Page 33 of Wizard's Spitfire

“It doesn’t look like he erased it. I’ll need his phone and the girls’ phones to track where the text was sent.”

“You’re not taking my phone. Get out of my house.”

“I don’t need your phone. I already cloned it,” I say with a grin.

I place my hand in the small of Charlie’s back.

“Are you ready, Spitfire, or do you want to hit him again?”

She smiles up at me.

“I’m ready. One more thing, JR, you won’t be seeing the girls again for a good, long while.”

“You can’t keep me from my daughters.”

“You can’t see them from behind bars,” she replies smugly and heads toward the door.

?

Charlie’s still wound up by the time we get back to the compound. I lead her upstairs to my room instead of taking her to the guesthouse her family is staying in. The prospects got them settled while we were in church.

“Can I get you a drink?”

She shakes her head and starts pacing my room.

“What if you hadn’t shown up in time or showed up first? I mean, I carry, but I’d have been clearly outnumbered.”

I draw her into my arms.

“None of the what ifs matter because it turned out fine. Bug and I will go over the phones with a fine-tooth comb and figure out where the messages came from.

“JR may not have sent the text, but he is in bed with the Russian mafia, not to mention his association with Barnes. He’s not a good man.”

She turns, burying her head in my chest. I can see tears trailing down her cheeks. I wipe them gently with my thumbs and drop a sweet kiss on her lips. She tries to talk but it comes out in sobs.

I gather her in my arms and carry her to the couch.

Charlie

MY MIND’S RACING Amillion miles an hour as I sob inWizards’ arms. I feel like I’m losing my freaking mind. I can’t believe my girls were almost attacked and possibly kidnapped by a human trafficking ring. How the hell am I going to keep them safe? From the Russian mafia, and from human traffickers.

JR may not have sent the text, but he’s not innocent in all

this. If he didn’t target the girls, one of his buddies did. Not to mention whoever left that note on my car.

My brain begins to spin. My breath comes faster. My chest tightens and it feels hard to breathe. I’m gasping for air when Wizard spins me around so I’m straddling his lap. He takes my hand and puts it on his chest and puts one large hand on mine.

“Breathe with me, Charlotte, baby. Breathe in. Hold. Let it out slowly.”

He repeats the words over until my breathing slows to normal. This man, who I’ve only been dating a few weeks, has shown more care and concern for me and the girls, than JR did during our entire marriage. He was different when we were dating and during our first year of marriage.

It all changed the day he found out I was pregnant. After that, he became increasingly aggressive and started stepping out on me. Damien is nearly JR’s polar opposite. He’s considerate, kind, caring, and generous.

With that realization, I knew what I wanted to do next.

Chapter 20

Charlie

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