Charlotte
Chapter 9
Charlotte
T he following day, Javier takes me to the local Catholic church where we meet with the priest. When Javier tells him we are getting married in a week and that he needs me baptized, the man becomes argumentative.
"Jefe, there are steps we must complete. We need at least five or six months.”
Javier pulls a gun out of his hip holster and holds it to the priest’s head. The older man makes the sign of a cross and immediately starts praying.
“We are going to be married at the end of the week. I want my wife baptized.”
“I can provide a religious exemption for the wedding to move forward, but she will not be allowed to take communion,” the priest explains nervously.
Clicking the safety back on his gun, Javier places it back in his holster under his suit jacket.
“Javier, how can you do that to a priest?” I question him carefully.
“This priest knows who I am, and my entire organization is part of his congregation. He knows his life depends on making this wedding possible. Don’t feel so bad for the old man, Carino. He gets paid well to do my bidding.”
After getting baptized, his grandmother comes to pick me up to go find a wedding dress. Javier arranges for his grandmother’s guards to accompany us, clarifying that if I’m not treated with the utmost respect, he’ll cut their tongues out.
The thought of Javier cutting someone’s tongue out sends goose bumps scattering over my body. The man is a psychopath. First, he killed the man who touched me when I was kidnapped, then today, he threatened a man of God. The weirdest part is, I don’t get the feeling that he will hurt me. Force me to do things? Yes. But hurt me? No.
Before getting into the car with Abuela, I ask Javier for a favor. “I need to speak to my father. My phone was lost when I was taken by your men, and I need to be able to work. My store is sitting unopened or at Tillie’s mercy. Either one doesn’t work for me. If I’m going to be your wife, then you need to at least allow me these freedoms.”
“Tillie will feel my wrath if she dares try to sabotage your business, Charlotte.”
“You can’t kill everyone who tries to hurt me, Javier.”
“Of course, I can, and I will. You are mine to protect and I plan to do so for the rest of our lives.”
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I know I’m never going to win this argument. It shouldn’t make me feel good that he’s willing to murder anyone who is a threat to me, but I can’t lie. My heart melts at the thought.
Javier stares at me with furrowed brows. “You know if you run, I’ll chase you and I will catch you. I’ll fuck you until you feel me between your legs permanently; there’ll be no waiting until we’re married.”
“Javier, please.” Even as I beg him not to take me, I rub my thighs together to try to alleviate the ache his words cause. My body wants him to take me hard and make me his.
“No, Charlotte, you are mine and you need to accept it.”
A knot forms in my stomach and my heart pounds at the intensity of his stare. It’s clear he’s leaving no room for discussion. My panties become wet, and I almost moan out loud.
“You are welcome to see your father and go to work once all the wedding preparations are done. My black card is at Abuela’s disposal. You will need to stop and buy a phone. Abuela would love to hang out in the bookstore, but a word of advice.”
“Yes?”
“Lose the whore who was fucking your man, because if she ever touches me, I’ll cut her arms off.” With that, he turns and leaves, and I can’t help the smile that forms on my face. For some reason, the thought of Tillie touching Javier makes me sick to my stomach. I feel an intense anger and jealousy that I’ve never felt before, and somehow, it comforts me to know he won’t tolerate Tillie’s behavior.
While we talked, Stella gave Javier and I privacy, but now she moves to stand beside me. “So, we will need to go dress shopping, and Javier made it clear we are to get you a phone on his credit card. Anything else you desire, he will pay for.”
“Abuela, I can’t use Javier’s money. That’s not appropriate. I will just get some money from my business account when we go by the bookstore. I’m more than capable of buying my own phone and dress.”
“Charlotte!” Stella gasps. “My grandson wouldn’t dare tolerate you paying for your own wedding dress. You are family now, and with that comes the vast riches that the Consuelos name provides you.”
Once we pull up at the bookstore, I go in and check to make sure everything is in order. Stella looks around on the shelves while I do what I need to. Tillie has a key but hasn’t used it and hopefully won’t. I wish she would just go away so I don’t have to deal with her. It sucks to lose a friend, but I will never be able to trust her again.
On my desk, overdue notices are stacked high, like a paper avalanche threatening to bury me under a mountain of debt. Each one is a tiny, sharp stab—electricity, gas, water—all reflecting Tillie’s blatant disregard for her responsibilities. It isn’t just the bills; my petty cash is also significantly depleted.
I turn on her computer and pull up my bank statements on the business account, expecting the accounts to be as they are supposed to. Stupid me. After everything she’s done, I still didn’t expect her to be bold or cruel enough to drain me dry. It looks, at first, like she’s been withdrawing small amounts, then taking bolder swipes at my credit cards. My bank account, which I assumed was okay, is now in the red. I hadn’t noticed it because I trusted her, and until recently, I had no reason to question her. This wasn’t an accident. This was deliberate.
My chest aches, and I reach up and rub the pain away. How could my friend have done this to me? Tears stream down my cheeks and I hear someone approach.
