Page 23 of The Sound of Secrets

He held my wrist in place as he growled dirty orders in my ear.

“Stroke your clit. Softer. Use the cum I left inside of you to make it wet.”

I shifted my fingers as he instructed and let my eyes flutter closed as my orgasm crept along my spine and through my nerve endings.

“Ride my fingers.” He hooked his long fingers inside my damp opening and pressed upward so his palm held my fingers trapped against my pulsing clit. I moved my hips in time to his harsh breaths. My fingers resting on the tinted window scratched on the smooth surface as I tried to find something to lock me into reality. Everything about this moment was so surreal. It nearly felt like an out-of-body experience. I was not the woman whofucked a billionaire in the back of a limo. I was not the woman who fucked a billionaire — anywhere. I dated losers and planned on having an unremarkable love life untilthe onemagically made an appearance. It was terrifying that the longer I spent entangled with Win, the more he felt like he was the answer to a question I never asked. How could the wrong man feel so perfectly right?

When I came apart, I soaked our fingers and collapsed in a lifeless heap across the leather seats. Win laughed at my debauched state, but was enough of a gentleman to help me clean up and climb back into my forgotten clothes as I caught my breath. I lifted my eyebrows at him and searched around for my phone, which got tossed somewhere the moment he pounced on me. “I never pegged you for a car-sex type of man.”

I was teasing him, but Win’s reply was stony and serious. “I’m not. I’m a have-sex-with-Channing-anywhere-and-everywhere type of man.”

Startled, I turned my head to look at him. “You’ve learned how to say what a woman wants to hear in the short time we’ve been together. It used to be every word out of your mouth made me want to fight. It’s a vast improvement.” Now, when he was sweet and responsive, his words tempted me to fall head over heels.

He snorted and reached out to smooth down my hair, which was sticking up like a rooster’s comb. “I’m only interested in whatyouwant to hear.”

I was about to deflect and change the subject when my phone vibrated in my hand. The ringer must’ve bumped to silent in the shuffle and shift of bodies andclothing. I frowned when I noticed I had several missed calls from my mother’s care facility.

I showed Win the screen as I took the call. He guided me onto the leather seat and handed me a bottle of water. His eyes never left mine when I asked with concern, “This is Channing Harvey. Is everything all right?”

A female voice responded. “Ms. Harvey, we’ve been trying to reach you. We have a bit of a situation with your mother. She’s demanding to speak with you. We’re hoping you’re available to help mitigate the situation. If not, we may need to medicate her for her safety.”

I held the phone away from my ear and told Win I needed to get to the facility ASAP. He lowered the privacy screen in the car and had the driver change direction. He also started tapping out orders on his phone.

“I’ll be there in forty minutes. Can you give me an idea as to what set her off? She’s been doing really well as of late.” The facility was located near Halliday Cove, between my hometown and the city. I always wanted to move her closer, but my mom swore she couldn’t sleep unless she could hear the sea. My mother hadn’t had any significant episodes after my sister’s death. Something seemed to break inside of her after Willow passed away. She could no longer distinguish between fact and fiction, and often mistook me for my sister. She waffled between lucidity and lunacy, so there was no other option than long-term care. Recently, she’d made vast improvements since Winnie was allowed to visit her. It seemed to do wonders, seeing her granddaughter living well. My heart shattered at the thought of going back to square one.

“She wants you to take her to your older sister’s resting place. She keeps insisting someone stole your sister’s body. She’s very upset and has the delusion that your sister’s eternal rest has been upset, and now her soul is wandering the world lost and alone. She is inconsolable. Our staff had to put her on a suicide watch. She’s threatened to harm herself and others.”

I audibly gulped and looked at Win with wide eyes. “Has anyone attempted to visit her recently?”

“No. We have her visitation requirements set to the highest level, and our staff has to get approval from the director before letting anyone speak to her.”

Win was the director. If my father tried to see her, he would be the first to know. He shook his head helplessly.

