“How could she do that?” she asks, sounding so lost and shattered.
What excuse can I invent that will ever make any of this hurt less? None. So, I go for honesty. “I don’t know. I do know what a good person you are and how much I love you.”
“Marcel, I love you too. So much.” She rakes her nails over her arms and neck, leaving red streaks over her pale skin and I grab her hands to make her stop. “I hate that you heard all of that.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.” I pause and take a deep breath, considering my next words. “Charlotte, do you know why my mother abandoned Heidi and me at my grandmother’s?”
She tilts her head at the shift in conversation.
“Heidi said she ran off with a boyfriend or something.”
“Probably. But that’s not why she left us there.”
“From what you’ve both said, it doesn’t sound like she was a great mother before that.”
“No, she wasn’t. But it’s my fault she left.”
Some of her uncertainty disappears and her voice comes out stronger. “Marcel, all kids feel that way about a parent leaving.”
“This time it’s actually true.” I run my fingers through my hair—at the rate I’m going, I’ll be bald soon. “She used to have a lot of men in and out of our house. When Heidi was maybe five or six, one of them took an unusual interest her. I didn’t like it one bit, but I was a kid. There wasn’t much I could do other than tell her not to be alone with him and stay with her at night if he was at the house.”
“Jesus, Marcel. How come she’s never said anything?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure if she even remembers. You know I was already hanging around the club by then. I asked two of the older members to talk to the guy. I just wanted them to scare him away, so he’d stop coming around.”
“And?”
“They talked to him. Talked to my mother too. She dumped us at my grandmother’s not long after.”
“That’s not your fault,” she argues in a fierce tone that sounds more like my Charlotte. “You were trying to protect your sister.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know it until recently, but my grandmother beat the hell out of Heidi for years after she kicked me out. So that’s on me too.”
She gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. “Goddammit. I knew things weren’t right when I represented her, but Heidi never—”
“Because the old bitch filled her head with bullshit about how she’d get put into foster care if she said anything.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“She was a kid. She didn’t know any better.”
Charlotte seems so distressed, I almost feel bad for sharing this with her on top of everything else she’s had to take in today.
“When I tell you that I’ve fucked up and failed—”
“That’s not your fault, Marcel. Come on.”
“It is, though. And I hate myself for it. Hate that for all those years she held it in and thought she couldn’t tell me.” My voice cracks and I stop. This isn’t about me or my guilt. This is about Charlotte.
“But it’s not your fault. You’re so good to her. All she ever talked about was how much she loves you.”
I close the distance between us and take her hands. “I’m sharing this with you because I want you to understand what kind of family I come from, Charlotte. People can say what they want about Heidi having Alexa so young, but she’s a damn good mother. A hundred times better than our own mother ever was.”
Her bottom lip trembles and she finally meets my eyes.
“From what your uncle said, it sounds like your mother was always a troubled, selfish bitch. That’s probably why you ended up being the sweet, loving person you are. What’s going through your head, Charlotte? You think you’re going to magically turn into a monster one day?”
A faint smile ghosts over her lips. “You’re trying to tell me I’m being ridiculous.”
I throw my hands up in the air. “Finally! She gets it.”
She doesn’t laugh. Instead, she wraps her arms around my middle and rests her cheek against my chest, which is even better.
“Today sucked so bad,” she murmurs.
“Yes, it did.”
“Thank you.”
“You never have to thank me.”
One check of her face shows how much she’s still hurting.
“What can I do to cheer you up, Sunshine?”
“I don’t think anything can cheer me up right now,” she says, shaking her head.
“No? How about if I do a strip tease for you?” I back away and slip off my cut, nice and slow, making a good show of it, add a few hip thrusts, and generally make a fool of myself. But it does the trick. She’s laughing in no time.
“Oh my God. Make it stop.”
“Stop? This isn’t turning you on, babe?”
More giggles and she throws her hands over her mouth, but still can’t contain her laughter.
“That’s better.” I stop gyrating around the room and point to her packed bags. “You want to explain this?”
“I panicked.”
“No more panic. You don’t have to hide any part of yourself from me.” My smile fades and I look her in the eyes. “And don’t you dare ever leave me like that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You know I’d hunt you down, right?”
She huffs out a laugh. “And what? Drag me back by my hair?”
“No. Show you how much I love you until you believe it.”
“I love you too.”
“And then drag you back by your hair.”
She rolls her eyes, but her smile remains. I hold out my hand and she curls her fingers around mine. “Come on, you haven’t eaten all day.”
“Ugh. I don’t think I can keep anything down,” she protests as she follows me downstairs.
“We’ll see.”
Turns out, my girl’s starving. Together we cook a simple dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. It’s not until we’re almost finished that I bring up Keeper.
“What do you think that asshole meant by Merlin made your last thug boyfriend disappear?”
