by L. L Hunter
“Coming.” As I followed her down the stairs I wondered just who it could be.
* * * *
The ground floor of my childhood home, the Jayne mansion, was packed with party guests when I finally joined them. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, many turned to stare at me—the girl they had come to see. I didn’t recognise half of them. I wasn’t surprised when I saw waiters and waitresses walking around with drink-filled trays. My parents had gone all out. I grabbed a champagne flute and sipped. I needed the alcohol tonight to calm my nerves. As I made my way towards the glass doors leading onto the balcony, I saw a familiar face.
“Oh my God! Rochelle!”
“As I live and breathe!” The girl turned away from the balcony and ran into my arms. “It’s been too long, babe.”
“Totally. I can’t believe my mother invited you.”
“Hey, I was your BFF in high school. How could she not?”
“True. And in my mother’s perspective, you are still ‘respectable.’” We both burst out into fits of laughter. Rochelle and I had always made jokes about my mother and her ways.
“Hey, who’s that?” Rochelle asked, changing the subject. I followed her gaze and my stomach flipped.
“What is he doing here?”
“I heard he was your mother’s ‘special guest.’”
“Special guest, my arse.” I angrily pushed my way through the crowd towards Nathan.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him in a hushed voice.
“Your mother invited me.”
“My mother? How…” our conversation was cut short by the sound of my father’s voice. As I broke away from Nathan and walked in the direction of the yelling, which could be heard over the music, someone snagged my arm.
“There you are.” It was Mia and by the scent of the booze wafting off her, I could tell she was already wasted.
“You’re drunk,” I teased, poking her.
“Yeah, yeah. And so should you.” Her words blended together as she pulled me towards the bar.
“Mia, wait. I need to go see what my dad’s yelling about.”
“Some drunken frat boy probably stole some of his prized gazillion dollar scotch.” She waved her hands around in the air, carelessly splashing champagne on helpless bystanders. I shot them an apologetic look and looked back over my shoulder. “I need to go see what the problem is, Mia.”
“Ooh! Look, Charlz. There’s that hunky good guy of yours.”
“He’s not my guy, okay? Where’s Frankie?”
“I don’t know. What drink do you want? They have these delicious melon cocktails called an Ava… something.”
“An Avalanche,” I mumbled, trying to see into my father’s office. Two figures were inside. I had to get closer.
“Charli, where are you going?” Mia tried calling my name, but I had stopping listening. The oak doors of my father’s office were all I could see.
“You had some nerve coming here tonight,” my father was saying. “And with my daughter? You stay away from her.”
Someone who came here with me? Did he mean Frankie?
“I can’t help it, I love her, Stephen. And I will get what’s owing to me.”
“Levi, wait. If you do anything to harm my daughter… if you touch one hair on her head….”
“You’ll do what, Stephen? I’ll only even think of hurting Charli if I don’t get what you promised me.”
“Levi, please. We’ll work something out, just don’t hurt Charlotte.”
There was silence for a few seconds, and I wanted so badly to burst into the room to see who was talking to my father. He had said he loved me, but I didn’t know any Levi. I put my hands on the sliding doors, about to push them apart, when the stranger spoke again.
“We’ll be in touch.” That was when the doors opened, and Frankie stepped out. Withholding my gasp, I quickly merged into the crowd before he could see that I had been eavesdropping.
Chapter Seventeen
Nathan
As I placed my hand on my driver’s side door to get out of the car, my phone rang.
“Hey, Mark, what have you got?”
“I pulled up a match from the picture you sent me.”
“Yes?”
“It matches the profile of a Levi Chandon who was charged with drunk driving and manslaughter three years ago.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the fun part. Here’s where you say I’m a genius, and you’ll buy me a beer.”
“I’ll buy you a beer. Tell me.”
“He was let out on bail the night before his high school formal. And guess who his attorney was at the time?”
“No!”
“That’s right. Mr DA himself, Stephen Jayne.”
“Shit.”
“Told ya.”
“No. Shit, Mark. He’s in there.”
“In where?”
“It’s Charli’s twenty-first birthday party tonight. Susan invited me. And guess who accompanied Charli tonight?”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. I’ve got to go.”
“Call me if you need backup.”
“Will do.” After hanging up I almost ran to the front door of the Jayne residence. When I saw it was open, I slipped inside.
“Nathan. You made it.”
“Oh, hi, Susan. Where’s Charli?”
“Oh, I believe she was with that friend of hers, Mia, just a second ago. Over by the bar.”
“Thanks.” After scanning the room, sure enough, I found Charli standing by the bar with Mia as her mother said. I had my suspicions about Mia, too, so I kept my distance and observed. Frankie, or Levi, was nowhere to be seen. It only took a minute for Charli to spot me, and before long, she was coming over. My heart picked up its pace.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, almost accusingly. I decided to tell her the truth. After all, everything was unravelling now.
