Page 77 of The Bad Wedding Date

“Are you taking the deal or not?”

He opened his mouth to speak, only for my phone to ring in the back pocket of my jeans. For some reason, I knew it was her, and I pulled the phone out to answer without a second thought, raising a finger to my lips at Jonah in warning.

“Hey, everything okay?” I answered.

“Not really. Something weird is going on, Fraser,” Charlotte said, sounding a little out of breath.

“What is it?”

“Penn just came to my place of work. We split up years ago, and I’ve barely seen or heard of him since. Seeing him just now was… odd. I didn’t know he even knew where I worked or what I did.” She paused, and the waiting killed me. “He said he came here to tell me something.”

“What?”

“He apparently heard something from those security guys in the toilets last night. Something that worried him. He wanted to warn me because he thinks they’re coming after you, which means they’ll come after me. He said—”

“I’m coming to get you,” I cut her off, not needing to hear another word.

“I’m at work. You can’t just come here and—”

“Be ready in thirty minutes.”

I ended the call, not giving her time to argue, and I turned to find Jonah’s moody stare.

“Just a client, huh?” he asked, raising a brow.

If he hadn’t been Charlotte’s friend, I’d have put my fist through his face right there and sent him back to sleep.

“Take the deal, Jonah. Leave Charlotte to me.”

* * *

It took her ten minutes after I’d text her to tell her I’d arrived before she came scurrying out of the care home with her head down. Charlotte didn’t get in the car, though. Instead, she tapped on the passenger side window, hinting for me to lower it.

I did, raising a brow at her as she rested her hands on the ledge and leaned in.

“Are you crazy? You can’t just come here and demand I finish work, Fraser.”

“You phoned me knowing what would happen. Let’s not feign naivety. That’s not who you are.”

Her mouth set into a thin line as she stared at me, but I had nothing more to say. She could either come with me, or I’d sit out here waiting all night until her shift finished. Either way, I wasn’t going anywhere without her.

She blew out a breath and let her shoulders fall. “We’re short-staffed in there. I can’t go anywhere until the night medications have been handed out.”

“I’ll wait.”

“You really think I’m in that much danger?”

“Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Definitely crazy,” she muttered under her breath before she turned and walked away, tucking her arms across her chest as she went.

“Definitely going crazy over something,” I whispered to myself.

A flash of light caught my eye on the left, and I saw an elderly lady peeking out through her curtains, trying to get a good look at me. I switched off the car’s engine so that the lights went out on my Aston Martin, and I waved an apology at having had the glare aimed directly at her window. Whoever she was, she seemed to like my offering of regret, and a beaming smile came to life on her face before she let the curtain fall back into place and disappeared.

After that, nothing much happened for nearly an hour. Charlotte kept me waiting, and even though it would have annoyed me with anyone else, with her, I liked it. Anything that showed she had some fight left in her flooded me with a sense of relief. I needed women to show their strength. It frightened predators like Matteo. They sought out the weak, seeking cowardness they recognised in themselves.

When Charlotte eventually walked out of the building, I watched her make her way to me, unable to take my eyes off the natural sway of her curvy hips or the way she pushed her fingers through the loose strands of her hair that caught on the wind.

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