Page 47 of Charity's Redemption

I squeezed my eyes closed as the thumping in my chest hammered with chaos. Where was Max? What was he doing to mitigate Luca’s ire?

Me: I thought you said you’d handle this? He’s pissed and blowing up my phone.

I watched the screen, waiting for the ellipsis to bounce at the bottom. My pulse quickened as the vibration in my hand showed another message, not from Max but Luca.

Luca: At least let me know you’re okay.

Butterflies shot through my stomach like a rocket going into space. His concern sent my head spinning with a false sense of security. It would only take an apology. I can do that. I do it all the time with him.

I contemplated what I’d say as the insertion point blinked, taunting me with a response. Now that I knew it was Elias, I could just tell him I had solved the mystery. It wasn’t me, but Elias playing stupid games with me. But wouldn’t Luca be more furious when he found out Elias killed one of his employees?

Argh. There was no winning. Each new situation just piled on more steaming shit into the out-of-control inferno. Someone would get burned. The question was who, and how bad was it going to hurt?

Luca would go to war for me. He’d burn down his entire empire and Elias’ right along with it if it meant keeping me safe. Even though I would never ask that of him, it’s in his nature to protect what’s his. His father raised him that way.

Me: I’m sor—

Something hard and heavy slammed into the back of my head, with a hollow metal clunk echoing in the car park. Stars shot across my vision, along with a deep pulsating throb exploding inside my skull.

My legs gave out as I fell to my knees, my phone dropping to the ground beside me. Ringing in my ears muffled the sounds around me as I touched the side of my head and groaned.

“Not so hard; we need her alive.”

My stomach revolted as the wavering lights from my shattered screen rushed away from me until a small pinprick sat at the center of my vision, taunting me. I collapsed to my hands, my elbows buckling under my weight.

My face hit the stained cement beneath me, and that microscopic light disappeared.

Another day in theoffice had come and gone.

I loved practicing law, but lately, it had taken up more of my time than I wanted. This new domestic case, which was cut and dry, had me hiring our long-time investigator to follow the girlfriend around, digging into her past to see what kind of character flaws this woman had.

If I wanted to win the case against her with a judge that was clearly biased and siding with her already, given the restraining order with contrary evidence, I would need to up my game and use her past against her.

All is fair in love and war, even though there was no war between them. I don’t understand how people stay with each other when they are unhappy, only to make the other unhappy in this vicious cycle of tit-for-tat.

I pulled up to my family home and walked inside, then nearly turned around and left.

Luca’s shouting match hit every space in the house, making me wonder why I came here in the first place and not to my home, where peace and tranquility reigned supreme.

I put my briefcase down and took off my coat with hesitation. No one had seen me yet. I could pick up and go before they’d even know they’d missed me. Before I walked towards the fighting match, I inhaled a deep, steady breath and took the first of many steps to find Luca pacing the office.

His face had turned a shade of red I hadn’t seen before, while Max sat in his seat, sipping on the caramel-colored liquor with a glazed, languid expression.

“What’s going on in here?” I asked as I took my seat with my back against the bookshelf.

“Charity,” Luca said, seething from his side of the office until he stopped his pacing and took a seat behind his desk.

I glanced at Max, who still hadn’t looked at me.

“Okay. What about her?”

“She’s ignoring me—us. She won’t answer my calls or texts, and now her phone is off.”

Alarm bells sounded that were too difficult to ignore. That wasn’t like Charity. What had happened from the time I left last night until whenever she began ‘ignoring’ him?

It was true, though. Charity always kept her phone on and responded to at least one of us. Even if Luca was being unreasonable or difficult—which was always.

I pulled out my phone and typed out a message to her, seeing if it was just him.

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