“Cheers!”
I couldn’t let him off the hook though. This whole thing with him and Shay had become a top-secret mystery operation. Covert Ops. He wouldn’t spill on his own so now was the moment to guilt him into the details. I spilled my big news, he could at least throw me a bone.
“So, you and Shay, huh?”
“Yeah, Shay and I... I guess it just kind of happened. We’re taking things slow, neither of us were looking for anything serious and then this intense relationship just dropped into our laps thanks to you and Charlie.”
He softened when he spoke about Shay. There was something here I hadn’t seen before with his previous girlfriends but I wasn’t about to push him. He gave me my room with Charlie and I would do the same.
“So is it serious...” I questioned while sipping my coffee, feigning true interest.
“Let me put it this way, it’s as serious as we can be. She’s busy. Real busy. She is a medical student.” He drifted off into his thoughts. “But, I have so much on my plate with work anyway. So, we just work. She’s going to move out of the penthouse and in with me this week. ”
“I’m happy for you bro.” I laughed and gave him a slap on the shoulder, something I always did with my little brothers. Drew may not have been my brother, but he was the closest thing I had here in Boston. If my girl’s sister would make him a happy man, I’d be ecstatic.
Our business meeting was coming to a close when my phone rang and rang and rang some more. I ignored the first call, but when it went off a second time I had to look down at the caller ID to see who was on the other end trying to get a hold of me.
That is when I noticed Charlotte’s number and excused myself to answer the call. She never would bother me during a meeting. I knew this had to be important.
“Babe?”
“Bentley! Someone! The car! My Car! The police! Come now!”
“Slow down Charlie, tell me what’s going on.”
My mind started to race. It’s been far too quiet since someone destroyed my apartment. My stomach churned into knots as I heard her frantic voice on the other end of the line.
“My car, someone set my car on fire. Inside the parking garage downstairs. The fire department just put it out. Bentley, I need you here.”
“I’m on my way.”
I hung up and ran back to the table where Drew was just finishing up without me. “I gotta run. Someone torched Charlie’s car in the parking garage under the building!”
All I could hear was Drew screaming “WHAT?” He also excused himself from the meeting and jogged behind me. Talk about a meeting ending abruptly!
The five-minute drive back to the penthouse was the longest drive of my life. When I pulled up in front of the building, the parking garage was closed off and there were fire trucks everywhere. I pulled up on the sidewalk in front and ran into the building and towards the elevator. I was desperate to get to Charlie.
“You can’t park there, sir,” the doorman said as I whizzed past him.
“Tow it!” I disappeared into the elevator.
For the first time ever, the elevator car didn’t stop at every damn floor and I found myself on the thirteenth floor running full speed towards the penthouse door.
I burst through to see Charlie sitting on her couch, wrapped in a blanket, visibly shaken while Dr. Borgeo checked her out and a police officer asked her a few questions. With all the excitement Charlie started having cramps and became worried.
His mind flashed to the baby. Was it ok? Was it hurt? Was Charlie okay? Would we need to go to the hospital? There was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her and our baby.
I searched for the officer in charge, and found a measly patrol officer handling things. I interrupted his conversation.
“No, you have to talk to Detective Blackmore. He’s been handling all the arson cases surrounding my girlfriend and me. If you would just call him you would know this isn’t an isolated incident.” I was seeing red, no one would listen to a word I was saying.
“Don’t worry, I’ll call Blackmore right now, as well as Chief Dixwell. This clown won’t have a job by this afternoon.” I barked as I dialed my cell phone.
I kept my eye on Charlie as the doctor took her blood pressure and waved that little wand over her belly searching for the gummy bear’s heartbeat.
“Blackmore, this is Bentley Young. There’s been another fire and this was no accident.” I paused listening to the typical we’ll get down to it bullshit. “Uh huh, that’s what you said last time. Now look what happened. What if my pregnant girlfriend was fucking actually hurt this time?!”
“PREGNANT?!” Shay bellowed from inside the kitchen. “Who’s pregnant? What’s going on here? Someone better start talking soon!”
I heard Charlie talking to Shay. “Calm down. I was going to tell you tonight with the whole family but apparently somebody just spilled the beans. We just found out and it took me a little bit to get comfortable with the idea. Don’t tell Mom and Dad before tonight, please.” Charlie looked like a worried little girl and Shay was beyond excited, scooting giddily over to her best friend and rubbing her belly.
“I won’t tell them, I promise. But I swear to God if you ever keep anything away from me again... It is on.”
The rookie cop made his way out of the apartment and we waited for the detectives.
“Are you okay?” I asked Charlotte while I leaned down to give her a kiss.
“Yes, I’m fine. I just got a little light-headed and crampy with all the excitement so I called Dr. Borgeo and told her what was going on. Better safe than sorry when it comes to our little gummy bear, right?”
She smiled and I could tell from her comment she was finally accepting this pregnancy and actually was happy.
I think my heart grew three sizes bigger just like the Grinch’s.
