Chapter 44
Charlie
True to their word, the police showed up at the guy’s front door as soon as the sun rose.
Between the nightmares and three massive dudes trying to share a king-sized bed with me, I did not get much sleep.
None of the guys wanted to leave me alone and all three of them were by my side for the rest of the night.
It was so incredibly sweet, if not a little bit suffocating. But mostly sweet.
The questioning was fairly straight forward.
They asked me to recall the string of events and other than my time in the trunk still being hazy, I could remember the basement in vivid detail.
They also asked me about my relationships with Chuck and Brad and after I explained, one officer even muttered “you sure know how to pick ‘em.”
Don’t I know it.
I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Brad was in on it.
I can’t recall ever even mentioning Chuck in passing to him.
Those two meeting was some sort of cosmic fluke and just goes to show what kind of luck that I have in my life.
I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve these kinds of things happening, but I do know that I don’t want to burden the men I love with my fucked up history that seems hell bent on destroying me.
My boys have not had a day of peace since I came into their lives.
I love them all and don’t want to leave them, but I think they’d be safer if I wasn’t around anymore.
What if Brad or Chuck get bailed out? The officers helped me file restraining orders before they left and while Brad would probably leave me alone, there is no way that Chuck would.
If I went back to Van, at least Chuck wouldn’t be able to find me.
We’re all in the kitchen after the cops leave. Ben is cooking us all eggs and bacon while the rest of us sit at the table drinking coffee and Andy scrolls on his phone.
“I think I might go back to Van early,” I finally say out loud, letting my errant thoughts free.
Andy’s phone drops to the table loudly. He glares at me. “Over my dead body.”
Ben looks over at me. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
I glance at Max, but he just tilts his head at me expectantly, likely knowing that I'm about to divulge this crazy thought process that led me to that idea.
“I’m putting you guys in danger by being here.
What if one of them gets let out? Is Ben just going to keep beating the crap out of them?
Eventually one of them is going to tell the cops and he’ll be in trouble.
Chuck is way more dangerous than any of us realized at first and there is no way he lets this go.
He’s not just going to come after me anymore.
He’ll come after you guys too and there is no way I can live with myself if one of you gets hurt because of me,” I pause to suck in a breath before I continue, but Andy holds up his hand to stop me.
“Sweetheart, please, have you seen the size of us? We’re not the ones in danger here, you are. And we want to protect you. We can’t do that if you run away,” Andy’s tone is stern, but I can hear the worry there too.
“I would gladly beat the shit out of every single guy in this town for you firefly,” Ben chimes in from the stove.
“If you want to get away for a bit, let’s go on our trip today. We could all use some relaxing after all this craziness,” Max suggests.
“What about work?” I ask
“I can take care of that,” is all he replies.
I take a moment to think about it. “Nah, let’s just leave on Friday like we planned. Don’t want to upset the kids by cancelling the lessons all week,” I decide.
Max nods and takes a sip of coffee. I look back over to Andy, who is still glaring at me. He clearly still has something to say, so I quirk my eyebrows at him to prompt him to speak.
“No more of this leaving bullshit. You told us you loved us last night and I want you to stay. Permanently. And I doubt I’m the only one who feels that way.”
Ben grunts his agreement from the stove, and Max nods at me.
I sigh, still not really sure what to do.
I think I do want to stay, but how long will these guys put up with my haunted past before they get sick of me?
I had a hard enough time being heartbroken by one shitty boy, I won’t survive getting dumped 3 times in a row by 3 wonderful men.
Almost as if Andy could sense my anguish, he decides to add: “You’re safe with us, sweetheart. One of us is going to be with you at all times from now on and we won’t let you out of our sight.”
The room is more tense than I would like it to be, so I try injecting some humour by asking, “What if I have to pee?” Which none of my boys find funny. Andy stares at me incredulously, Max rolls his eyes, and Ben snorts in derision.
I sigh again, rolling my own eyes. “Okay FINE. I’m staying!”
“That’s our girl,” Andy says with a smirk. He gets up from his seat to come over and plant a big kiss on my lips. Max comes beside me next, doing the same. Ben is finished cooking, so he comes over and places a plate of steaming food in front of me before cupping my cheek gently.
“Happy to have you, Charlie.”