I quietly asked him, “Do you think Archie accidentally let it slip about Willow’s ashes?”

“No. He wouldn’t do that. Besides, he’s at physical therapy today, and he had a meeting with a speech therapist. The reason I had the limo today is because Rocco is taking care of my brother for me.” He made a gimme gesture with his hand. I gave him the phone and wrung my hands together anxiously. Without mentioning who he was, or why he mattered, he started barking instructions like the bossy CEO he was. “I need you to send me the security footage from today. Get someone to search Mrs. Harvey’s room. And I want a list of every person in that building she had contact with over the last three days. If her doctors didn’t see this episode coming, then something caused it. I’m expecting a reason for this setback by the time I arrive. You have thirty minutes.” Hehung up the call and pulled me into a side hug as I tried not to imagine the worst case scenario. “She’ll be fine. She has the very best care available. You don’t have to reach in and pull her out of this state with your bare hands like you did in the past. There’s an entire team who has your back and your mother’s best interests in mind this go-around. I won’t let anything happen to her. To either of you.”

I clutched his hand in mine, stroking the rough and ruined skin absently. “It’s my father. It has to be. Right?” I couldn’t think of anyone else who would benefit from upsetting my mother. He knew hurting her was a sure-fire way to cut me to the bone. “Only immediate family has access to the mausoleum where Willow’s remains were. It’s not like anyone off the street could walk in and discover her ashes are no longer there. He’s not going to stop until he pushes me to do something rash.”

Win grunted and tightened his hold. “He’s more slippery than I thought. I might have underestimated him.”

As the luxury ride drove out of the city, Win’s phone pinged with a message. He scowled as he told me the medical staff found a cell phone that didn’t belong to my mother in her room. On it, there were pictures of the empty urn at the mausoleum, and messages from an unknown number, telling her I’d secretly moved Willow’s remains. There were taunts about me locking my mom away so I didn’t have to deal with her. Ugly words saying I was embarrassed by her and ashamed of her illness. There was a picture of my marriage license and a barrage of questions asking if she knew I’d gotten married.All the messages were hateful and spiteful. Any part of it was enough to send someone battling schizophrenia into a dissociative state. All of it combined was inflammatory enough to send my mother down a mental spiral she couldn’t control.

“Where did she get that phone?” My father was persona non grata. Anyone who allowed him access to his wife did so at the risk of their job. Win tightened security around the facility to the point I even needed the proper clearance if I went to visit.

Win tilted his head so it rested against mine. “I don’t know. But I’ll figure it out and make sure it never happens again.”

We spent the rest of the ride in a tense silence. When we reached the facility, I was immediately swept away by a doctor, while Win demanded to talk to the head of security and the facility manager.

The room they had my mom in was completely empty except for a bed that sat on a cardboard frame. She was dressed in a white sweatsuit, and had on a pair of white flip-flops. I understood she was somewhere she couldn’t harm herself or others, but it hurt to see her isolated and locked away like a threat.

My mom’s hair was darker red than mine. A lot of the color had turned stark white. The swirl of colors was striking, and along with her honey-colored eyes, she was a stunningly beautiful woman. I often thought my father refused to divorce her because he didn’t want anyone else to have her. Georgie Harvey was one of a kind in all the best and worst ways.

The doctors didn’t want me to go in the room, but I insisted. It wasn’t until she agreed to speak with me that they relented and allowed me to see her. They warned me her emotional state was volatile and that she’d gotten violent. However, I grew up with my mother’s mood fluctuations and outbursts. I believed I was better prepared for her in this state than anyone else.

My mother sat in the middle of the floor with her arms wrapped around her drawn-up knees. Her eyes were furious as they locked onto me. I sat down across from her and noticed she had angry red marks along both sides of her neck and both of her wrists were bruised. I wasn’t sure if she inflicted the wounds on herself, or if they came from the staff struggling to keep her safe from herself. Either way, the sight broke my heart.

“Do you recognize me, Mom?”

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