Blackmore came in for a few minutes quickly leaving to go downstairs and check out the security camera feeds throughout the building. I knew there were a number of them in the parking garage, because I had scanned for them myself the night we pulled back into the parking garage when I wanted to take Charlie in the back seat. Noticing there was a camera about fifteen feet from her parking spot put an end to that idea quick.
The hour he was down there seemed like an eternity. Dr. Borgeo left, giving Charlie a clean bill of health once again and ordering her to stay away from stress. After dinner, I would be taking her on vacation. Between the pregnancy and the added stress of some psycho lighting everything we owned on fire, we both needed to get away.
Detective Blackmore came back to the penthouse with good news. Not only had they caught the entire crime on camera, they’d also recorded a license plate number on the newer-looking white Audi convertible the criminal was driving.
“I don’t know anyone who drives an Audi convertible, I’m not sure I can be of much help,” I said to Blackmore as he jotted some notes down in his little notebook. Charlie rose off the couch and walked around to the kitchen where we both stood.
I could read Charlie’s face like a book and something was wrong. She had a look of horror as the detectives described the criminal’s vehicle.
“I know someone who drives a white Audi convertible. And it’s owned by Landon Williams.”
“The kid from your parents’ party?”
“Yeah. Detective, I had gone on a couple of dates with him and broke it off months ago. He seems to keep popping up all over the place, though. Something is just off about him, I can’t put my finger on exactly what.”
“We’ll look into it and track the plates of that car. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
“I certainly hope so because I can’t deal with this stress,” Charlie added. I couldn’t agree more. If she was carrying our gummy bear, there was no way I was letting anything happen to either of them. Ever.
Chapter 18
The Dinner
(Charlotte)
We walked into my parents’ house for the big family dinner we h
ad planned. I had been craving a home cooked meal from my parents’ cook, Miss Emma. No matter what she made, it was always amazing. I credited my freshman fifteen to her cooking, because I refused to eat on campus at BU.
As we walked in, I could smell her honey-mustard chicken filling the house. My stomach growled. I think she made it because she knew it was my favorite and I was the mastermind behind this family dinner.
“Charlotte darling, can you come with me for a minute before your brothers arrive?” My mother asked, I knew exactly what she wanted but I would humor her. I couldn’t think of a time after my thirteenth birthday that my mother and I actually saw eye-to-eye. We were just two very different people with extremely opposite ideas of life.
My mother wasn’t one for surprises. She wouldn’t beat around the bush either. She wanted to be the first to know whatever news it was that I would be delivering to the family.
As we rounded the corner into her personal study, her body became rigid and she turned to me and snapped in her typically cool tone. “Charlotte, I would like to know what this dinner is about. I will not have you making a fool of me and your father in our own home with whatever game you are playing.”
“Game? Mother, please! You will find out along with everyone else. I’m not a child you can bully anymore.” Ice ran through my veins. The more my mother had pushed me over the past few months, the more I wanted nothing to do with her at all. Unfortunately I knew I would always be stuck with her.
I turned and walked out of the room to rejoin the small party we had waiting in the dining room. I knew if I didn’t get away from her, she would rope me back in with an argument. That was her most popular method of prying whatever she wanted out of us.
Thankfully, when I walked into the dining room all of my brothers were there waiting with my father and Bentley. They were all being so nice to each other, exchanging pleasantries, handshakes and bro-hugs.
I sighed with relief. I wasn’t out of the woods yet, but they were warming up to Bentley. They would need to do it a hell of a lot quicker with the news we were about to drop.
“If everyone would take their seats, we could get started,” my father chimed in. At hearing his baritone voice, everyone made their way to their usual spots at the table. Bottles of wine passed from one hand to the next clockwise around the table. I was dreading it reaching me. I gulped down my water and looked for Cook’s fabulous dinner rolls while I filled my bowl to the brim with salad.
My stomach was churning. This wasn’t morning sickness. They should have really considered renaming that because the term morning sickness was totally false advertising. It was all fucking day sickness. This time, though, the roiling in my gut was all about the nerves.
Bentley reached under the table and rubbed my leg, almost like he knew I needed reassurance until we were fed to the lions. I grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze.
He pushed his chair out and stood. “We called everyone here tonight because we have an announcement, as you probably know already,” he started. I was so off the hook! He was going to spill the big news for me. A cool relief washed over my entire body-- or was that a cold sweat? Whatever it was, I felt a little bit better. I stood up to accompany Bentley and took his hand. I felt incredibly comfortable next to him. I laced our fingers together and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
“Charlotte and I wanted to wait a little bit longer to tell everyone, but we’re too excited not to share the news with everyone. It’s not something we planned, but Charlie is pregnant!”
My mother gasped in shock. It looked like she was going to pass out right there at the table. Her mouth dropped open as she tried to say something but nothing came out. Secretly I wanted to laugh, but restrained myself. Shay and my brothers congratulated Bentley before making their way over to hug me.
“Oh look! My baby sister is all grown up now!” Jon teased as he engulfed me in a huge bear hug. I could feel a small twinge of love in my stomach. No matter what happened, my brothers would always love me unconditionally.
