Page 14 of Two Chambered Heart

Corey wasn’t used to having so much leisure time. Previously, she had spent her time working all night at the bar, sleeping all day to catch up, or stealing cars for the criminal organization she and her ex were involved with. They’d had a simple system for a while—take the car, drop it off, and get paid handsomely for little work. Corey had been good at hot-wiring the cars and getting them to the drop-off points, where a runner would load them onto a flatbed, drive them to another city, and then ship them to Africa. It had worked well for them until Brandon, her ex, had started sending her on more and more solo runs, and hoarding the cash for himself.

She’d had a lot of time in the last week to obsessively analyze their relationship and try to pinpoint where things had gone so wrong. Once Brandon had gone from her boss at the bar to her boyfriend, she’d thought she had finally found something good. But somewhere along the way, shit had gone south, and she still couldn’t figure out the turning point, when Brandon went from “bad boy” in an appealing way to “bad boy” in a get-the-fuck-out way.

Corey sighed and opened her eyes to the beating sun. She really needed to find something to do. Shedid notwant to keep spiraling about her shitty ex all day. Maybe she’d try working out.

Corey stood up and wrapped her towel around herself, dabbing off her sweat-slicked chest. She caught her reflection in the sliding door before gliding it open, the bruise on her face now a gross yellow colour. The door moved silently on the track and one of the twin’s voices carried over to her.

“I’ve left her with free reign of the house instead of locking her in the guest bedroom, against my better judgement, because you fucking asked. But she’s fucking taunting us out there, laying in the sun naked every day. It’s like she’s just trying to get one of us to do something. I won’t put up with it forever.”

A deep laugh.

“I can’t say I mind it one bit, and if she wants me, I’m more than happy to oblige.” That must have been Kayden. Their voices were the same, but the words… Jason wouldn’t be saying that about her. Jason had pointedly ignored her every time they’d crossed paths.

Corey walked into the kitchen, clearing her throat to announce her presence. She had come to realize that both of them were easy to sneak up on. Maybe they kept forgetting she was there, or maybe they weren’t used to having guests in their home.

They were lucky she hadn’t snuck up on them and cut their throat with the kitchen knife she was harbouring under her pillow.

Corey wasn’t quite sure why she hadn’t at least tried.

The twins both stared at her as she entered the kitchen, their matching gazes intense as their eyes raked up her body. Her core tightened at the attention. As per usual, they were topless, every groove and dip of their defined stomach muscles on full display, their skin taught over the thickness of their chest and shoulders. It struck her how very naked she was, and how close to naked they were.

She felt her cheeks heat at the thought.

They both smirked at her salaciously, like they knew what she was thinking.

“Corey Smith,” one of them said. With their matching grins, she couldn’t tell which one was which. “Seven days, and no one has come looking for you. Did you know that there is no waiting period to report a missing person? 24 hours or 48 hours—they usually use that in crime shows on TV. But in reality, you can report a missing person to the police as soon as you realize they’re missing, and they will open a file. There’s been no missing persons report filed about you, and you’ve beenmissingfor almost 170 hours.”

Now, Corey’s cheeks burned for a different reason.

“Does no one know you’re gone?” the other twin said. She couldn’t tell if he meant it to be cruel.

“Clearly not,” she retorted.

“Your profile has come in.”

“Is this the part where you tell me all about my life?” Corey rolled her eyes. “I already know, I lived it.”

“I just got all the information. Kayden hasn’t heard yet.” Jason gestured to his brother, identifying him for her.

“Well, let me save you the effort. I was rescued from a crack den at four years old because my drugged-out parents fell asleep with something lit and burned the house down. And yes, the social worker that did my intake was obsessed with the country singer, so that’s where my name comes from, since I had no birth records. Then I was bounced from foster home to foster home because of mybad attitudeandviolent tendencies.”

Kayden didn’t respond.

“So the question is, Corey, what’s put you on the streets after so many people have kept you off them? It can’t be drugs. You’re not skinny enough for that.”

Corey scoffed. “I wouldn’t touch that stuff. Drugs are a disease in this city. It keeps the richrich, and ruins life for everyone else.”

Kayden shifted uncomfortably and glanced at his brother. After a moment, he looked back at Corey. “So your name really is made up.” Hesmiled, but it looked more like a grimace. Corey couldn’t tell if he was trying to lighten the mood.

“How much longer are you going to keep me here?” Corey waved her hand around to the condo, while her other hand held her towel securely to her body.

“I don’t know,” Jason replied quietly, looking at her with an expression that she had never seen on him before. There was no scowl, no sneer. His eyebrows were slightly pinched, and he rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. There was an openness there that made Corey believe he didn’t really have a plan and didn’t quite know what he was doing.

“Where would you go?” Kayden asked, seriously.

It was Corey’s turn to admit she also had no plan, but she wouldn’t. If she was being honest, this little escapade had worked out in her favour. She hadn’t had to worry about where she was sleeping or what she’d been eating, and most importantly, she wasn’t really worried she was going to get the shit beat out of her, and that had truly been nice after living in hell.

“Somewhere you can’t find me,” she said instead.

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