She sets her fork down and clasps her hands in front of her. “I have no idea.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
“You didn’t date any gangsters in high school?” I say it in a teasing way, not wanting to risk upsetting her again.
“No. Never. My mother always hated the ‘nerdy’ guys I brought home.” She narrows her eyes. “Why? What’s on your mind?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
As much as possible, I try to put my uncle’s revelations out of my head. Marcel helps by announcing he needs me to help him paint every room in the house.
First, we lure my brother over so we can show him the guest house.
To my surprise, Marcel’s actually excited about showing it to Carter.
The house alarm lets out two short beeps, informing us someone’s coming up the driveway. I glance at the monitor and relax when I recognize Carter’s car.
“Why you so jumpy?” Marcel asks.
“I’m just excited to show him our place.”
He kisses my cheek and we head outside to greet my brother.
Carter approaches us slowly. “Damn, this is some spread, Teller. I can’t even be mad at you for taking my sister away.”
“He didn’t take me away. I’m probably closer to you now than when you were living at Mom’s.”
“Not the same.”
He gives me a kiss on the cheek and hands me a bottle of wine. I raise an eyebrow and he shrugs. “I didn’t know what else to bring and didn’t want to show up with nothing.”
“Thanks.”
Marcel happily gives my brother the “guy” tour before bringing him into the kitchen for appetizers and drinks.
“How’s my apartment?” I ask.
“Your landlord’s such a dick. He stopped by and hassled me because I’m not on
the lease. So, can you help me fix that?”
I tap my finger against my chin and pretend to consider it. “Well, I could, but I had something else in mind.”
He narrows his eyes. “What?”
Marcel’s grin seems to alarm my brother. “What are you two up to?”
“Come here, we want to show you something,” I say, taking Carter’s arm and leading him outside.
Marcel follows us and at the door to the guest house produces a key.
“Wow. This is cool.” He moves through the space quickly, taking note of everything in his path. “So, I tell you two I’m on the verge of getting evicted and you’re showing off all your fabulous space?”
“Actually,” Marcel says, holding out a key. “This is yours if you want it.”
Carter’s eyes widen. “Mine?”
Marcel jerks his head toward the stairs. “Check out the upstairs.”
He eyes us carefully before taking the steps one at a time.
“Oh, wow! It’s an apartment.” He’s silent for a minute and then there’s the sound of his feet racing above us. A few minutes later, he hops down the steps with an eager expression on his face. “Are you saying I can live up there?” he asks.
“Yup,” Marcel says, handing over the keys.
“Wait,” Carter says. “You two won’t be doing any weird, naked, sex stuff in the yard, right?”
“We’ll make sure you’re out when we do our weird, naked, outdoor sex stuff,” Marcel assures him.
“Gross,” Carter mumbles. His eyes light up again. “Am I allowed to have girls over?”
“If you can find one who wants to come over, yeah.”
Carter groans and meets my eyes. “I don’t have to take that abuse from your old man, do I?”
“Afraid so, little brother.”
His gaze sweeps the downstairs area. “What’re you going to do with this space?”
“It’s yours too,” Marcel says. “Thought you could turn it into an art studio or something.”
“Seriously?” He glances at everything again and his smile falters. “How much do you want for rent?”
“No rent,” Marcel answers, beating me to it. Carter opens his mouth to protest, but gets cut off. “Just help me out around here and make sure your sister’s safe whenever I’m away.”
“You got it. Get me one of those big green tractors and I’ll even mow the crap out of the yard,” Carter says.
Marcel bursts out laughing and holds out his hand. “Deal.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Charlotte’s back to work. Taking time off after her uncle’s attack left her with a lot of catching up to do. That’s why I volunteer to help Carter clean out her apartment.
After I load the last box that’s coming to our house into my truck, Carter takes off. “I’m stopping by Bianca’s. She wanted to come over and see my new place.” He hesitates. “If that’s okay.”
“It’s your place.”
“Thanks.”
I wander inside the apartment to give it another look. Since her old bed couldn’t take our furious fucking and left dents in her bedroom wall, I figure it’s only fair I patch it up. I run over the materials waiting for me. Paint, tape, tarp, sheet, roller, pan, knife, and a few other odds and ends.
The knock at the door surprises me at first, but it’s probably the landlord, so I open it, looking forward to scaring the piss out of him after the shitty way he’s treated Carter.
It’s Keeper.
He rears back when he sees me. “What’re you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
He stuffs his hands in his pockets and pushes past me. I follow his gaze as he takes in the empty space. “Where’s she going?”
“None of your business.”
“She moving in with you?”
I cross my arms over my chest and don’t bother with an answer.
“That ain’t right. Her dad was a Wolf Knight, you know.”
“Yeah, I’m aware.”
I follow him into the kitchen. “This where she stabbed him?” He shakes his head and stares at the floor as if inspecting for blood drops.
“It’s where he hit her first.”
Keeper grunts and rocks back on his heels a few times before meeting my eyes. “Merlin’s been asking a lot of questions since your visit.”
