20. Chapter Twenty
“ T his was my happy place growing up,” Charlie tells me as her eyes take in the treehouse. There is a warmth in them I’ve never seen before when talking about her childhood. Her parents’ backyard is massive, so this is located a decent distance away from the party festivities, giving us some privacy.
“It’s amazing, Char.” This is out of every child’s dream. There’s a spiral wooden staircase that goes around the tree up to where the house resides with a wrap-around porch to stand and gaze out on. Looking inside, I can see it’s literally like a small house, and not even child-sized. “Do the lights wo—” Before I finish, she flicks the switch and lights illuminate the whole place.
“Yeah, running water too. The only thing it doesn’t have is a working bathroom, but that would have been overkill.”
I snort. “And basically having a second home for a child wasn’t? Sorry, that came out wrong. It’s just so vastly different from how I grew up.”
She laughs with me, not taking offense. “Oh, I totally agree. This was 100 percent overkill, which is why I never had one growing up.” I sit on the small couch and pat to the cushion next to me for her to do the same. I’m very curious how they managed to get this up here. “Not until Mr. Jefferson—his rival—got his kids one. So, as you can imagine, my dad had to upstage him. But this became my safe haven from the horrors of that house.” Her eyes narrow and darken out the window, staring at her childhood home.
I pull her close to me and rub her shoulder, allowing her a moment of quiet while knowing I’m here. “I would always run here whenever things got hard. I know I didn’t have it as rough as others, I didn’t get beat—”
I abruptly shift in my seat, and she looks up at me. “Never. I mean never play that comparison game,” I say sternly but gently. Using my hand not wrapped around her shoulder, I take her face and swipe my thumb over it. “Everyone has their baggage and trauma they carry, and it helps no one to see whose is heavier. All of it is valid. Your pain. My pain. Everyone’s pain.”
“Day . . .” she whispers, leaning into my hand.
Pulling her gently with my hand, I lay a kiss on her forehead, which makes my heartbeat increase tenfold. “Our trauma may not have been the exact same, but we both suffered at the hands of people who should have protected us. And despite all of it, look how incredible you turned out.”
She chuckles through tears. “You didn’t turn out so bad yourself.”
I do a little shoulder dance. “Well, duh, I’m fucking awesome. You’re lucky I give you the time of day.” I wink at her.
Charlie playfully hits my chest, but I grab her hands, our eyes locking.
“Tell me something good, gem. What about this place helped?”
I follow her gaze behind me to find a bunch of stuffed animals that look handmade. Turning back, I look at her as she starts to speak. “My uncle would give me a teddy bear every time . . .” If I didn’t have this magical girl in my arms right now, I would be outside ripping Demetri limb from limb. I need to remind myself that it’s not my place . . . That’s Charlie’s demon to fight. “It made me hate them. I used to have this amazing collection, and I guess that’s why he started gifting them . . .” She trailed off before starting again. “I discovered knitting when I was scrolling through YouTube one day, and it looked so therapeutic. I made my father buy me everything I needed, and I started a new collection here, away from the darkness of that house. These were the ones that saved me. Every bad memory was turned into something beautiful.”
I turn again to look at the plethora of stuffed animals: a blue giraffe, a purple octopus, a white lamb, and so much more. “They are amazing, baby. Do you still knit?”
She laughs. “Not anymore. I just don’t have a lot of time. And murdering seems to be my new release.”
I squint my eyes in a playful way. “We’re a bunch of demented kids, aren’t we? Murdering people.” We both burst out laughing.
“Probably, but the world is a better place for it.”
“The world is a better place ‘cause you’re here. My world definitely is,” I tell her honestly.
She gazes up at me and leans in to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Ditto,” she whispers before changing the subject. “Um, what’s your favorite weapon?”
“I really love my double blade. How about you?”
“I don’t know if I’ve found my favorite, as I alternate between several to cater to the sick fuck I’m torturing. But mixing drugs is always a standard for me.”
Smirking at her, I say, “Remind me to never get on your bad side.”
Charlie moves her head slowly side to side with a wicked grin, showing me. “Oh, sweetheart, I have no bad sides.”
I love her confidence. “That you don’t.”
She winks at me. “Any ideas of the method you’d want to use for Alex when we get her?”
The question catches me off guard. Adrian and I have wanted this for years but never plotted out exactly what we wanted to do. Just organizing behind the scenes to get more members on our side and figuring out the best way to do it.
“I’m not sure, but she deserves the maximum level of pain, and it should be a team effort.”
Charlie nods in agreement as the music grows louder outside. “Come on, we should get back,” she says, standing up. Which is the last thing either of us wants, especially if her roaming eyes have anything to say about it.
“Okay, but I want more childhood Charlie memories,” I say as we head down.
“Why?” she asks, like it’s crazy someone would want to know her.
“Because I want to know everything about the girl who’s turning my world upside down in the best way.”
She stares at me for a moment before nodding her head.
“Hey, Char?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m here for you. Let me know whenever you’re ready; I will get us out of here.”
