by Ivy Layne
I didn't really want to know what Bruce Hayward had planned for me. Still, keeping him talking was a better option than whatever was going to happen when he was done.
"I haven't decided," he said. "I was thinking about killing you."
"Any chance I can talk you out of that?" I said.
Hayward laughed, high-pitched and grating, the gun in his hand wobbling back and forth as his body shook with amusement.
"My wife left me today, had me served with divorce papers. My kids won't speak to me. My lawyer says I'm going to jail for a long time. What does it matter if I kill you? You think a few more years is anything on top of what I'm looking at?"
"I think murder one is an entirely different thing than a few counts of white-collar crime."
Another unhinged fit of laughter. "It's not a few counts of white-collar crime. That's what you uncovered. Once the FBI started digging—"
"Look, I'm sorry," I lied. "I didn't realize it would be this bad. If there's anything I can do—"
"Shut the fuck up, you stupid little bitch. You and your family, you think you run the goddamned world. Think you're better than everyone else. So I was bending the law here and there—everyone does it. Everyone except you and your perfect fucking brother.
"But you had to turn me in, do the right thing, and ruin my fucking life. And now you think I'm gonna buy your fake offer to help me out? Fuck that. When I'm done with you, you and your brother will never forget what you did to me."
That gun swinging back and forth was not good. Hayward was going to shoot me. Either on purpose, or because he lost his temper, or maybe his finger would slip.
It didn't matter.
The shot was coming unless I could figure out a way to escape him. Or call for help. My headphones had been yanked out of my ears when he grabbed my hair, but my phone was still in my back pocket, pinned beneath me. And on my phone was the security app Evers had installed.
There was no way I could pull the phone out and call for help, but if I could turn it on, I might be able to press the app and hit the built-in panic button.
It was a long shot, but it was all I had.
Carefully, I slid one hand beneath me and tugged out the phone, leaving it hidden behind my back.
Hayward started ranting about his son taking over his company, calling him an ungrateful bastard.
Good. The longer he raved about his problems, the more time I had to get myself out of this.
My eyes flicking between Hayward's rage-filled face and his gun, I pressed the Home button on my phone, leaving my thumb in place so that my fingerprint could unlock the screen.
It was impossible to tell if it worked without looking. Hoping with everything I had that the phone was unlocked, I pictured the screen in my mind. Evers had put the security app in the center of the bottom row, just to the right.
Feeling my way, I tapped where I thought the app would be. If it had opened, the panic button would be dead center.
The trick was, the panic button in the app needed my fingerprint to activate, a safeguard against calling for help when I just wanted to set the alarm. I tapped the button in the middle of the screen, then pressed my thumb to the Home button again.
If it worked, the phone would vibrate twice.
Nothing.
Either I'd never turned the phone on, or I'd hit the wrong app, or it hadn't read my thumbprint.
There was no way to tell.
Hayward was starting to run out of steam, now bitching about his lying, cheating wife and the lawyer who was sucking them dry.
Any minute, he'd be done with talking. He'd be ready to act.
I clicked the button on the side of the phone to put it to sleep and started the process again.
A click to the home button.
My thumb pressed again for the fingerprint scan.
My heart raced in my chest. Sweat pooled in my armpits and ran down my spine.
I was running out of time.
Again, I pictured the home screen in my mind and tapped where I knew the security app had to be.
One more tap for that red circle that was the panic button and one more press of my thumb.
Nothing.
I squeezed my eyes shut to fight back the rising panic and tried again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
LUCAS
The lights were on at Charlie's house when I pulled in my driveway, home a day later than I'd expected. I'd been driving for hours and I smelled like stale coffee and fast food.
I hadn't figured out what I was going to say to her.
Like the coward I was, I jumped in the shower to delay just a little bit longer. I needed to see her, but I was terrified I'd end up making everything worse.
The shower didn't buy me much time. I changed, rubbed my hair with a towel, and I was ready to go, still with no idea what to say.
I'd have to figure it out when I got there. Maybe I was going to fuck it up again. I didn't have pretty words or a decent explanation for why I'd been such an asshole.
All I knew was that I couldn't wait any longer to see her. If she felt half as miserable as I did, I might have a chance.
I thought about calling first, but she probably wouldn't answer. I wouldn't if I were her.
Groveling was best done in person, anyway. Fully prepared for her to slam the door in my face, I jogged up her front steps and raised my hand to knock.
From the inside, I heard a voice, a man, yelling. And the beep from Charlie's phone. The proximity alarm. If I could hear her phone through the door, she had to be close.
What the fuck was going on?
I could make out the voice from the other side of the door, but if that was just one of her brothers and they were in the middle of an argument, she would've checked the proximity alert.
Through the door, I heard, "What the fuck is that?"
"It's nothing," Charlie said, her voice thin and strained.
Fuck. I stepped back far enough to clear the sensors, then forward again, triggering them. Another beep from inside the house. I wanted them both distracted while I figured out what was going on.