Good. At least what little concern Merlin showed for his niece wasn’t bullshit. “Anyone got answers for him?”
“He’s asking about shit that happened years ago.”
“You know something about it?”
“I know she brought some gangbanging lowlife to one of our parties one time.”
Rage boils my blood and I take a step closer. “You want to say that again?”
“Never mind.” He attempts to step around me, but I stop him with a hand to his chest.
“Finish your thought.”
The hesitation he walked in here with disappears and he slaps my hand away. “Nothin’ to finish.”
In my pocket, my phone goes off and Keeper tries to shove past me. “Stay put.”
I don’t recognize the number, but that’s not unusual, so I answer.
“Where you at, Teller?” Merlin shouts on the other end.
“At Charlotte’s apartment. Your VP stopped by and we’re having a chat.”
He curses and there’s a crash in the background. “You keep that piece of shit there. I’m on my way over now.”
“You wanna tell me why?”
“Just fuckin’ do it.”
I’d laugh at the frustration in his voice if I wasn’t so focused on keeping the man in front of me in place.
“We’ll be here.” My gaze searches the empty apartment for any potential weapons. We just cleaned my girl’s apartment out, so it’s bare.
“She’s not there?”
“No. It’s just me and Keeper right now.”
“I’m on my way. Do not let him leave.”
I hang up and shove the phone in my pocket. “Your prez is real eager to talk to you.”
“He ain’t my prez anymore, thanks to Charlotte.”
“Yeah, it’s all her fault he snapped and attacked her.”
“I need to be someplace.” He tries going around me again and I stop him.
“Where you off too in such a hurry? You obviously stopped by to talk to Charlotte about something, so speak.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Everything about her is my business. And since you’re never getting anywhere near her again, you might as well say what you gotta say to me.”
Quick—but not quick enough—his fist comes flying at my face. I block it easily and use the momentum to turn him and wrench his arm behind his back.
“What’s gotten into you, Keeper?” I snarl.
“You don’t want to start this war, Teller.”
“Oh, I think I do.”
My gaze lands on a roll of duct tape on the counter. I can’t exactly ask him to hold still so I can secure him. Instead, I hook my arm around his neck and use my other arm to tighten the hold, squeezing hard until he slumps to the floor. The fucker’s so heavy, he almost takes me down with him. Once I’m sure he’s out, I release him.
It takes a few seconds to bind his wrists behind his back with the tape and secure his ankles. When I’m finished, I drag him into the bedroom.
I spread out the tarp and roll him onto it.
A few minutes later he’s still out cold when someone’s banging on the front door.
I open it and find a steaming Merlin.
“Guess Whisper let you out of the basement,” I say, opening the door wider.
He growls and shoves his way past me. “Where is that traitor?”
I shut the door. “He’s in the bedroom.”
Merlin’s carrying a lumpy black backpack. I can only imagine the goodies inside.
My hand goes to the pistol in the holster at my side. A last resort, since the sound wil
l draw too much attention. My other hand brushes against the hunting knife strapped to my opposite leg.
“This motherfucker still alive?” Merlin asks, toeing Keeper’s leg with his boot.
“Where’s the love for your bro, Merlin?”
He glares at me. “What do you think?”
“I’m guessing you asked him some questions and don’t like the answers.”
“Gee, you really are as smart as they say,” he sneers. “He did it. Charlotte said there was a second guy. My money’s on Keeper.”
“Why?” Not that I disagree with Merlin’s conclusion, but I’m interested in how he got there.
“He said something about ‘don’t I wish she was still dating thugs’ instead of you.”
“Yeah, he said something similar to us the other day.”
“I asked him what he was talkin’ about. Charlotte never brought any of her boyfriends around the MC. Always liked to pretend she wasn’t related to us lowlife bikers.”
“Can’t imagine why.”
Ignoring the dig, he continues. “His remark didn’t sit right with me.”
At our feet, Keeper groans.
He rolls and sits up, scooting in a circle until he’s facing us. “What the fuck, brother? Untie me.”
Merlin pulls his own hunting knife from a sheath at his side. “We need to talk first.”
Keeper’s eyes widen and his gaze darts between Merlin and me. “You’re siding with him?”
“I’m siding with my niece. Explain what you meant before.”
“What?” he asks, but by the fear in his eyes, he knows exactly what information Merlin’s after.
“Charlotte never brought any boyfriends to our clubhouse. Why do you think she did?”
“I caught her fucking one of those punks from Eighteen’s crew.”
Blood roars through my ears.
“Caught how?” Merlin’s low deadly voice should scare the piss out of Keeper, but he lifts his chin in defiance.
“You need me to draw you a picture?”
Tired of the bullshit, I lash out, kicking Keeper in the groin. He howls and falls back, rolling to his side.
Yeah, that’s a dirty move I normally wouldn’t pull, but it seems appropriate here.