“You don’t know what you’re saying. I always used protection.”
Jack had never suspected that his fiancée carried a child, and as he tied the loose ends, he turned white as a ghost. The father was somebody else.
“Who are you trying to protect, Jack?”
He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued glaring my way.
“Don’t ever come back here,” he said, but his mind had drifted someplace else. “You are not my lawyer anymore.”
He slammed the door after finally having said something truthful. I was not his lawyer anymore. And because of that, I had no remorse for anonymously forwarding Leon Holden the papers Philip had brought me plus a personal note that informed him that Jack was not the father.
Most certainly, Holden was going to recognize my writing. In court, though, he could claim the papers had landed on his doorstep, and that he had no knowledge of who sent them, so the judge couldn’t reject them on the grounds that the prosecution obtained the evidence unlawfully or colluded with the defendant’s former lawyer.
I smiled to myself and returned home, where I was sure I had some explaining to do.
Chapter 36
Marcus
I knew Charlotte was planning something the moment she left Kai’s shop, but I never suspected that something would be a journey into the wolf’s lair. Again.
I spun the phone between my fingers then tracked her location for the twentieth time in less than half an hour, and for the twentieth time, I growled under my breath and clenched my jaw.
After Kai and I left Brayden, who had finally shown glimpses of his old self, I drove straight to Charlotte’s apartment to find it completely empty as was the parking lot. Trying not to overreact, I had driven to the firm then to her sister, but nobody had seen Charlotte since the night of the gala. So I finally gave in to paranoid instincts and just tracked her phone to find that she was carelessly roaming the streets of the capital.
I had nearly boarded the next flight to D.C., but twenty minutes after the initial tracking of her location, she went dark. I assumed she was on a plane back home, so I forced myself to breathe, calm down, and wait. One hour later, I was leaning against my car, with my eyes narrowed and my arms crossed over my chest, watching Charlotte walking absentmindedly to her car.
“Marcus,” she breathed when she spotted me.
Surprise flickered on her face, then it was immediately replaced by such a sweet look of bashfulness that I almost forgave her for making me worry. Almost.
I didn’t ask where she had been, and to her credit, she didn’t even try to lie or fake innocence. She walked to me with big, repentant eyes and pressed a kiss to my closed mouth.
“Don’t be upset with me. Philip showed me evidence that Jennifer was pregnant prior to her death. I only wanted to confirm if Jack knew or not. Nothing happened to me. Plus, I had the revolver with me.”
Charlotte gifted me with a shy grin that still managed to be mischievous, then she locked her hands behind my neck and bent for another quick kiss.
“Get in,” I said, stepping to the side and holding the passenger door open.
She cast a hesitant glance at her car, parked precisely next to mine, but I shook my head and pointed to the Jaguar, urging her to get in.
“Give me your keys,” I ordered once she climbed in and fastened her seatbelt.
Charlotte frowned but didn’t protest. After I hid the key above the rear passenger wheel, I returned to my car, turned on the ignition, and put the car in motion while completely ignoring her.
“Kai will drive your car home,” I said eventually then resumed driving, faster than Charlotte favored but much slower than I needed to.
“Are we going to talk about this?” she murmured. In the charged silence, her voice sounded uncommonly loud and trembling.
“No need.”
“Marcus, please, you have to understand. There’s not just my safety at stake here.”
My head snapped in her direction, and my cutting stare efficiently quieted her. Her safety might not have been the only one at stake, but it was the only one that mattered to me.
I drove to the forest house in relative silence after that. I parked in the clearing behind the house, then moving somewhat unsteadily, I walked over to Charlotte’s side to help her out. She said nothing as we strolled to the back porch, but her small hand slipped into mine and clasped it tightly.
It was pleasant outside, and the pond looked especially inviting today, but I went straight inside, and Charlotte followed. When I stopped in the middle of the room and let out the breath I had been holding, she circled my waist from behind with her supple arms and kissed my back.
