Yearning Absolution (Yearning Series) (17 page)

Gwen and McKayla spent the rest of
the weekend lounging about the apartment, cuddling and rekindling their love
for one another. Before Gwen knew it, it was time to head back to Cole’s. She
had only gotten a few text messages from him the entire weekend so she was
excited to see him. She couldn’t wait to tell him the quick changes that were
happening with McKayla and she just hoped that he was just as excited as her.
Then again, she had been here before. Her solid relationship with McKayla had
fallen apart when Gwen though it would be better with Cole. She hoped her
relationship with Cole would truly be as strong as she felt it was when she
reintroduced McKayla back into it.

Gwen sat in the lobby of McKayla’s
apartment tapping her foot as she waited for Cole. Eventually the car pulled up
at the curb. Gwen grabbed her bag and headed out of the lobby. McKayla had left
a few minutes before because she had a shoot she couldn’t get out of. Doug, the
driver, opened the car door for her before putting her bag in the trunk. As she
slid into the back, Gwen was startled to see the car was empty. She had
expected Cole to pick her up.

“Sorry, Ms. Gwen. He wanted to be
here, but he got held up at the house. He asked me to not delay any longer and
just come pick you up.” Doug spoke when he got in the driver seat. Without
waiting for a response, he pulled out into traffic.

“It’s ok. Thank you.” Gwen smiled
slightly. She couldn’t help but feel a bit let down that it seemed he wasn’t as
eager to see her as she was him. She leaned back into the seat and closed her
eyes, replaying the speech she was planning on saying to Cole about what had
happened over the weekend.

Before she knew it, Doug was
pulling into the parking garage of Cole’s apartment building. He helped her to
the elevator with her bag, but didn’t ride up with her. Gwen exited the
elevator when the doors slid open on Cole’s level. The apartment was empty.
Cole nowhere in sight.

Frowning, Gwen went to Cole’s rooms.
She set her bag down by the door and walked to his office. It too was empty.
She heard a rustling sound in the bathroom so she moved towards it. There
standing in the middle of the bathroom with a towel slung low around his lean
hips was Cole.

“Hi, beautiful.” Cole instantly
smiled when he saw her. “I didn’t think you’d make it back so quickly. Sorry I
wasn’t there to get you.”

“It’s okay.” Gwen smiled at him as
she leaned her head against the door frame. His hair was wet and there was
still droplets of water over his torso and arms. Her eyes followed the line of
his body down to his hands. His knuckles were all red and swollen. “What
happened to your hands?”

“Huh? Oh nothing.” Cole shrugged
and moved towards her. He pulled her into his arms, smashing her face against
his still wet chest. “Mmm. I missed you.”

“Hey! You are still all wet.” Gwen
cried out feeling her own shirt stick to her body from the water that had been
on his body.

“I like when you get all wet.” Cole
wiggled his eyebrows at her as he looked down at her. Gwen just laughed and
rolled her eyes.

“I just got back. You aren’t
getting it that quick.” Gwen slapped at his chest playfully before pushing back
from him. “And you aren’t getting out of answering. What happened to your
knuckles?”

“And I said nothing. Gwen, don’t
push this, please. I’m not going telling you. It’s nothing you need to worry
about.” Cole rubbed his fingers over her cheek, sinking them into the hair
behind her ear. “Baby, I need you to just trust me on this. If it was something
you needed to know, I’d fill you in on all the details. But right now, it’s
best to just try to forget it and when the time comes, if you still want to
know, I’ll tell you everything.”

 “Okay.” Gwen leaned up and pressed
a kiss to his lips again. She didn’t like it but she knew she could try to
convince him later on. “So, did you get everything that you needed to get done
taken care of while I was gone?”

“I did. It went especially well.”
Something in the twinkle in his eye told Gwen that whatever matter he’d been
needing to take care of had to do with his abused knuckles. “In fact, I’m
hoping that now with a lot of things tied up… at work and your recovery going
so well, that we might be able to escape down to my vacation home for a few
days. Just to relax for a bit.”

