Chapter Nineteen #2
Focused on my food, I finished dinner and dug into the strawberry shortcake the housekeeper served for dessert. Lulled by the sound of Charlie's laughter beside me and my comfortable surroundings, I lost the train of the conversation.
It wasn't until I heard my name repeated that I looked up to find the whole table staring at me. Charlie's eyes were on me as well, but unlike the others, hers were worried and her cheeks were pink.
Normally, I loved it when she blushed. She could be so direct and ballsy that it was cute when she got embarrassed.
This time, it just made me nervous.
"What?" I asked.
"I asked if you thought it was safe for Charlie to come to the benefit tomorrow?" Aiden asked, his eyes on mine, his gaze penetrating.
I had the fleeting thought that he could see everything that passed through my mind. Taking the easy way out, I looked away.
Beside me, Charlie said in a low voice, "I forgot to mention it. There's a thing tomorrow, black tie. I'm supposed to go, but . . ."
She looked miserable and embarrassed. I was missing something. Maybe she didn't want me to go with her. Maybe she didn't want to drag her tattooed badass fuck-buddy to a charity benefit. If the Winters family was attending, I could bet it would be filled with the highest echelon of Atlanta society.
"It's probably safe enough," I said, glancing up at Aiden. Beside me, Charlie whispered, "Do you mind?"
I still couldn't read her and I wasn't going to ask what was wrong. Maybe it would've been smarter if I did ask. I never saw the point of uncertainty when a question could erase it.
But I wasn't sure I wanted this uncertainty erased. Was I ready to hear her tell me I wasn't the type you brought to a black-tie benefit?
Aiden was right. I was a pussy.
Hoping I was saying the right thing, I looked down at Charlie. "I don't mind. If you're sure you want to go, you're not going without me. I doubt Hayward would dare to make a move with an audience like that. He wants revenge, but he doesn't want the attention."
Looking up at Aiden, I asked, "Will Sinclair provide extra security?"
"Already done," Aiden answered.
"Then we'll be there," I said. Charlie let out a breath of relief.
At least, I thought she was relieved. Fuck.
From across the table, Abigail sent me a delighted smile and said, "Thank you so much.
I know it's not a great time to be out and about with everything going on with Charlie, but Cheryl was so helpful with our event last month.
It was my first for The Winters Foundation, and I couldn't have done it without her. I wanted to return the favor."
Charlie closed her hand over mine and said, "We're looking forward to it. It should be fun."
From the look on her face, you'd think she'd agreed to attend her own execution. Dropping my lips to her ear, I whispered, "I can arrange for more discreet security if you'd rather go on your own."
I hated making the offer, but I had to do it. If she didn't want to go to this thing with me, I wasn't going to back her into a corner. That would just make both of us miserable.
She jerked back at my words, turning her head to look at me, her eyes wide and confused.
"What do you mean? Why would I want to go without you? I didn't think you'd want to go, and I didn't want you to feel like you had to . . ."
She trailed off.
Fucking fuck.
Charlie sounded as messed up about all of this as I was. I liked her family, and dinner was excellent, but at the moment, I wished us back at her house, naked on her futon.
Just like it was before things started to get complicated.
As the word passed through my head, I sighed.
This shit was why I didn't do complicated. Charlie and me naked made sense. Once you threw in the rest of the family, their social status, their past and mine, Charlie and I shot straight past complicated into impossible.
"Is everything set up with Sophie?" Possibly sensing the tension between Charlie and me, Maggie interrupted with a distraction. Charlie let out a breath and leaned forward to meet Maggie's eyes.
"She's moving in the day before Aunt Amelia does. I think she'll work out."
"Have you met her?" Jacob asked Aiden. Aiden nodded.
"She's certainly competent. It remains to be seen if she can keep Amelia under control."
"Isn't your Aunt Amelia in her eighties?" Abigail asked Jacob. He laughed.
"She is. But Amelia's what her generation would have called a pistol. Age may have brought her a few health problems, but she's still trouble."
Vance let out a shout of laughter and leaned forward. "Do you guys remember when she put the rubber snake in Mrs. Williamson's root vegetable basket?"
"Oh my God, I forgot about that," Charlie giggled from beside me. "I can still hear the screams."
Charlie fell into my side, body shaking with laughter. Every other Winters in the room was laughing just as hard.
Jacob, gasping for breath, said, "And then Mom saw it, and she started screaming, too."