“You are off the case now,” I burst and whirled around. “I thought this was what you wanted from the beginning.”
She had the grace to flush and look just the tiniest bit contrite, then her features hardened, and she regarded me with a harsh look that was equally determined and stubborn.
“Yes, but it’s too late to choose the easy way out,” Charlotte cried and shoved a hand through her brown locks. “I know too much to simply be able to walk away. I cannot let a murderer walk free, and I cannot allow an innocent woman to spend the rest of her life fearing for her safety. If you don’t know this about me by now, maybe you don’t know me at all.”
Lifting her chin and clasping her hips, Charlotte took a step back and watched me head-on. It astonished me how she had quietly permitted her father to control her life when she had no problem confronting me and driving me insane in the process.
“All I want is for you to stay safe,” I said through clenched teeth. “I am trying to protect you, and if you don’t know the lengths I am willing to go to, maybe you don’t know me at all, sugar.”
Charlotte flinched, and her mouth parted enough to allow the tip of her tongue to glide over her rosy bottom lip. I followed the motion with narrowed, hungry eyes, and Charlotte bit her teeth into the plump flesh, making me groan. Her exceptional appeal, however, was not going to deter me.
I strode forward, caught her by the hips, and before she realized what was happening, I slung her over my shoulder and carried her upstairs to the bedroom.
“Next time you are off playing Sherlock on your own, remember that naughty girls get caught and punished, Charlotte.”
The air wheezed from her sweet, enticing lips as I tossed her on the bed, and my own breath came out spasmodically.
She had scared me enough. And the result wasn’t going to be pleasant.
There were no concessions I was willing to make and no lines so unimaginable as to not cross to ensure her wellbeing. Charlotte inhaled harshly and fidgeted under my stare then attempted to stand.
I blanketed her with my body and pushed her down against the mattress, pillaging her mouth without delicacy. The notion of losing her made me reckless and in desperate need of her. I tore at her blouse, sending the first three buttons scattering on the ground, then dived in to taste the creamy flesh I had just exposed.
Charlotte threw her head back, offering her body instinctively and clutching my shoulders as if I were her anchor. Licking between her breasts, I lingered close to one puckering areola then detoured back to her hot, delicious mouth. She whimpered and squirmed under my body, pressing her breasts against my chest, frenzied to appease the ache throbbing in their peaks.
“I want you to understand me,” she pleaded, hooking her fingers around my collar and moaning when I unbuckled my belt and pulled it out.
“I do,” I muttered and returned to her arms. Understanding, however, didn’t equal agreeing with her methods.
“I’m not being stubborn,” she went on between moans of pleasure. “I’m following the right lead. My gut knows it, I know it, and I think you know it too. I am part of this case now whether I want it or not, and I need to see it through. I’m not doing it to defy you. Please just listen—”
Desire grew so fierce that it muddled Charlotte’s thoughts. I felt no remorse for t
aking advantage of the confusion it created and laced my belt around her wrists. When she realized I had her hands tied to the bedpost, her eyes glinted sexily, then realization finally dawned on her.
“Marcus, what—what are you doing?” Charlotte demanded once I climbed off the bed. She looked properly horrified and outraged.
“You are making me lose my mind,” I told her calmly. “But I knew you could do that from the start, so I can’t quite blame you.”
I bent to kiss her again with a possessiveness that bordered on aggression, but the pliable Charlotte, wrecked by passion, was completely gone now. She glared and seethed and basically looked gorgeously safe.
“Marcus, don’t turn this into something sexual,” she demanded, struggling against the bindings. The leather belt was soft but firm, and while the little snare wasn’t going to loosen, it wouldn’t damage her sensitive skin either.
“You weren’t complaining a second ago,” I teased and turned to the mirrored wall to put order in my completely rumpled appearance. “But no, I am not turning it into something sexual. I’m making sure you stay put while I go to work.”