“Sounds wonderful. I would like to
return to work once again. Hopefully, I still have a job.” Gwen smiled at him
and he tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. He shook his head with a
small laugh as he turned to move into the closet.

“Oh, I suppose the boss man might
be able to be convinced to allow you to keep your job.” Cole’s voice came out
of the closet. Gwen moved to stand in the door way. She watched as his perfect
bare ass was covered as he pulled on a pair of boxer briefs. He bent and pick
up the towel from the floor where he had dropped it and threw it in the laundry
basket.

“Hmmm. I will have to think about
how bad I want my job and see if it would be worth the torture.” Gwen tapped
her chin and looked towards the ceiling. Cole laughed again at her.

“I see someone is in a very good
mood after her weekend away from her boyfriend. Here I thought you would have
missed me.” Cole pulled on a pair of jeans before grabbing a plain dark green
t-shirt from a hanger.

“Well, speaking of that. There is a
matter or two or a handful, I suppose, that I’d like to talk to you about.”
Gwen leaned her shoulder against the door frame, crossing her arms over her
chest as he pushed his arms through the shirt.

“Okay.” Cole replied after getting
the shirt over his head. He yanked down on the bottom to cover his stomach. It
was tight and showed off his broad chest and defined arms.

“I like that shirt.” Gwen couldn’t
help but comment on it. It looked mouth wateringly good on him.

“Yea? Maybe this is all I’ll wear
when you are around from now on. I like the way you are drooling.” Cole moved
closer to her, putting his hands around her hips.

“I doubt it. I can count on two
hands how many times you’ve worn jeans in front of me. So do tell, what is the
special occasion?” Gwen wrapped her arms around his neck then thought twice
about it and instead dragged her hands down to rest against the chest muscles
that were so finely being emphasized by the shirt.

“Absolutely nothing. I was hoping
to take you for a little stroll through central park. I know the doctor said
the more you walk the better you’ll be.” Cole planted a firm kiss on her
forehead before grabbing her ass with both his hands and hauling her up against
him. “And I can’t wait for you to get your stamina back because I have a lot of
things in mind for you.”

“Is that so? Guess you better get your
shoes on then.” Gwen smiled up at him.

“Plus, you can talk to me as we
walk and get some fresh air.” Cole released her and stepped back to grab a pair
of tennis shoes that looked brand new to Gwen.  Once he had them on, they
walked to the elevator together.

It was only a block to an entrance
of Central Park. As they strolled through the park, Gwen watched all the other
people milling about. After they had walked a bit in the green trees and grass,
Cole finally broke the comfortable silence.

“So, you wanted to talk about this
weekend? How did it go?” Cole started the conversation for her.

“It went well. After talking with
McKayla, my first night there, all the missing memories of our time together
came rushing back. It’s the oddest thing to try to explain. To go from not being
able to remember things to them being all there again. But I suppose I remember
as much as I am going to.” Cole had his arm around her shoulders as they
walked. Gwen knew he was still afraid she would collapse on him. But she was
feeling much stronger. Walking didn’t exhaust her like it once had.

“That’s really good. I’m sure the
doctor will be thrilled by this news too. Well, I mean I am too, of course.”
Cole squeezed her shoulder lightly.

“Yes, McKayla and I talked a lot
very in depth about our relationship and the last few mishaps that we’ve had.” Gwen
took a deep breath before continuing. “She confessed that she cheated. That was
why she became so moody and argumentative. But it’s okay. We are okay. We all
make mistakes and learn from them. I hope you would be okay with her moving
back into your apartment with us.”

“Gwen, it’s our apartment. I’ve
told you before. It’s not just mine anymore.” Cole tsked her.

“I don’t pay for any of the bills.
I don’t pay for anything so it’s hard for me to consider it mine.” Gwen
shrugged.

“Well, either way, McKayla is
welcome to move back in whenever she wants.” Cole guided her closer to the side
of the path when a bicyclist headed straight towards them. “Tell her I’ll have
a moving company over today, if that’s what she wants.”

