Page 58 of The Bad Wedding Date

I stared up at him, not knowing what to say.

“I wasn’t about to risk letting anyone else take care of you when I knew that no one else in this world could keep you safer than me. I still stand by that, Charlotte. I may have fucked this whole thing up and made a mess of everything the guys and I originally planned, but I haven’t failed at keeping you safe. I haven’t, and I won’t.”

My cheeks flamed to life, bright red and burning with heat.

Despite everything he’d just said to me that I wanted to dissect, only one prominent question stuck out in my mind.

“Who am I in danger of?”

“Matteo Vega,” he answered calmly.

“You’re joking,” I said on a breath of laughter that neither of us found amusing.

“Do I look like I am?” His face was deadly serious, the anger in his eyes flashing like a weapon so powerful, it could ruin thousands of lives in one go.

“But… he’s…. he’s…”

“The worst of the worst: powerful, entitled, rich, greedy, lecherous, and known for putting his hands where they’re not wanted. And he’s not the only one, Charlotte, he’s just the worst here tonight. There are a few others in that room like him watching you all the time because, despite what you think, whenever you’re in the room, you’re all anyone ever sees. You’ve just been blinded to it all your life because your own mother and sister put a rag over your eyes and refused to let you see yourself properly.”

“And you’re here to pull that rag off?”

“If you’ll let me. Just for one night.”

“For one night?” I asked him, my voice barely audible. “What does that mean?”

“It means I want you to hand over what you owe me. I want you to stay with me tonight so I can keep you safe.”

18

Fraser

The fire in her eyes had gone, replaced with an emptiness I didn’t like. Those vacant stares were the worst thing to see in a woman. More often than not, it meant they had nothing left to give. I needed her to fight still… even if the only thing she wanted to fight was me.

“Say something,” I begged quietly. Begged.Me!

Her tongue ran over her bottom lip. “Vigilantes,” she said on a humourless laugh. “Things like this don’t happen to people like me.”

I shuffled closer, my arm resting over the back of the sofa. “Why can’t shit like this happen to you?”

“Because I don’t want it. It’s too much. All of it. I’m not the person meant for this. But, I’m stuck here, aren’t I? You’ve trapped me—decided what’s happening now, and I can’t exactly argue with you. You’re a giant, and I’m the woman you can throw over your shoulder like a rag doll. If you tell me I have to stay here tonight, I’ll stay.” Her voice was flat, as empty as her eyes. “But I don’t want you in the room with me. I don’t want you anywhere near me, Fraser.”

“Understood.” I swallowed, hating every word she’d spoken.

“Good.”

That was it. Good. Nothing else. According to the emptiness in her eyes, I’d ruined her more than anyone at that wedding ever could. I needed to explain things to her better—to do more, say more, and reassure her that this wasn’t a bad thing, despite how crazy it all seemed.

“Don’t you have questions?” I asked.

“Thousands,” she whispered.

“Then, talk to me. Ask me them. Tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours.”

“Why? So that you can try to make me feel better about lying to me? About using me. You can be a superhero and still hurt people, Fraser. That’s the way it happens, right? You try to save the world, and whoever is collateral damage has to suck it up for the greater good.”

“Is that what you think you are?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think anymore. You’ve made that clear. I’m your puppet for the night.”

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