Page 1 of Fatal Attraction

One

Charlotte

“Tell me something,” Phoenix murmured as we lay in bed, my head against his chest and fingers dancing playfully with his. They eventually combined and floated down to rest against his bare pelvis, and my heart fluttered at the feel of his thumb sweeping over my skin in sweet, feathery circles. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Hmm,” I sounded, unable to hide my grin. “That’s a hard answer. When I was little, I adored pink, but as I got older, I kind of went through a heavy emo phase, and then black becameeverything.”

“You…were an emo kid?” he questioned disbelievingly.

“What?” I lifted my head and stared into his beautiful green eyes, my smile unwavering. “Hard to believe?”

“Very,” he chuckled. “I need to see proof or else it didn’t happen.”

“Can’t help you there. All the evidence is sealed up in the attic at my parents’ place.”

“I’d like to meet them someday. Your parents.”

I frowned then turned my head, resting it back against his chest.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No, Phoenix… You didn’t. My relationship with my parents is well… It’s complicated. I haven’t seen or really spoken to them since the divorce.”

“Why?”

“They…” I paused, drawing in a breath. It was hard talking about it. “They despised Karl after they learned about the affair. They wanted me to ruin him. Drainhim dry and leave him slap broke with nothing but the clothes he had on his back.”

“Oh. I’m sorry I asked.”

“Don’t be. It’s okay. I tried to reconcile with them. Tried to help them understand it was my marriage, not theirs, and the decision wasn’t up to them. They just couldn’t accept it though. I decided I didn’t want or need that extra weight and negativity in my life. I was already dealing with enough.”

“You don’t have to say anything else,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to my head. “I understand.”

“What about you?” I asked. “Tell me something about you.”

“Kendall Wilson is my ex.”

“Wait…What?” I lifted up and locked eyes with him. Of all the things I expected him to say,that,wasn't it. “You mean the woman from the crime lab?”

I recognized her name, and I do remember speaking with her over the phone, but I don't recall ever meeting her in person.

“You know about the different MCs spread throughout the Pines, right?” he asked.

I nodded, unsure how that was relevant to Kendall.

“Well,” he started, blowing out a breath. “Kendall has an older brother. His name is Crow Wilson. He’s the President of the Rolling Rebels.”

He paused, swallowing hard. My heart thumped wildly in my chest the longer he remained mute.

“Kendall and I dated throughout high school and college. I was going for my degree in Criminal Justice, and Kendall majored in Forensics. Well, a month before graduation, Kendall had all of a sudden decided to call it quits. We were together for eight years, and when she broke up with me… Let’s just say it wasn’t good. I was devastated. Spike attended the same college and was also majoring in Criminal Justice. We met in freshman year and have been bestfriends ever since. He got me through the breakup. I wasin a really dark place and had turned to alcohol to help me cope. It got so bad that I almost dropped out a week before graduation.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

“It was bad, Char. Really bad. But what made it worse is after graduation, Kendall left Seaview Pines. She up and left without a trace, didn’t say anything to anybody, not even her brother, Crow.”

My breath hitched.

“Her cell phone had been disconnected. Nobody could contact her. Crow filed a missing person’s report and when there were no leads, he turned on me. Well, it was more like he attacked me. He knew Kendall had broken up with me, and for some ungodly reason, he thought I’d killed her. We fought, and in the end, I won. He has a lovely scar across his eye as a reminder.”

---