“I don’t know if it’ll be that
quick.” Gwen laughed lightly. They hadn’t talked about that specific of details.
“But, I did something else besides ask her to move back in.”

“Oh yea? What was that?” Cole moved
them to a bench on the side of the path and sat down with her.

“I asked her to marry me. Or to at
least make the promise to be in my life forever. To fight to make us work. To
not give up on us again. She agreed.” Gwen looked up from where her hand was clasped
in his. She knew she probably should have taken time to talk through this with
Cole beforehand, but she hadn’t because she hadn’t been planning on things
going quite the way they had. She hoped that this wouldn’t change things with
her and Cole’s relationship, but it was a chance she had to take.

“I think that’s fantastic. I knew
from day one that there was someone else in your life who would always be just
as important as or more important than I would be in your life.” Cole squeezed
her hand in his. “I love you. I love McKayla in her own way too. Mostly, I love
that she loves you. I never wanted that to change. In my mind, you are sort of
a package deal.”

Gwen just smiled at him as she
almost jumped onto his lap as she threw her arms around his neck.

Three months flew by as the three
of them settled into a content and happy living situation. Gwen returned to
work and was quickly catching up with her projects. Surprisingly, Coral Lyn had
stayed on top of things while Gwen had been out.

Gwen was in her office working on
her new projects. She’d missed out on the last show that she was supposed to
design for, but Cole had moved another designer over and they’d altered,
finished and showed a version of Gwen’s original designs while she’d been
recovering.

Coral Lyn was sitting at one of the
tables cutting fabric. Gwen was at another pinning pieces together for a design
when there was a knock on the door. Gwen looked up at Coral Lyn, who mimicked
the look of surprise. The door swung open before either could move to open it.

“Gwen Black?” A man with a gun on
one hip, a badge on the other questioned as he held open the door. Two other
men dressed in black slacks and button down shirts with the same equipment on
their hips entered the room.

“Yes. How can I help you?” Gwen
stepped back from the table after setting down her pinning needles.

“Ma’am, we need to speak privately
with you.” The first man to enter the room spoke. Gwen flicked her eyes over to
Coral Lyn, who shrugged. Gwen followed the man out of the room to an empty
conference room down the hall, the other men trailing behind her.

“Can I ask what this is about?”
Gwen sat down in one of the chairs as two of the men sat across from her and
the other stayed near the door. Her eyes flicked to each man. She was
thoroughly confused as to why she was being questioned. “Why do I feel like I
should call my lawyer?”

“We are just here for a few simple
questions, ma’am. But if you would feel better getting your lawyer on the line,
we could take you down to the station while we wait for them to arrive.”

“I really don’t understand what is
going on. I’ll answer what I can then decide if I need my attorney.” Gwen
rested her hands in her lap. She hadn’t been doing anything illegal so she
figured they must have the wrong person.

“Do you know who Richard Moreno is?”
The first man asked.

“Before I answer anything, can you
tell me who you are?” Gwen looked to each man as she spoke, an eyebrow raised.
She pulled out a little notebook from her pocket that she normally used to
write notes about altercations she wanted to make when she was putting together
a design, but now she would use it to write down their names. Gwen was on edge
even though she didn’t know what was going on. They hadn’t announced who they
were or what department they were from.

“I’m Detective Marvin Jones. This
here next to me is Detective Biggs and that over there by the door is Detective
Decker.” The man said pointing to the man sitting next to him then the one standing
by the door. “We all work as part of the homicide unit for the New York City
Police Department.”

“And you are here questioning me
because…” Gwen looked at Detective Jones. She really was confused as to what
they wanted from her. Had they figured out her past? She started shaking her
leg as anxiety shot through her. Was this the same Richard? It was the only
Richard she knew. Did Richard turn her in for killing his brother?

