Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 86158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“What the hell?” I yelped as it barely clipped my forearm.
“Thank fuck,” Charlie gasped, her body slamming into mine.
Chapter 17
Charlie
I was brave. I was strong. I could take care of myself.
But when I realized that it was Bishop’s head that I’d nearly clobbered with my bat, I was so relieved that I almost knocked him down the stairs.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked, pulling the bat from my hand as he wrapped his other arm around me securely. “You okay?”
“Someone was in the house,” I stuttered, still freaked way the fuck out.
“What do you mean someone was in the house?” he asked, straightening. He pulled me closer. “Who?”
“I don’t know for sure,” I replied. God, he felt good. Solid. Safe. “But I have a pretty good idea.”
I started to pull him toward my room, but he wouldn’t budge.
“I’m gonna check the downstairs,” he said, dragging me behind him as he took the steps two at a time. “You stand right here.”
“You’re not leaving me here,” I argued, gripping his hand.
“You’re standin’ by the front door,” he said, leaning down to give me a quick kiss. “You hear anythin’ or see anythin’, you go outside and get in your car.”
“I’m not leaving you either,” I argued.
“Charlotte,” he said, his voice low. “Stay.”
“I’m not a dog,” I hissed as he strode away, disappearing into the kitchen.
I was on edge as I waited for him to take the same route that I’d taken the minute I’d walked in the door a little while earlier and realized something was wrong. I’d already searched every room in the house, but I wasn’t about to dissuade him. I was pretty sure that I’d heard someone downstairs after I’d done my search.
“Stay there,” he told me quietly as he passed me to jog back up the stairs. He grabbed the bat where we’d dropped it on the landing and rounded the corner out of sight. It must have taken less than a minute, but I swear to God, it felt like ten before he came back around the corner.
“Nothin’,” he told me as he came back down the stairs and set the bat back in its spot behind the front door. “You sure someone was in here, honey?”
“Positive,” I said darkly, grabbing his hand so I could tow him to my room.
I stopped in front of the entertainment center and looked at the wall that I’d spent so much time on, waiting for him to see it.
“Son of a bitch,” he breathed, reaching for the frame in the center of the collage. “That fuckin’ cunt.”
Inside the frame of what should’ve been my brother Cam holding the twins when they were born was a photo of Bishop and Tabitha. They were smiling at the camera.
“She came into my room,” I said softly, looking around us.
I hadn’t left out anything that would embarrass me, and the room was clean, but I couldn’t help but feel violated that she’d been in my private space. My little piece of home that was perfectly mine. She’d seen the couch that me and Kara had picked up at a garage sale, the bed that my parents had bought me when I was a teenager, the quilt that my grandmother had made before I was born. She’d seen the size of the weights that I’d used when I worked out and the bag of makeup sitting on the floor in front of my mirror. They were little pieces of my life that didn’t really matter unless I knew someone had been looking at them without my permission. It felt gross and invasive. It made my stomach churn with nausea.
“I’m goin’ over there,” Bishop said, stomping out of my room with the frame still in his hand.
“Beauregard Augustus Bishop,” I yelled as he started down the stairs. “Don’t do it!”
“Looks like the truce didn’t last long,” Draco said as he stepped inside the front door. “Where’s the fire?”
“Tabitha broke into our house,” I said, hurrying down the stairs. “And Bishop thinks he’s going to defend my honor or something.”
“Whoa,” Draco said, putting his hand out to stop Bishop just as Kara came in the door. “You don’t wanna do that, man.”
“I really do,” Bishop replied. I wouldn’t have been surprised if smoke started billowing out of his ears. He held up the photo. “This was on Charlie’s wall.”
“Holy crap,” Kara said, swinging her head toward me. Her eyes were so wide they seemed to take up half of her face. “She came in our house?”
“Take a second,” Draco said calmly to Bishop, even though I could see he was barely keeping a handle on his own temper. “You can’t go rushin’ over there. They’ll call the police so fast, you won’t even be able to talk to her before they’re slappin’ you in cuffs.”