"And when Mr. Henried came running and he told them it was a fake . . . I thought they were going to kill Aunt Amelia," Aiden went on.
"But they couldn't do anything because Dad was always her favorite and he never got mad at her. Even the time she ruined the curtains trying to make everyone think the library was haunted," Charlie finished.
"Is Mrs. Williamson going to be okay with her moving in?" Maggie asked after a quick look over her shoulder to make sure the doorway was empty. I shouldn't have been surprised the family would care what their housekeeper thought.
Aiden followed her eyes, still grinning. "I asked her if she wanted extra help, but she said that she was fine, especially with Sophie to take care of Amelia, and that she could certainly handle having more of the family back in Winters House."
"Liar," Charlie said, still giggling. "She'd never admit she doesn't like Aunt Amelia. She's too loyal. I already talked to Sophie about the pranks and asked her to help watch out for Mrs. Williamson. Sophie knows she'll have her hands full with Amelia."
"I got the impression she was looking forward to it," Maggie said. "Her last job kept her pretty isolated. She said she could do with some excitement."
"I just hope Amelia doesn't scare her off," Vance said.
"Me too." Charlie blotted her eyes with her napkin, still laughing a little.
"Are you ready for the invasion?" Jacob asked Aiden.
I didn't listen to Aiden's answer. I was too lost in Charlie, her smile wide and free, her ocean blue eyes shining with happiness and laughter. Everything about her was luminous. I liked her family, and dinner had been good, but I wanted Charlie to myself.
I checked my watch, ready for the meal to be over, when Aiden cleared his throat.
Conversation stopped.
Clearing his throat again, he lay his palms flat on the table and took a deep breath.
"I called all of you here tonight for a reason. I've already spoken with Holden and Tate before they left for their conference, but I asked them to stay quiet until I could talk to the rest of you together."
"What? What is it?" Jacob demanded.
"Gage is missing."
The silence in the room was deafening. Beside me, Charlie's breath caught in a hitch. Not caring who saw, or what they thought about it, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my side. She pressed her cheek to my chest but kept her eyes on Aiden.
"What happened?" Vance asked in a thick voice.
"As you can guess, they're not sharing a lot of information. All I know is that two months ago, he left on a mission, and a few days later, he stopped reporting in. They won't tell me where it was. They waited almost a month before they let me know he was MIA."
"So they didn't give you anything," Jacob said, his eyes hard and cold.
Aiden shook his head. "Cooper is seeing what he can find out, but he's not optimistic. You know Gage couldn't talk about his work. I wasn't even sure he was still officially with the Army until they called."
"I can make some calls," I offered, surprising myself. "I've been out for a while, but I can guess that Gage and I worked for some of the same people. There's no guarantee they'll talk to me. Better odds that they won't. But I can try."
Aiden gave a grave nod. "We'd appreciate anything you can do."
I had a feeling this explained Aiden's exhaustion, the deep grooves in his face and the circles beneath his eyes. Given the way he watched over his family, Gage going missing must be killing him.
Charlie had said a few things here and there that gave me the impression Aiden and Gage were tight growing up. Until Hugh and Olivia Winters had been murdered, Gage had planned to join the company with Aiden. Before they were cold in the ground, he dropped out of college and joined the Army.
I wished I could do more, but I'd been honest with them. I had connections, and if they were willing to talk, I might be able to get some information, but that was a big if.
Gage Winters was most likely already dead, and it was possible his family would never know what had happened to him.
Tears soaked through my shirt as Charlie cried softly into my chest. I knew she hated the way Aiden tried to coddle her. At that moment, I'd never been more in sympathy with him.
I didn't want her to know about Gage. I never wanted her to hear another piece of bad news for the rest of her life.
How much more was she supposed to take? She'd lost her aunt and uncle, then her parents. She was being stalked. Now, her cousin was missing, probably dead.
Yeah, I got Aiden's urge to wrap her up and keep her safe for the rest of her life.
Her strawberry shortcake abandoned, Charlie looked ready to call it a night. I stood, taking her with me, and said to the room, "We're going to head home. I assume we'll see you all tomorrow?"
"Take care with her," Aiden said. I knew Charlie felt like shit when she didn't respond to the overprotective big brother comment.
I didn't need the warning.
Lately, taking care of Charlie was the only thing that made sense. The only thing I wanted to do.
And that scared the shit out of me.