Page 39 of Protecting Charity

Charity

We sat in silence for a moment, unnaturally trying to force a conversation I didn’t want to have. There was nothing to talk about, and Mom took away the one thing Owen was here for. I had a feeling he was trying to get at something; the question was what. All I knew was that, the moment I told Luca that Kandy was talking to the FBI, he’d have her head delivered to the director. I just hoped I was the one that got to take it off. It made me feel better knowing that she would be out of his life forever now. Of all the things to feel crazy about… it was jealousy?

There would be no way he’d keep her around after I told him she talked to the feds. I was giddy inside just thinking about telling him and watching him come undone about it.

“So, Charity—” my mother began, but the doorbell rang, cutting her off.

“I’ll get it.” I jumped from my seat while wiping my mouth with my napkin. Any excuse I could use to get away from this uncomfortable table, I was willing to take. My brows knit together as I tried to think of who could be at the door. I cracked it open with caution. Someone had tried to eliminate me in public today; I wouldn’t put it past them to try at my parents’ house. My gaze hit the shiny black dress, shoes followed by the expensive suit, black tie, and chiseled jawline. My heart slammed against my chest. Just the sight of him had lust flushing my skin and causing zips of arousal between my legs.

“Nico? What are you doing here?” I whispered. “Is everything okay?”

“Relax, Charity. Your dad invited me.”

What the hell? Dad knew Nico? How did I not know this? I mean, it would make sense with him at the precinct all the time, and I’m sure Nico had clients for cases that my dad worked on, but never in a million years could I have foreseen him being invited to dinner, much less on the same night as Agent Owen Harding. I’m getting tired of the universe testing my belief in coincidences.

I slid the door open wider and let him step inside. When we rounded the corner to the dining room, my father stood from his seat and shook hands with him.

“I was wondering if you were going to make it.”

“Yes, sorry. I got held up at the prison with a client, and the judge felt like giving a speech today on checking IDs before...” he looked to my mother and cleared his throat, “nevermind.”

Nico took a seat next to me, and my mother placed a plate and silverware in front of him. I’m guessing she didn’t know he was coming either, considering there would have been a place set for him.

“Oh, where are my manners?” Dad said. “This is my wife, Lynnet, and my daughter, Charity. This is Agent Harding, from the FBI. He’s here on that high-profile case right now.”

Nico tipped his chin, acknowledging Harding and my mother. “It’s nice meeting you.”

“I thought you two already knew each other?” Harding said, wagging his finger between Nico and me.

“We don’t…”

“We do…” he said, simultaneously.

I looked at Nico and felt the need to clarify. “We do, and we don’t.” I chuckled. “Only in passing.” I took a sip of my water, then a bite of my potatoes.

“Oh, but Kandy said you were quite cozy with each other the night you drugged her.”

I inhaled my potatoes into my lungs and prayed to God I would choke to death at this table. Nico patted me on the back to help dislodge it from my chest, and I swiped his hand away, wanting Hell to take me right this fucking second. Don’t help me, I’m about to get my wish.

“Too soon?” Owen gloated.

“What is this? What is he talking about?” my father asked.

My face flushed from coughing, covering up the burning rage firing my cheeks. I wanted to rain hell’s fire down on this asshole and laugh as I watched his body burn. You have a problem with me; you take it up with me, but have some tact and do it at the precinct and not in front of my parents. Where did the bureau get this douche?

“I don’t have a clue, Dad.”

“Sir, I don’t know what’s going on here, but it would appear Agent Harding here is accusing your daughter of a crime and including me in the mix,” Nico said.

“Agent Harding?”

“Kandy sat down, and we had a pleasant chat about the night of Charity’s birthday a couple weeks ago. They did celebration shots, sat, and talked for a while, and then that was the last she remembered. Charity was the one to handle her drinks.”

I began laughing hysterically. My mind fogged over, and all thought was irrelevant. I wasn’t nervous in the slightest based on his little play of events.

“I hope you have toxicology to back up her claim?” Nico asked Harding, then directed his next question at my father. “Do you have a police report filed by Kandy after the incident?”

The veins on my father’s forehead became prominent, and his face beamed with anger. Detective Gibbons, my father, was a level-headed man, which I have rarely seen become so heated with rage that the color of his face changed. If this was any indication of the events to come, I’d tuck tail and run.

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