoughts.

“Seriously. This is so cool. And who knew Isa could speak Afrikaans?” I ask.

“Waverly and I did,” Kendrick tells me.

“I speak almost as many languages as Reina,” Isa says with a smile.

“She’s a certified genius,” Matisse adds. “Like, really, there’s a certificate and everything.”

“Well, I’m impressed. With all of this so far. But, are we going to get menus?”

“No. We will be having a 14-course meal filled with food from different African countries,” Waverly tells me. “While we eat, there will be singing and dancing, too.”

“How am I ever supposed to top this date?” I ask, only half-joking.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she tells me with a wink.

“And there we go,” Matisse says with a smirk.

I don’t get what she means until Kendrick speaks. “Something you forgot to tell me, Wave?”

“Nothing at all, Ken,” she replies with a smirk of her own.

It takes me a moment, but then I get it. He just figured out we’re sleeping together, and being her best friend, he knows I’m her first. “I took care of her. I promise.”

“Yes, you did, and that’s all we’re saying,” she tells everyone else at the table.

W
averly

“That was amazing. Thank you for bringing us here,” Knox says when we all walk out of the restaurant together.

It was honestly one of the best nights of my life. The food, the friends, Knox being pulled from his seat and dancing with the performers…it was all pretty close to perfect. Now, it’s time for us to go back to the house and talk about things I kept inside of me for years. This will be the second time recently I’ve told anyone about what happened to me. The first time was to get a job, but this time I’m telling the man I love, which means it’s much more important.

“You’re welcome,” Ken says. “How about you all go back to the hotel with Knox and Cohen, so Wave and I can talk?”

“No,” I tell him.

“Waverly.”

“Kenyi.”

“We need to talk.”

“Not more than Knox and I need to talk.”

“Unless you’re planning on getting me my own room in your hotel, I suggest you walk away from this now, Doc,” Matisse tells him, and I send her a silent look of thanks.

“You’re threatening to withhold sex from me?”

“I believe I just did exactly that, so yes. Wave needs to be with her man tonight, and not her bestie. You can talk over breakfast.”

“I’ll have my cook make up a nice buffet type thing, and you can all talk. Then you and Coh can go jump off some cliffs while we figure out where the girls are going. Cool?” Knox asks.

“It doesn’t appear that I have a choice.”

“You don’t. I love you, but tonight’s agenda is already set.”

“I love you, too,” he tells me, pulling me into a hug, “but we will talk.”

I roll my eyes. “We will.”

I let Cohen sit in the front seat, but he turns around to talk to me while Knox drives. “Kendrick’s family owns a huge hotel chain?”

“They did. Now Ken and I own it. We give most of the money to help victims of human trafficking, but he insists I take some for myself.”

“His parents are dead? That’s rough.”

“Actually, it’s not.”

“Wait, did they have something to do with what happened to you? Is that how you and Ken met?”

“Yes, and yes. That’s all I’m going to tell you, Coh. Knox can tell you anything I tell him tonight, but I want him to hear it from me first.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“Can I just say I think you’re fucking brave, and that’s without knowing everything?”

“Yes, you can. Thank you.”

W
averly

I’m shaking a little when we get to the house. I need to tell Knox everything, and while I know I only did what I had to do in order to survive, it doesn’t erase those things from my conscience. Cohen said I was brave because I escaped, but I wouldn’t have done that without Ken. He gave me hope, and I held onto that—and him—until the ties were broken recently. Without him, I’d be having sex with whoever paid the most, instead of a man who makes me feel like I matter.

“Do you want something to drink?” Knox asks me.

We had African wine at the restaurant, and I know my limit so I just ask for some water. “Wait,” I say as we walk out the door. “We need to tell Martha about the extra breakfast guests.”

“I’ll handle it,” Cohen tells us, stopping on the steps.

“Thanks.”

Knox holds my hand as we walk around the side of the house to the daybed. Once we’re sitting across from each other with our legs crossed like that first time, I tell him my story.

“You already know my mother sold me. I won’t tell you the name of the man, because he’s dead and I hate his name, so I try not to even think it. This man dealt in both child soldiers and sex slaves to be sold to the highest bidders. He saw something in me, and decided I could join his ‘elite’ group, and do both.

“By the time I was five, I knew how to kill all the small animals who roamed around the outside of his compound, and some of the big ones, too. I killed the rabbit he had me raise, because it was either that or being kicked out, which could mean death or strictly the sex trade. By the time I was ten, I had killed more than one man, and I knew all about etiquette and how to be a proper little girl. I also knew how to put on a full face of makeup, hack into any computer, speak six languages, use any weapon including my own body, and blend into any crowd. I was trained much as the Society girls are trained, but I did it when I was a child and not someone who could choose to know all those things.”

“Fuck, Wave. I want to dig up the asshole’s grave and kill him again.”

“You heard me say I killed, right?”

“You were a child whose life depended on it. It changes nothing.”

“There’s more.”

“Tell me, please.”

“When I was eleven, the man told me I was being rented to a family. They wanted someone to protect their son, and they wanted his best. He wanted to use their hotels for meetups with the women he owned and the men who were buying them, so he needed to do this. He told me I would pretend to be friends with the boy, but that if anyone tried to touch me in a sexual way, I was to tell him and he would kill them. He also told me I would continue my training while I was with the family, leaving while the boy was at school to continue my lessons.”

“Kendrick’s parents.”