“I recall threatening to cut the dick off of the man responsible, if something like this happened...” Trey joked coming after him with a butter knife from the table.
“GURRRRRRL!” Shay yelled. It was all she could say. She reached around giving me a big hug and a kiss on both cheeks to go along with it. Little did everyone else know, she already knew. Had it truly been a surprise, Shay probably would have been firmly planted on the floor muttering curses.
My father was the last one to come over to me since he already knew everything. We wouldn’t dare let my mother or brothers know that though. A tight hug and a kiss on the cheek said more than any words ever could. I was his baby, all grown up. I could feel a lump in my throat as I tried to choke back my emotions to my father’s acceptance. It was all I needed to know that everything was going to be okay. A handful of tears streamed down my cheek.
My poor mother still sat in the corner in shock. “Mother, it’s okay. Have a drink or something.” Jon laughed in her direction. I walked in her direction to give her a reassuring hug, but you could see her becoming increasingly tense. I froze in place and just then she exploded.
“Charlotte Ann Windsor! How could you do this to me? How could you do this to our family? How could you run our name through the mud again! I forgave you the first time around, but now a bastard child?” She screamed across the room. Her face was red and the vein on her forehead was throbbing.
The tears which had threatened to fall just moments earlier turned into a waterfall. I would never be good enough for my mother and this was just another instance solidifying my suspicions of her opinion. I turned to run but someone jumped to my defense.
“Elizabeth! How dare you call that precious baby a bastard! Don’t you cross that line! Don’t you dare!” My father interrupted her. I had never seen him stand up to her. He must have been hellishly mad. She’d always gotten away with saying whatever hurtful things she wanted-- but not this time.
She stood and slapped both of her palms on the dining room table before she cut him off, “Do NOT defend her irresponsible actions this time. I have forgiven a lot of the shit she has pulled over the years! I stood by her when the cops picked her up for causing a riot at some club when she was pretending to be a musician. I bailed her out of the papers. I cleaned up the mess!” Her arms flailed around as she continued screaming. “This-- THIS is too much! She just met this guy and she was stupid enough to get herself knocked up! It won’t be long before he grows annoyed with her games and walks away! Then what happens to the Windsor name?”
“ENOUGH MOTHER!” Christian stood up. “You will NOT treat her like this. You have always treated her like shit. Get over it! She isn’t fucking perfect. None of us are! YOU INCLUDED!” He looked down on her in cold judgment. It was possible he was more angry than my father. He wasn’t just standing up for me, but for Bentley too.
He glared at my mother. “We know about your skeletons. You aren’t perfect, you just go out of your way to hide it better than Charlie does because you care what the public thinks of you. You don’t care if your oldest son is out with a new girl every night of the week. You couldn’t care less when my engagement failed. You let us all off with free passes, all except Charlie. This is the end of line!”
He stomped over next to me putting his arm around me, “You won’t mistreat her anymore. None of us will stand for it.”
“You know what? Fuck this! I can’t deal with all of this.” I walked out of the house. The only thing I wanted was dinner and I wasn’t even going to get my honey-mustard chicken. I knew my mother was going to blow up like my fifth-grade science project. Her treatment of me was typical. But the way my father and brother stood up for me was like nothing I had ever seen.
Bentley came running after me. As he reached me he grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. “Charlotte, you’re the love of my life. I’m not going anywhere. Don’t listen to what your mother said. She couldn’t be more wrong. You are my eve
rything.”
Smiles washed over both our faces. My mother’s reaction couldn’t take away my happiness, any of our happiness. We were going to have a baby and she simply was going to find herself excluded from it all. For once in my life, I didn’t care about winning acceptance from my mother. It was so freeing! Trey and Christian walked out of the garage door and down the driveway, straight for us. Christian was still pissed, you could tell just by the icy expression on his face. I had only seen him like this once in my life and that was after his ex-fiancé skipped out on him. “Bentley you fucking son of a bitch,” he said as he cocked back to take a swing at him. Bentley moved and Christian fell towards the car parked next to ours.
“CHRISTIAN! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!” I shrieked as he stumbled back up trying to get back towards Bentley.
“She’s my baby sister you bastard! It was bad enough when you took my girl, but now... this! You got my sister pregnant you son of a bitch!”
I froze. Christian’s words had me paralyzed. Took his girl? I felt like Christian’s fist made contact with my stomach, almost knocking the wind out of me with nothing more than accusations across our family driveway. The tears started back up while I watched the man I loved and my brother duke it out.
“Bentley, what is he talking about?” I felt like the floor had been pulled out from under me. My stomach was in a giant knot just imagining what the hell Christian was talking about.
“That son of a bitch is why she left me! She was fucking him!” Christian screamed at me. “I was going to let it slide, but this...” he motioned around and pointed at my stomach “I can’t let it all go anymore! I just fucking can’t! Charlie, you needed to know.”
“Like this? I needed to know like this Christian?” I flipped him off and walked to the rental car.
The color drained from my face and the tears poured like a faucet. My hands shook and all I could do was bite my bottom lip because nothing I said right now would have made any sense.
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