“Work?” she shrieked and kept on fighting against the restraints. “It’s Sunday.”
“Sugar, you know better than anyone that work doesn’t stop just because it’s Sunday. Plus, I have to catch up on the things I should have done while chasing a certain someone.”
Once satisfied that I looked decent enough to walk out the door, I winked at her and headed for the stairs, enjoying the annoyed sounds she was making.
“You are not going to leave me here, are you?”
“You left me no choice,” I said glumly then grinned shamelessly at the sight of her bound and furious little body. “Use the time to take a nap. You look—restless.”
“Argh, Marcus?” Charlotte growled, a sound so primal and yet so sexy that it elicited torturous awareness in my whole body. “What if I need to use the bathroom?”
“Make sure you don’t stain the sheets, darling.”
“MARCUS,” she yelled and spit threats and promises of retaliation probably long after I left the house.
THE DELICIOUS SMELL of freshly baked brownies wafted all the way to the back porch, and so did Kai’s enthusiastic ramblings and Charlotte’s reserved but genuine chuckles.
Half an hour after I left Charlotte fuming and shrieking, I called Kai to retrieve her car from the airport and drive it to the forest house. That he stuck around to save the damsel in distress or babysit her in my absence was no surprise to me. It was a little surprising though that, after the way they met, Charlotte had let her guard down enough to honestly enjoy Kai’s company.
“I’m just in time for dessert,” I muttered as I stopped in the entryway. “Wonderful.”
Kai seldom cooked, or baked for that matter, but a few years back, when he had an affair with a baker from Toulouse, between extended and steamy sessions of coupling, she had taught him the secrets of baking. Truth be told, he hadn’t been a sensational pupil, but he had managed to memorize a few recipes he still used to charm women when it suited him.
“Look who deigns to make an appearance,” Kai said with a smirk.
Charlotte stiffened then hissed under her breath, and eventually, looking up from the strawberries she was cutting into tiny pieces, she smashed the knife against the marble counter and lifted her chocolate stare to pin me with the most fabulous of glares.
“This should be fun,” I muttered and walked over to her.
Following my movements with her brows still narrowed and her delightful lips pressed tautly, Charlotte resumed cutting the fruits and chucking them with unrequired force into a bowl.
“It definitely will,” Kai laughed and leaned back against the cupboards to enjoy the show.
I wrapped my arms around Charlotte’s waist and intentionally pressed my body into hers, garnering a quiet but exquisite moan that made my skin tingle and my hands itch to explore her body. Then, kissing her neck, her jaw, and finally her cheek, I bent forward, grabbing a strawberry and popping it in my mouth, letting its juice trickle from the corner of my lips.
Charlotte was far from ignoring me. She stealthily eyed the juice trailing all the way to my chin, and her hands stopped working as she drew in a sharp breath. Clenching her jaw stubbornly, she licked her lips then bit down hard enough to remind herself that she should stay mad at me.
“I can think of a much better way to use those enticing lips of yours,” I whispered and freed her bottom lip from the brutish assault of her teeth.
Inching my chin closer, I waited for her to lick clean the mess I had made. She tipped her head back and regarded me standoffishly before her features lightened up into an unconsciously seductive smile. I responded in kind, feeling something deep inside me quiver in anticipation, but as soon as the back of my finger stroked her cheek, the smile faded into a scowl.
Arching a challenging brow, Charlotte shoved a paper towel into my hands then moved to the sink where Kai intercepted her and washed the few dishes that had gathered.
“Messy little boy,” she threw over her shoulder, inflicting insult to the words but only managing to make me laugh.
“I might be messy,” I said, pulling her back in my arms and pressing my mouth to her ear. “But we both know there’s nothing boyish about me, sugar.”
Kai pressed a fist to his mouth to cover his grin then turned to the oven and pulled out a tray of hot, decadent brownies. The air was rich with the aroma of chocolate and rum, but it was Charlotte’s fragrance that filled my nostrils and made me crave a sample.