“A body was discovered in an underground
tunnel. The dental imprints have identified the body as Richard Moreno. When we
went to his last known address and found pictures of you plastered all over the
walls.. Of every room in the house.” Detective Jones continued. He pulled a
file out of a bag he’d been carrying and handed it to Detective Jones. Gwen
hadn’t noticed the bag until now. “So, I will ask again. Do you know Richard
Moreno?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t recognize the
name.” Gwen frowned. Could it be? Richard was dead? Just as she was about to
speak again, the door to the conference room burst opened. A red faced Cole
filled the door way.

“What the hell is going on here?”
Cole demanded as he stalked to Gwen’s side, slamming the door behind him. His
hand rested on her shoulder. “This is one of my employees as well as my
girlfriend. I should have been notified of this meeting.”

“We are here as part of
investigation of a homicide for New York City Police Department.” Detective
Biggs spoke up. “And when we arrived, your secretary said you were in a
meeting.”

“Homicide? Who was killed?” Cole’s
back snapped straighter than it had been a minute before. His grip tightened minutely
on Gwen’s shoulder.

“Richard Moreno. Do you know him?”
Detective Jones flipped his eyes from Cole to Gwen and back again. As the
silence dragged on, an eye brown rose slowly over one of his dark eyes.

“Can’t say the name rings a bell,
even after jogging my memory.” Cole finally spoke up. His voice was steady as
always but his grip on Gwen’s shoulder never let up. “Does that name mean
anything to you, baby?”

Gwen looked up to meet his eyes.
They were dark, dark green, a shade she hadn’t seen in his eyes before. She
turned back to look at the officers again. “As much as it unnerves me that he
seemed to be tracking me. I really can’t say that I’ve met him before, let
alone had any type of relationship that would facilitate my image being all
over anything in his life.” As much as she tried to fight it, she couldn’t keep
her lip from curling in disgust at the thought. “I will say it makes me feel
ill that someone was out there following me around and I wasn’t aware of.”

Gwen looked up at Cole again and
placed her hand over his on her shoulder.

“Do you know what happened to him?
How he died? What do you mean he was tracking you?” Cole questioned the
officers. The officers repeated what they’d told Gwen about the images before
answering his other questions.

“It appears that he was in a fight
of some sort. Unfortunately, his body was in an advanced stage of decomposition
when we found it though. The medical examiner and forensic anthropologist are
trying to piece together as much as they can but all that is left are his
bones. They did find that quite a few of his bones were broken prior to his
death which leads us to believe there was a fight. However, there isn’t much
other evidence that we have been able to find. We were hoping that you would be
able to give us additional leads.”

“I’m sorry that I can’t. Was he
married or have any children?” Gwen shrugged.

“No children. He was married but we
have been unable to track down his now ex-wife.” Detective Jones frowned as he
flipped closed his notebook. “I suppose that is all for now. If we have any
more questions, we will be in touch.”

“I’ll be available whenever you
need me. I wish I could help more. But honestly, I’m glad he is no longer
following me around.” Gwen shivered. She stood when the men did. Her hand
clasped tightly with Cole’s as they said their goodbyes and the men left the
room. Gwen turned to look at Cole. “Well, that was interesting.”

“Hm, yes.” Cole’s faced showed no
emotion at all as he looked into her eyes.

“I would like to go home now, if
that’s okay.” Gwen looked towards the door. “I need a long hot shower.”

“Would you like for me to come with
you?” Cole moved towards the door, opening it for her.

“I think that would be good.” Gwen
smiled slightly at him before heading towards her office to retrieve her
things.

“I just need to make a quick call
and then I will meet you back here.” Cole stepped down the hall to make his
call as Gwen gathered her belongings.

In the car as they headed home,
Gwen turned in her seat to look at Cole.

“I think you have some explaining
to do.” Gwen spoke softly.

“Yes. I will. When we get home.”
Cole didn’t look up from his phone. He was still trying to wrap up thing that he
should’ve been doing at work. However, he knew that Gwen would have a lot of
questions and be demanding answers that were best spoken in a secure and
private place.