Pulling out my own phone, I pulled up the cameras at Charlie's house. What I saw sent a bolt of pure terror down my spine.
Bruce Hayward loomed over Charlie, who lay prone on the floor as if he'd thrown her there, a gun in his hand. He was reaching for her. It looked like he was demanding she hand over her phone.
Charlie fumbled with it, and a second later, my own phone lit up. She'd managed to hit the panic button in the alarm system app.
Smart girl.
Now I just had to get in there and save her ass before that fucking maniac shot her.
There was no time for subtlety. I could tell by the way he was waving that gun around that Hayward was not in control of the situation.
I didn't need to give him time to do something crazy. From the look in his eyes, he was already overflowing with crazy.
I still had the key to Charlie's locks. As quietly as I could, I turned the deadbolt on the front door and swung it open.
Charlie's eyes went wide when she saw me. Hayward swung around, bringing his gun up to my head.
"Move," I shouted at Charlie.
After a second's hesitation, she rolled to the side and didn't stop until she was clear of the front hall. It would've been better if she'd taken off for the kitchen and the back door, but for a civilian, she'd done her best.
I dove low as Hayward swung the gun around, going for his knees. He fired just as I hit him. The bullet buried itself in the plaster above my head, showering specs of white over the hardwood floor.
He fired again when he landed on his back, burying another bullet in the ceiling.
Charlie was going to be pissed.
Hayward was not a fighter. Once I had him down, he went limp and started whining about assault and his lawyer.
I grabbed his gun and pulled it from his hand, flicking the safety on. I slid it across the floor into the empty dining room,
well out of reach.
"You okay, Charlie?" I called out. "Did he hurt you?"
"I'm all right," she said, her voice shaky. I looked up to see her getting to her feet. "I tried to hit the panic button, but I couldn't get it—"
The adrenaline was starting to get to her. With Hayward unsecured, I needed her focused. I could hold him down all day, but I couldn't help Charlie if I had my attention on Hayward.
"Can you do me a favor, Princess?"
In a cautious tone, she asked, "What is it?"
I slid my key ring across the floor in her direction. "Go next door to my place. The alarm is off. In the top drawer of my dresser, you'll find zip tie restraints. Bring me back three sets so we can get this asshole locked down."
"Be right back."
I may have fucked everything up, but I knew my girl. All she needed was something to focus her energy on and she was ready to go. She still had a crash coming, but she'd push it off long enough to do what needed to be done.
Straddling Hayward's back, his hands held by one of mine, I had him under control. With Charlie occupied, I pulled out my phone and dialed Brennan.
He answered with, "Got the alert, on my way."
I didn't bother to call Sinclair security. I already knew they'd be racing for Charlie.
She was back a few minutes later, four sets of zip ties draped over one hand.
"I brought extra, just in case." She handed them to me, watching as I secured his hands, then his feet. I dragged Hayward back to the base of the stairs and used the extra zip ties to secure his hands to the thick banister behind him. He wasn't going anywhere.
I wished I'd had a gag in that drawer. He was still mumbling and whining under his breath. Charlie stood in front of him, looking down, her hands on her hips, and opened her mouth to speak.
He glared at her. She shook her head.
"You're not worth it."
She was right. He wasn't. He'd been in deep shit, and with what he'd just pulled, it had gotten immeasurably worse. Every inch of Charlie's house was under surveillance.
No one was watching the cameras live, but they were recording around-the-clock and every second of his attack on Charlie was now on the record in high-definition.
We only had a few minutes before the Sinclair team and Brennan showed up. Closing my hand around Charlie's upper arm, I tugged her gently down the hall.
"He's not going anywhere," I said. She let me lead her to the kitchen, squinting a little when I flicked on the overhead lights. "It looks good in here."
It did, but that's not what I needed to say.
Facing down a guy with a gun—not remotely scary.
Coming clean with Charlie—fucking terrifying.
Time to stop stalling and lay it out.
"I fucked up," I said, meeting her blue eyes directly. I wasn't surprised to see suspicion there. I deserved it. "I broke things off because I'm in love with you."
"What?" She took a step back and threw her arms out to the sides. "What?" She said again, her voice rising, bordering on hysterical.
I sucked in a fortifying breath and said again, "I'm in love with you. And I decided I would rather give you up than run the risk of having you regret being with me."
Charlie crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me, her eyes narrowed on mine. She said nothing for an endless minute.
I had to force myself to breathe.
Finally, she tilted her head to the side and said, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You're not in love with me. If you were in love with me, you'd trust me to know my own mind. Why would I ever regret being with you?"
Fucking Aiden and Evers were right.
"I do trust you. I fucked up. It doesn't mean I don't love you. It just means I was an idiot."
"So?"
She wasn't going to make this easy on me.
Not that I deserved it.
"I'm sorry. We both know if we try to make something out of this, people are going to talk. I was trying to spare you from that—"
She opened her mouth to speak and I put my hand up to stop her. Surprised, her mouth snapped shut and she glared at me.
