He wants to see you for some reason. How bad could that be? At least you’re not invisible, which is probably the worst fucking feeling in the world.”
Little does she know I pray for a cloak of invisibility on a nightly basis.
So far, my efforts have been pretty damn futile.
“What if I don’t want to leave you? I mean, you just suffered something pretty traumatic. Don’t you want me to hang out here with you so you aren’t alone?”
Do I trust that she’ll be safe here on her own?
I sure as hell know she’s safer here by herself than wherever her bastard father is slithering around like the low-life snake that he is. Luckily, that’s away from here, at least for the moment.
I can always go to my dad’s office and come right back. The security booth is staffed and there are housekeepers floating around as always. I didn’t see Rolland on the way in, but he must be here, too, unless he’s driving the asshole somewhere.
“Listen, I am rattled as anything, Xan. But I have to stand on my own two feet. I won’t use you as a crutch because I’m scared. Yes, I want to find out who the hell that guy is and what he wants with me, but I seriously doubt he’s going to scale the walls of this place and ring the doorbell looking for me.” She takes a deep breath. “Besides, maybe you’re right. Maybe he said that stuff to scare me, using me to get to my dad. It kind of makes sense, but would work only if he cared about my well-being which…” She rolls her eyes. “We both know he doesn’t.”
“Char, he’s the last person I’d ever defend but I know when push comes to shove, he knows what’s important in his life.”
Charlotte slides a hand down the side of my face. “Oh, Xander. Where the hell did that come from? I mean, I know you’re a bullshitter, but that? You deserve an Academy Award for not bursting into laughter when those words came out of your mouth.”
I let out a snort. “There’s a tiny part of me that wants to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“He doesn’t deserve it,” she snips.
“No, he definitely doesn’t deserve you,” I say in a soft voice, my lips grazing hers. I wrap my arms around her, slipping my tongue into her mouth, drinking her in with a deep, aching need that has commanded me since the second she set foot back into my life.
“I love you,” I whisper against her mouth.
“I love you, too.” She pulls away a bit, gripping my t-shirt. “Now go and get back here so you can do that again, do you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” I salute and slide off of her bed.
“Maybe when you come back you’ll be showered,” she says with a little twinkle in her eye.
“Maybe when I come back we can shower together,” I say with a shrug. “You know, just a suggestion. To save water and whatnot.”
I pull The Judge into the parking lot at my father’s office building on the other side of Ridgeview about half an hour later. Once I had a taste of Charlotte, I couldn’t let her go right away. There might’ve been some more kissing, some more touching, some more flicking—
Fuck. I want to be back in Charlotte’s bedroom with my face between her legs right now, not feeling as if I’m on death row being escorted to the electric chair.
I get out of the car and trudge up to my father’s office on the third floor. I never take the elevator, just the stairs. I have a fear of being in confined spaces, so I’d much prefer to be in control of my surroundings.
Ironic, considering my surroundings are usually out of my control in most situations.
I guess that’s why I always take the stairs.
I’ll always have the stairs.
I pull at the hem of my t-shirt, trying to smooth out the wrinkles before I see my father, but it doesn’t matter what I look like right now. He didn’t bring me here to judge my outfit. He brought me here to rail on my ass for not upholding my end of the bargain, that bargain being I take care of family responsibilities and he doesn’t have me terminated.
Maybe that’s a little dramatic, but the long and short of it is that I didn’t do my job and there will be consequences.