“Your mother invited me.” Before I could confess anything else, our attention was stolen by the sounds of Stephen Jayne yelling at someone in his office. Before I could stop her, Charli was making her way towards the door. Charli was safe from where she was standing, so I went around the corner into the bathroom. I had been to this house once before, so I knew that this toilet sat next door to Stephen’s office and had a vent in the wall, so anything being said on the other side of the wall could be heard easily. I locked the door, sat down on the toilet, and listened.
My suspicions were correct. Levi was in Stephen’s office arguing with him. Oh, shit. Things were turning bad. I was almost tempted to burst in there and blow my cover, but decided to stay and listen a little longer. I had been trained to wait until the absolute last minute to pounce. Levi was saying something about getting what was owed to him, and Stephen was begging for him not to harm Charli. I knew what this meant. It meant I had to pull my head out of my arse and do my job. I had to protect Charli as I was hired to do, feelings or not. Her life was at stake. I burst out of the toilet just in time to see Levi coming out of Stephen’s office, and Charli disappearing into the crowd.
“Charli!” I shouted, but my voice harmonised with his. I turned and saw him looking at the invisible path Charli had made through the crowd. When our eyes met, we shared something other than mutual feelings of hate towards each other. It was game on.
Chapter Eighteen
Charli
After the party and when everyone had left, even Frankie, or Levi, whatever his name was, I retreated to my room. I needed to be alone. I was still reeling after hearing what I had heard inside my father’s office. The truth was… I didn’t know what the truth was. Frankie had lied to me—not only about his name. He lied to get closer to me. I had a feeling it was all a sham. What did he mean by getting what was owed to him? What did my father owe him? I wanted so desperately to ask my father about it, but I realised I wasn’t supposed to know. Something was going on, and I was being kept in the dark. And after the events of my birthday party, all I w
anted right now was to curl up in my bed and sleep. I had only consumed two glasses of my favourite cocktail and one glass of pink champagne, but I felt like I had a hangover. After dragging myself off my bed, I slipped out of my dress and hopped into the shower. I felt cold, but not from the temperature of the air. What Frankie had said, and my father… chilled me to my core. I slumped against the wall of the shower, allowing the hot water caress my skin while my conscience fought a battle inside my head. One side wanted to still be with Frankie, and wanted to deny anything was wrong or dangerous about him. But the other half was screaming at me to run, and for me to realise that Nathan might be the right guy. As I tormented myself by thinking of both guys, someone stood outside my door.
Nathan
After the party, and after I made sure Levi had left, I had to see Charli, to make sure she was okay. I knew she had overheard what had been said in her father’s office, and I also knew she had been hurt by the news. The fact was, Charli now knew or at least, suspected something, and I didn’t know what to do. If I revealed myself to her, what would she think? Would she think of me as a liar like the man she called Frankie? Technically, I was using an alias, a fake profile of a college student, and I felt I had to let Charli know that I wasn’t the bad guy. I needed to let her know she could trust me. I stood at the base of the staircase, staring up towards Charli’s bedroom door when Stephen came up behind me.
“Nathan, did you catch everything?”
“Yes, sir. I did.”
“You know what you have to do now. Don’t you, son?”
“I… I think so.” I turned around to face the older man. “I’m scared, Stephen.”
“I know, son. So am I.” Stephen placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring pat.
“I want Charli to know who to trust. How can I do that when we’re all lying to her?”
Stephen lowered his head. “Not yet. She can’t know yet.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s confirmed. My suspect is Levi. I want to go after him, arrest him but I know it’s not time yet.”
“Yeah, I know. Almost.”
“But I also want to go to her,” I said, nodding towards the top of the stairs. “She’s pretty shaken up.”
Then Stephen smiled at me. “You’ve fallen for her.” He sighed. He sounded tired, and I knew it wasn’t just fatigue. He wanted it all to end. So did I.
“Go home, Nathan, and wait until this is over. You will know when it’s time.”
I hung my head, because I knew he was right. I had to wait. I was never a patient person. I hated waiting.
“Alright. But at least let me say goodnight.”
Charli
I wondered who would be outside my door wanting me at this hour. Probably one of my parents, I thought. I wrapped my dressing gown around me and walked to open my door. The person waiting for me was not who I was expecting. Well, maybe it was deep down. My stomach did a somersault.
“Nathan.” His name barely escaped my lips. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s the second time you’ve said that to me tonight.”
“And before you said my parents invited you.”
“That’s true.”
“So, how do you know my parents?” I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms over my chest.
“I used to work at the courthouse.”
“Oh? Doing what?”
“I used to be a bailiff.”
My eyes widened. “No way!”
“Yeah.” He scratched his head, and I noticed he changed the subject quite quickly. “So I came to check on you, to see if you were okay.”
“I’m fine. Just a little shaken up.”
“I know. Look, what you heard…”
“How do you know what I heard?”
“I… I heard it, too.”
I paused and looked down at my hands. “What do you think it meant, Nathan? Frankie was arguing with my dad. They know each other.”
“Yeah, I know. But it’s probably because your father has helped him in the past.” When my shocked expression became apparent, he corrected himself. “Legally, I mean. Your dad is an attorney.”
