Page 144 of The Bad Wedding Date

“Perhaps, although we both know how rumours fly around, don’t we, sweetheart? We can never be sure what’s real and what isn’t. I didn’t know anyone he’d hurt, but that didn’t stop me from making damn sure you, your sister, or your mother were never alone with him for too long.”

I ran my hand over my forehead, feeling sick to my stomach. “Idoknow someone he hurt, Dad, and I don’t feel like I can sit by and let him get away with it.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment or two before he whispered, “Who?”

“Fraser’s mum. Her name is Keira.”

“How long have you known about this?”

“Since the wedding.”

“Charlotte…” He breathed out again, clearly pained.

Looking up and out of my bedroom window, I watched the sun setting in the sky, turning the usual blues to the most beautiful oranges and reds, casting a perfect glow across my bedroom that should have made me feel nothing but warm inside.

Instead, a shiver ran through me.

“You and he are over, no?” Dad asked.

I’d had to tell him that Fraser had gone from my life as quickly as he’d arrived, but I hadn’t told him why. Instead, I’d protected Fraser, telling my father that it had all boiled down to me not being ready for commitment, along with some other lie I’d conjured up in the heat of the moment when he’d asked if he could possibly take the two of us for lunch one day.

“We’re over,” I said, hating the way those two words pinched at my chest. “But that doesn’t mean I can sit by and let Matteo get away with everything he’s done.”

“And what, exactly, do you plan to do?”

“Well… I was hoping you could help me with that.”

“How?”

“That’s the thing. I have no idea. Just that I need to find a way to make sure people know Matteo isn’t the same man he puts out there for everyone else to see.”

With a sigh, Dad said, “The successful ones rarely are.” I heard his chair creak again as he moved positions. “Let me look into it. I’ll need to do some digging around, speak to a few people without making it obvious what I’m digging around for.”

“That would be amazing, Dad. Anything you can do. Anything at all.”

“This could be dangerous, darling. You know that, don’t you?”

“I don’t care.”

“You might not but I do.”

Hearing his words of affection flow so easily now compared to my childhood still came as a shock to me, but I accepted them anyway, glad for the way he and I had been able to build some kind of bridge back to each other after spending far too long facing the other way.

“I can’t just let him get away with it,” I said.

Dad’s pause lingered before he finally spoke again. “Fine. I’ll get to work but, Charlotte? I’m going to need a favour in return.”

48

Fraser

The small waves crashed over my bare feet, another day coming to an end as I stared at the horizon, watching the sun go down.

Another day trying to rediscover my purpose, only to think about her instead.

I brought the bottle of beer to my lips, took a drink, and then let my arm fall back down.

“Your trousers are getting wet,” Wade said into the earpiece I wore.

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