“Sweet girl, what’s wrong?” Stella has caught me in tears, and as much as I don’t want Javier to find out what Tillie did, I need someone to talk to. He’s already threatened to kill her, and as angry as I am at her, I still don’t want her dead.
Stella wraps her arms around me and soothes my sobs that are coming out harder now. “Shhh… tell me, Charlotte.”
“My friend. She’s been stealing money and sabotaging my business. I’m in the red, and everything is gone. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“I promise if you talk to Javier, he will fix it all. You aren’t alone anymore. We are
your family.”
Believe it or not, hearing that I actually have someone in my corner helps me feel a little better. I decide to save this problem for another day and finish our errands. My tears aren’t going to fix anything.
After leaving, Abuela and I head to the store to buy me a new phone. I barely get by on my income from the bookstore, so I’m not a lavish spender. Now, with the hole Tillie has dug for me, I’m even more broke. Eric has money, but he never used it to pay for anything or buy me anything and I didn’t expect him to. I like being completely self-sufficient. Though it’s something my father hates.
He’s always thought my dream of running a bookstore that caters to indie authors was a waste of time. He’d prefer that I aspire to be a socialite or a high society wife of the senator’s son. My father would much rather I be a bimbo than who I really am. Even knowing the money I socked away for my business has been stolen, I can’t allow Javier and his grandmother to buy me a phone.
Stella won’t hear of it when I grab one of the least expensive phones.
The tiny woman places a hand on her hip and shakes her head back and forth, letting me know that anything less than the best is unacceptable.
“Reina, you will now be treated like the queen you are, so that means only the best for you is acceptable.”
After arguing respectfully with Abuela for a few minutes, I give in and decide I will just pay Javier back. His grandmother is obviously almost three times my age but has become my closest friend; in fact, she’s my only friend. Not wanting to offend her, I decide I will make it right with Javier and get the money back to him as soon as I can.
Next, we go into a dress shop, where I try on every beautiful wedding dress in the store. Even though this marriage isn’t built out of love, I still want to look good and make Javier proud. This isn’t the way I would choose to get married if I had a choice, but I’m going to make the best of it and make my husband happy.
After getting back to Javier’s house, Abuela gives me a quick hug on her way out. Once I’m alone, I call my father’s number.
“Detective Emory. What can I do for you?”“Dad?”
“Charlotte? What are you doing calling me?”
I’m taken aback by his reaction to my call. Pulling the phone away from my face, I look down at it with scrunched eyebrows.
Is he for real right now?
What kind of father responds like that?
“Dad, I’ve been kidnapped, and you want to know why I’m calling you?”
“Char, just do what Consuelos says, and he won’t hurt you. I want you to keep your eyes open for any documents, thumb drives, or photos. Check his phone, office, computer. Anything that has anything to do with me, steal it and hide it. Give me a call when you find it, and I’ll make sure we can meet up to get the evidence.”
“Dad, I’ve been drugged and kidnapped and you don’t even ask how I am or if I’m okay? You’ve dragged me into your dirty business dealings and this is all you have to say for yourself?” My voice comes out shrill and I realize I’m yelling.
“Charlotte, it’s your duty to this family. Everything I’ve done has been to propel our family financially and socially up the ladder. I started off as a lowly beat cop, but I’m going to be in the senator’s pocket soon. Now, don’t piss off the head of the Consuelos Cartel before I have the evidence to bring him down.”
“Duty? It’s my duty to be kidnapped and drugged? Dad, oh my God. The leader of a drug cartel? How could you be involved in something like this?”
I hear a sigh on the other end of the line as if the asshole is bored, but he doesn’t feel I am worthy of an explanation. My father has always been this way, but no way did I think it would lead me to being kidnapped or traded to a cartel boss. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone .
“He says I’m going to marry him and that you know about this. You agreed to this?”
“Of course, you aren’t going to actually marry that gangster. Just play along. You are still going to marry Eric. Just get that evidence first, and I will have Javier locked up and out of my way for good.”
“Dad, Eric was screwing Tillie behind my back. I’m not marrying him.”
“Char, don’t be dramatic. It was just sex and didn’t mean anything. You are lucky someone in Eric’s position is prepared to look at a girl like you. Get the evidence. Listen for any information and call me with it immediately. Then we will get you back to Eric and the wedding.”
With that, he hangs up. After hearing I’ve been kidnapped by a cartel boss. A dangerous man who, by his own admission, kills people. Does my father give one shit about me at all? Because at the moment, I don’t feel like he does.
My betrayal of Javier will be met with my certain death. Dad knows how dangerous this is, and for him to even ask it of me is a slap in the face. How selfish of him.
My father has always been cold and distant while preaching that I owe him loyalty and a duty to the family. He’s never once put my needs before his own.
Javier might sell drugs and guns, even kills people, but he treats me with more respect than my own father does. He looks at me as if I’m precious.
Maybe I need to rethink who I’m loyal to, because being loyal to my father has never benefitted me.