“You’re right. I wonder what happened?”
“That’s not for us to know.” He placed a hand on my arm, and I looked up and met his eyes. There was something in them that made me want to reach out and pull him into me, to hold him close. I couldn’t deny the way he made me feel. As if sharing my emotions, he stepped towards me and put both hands on my face. He held me still as if I were a wild filly in danger of fleeing. That was the way these men made me feel. Ignoring everything my conscience was screaming, I let go and stepped into his arms.
“Nathan. Stay,” I whispered the last word and he looked up into my gaze. I was about to kiss him when he answered my request instead, kissing me hotly and with more passion than I could ever have imagined. I pulled him backwards with me into my room and kicked the door shut behind us.
Nathan
I couldn’t believe I was giving in. I was weak. But I didn’t care. Our layers came off between us as we moved together towards the bed.
“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” she whispered to me as she pulled me down on the bed and wrapped her limbs around my body. When our underwear came off and nothing but bare skin was between us, no barriers were stopping us, I gave myself fully to her. I was one with her desire, and our fates were intertwined. We got lost in the passion of our love. In that moment, everything came lose, and even though it was oh, so wrong, it also felt—oh so right.
Chapter Nineteen
Charli
Falling into bed with Nathan was easy, but the thought of Frankie still entered my mind. I had tried calling him before leaving my parents place to go back to campus the following morning, but his phone had gone straight to voicemail. I had no clue what I was doing. Was I messing around with two guys? Were they messing around with me? When I had unloaded all of the bags out of my car and taken them up to my room, I decided to go down to the café for a coffee and reassess my thoughts. As soon as I pushed the door to the café open, I saw him. He was sitting in the exact same chair he had when we met. My breath caught in my throat and then left my lungs all together. I couldn’t breathe and felt as though I might pass out. I leaned against the counter.
“Are you alright?” asked the cashier.
“Huh?” I looked up and saw her watching me, concerned. “Oh, yeah. I just had a dizzy spell. I have them sometimes. I’m alright.”
“Would you like a drink of water?”
“Oh, yes, please. Thank you.” The girl left to get me some water, and I stayed standing near the coffee grinder at the counter watching Frankie. He was deeply immersed in the book he was reading. It was a well-loved and old novel. I couldn’t see the title but the cover looked familiar. He was wearing glasses, and as he turned the page, he pushed the brown-rimmed frames up on his nose. He was sexy as hell, and I wanted to go over there and tear the book away from his hands and kiss him like no tomorrow. But I waited, and I watched, and I observed him.
“Here’s your water,” said the cashier, sliding a plastic cup towards me. I took it without moving my gaze from Frankie. He must have sensed me there, because all of a sudden he looked up, took his glasses off placing them on the table in front of him, and rubbed his hand over his face. As he turned his head my direction, he stretched out his arms and grinned a lazy grin. My heart raced and again I felt breathless. I was torturing myself.
“Charli, hey. You’re back.”
“Yeah.” I came and sat opposite him. “You left without saying goodbye.”
“Oh, yeah. Something came up and I…” he was lying. I could tell. “I had to leave quickly.”
“Oh, that’s okay. You should’ve texted me.” I put my head down to pretend I was hurt. I had to play along with his game, if that’s what he was playing.
“Charli…. I’m sorry.” He reached across the table for my hand. I let him. “Let me make it up
to you. I promised you a date, didn’t I?”
I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. “Yes.”
“Okay. Well, tonight I’m taking you out. Somewhere nice.”
“That sounds lovely. I can’t wait.” I reached over the table and took his other hand, squeezing. I didn’t want to get in too deeply with Frankie, especially if he wasn’t whom he said he was, but I had to find out what he was doing, if he was blackmailing my father.
“Good. I’ll come get you at six.”
“Great.” I sat back in my chair then realised I needed coffee. Well, real coffee. I had only had black instant coffee at my parent’s place.
“I need a coffee,” I said, standing up and grabbing my purse.
“Here, let me.” He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed me a ten- dollar note.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I owe you.”
I grinned. “Yes. You do.” As I stepped up to order my coffee, I could feel his eyes burning through my clothes. It was unsettling, but also made me feel good. I didn’t let him see my smile.
When I sat back down, Frankie had his laptop out, typing away.
“What are you writing?” I asked, stirring my coffee.
“Oh, just an essay. I hate these things.”
“Me, too. What’s it about?”
“It’s about the female psyche.”
“The female psyche? Are you trying to get inside my head, Frankie?” I teased.
“Not yet. But I want to. If you’ll let me?” He leaned forward over the table. I automatically leaned forward too, to taunt him.
“Hmm. I’ll have to think about that.”
“You’re already in my head,” he whispered. Oh My God, this man was impossible. He made me want to abandon any feelings I had for anyone else, giving into him completely. He stood and brushed his lips softly over my bottom lip. His breathe smelled of coffee, chocolate, and mint. I felt my breath slip away again. I wanted to kiss him and give into him… Oh, to hell with it. I kissed him pushing aside any thoughts and feelings for Nathan.