That seems to make her smile. “I’m glad you’re here, Day. It’s gonna make tonight bearable, maybe even nice . . . with you.” I nod. “Sadly, we’ll have to stay to help clean up or else I won’t hear the end of it. And with my mother, it’s easier sometimes to just comply. Especially because I don’t plan to stay the night.”
“Okay, gem. But the offer stands.”
“Thank you.”
The rest of the night is filled with inane small talk with her family and other guests. I never leave her side, and I make sure there’s never a single moment alone with Demetri or her mother. Not that he’s tried; he’s eyed me from far away, seeming to understand I’m protecting her. I almost wish he would try something so I can punch his teeth in. For Charlie’s sake, I’m glad he doesn’t.
The moments alone with her are my favorite part—her showing me more glimpses into the good parts of her childhood, like her favorite hideouts, the etchings on the big tree with her growing heights, and even some baby pictures.
By the end of the party, it seems like everyone had a great time. As planned, we stay behind to help clean up. I take the initiative to divide up the tasks, myself and her uncle dismantling the tables and other decorations. Charlie and Vivy are left to clean up and fill garbage bags, and her father is in charge of supervising the whole thing. He was originally on trash duty, but that lasted as long as it took him to find some whiskey and the hot bartender, who isn’t gone yet. She’s taking a painstakingly long time to clean up. Between myself and Charlie, we respectfully asked her to leave a few times, but her father kept chiming in that she was just doing her job. We gave up and tried to move faster on our duties. In about an hour and a half, we managed to clean up the whole backyard, returning it to its former glory.
“I think I’m going to head out tonight instead,” Charlie says to her mother, not wanting to stay for the inevitable fight brewing between her parents. We both knew we weren’t planning to stay much longer after the party ended, and neither of us drank more alcohol—choosing to stick to water.
“Okay,” her mother says distractedly. She’s looking towards her husband, who’s flirting with the young bartender.
“It was a pleasure meeting you,” I say as I take her hand and kiss the top. This seems to draw her father’s attention as he walks over, leaving the bartender to Demetri’s predatory attention. “You too, James. Again, happy anniversary to both of you.”
“Thanks, young man. Take care of my little girl, will ya?” he says as he kisses Charlie’s forehead.
“Dad!” she scolds, but her body melts into his embrace. “I love you and will see you both soon.”
“Goodnight, Charlotte . . . Thank you, Damon.” Her mother smiles at me, and it seems to be one of her more genuine ones. I think I may have actually won over the Ice Queen, not that I care. Her opinion doesn’t matter to me, because while she puts on a good show, I can see the evil inside. No mother should treat her daughter like she does, no matter how much pain I can see hidden behind the million dollar smile.
Thankfully, Charlie’s uncle is distracted, so she takes my hand and we rush to our cars to avoid any other drama, ready for this part of the night to end.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Charlie squeals as she wraps her arms around my body and squeezes once we get to the cars.
I wrap my own around her frame and squeeze. “You’re welcome. Glad to be of service.”
She pulls away, smiling. “I couldn’t have survived that many hours with them without you.”
“I can now see why. They are definitely a handful.” It was physically draining not pummeling Demetri’s face into a pulp or toying with Vivy more. It was so easy to play with her, and I didn’t go as full throttle as I wanted to. But Demetri . . . I want to savor that one.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” she says. “I owe you.”
“You never owe me. That’s why I’m here.” We’re standing by our cars parked next to each other in the driveaway. “I’ll follow you home to—”
She stops midway through opening the door. “You don’t need to—”
“Yes, I do. I need to make sure you’re okay,” I say, cutting her off.
She chews on her bottom lip. “Day, I’ve been thinking about this for a while . . . You’re always making sure everyone else is okay. Who makes sure you’re okay?” Her voice is laced in worry.
“I guess I never really had anyone.”
Her mouth twitches into a smile. “You do now. ”
I lean against my door. “Oh, yeah? Who?” I ask, grinning from ear to ear like the idiot I am around her.
“Me. I vow to take care of you like you vowed to take care of me,” she says, looking determined. Such a beautiful and strong woman she is. I know how lucky I am to have found her.
“I like the sound of that. Come on, gem. Let’s make sure we both make it home okay then.”
“Okay!” she chirps.
I follow her for about an hour with no issue, but then I get a phone call from Alex.
“Hello?” I ask, annoyed.
“You would think when your superior calls, you’d pick up with a bit more respect.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m sorry, Alex, I’m driving right now. What’s going on? How can I help you?” I ask the last part with a fake sweet voice.
Alex scoffs at me. “Fine, if you’re gonna be that way, I just got a call from Nigel. Your mother is dead.”
“What?” I say, my heart sinking. “She’s . . . what?”
“Her cancer seemed to have gotten her.”
“I—” I stammer.
“That’s all I wanted to say. Looks like we won’t need to fight her appeal for compassionate release after all.”
“Uh . . . yeah.” There’s a whooshing in my head as I try to process all the fleeting thoughts and emotions, but I’m unable to grasp any. I’m unable to process anything.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” There’s an awkward pause before she adds, “I’ll talk to you later. Good night.”
“Yeah. Uh . . . good night.” This one phone call changes my whole life, and a plethora of emotions are fighting within me.