Desire

Eplilogue

10 years later

"Dad! There's a pretty envelope!" Kimberly walked into her father's kitchen where the man himself sat, newspaper in hand.

He placed his paper on the table and outstretched his hand for the envelope. By now Dale was getting old, his eyes beginning to sink in and even more wrinkles forming. The man was almost sixty. "I think I know who it's from."

It read, 'To celebrate the thirty year anniversary of Mitchell's L.T.D, Mr Mitchell invites you to his home to join him and other guests for a black-tie event.' Kimberly's heart dropped. Her mind flashed back to ten years earlier when she was so excited to go to such an event. Now she didn't know how to feel.

"It may be nice to see Robert again. We haven't seen him in such a long time." Dale smiled softly. After diadem went to prison, admittedly it took a few months for him to speak to Robert, but he knew Robert meant no harm. He was quick to forgive him.

There's a reason for that. Kim thought to herself. "Sure, let me let Cole know."

"Cole hasn't met Robert before has he? I'm sure he'll love him." Yeah right. Kim internally scoffed at her father's words.

Dale looked through the invitation. "Tomorrow night." He raised his brows. "That man never gave much notice." Dale had left the company by now. He had retired a few years back and took the time to relax. He found it hard to get back into society after being in prison for months.

"That's no problem. I better get home to start dinner. If you need me give me a call." Kim dropped her head to kiss her father's cheek before she gathered all of her things and headed out to her car.

Dale still had no idea hat went on between Robert and Kimberly while he was in prison, and Kim never intended on telling him. She wanted to forget. She really did. But sometimes she'd wake up from a nap, and her dream consisted of nothing but Robert's hold on her. Ten years later and she was still wrapped up in the thought of him. She knew seeing him wasn't a good idea.

Fuck.
—
"Jeez, it's huge in here!" Cole looked flabbergasted as he ogled the grand room. They were only just entering but it was clear quite a few people had been here for a half an hour already. "One day I'll give you a house like this." He spoke with a smirk, pulling her into his side.

"Oh yeah?" She giggled, rolling her eyes. Plenty of people had their gaze set on Kimberly. She wore a tight, floor length black dress with a slit up her left thigh. Quite the opposite of the flowing pink dress she wore when she first entered the Mitchell estate ten years prior.

Men watched as she laughed at something her husband had said. Her dirty blonde hair was up in a classy bun, a few strands fallen down over her face. She didn't pay attention to any of the stares. Only one. The one who stared at her back. She didn't need to look at him to know who was causing her heart beat to race.

Her father had already wondered off to say hello to a few of his old work friends, while her husband and a little someone stood in front of her. "Can you go get me a drink? I need to catch up with some people." She asked sweetly.

Cole smiled. "Of course." He leaned in for a quick kiss. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's go get mummy a drink."

She turned to connect her eyes with a lingering gaze. Him. He was there. Although ten years had passed it was as if he hadn't aged a day. He didn't divert his gaze for a single second. As powerful as ever. The last time she had seen the man was seven years ago, and even then she hadn't said very much.

It was Florence's funeral. Kimberly was a mess, continuously crying after giving a speech on how she took her in as a daughter. Even after she left the Mitchell's hime Florence would visit Kimberly four times a week at her home. She never for a single second blamed Kimberly for her decision. She understood. Robert was double her age. However depressing it sounded, he would die long before her and then she'd be left all alone. It wasn't something you could expect someone to go through. She loved Florence for understanding. The woman always had.