"I was wrong. You know what we'd be getting into, and you know what you'll have to deal with. If you're willing to put up with it, that's your choice. I shouldn't have taken it away from you, and I'm sorry."
"I can't stop people from talking, Lucas. If you're worried about what people are going to say, there's nothing I can do about that," she said, sounding so tired I wanted to ditch this whole fucked up apology and pull her into my arms.
That wasn't what she needed. She needed to understand where I stood.
"I don't give a shit what those people say about me, Charlie. I wasn't trying to protect myself. I was trying to protect you."
"You can't," she said quietly. "People will gossip, Lucas. It's human nature. They gossip about us most of all because there's scandal and money and people love that. I've spent my entire life surrounded by it—people who pretend to be my best friend and tear me down the second my back is turned. I don't care about them either. I'm not afraid of gossip. I'm afraid of giving my heart to a man who doesn't believe in me, who doesn't think I'm strong enough to love him the way he deserves."
"Charlie," I said, searching for the right words, the words that would convince her that I knew I'd been wrong and I wanted to start again. "That's what made me realize I'd fucked everything up. I love you because you're strong and smart. And then I didn't treat you like you were strong and smart. I get that now."
I shoved my hands in my pockets and studied her, searching for some sign she was softening. "If you give me another chance, I promise you, I won't ever underestimate you again, and I'll never let you down."
The front door slammed open and Evers stepped through, followed by Cooper. Brennan was right behind them. Goddammit.
They had the worst fucking timing.
Charlie stepped back and turned to face them. She was going to leave me hanging.
Pretending that the rest of my life didn't depend on her answer, I tried to focus on the problem at hand. Taking out my phone, I pulled up the video feed from the front hall of Charlie's house, selected the section that started when Hayward stepped into view, and emailed it to Brennan, saying,
"If you take a quick look at what I just sent you, I think you'll see enough to bring him in. Breaking and entering, assault and battery. It's a long list."
"Did he hurt you?" Brennan asked Charlie, examining her with his sharp gaze. She shook her head.
"Not really. I tried to hit the panic button but—"
The door swung open again and Aiden stepped into the room, his face pale and his jaw set. When his eyes landed on Charlie, they softened in relief.
He was at her side a second later, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing tight. To Brennan, he said, "I'm taking her home. If you need anything from her, you can get it tomorrow."
"Aiden, I'm okay," she said. Aiden was having none of it.
Brennan said, "I've got plenty to keep me busy until Charlie wants to give me her statement. Bring her by tomorrow."
The last part he directed at me. I nodded. Charlie didn't object, which I took as a good sign, though Aiden, Cooper, and Evers all narrowed their eyes at me.
I ignored them.
Aiden whisked Charlie out of the house and to his car. I could hear her saying that she had to at least get her things, but he must have bullied her into going with him, because the next thing I knew, the engine rumbled to life and his car pulled out of the driveway.
Evers gave me a long look and said, "You fixing that?" I knew he meant Charlie.
"Working on it. I was making progress before you three interrupted."
Evers shrugged, unrepentant. Cooper said, "You take a look at the job proposal?"
I had. The salary was competitive, and the position they outlined would be an intriguing challenge. I missed working on a team, and Sinclair was the best.
"I'll call you tomorr
ow to set up a time to come in and go over the details, but it looks good."
Cooper grinned and slapped me on the back twice before passing me on his way to the door. "Lock up on your way out."
"Got it," I said, resigned.
Charlie was out of reach for the moment, but this wasn't done. I'd let her brother fuss over her for a night, but I'd be at Winters House first thing in the morning.
We had a future to settle and I wasn't giving up until Charlie agreed to be mine.
For the first time in over a week, I slept well. Charlie hadn't forgiven me, but she would.
I loved her. And she loved me.
I just had to get her to admit it.
I woke up early, as usual, and went for a run to kill some time before hitting Charlie's house next door to pick up the essentials she'd need.
The first hurdle was the imposing outer gate at the Winters House property. The other times I'd visited, the first gate had already been open in expectation of our arrival.
This time, I had to press the button on the intercom to call the house. I wasn't expecting Aiden to answer.
"Jackson. What are you doing here? Charlie's been through enough."
"I have her things," I said. "You rushed her out of her house so fast last night, you didn't give her a chance to get what she needed."
"You going to drop it off? Or do you want to talk to her?"
"I want to talk to her, Aiden. If it helps, I already apologized for fucking things up. I'm in love with her, and I should've trusted her to make her own decisions."
"You told her that?" Aiden sounded like he might be softening. I pressed my advantage.
"I did."
"And what did she say? How do I know she wants to see you?"
"I don't know if she wants to see me. You guys showed up in the middle of the conversation. Look, if she wants to tell me to fuck off, fine. But I want to hear it from her. If she wants more time to think, that's fine too."
Aiden didn't say anything, but the heavy metal gate swung open, admitting me to the Winters estate.
Aiden met me at the door, his chilly expression belied by a speculative look in his eyes.
He took the backpack I held in my hands and said, "I'll give this to Charlie. You can wait in there."