Page 55 of Claiming Charlotte

I studied his face and knew I wasn’t going to be able to convince him otherwise.

“I get that, but you don’t have to, make a change Joshua. Regardless, I’d still like to extend the proposition. I hate what I’ve done, but I need to protect my people. I’ll withdraw my men if you withdraw yours. We can both coexist on opposite sides of this city,” I said.

“We can come to some sort of negotiation; I only want one thing Charlotte.” He replied.

Rowan

I paced the hallway for a few minutes, fists clenched and jaw tight. I didn’t like that he was in her office with her, and it took every part of me not to storm in there and kill the man where he sat. He wasn’t his father, but he was still dangerous. He groomed the women that he dated, even if he didn’t realize, always getting them drunk, or gaslighting them. He never forced them, he was worse; toxic even. By the time they realized, it was too late, and I didn’t know what he’d do if he got his hands on her.

I couldn’t hear their voices through the door, not for lack of trying. It wasn’t long, however, before the door opened and Josh emerged. The sight of him and his smug smile made me want to slap it right off of him. I grabbed him by his shirt and threw him against the wall.

Then he smirked. “If you weren’t around, I’d have no problem taking my turn with Lottie. I heard she's pretty vocal.” he chuckled.

Drawing my arm back, I slammed my fist into the wall next to his head, satisfied when he flinched.

“Do you know what it’s like to have the oxygen ripped from your lungs? That’s how I left your father when I killed him. And your sister? Oh, your sister. She thought she was going to get fucked but instead I watched as she turned blue, I smashed her like an insect.”?I whispered menacingly.

“Speaking of, did you get your delivery? I told your father what would happen if he touched her. Turns out, he didn’t listen.”

The smile fell from Joshua’s face, and I knew I had him. Releasing him roughly, I kept my hardened gaze on him as he staggered down the hallway, fixing his lapel as he went. As soon as he disappeared around the corner, I stalked into Charlotte’s office and slammed the door behind me. She was sitting at her desk typing on her computer.

“Look at me,” I demanded, stopping in front of her.

She turned and stared at me with a questioning gaze. “Rowan, please don’t be mad.”

“What the hell was that about?” I demanded.

“I called him in for a meeting because I wanted to end this thing. I told him if he left us alone, we’d leave him alone,” she sounded offended and hurt, as though she hadn’t done anything wrong, and that pissed me off.

“I don’t understand why you didn’t have someone in here with you,” I growled. “He could have hurt you. You shouldn’t have been alone. You’re turning into your father, Charlotte. All these secrets.”

I saw her innocence turn into anger at my words. “Maybe I should have heeded his warnings about letting myself get distracted. Then none of this would have happened.”

My mouth fell open. I didn’t know what to say, but she continued.

“You think you’re so healed, Rowan?” Charlotte rose from her chair and stepped around her desk to face me. “You’re a hypocrite. You shoved your trauma so far behind that red door until you were forced to open it.”

“I know, and I opened that door for you, Charlotte,” I countered defensively. “And yeah, maybe I enjoyed what I did more than I should have. What do you want from me?”

Her stare turned to stone. “I’m not going there right now, Rowan.”

“Lottie, say what you really want to say,” I shouted, stepping closer to her.

“I hate you for not being there!” she shouted. Her expression turned to shock at what she’d said, and she took a moment to calm down. “Okay?”

I put some distance between us. “I wanted to,” I said, hurt. “You were the one who pushed me away. You told me to take a day off. You said you’d be safe!”

She scoffed. “You hate me, too. Admit it. Part of you blames me for what happened to us as much as I blame myself.”

“Do you really feel that way?” I asked, unsure what else to say.

Charlotte didn’t answer. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at her feet and I looked at my hands; the hands that had killed for her. The hands that had caressed her body, and wiped her tears. I stared at the ring her father had given me, my vow to him that I would protect her with everything I had in me. Shaking my head sadly, I took the ring off. I can’t fail her anymore.

“Fuck you,” I mumbled. “Consider me relieved of my duties.”

I dropped the ring to the floor and walked out of the office.

Charlotte

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