“His birth name is actually Kenyi, but yes. I went to live with them, but it wasn’t the hell I was expecting. Ken immediately did everything he could to protect me, and show me he thought of me as his friend. I was always by his side when I wasn’t training or he wasn’t at school. If he was invited to a party, he insisted I accompany him. The same with vacations, and anything else. I sat with him, and not with the other household workers. To him, I was always his friend and equal.

“And then my lessons changed. My virginity was worth a lot, so the man wouldn’t let anyone touch me, but he wanted me trained. While Ken learned the things anyone our age should’ve been learning, I learned all about how to be a submissive, and then a dominatrix. I watched men and women do things to each other that shocked and scared me. Things I never, ever wanted to do.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I don’t know if he was in those rooms with me, but maybe he was, helping me stay alive. Anyway, Ken found me crying one afternoon, and got me to tell him everything. He wanted to kill the man, but he couldn’t. I might’ve been able to if I got him alone, but where would I go then? I had no family, and no education. Ken gave me both, but we couldn’t just run. He started working on an escape plan and teaching me what he was learning at school, but we had to pretend like nothing was different.”

“I thought you were educated by
him
.”

“Only in the areas he needed me to learn. I knew languages, science, and computers. I also had to study current events. But I was only taught the basics of math, history, writing, and literature. Etiquette, weapons, martial arts, and seduction were more important. Oh, and running a con.”

I didn’t tell the other recruits that last part when I asked to join them, because Reina said I should only tell them what I felt comfortable with. I didn’t tell them I’d killed, either. Some things are just too horrifying to say out loud. I’m telling Knox because I don’t want my secrets between us.

“I helped blackmail and swindle some powerful men. Everything from pretending I was going to go up to their rooms with them, and then while they were pawing and kissing me for the cameras in hotel, letting them know I was a minor and they were on camera, to letting some rich boys ‘date’ me only to have me steal all their financial info and clean out their trust funds. I also killed more people when I was told to. Moral of the story is, I’m a bad person who’s done really bad things.”

“Who? Who put their hands and mouths on you when you were just a girl?”

“I wasn’t dressed like a young girl, and I pretended I wanted it, Knox. Don’t sugarcoat what I did.”

“Would you have done that, done any of it, if you thought you really had a choice?”

“I would like to say no, but since I never had a choice, I don’t honestly know.”

That’s it right there. The one thing that’s haunted me. Ken never asked me, and neither did Reina. Knox is asking, though, and I can see he doesn’t like my answer. I don’t like it, either.

“Look into your soul, and answer me again,” he begs me, softly.

I’ve done it many nights over the years, but for him, I’ll do it again. I close my eyes and think about everything. Only this time, I don’t just imagine myself hungry and desperate on the street. I also imagine myself with a loving family in a home with enough food and water. And this time, while I think of both scenarios, I know. I know I wouldn’t kill or cheat. I might beg, and I’d probably steal some food, but I wouldn’t destroy people to save myself.

“No. I wouldn’t do it,” I tell him as tears run down my cheeks. “I survived, and I’m sorry I had to do those things in order to help secure my freedom, but that girl isn’t me any longer.”

“No, she isn’t. Tell me how you escaped.”

“Ken was forced to start dating when he turned sixteen, but he found something wrong with all of the girls. His parents gave him money in exchange for dating certain ones, and he took it. When he turned 18 a few months before I did, he was given an obscene amount of money. He didn’t want to take it, but he knew he needed to. He also said he needed me until I turned 18.

“On my 18
^th
birthday, he threw me a huge party, and made sure all the powerful and rich people in this city attended it. On stage, he declared his love for me. Off stage, he paid that man every cent he had to buy me. With everyone thinking I was already his, the man agreed—with conditions. He said we could leave the country for college, but Ken couldn’t touch me. That wasn’t an issue with us, so we readily agreed. He also said we had to come back here, and get married. Again, we didn’t plan on coming back, so we agreed.”

“I think I love Ken. I didn’t want to like him, but I owe him so much.”

“As do I. He says I saved him, too. Seeing him so happy with Matisse makes me believe him just a little bit. Anyway, I got my GED and started community college while he went to Johns Hopkins. We were watched all the time, but we did a pretty good job of acting like we were in love. Soon, he heard about a group called the Society, had me change my major to physical therapy, and did everything he could to get noticed. We had just about given up, and planned to run on our own, when Jane Corrigan came for him, and took me in as well.”

“How did his parents die?”

“The short version, which is all I have the energy for is that they found us, took Matisse to sell her, Ken went crazy and started torturing the man, and when we heard she escaped, someone else in the Society killed the three of them. Ken came back here, and with Society help, rescued thousands of women and children and turned his hotels into places of safety instead of terror.”

“Wow. Just wow. I know I should have so much more to say, but right now all I can think of is how in awe I am of both you, and Kendrick.”

“Even after you know what I did.”

“The only thing that’s changed since I heard it all is that I love you more, and think I definitely don’t deserve you.”

“I love you so much, too, Knox. I never thought I’d find love, even after Ken and Teesy got together. I also never thought I’d crave a man’s touch, or his mouth. Definitely not his cock. You’ve made me want it all with you.”

“I knew you were giving me a precious gift when you gave me your body, but I’m completely humbled now. Let’s go to bed, so I can hold you.”

“No. I need more than that. I need you to touch me and kiss me the way you always do. You make me feel special and beautiful and I need that right now.”

“We’ll do whatever you need. Just tell me.”

“I want to go to your pool, and I want you to make love me in it. I want to be in the water you love while you enter my body and make me have to bite you to muffle my screams.”

“You are seriously all my dreams come true. You know that, right?”

“The feeling’s mutual.”