“Tantrum,” I mouthed her words back at her and gave her a smug look.
“This should be about perfect,” Kai declared, bowing close to the pan and sniffing greedily.
His phone rang, and by the way his eyes softened when he checked the display, I knew it was The Fox. Wiping his hands on a towel, he hurried out onto the porch and answered with a smile that turned from dumb to dumber.
“And about gone by the time you get back,” I called after him and shoved a piece in my mouth. It seared my tongue, and I hardly tasted it before I swallowed, but I still knew that it was phenomenal.
Charlotte sneaked closer, leaning her hip against the counter, and watched me with a calculated look that assessed and schemed and promised all kinds of incredible torment.
“I am so nice that I am going to forgive you,” she said, sounding so proud of her generosity.
This time, I arched a challenging brow.
“Strangely, on this occasion, I’m not looking for forgiveness,” I replied.
She groaned low in her throat, and the little smile slipped from her face before she recovered and ignored my total lack of remorse.
“But there will come a time,” she continued like I had never stopped her. “When you least expect it, and you’ll find yourself tied to a post with the greatest erection of your life and an even greater disappointment that nobody will take care of it.”
“Does this mean that I aroused you? Because I can get rid of Kai, and we can definitely continue from where we left off earlier.”
She shook her head slowly, regaling me with a sassy grin that was likely to earn her a new sort of punishment if she kept teasing without delivering.
“It means that I intend to even the score, little boy.”
Standing on her tiptoes, Charlotte smacked my lips and patted my cheek cockily then left me in the middle of the room dreaming about the day she would have her revenge.
“Naughty. I like that.”
CHARLOTTE DIDN’T HOLD grudges, and that was another reason why she had crept into my heart so quickly and so easily. When I woke up, she was already in the shower. I slipped in behind her and lavished the smooth expanse of her back. My chest slid across her back, creating a slow friction that made my blood simmer with need.
Turning her around to devour her mouth, I breathed her in. She smelled fresh and without a doubt mine, with my shower gel coating her silhouette in tiny
white bubbles and my fragrance not quite eradicated from her skin.
She and I were two pieces of a puzzle that against all odds, fit to perfection. It didn’t matter if we fought or if Fate tried to separate us. Ultimately, we ended up on the same side.
“Good morning, little boy,” she chuckled, but I knew she wasn’t upset with me anymore.
“I thought we settled the little boy matter last night,” I muttered against her lips.
“We did,” she moaned and let her head roll back against my chest.
The peaceful, lazy smile that danced on her face brought to mind the ravished look I had put in her eyes the previous night and her soft, lithe body thrashing in my arms, giving as much as it received.
I brushed quick, gentle kisses from her forehead to her chin, until she eventually opened her eyes and granted me that smile of hers that was sweet, intimate, and reserved especially for me.
“I know it might not be the proper time, but—” I trailed off, struggling to find the perfect words, but in the end, I just let out the question in one relieved breath. “Would you like to meet my mom?”
Charlotte became very still, and if I hadn’t been so close that I could hear her breathing, I would have thought her lungs had ceased working altogether. She splashed her hands on my chest before a smile bright as the sun broke on her face, and she rose on tiptoes to softly kiss my lips.
“I’d love to,” she whispered with earnest joy and enthusiasm.
Between good-humored teasing and furtive kisses, we finished showering and dressing. We skipped breakfast and left early. Charlotte joined me in the car with a delicate smile. I kissed the knuckles of her left hand, winked, then turned on the ignition and drove to The Hamptons.
I didn’t race, for a change, and Charlotte gradually relaxed in her seat, except for when she thought I wasn’t paying her attention, and she wrung her hands in her lap and worried her lower lip between her teeth.
“I never got the chance to compliment your new haircut,” I said, breaking the silence.
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