stop me from leaving her office. “I think we were making really good progress.”
My eyes sting as I yank open the door. “I have to go,” I repeat.
Running out into the parking lot, I collapse over a nearby trash can.
Where is he? I need him! He said he’d come!
Standing like an idiot in the middle of the packed parking lot, I take a few deep breaths to keep the gagging in check.
Everything starts crashing back into my mind, making it hard for me to breathe. Hyperventilating, the crash assaults my mind over and over. The hot pavement. The feeling of relief when I see the cop walking toward me. The terror that commands me when I realize that it’s Scarface. His words. Those terrible, horrible, disgusting words. Words that meant so many things in my life were a lie.
Was Andrew murdered?
How could that even be possible?
Who would have wanted to snuff out such a bright light?
He was innocent.
I’m innocent.
Why would someone want to attack me?
What did I ever do to deserve this?
I feel dizzy. My knees wobble, damn near ready to give out. I sink down onto the curb trying to catch my breath.
Finally, Xander’s ringtone starts blasting.
“Xander?” I whimper.
“I’m turning down the street now, babe.”
“Okay,” I say with a shuddering breath.
No matter what it is, Xander is the one whom I run to.
After everything, he is and will always be the one I want to play knight in shining armor to my damsel in distress.
It doesn’t take long for Xander’s Pontiac GTO Judge to barrel into the parking lot.
I yank open the passenger’s side door and dive into the seat after Xander moves his gym bag for me.
Xander is huffing, covered in sweat.
“What’s going on?” he asks, putting the car into park.
“I don’t know,” I stammer. “I don’t know what to make of any of this.”
“Any of what?” His hand lands on mine as our eyes meet.
I furrow my brow, forcing myself to actually spit the words out. “There are no accidents, Charlotte. Your dead brother knows that better than anyone.”
“What?” Xander’s face twists, confusion shadowing his features.
My eyes grow wide as I stare at the guy who has broken my heart over and over...he’s still the guy I love more than anything. My eyes dart away, looking out the windshield at a squirrel running along a tree limb. Damn. I wish I was that squirrel, then none of this shit would be happening. I wish I had never remembered any of this crap. It’s all too much. Too much weight, too much sorrow, too much pain.
“Char, what did you just say?” Xander’s hand grips around my wrist as he shakes my arm to make me look at him again.
“The man with the scar on his face, the one who was next to my car at the beach, the one who attacked me outside of Green Cactus! Fuck, Xander! I remember him now. He was there, at the accident scene! I was lying on the pavement, barely conscious, but I was awake enough to see him come up to me wearing a policeman’s uniform. He leaned over me and said those words.” Tears sprung to my eyes. “He meant Andrew was murdered, Xan,” I whisper. “Someone killed my brother and it could have been him!”
I couldn’t believe the words that were spilling out of my mouth. How could this be happening? Why was any of this happening? How could my brother have been a target for Scarface?
Thoughts pop between my ears like bullets and my temples throb from the unexpected pressure.
Xander drops my hand, running it over his as he lets out a low growl.
“He was there?” he rumbles, knotting his fingers in his short, disheveled hair. “He spoke to you?”
“It was-s him. I’d know his-s ugly face anywhere,” I sob as my head falls into my hands.
Xander starts the car again. “I love you, Char. And if it is the last thing I do on this planet, I am going to find that sonofabitch and make him pay for ever laying a finger on you.”
“What does that mean?” I spit out between sniffles. What does any of it mean? Does he really love me? Is it even possible for an Iazetti to truly love someone? Is he just telling me these things to calm me down?
No. It can’t be. Xander wouldn’t keep coming back, keep trying to do the right thing, keep trying to do better if he didn’t actually love me.