Page 177 of The Husband Game

But as his father walked away, Charlie felt a tug at his heartstrings. “Wait!” he called out. “Wait, Dad.”

Charles turned and looked at him.

“I … you could email me, maybe?” Charlie offered. “If you wanted.”

“Of course I want to.” The hope in his eyes made Charlie’s breath catch.

“If you’re actually sincere and you swear you won’t let Mom use it to get to me … I … we could talk sometimes.”

“I swear.” With shaking hands, Charles slipped a slim silver case out of his jacket. He pulled out a business card and held it out. “Email me at work. She doesn’t have access to that.”

“Okay,” Charlie said. His fingers trembled as he took it. “Okay. I’d like that.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

Dustin had never been more impressed by Charlie in his life.

Not for giving his father an olive branch but for standing up for himself. For knowing his worth and being strong and proving to himself he was in control of his own life.

It had taken every ounce of Dustin’s self-control to not go tell Jacqueline Monaghan off. He’d had to bite his tongue to stop himself from calling her every vile name in the book and getting her tossed out of the arena immediately.

He’d seen red when she’d implied Charlie needed to lose more weight and it was only Charlie’s gentle reminder that had made him cut himself short before he unleashed his true feelings on her.

But Dustin was glad he’d controlled himself.

Because Charlie was magnificent all on his own.

He didn’t have to do it alone, because there were so many people there who cared about him and would stand by him, but Dustin had seen the way Charlie stepped into his own power and he loved him even more for it.

“Hey, do you want to get out of here?” Dustin asked, wrapping an arm around Charlie.

He jerked a little, glancing away from the empty hallway he’d been staring down since his father left a few moments ago. “Yeah, please.”

He was shivering a little so Dustin slipped off his tuxedo jacket and gently draped it around Charlie’s shoulders, rubbing his arms to warm him up.

Charlie glanced up. “You did this that night in Vegas, didn’t you?”

Dustin leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Of course. I’ll always look out for you, kitten.”

“I know.” Charlie smiled faintly.

He looked calm. Almost too calm. Dustin wondered if that was the precursor to him having a bit of a breakdown.

Surely anyone would in that situation.

Dustin kinda wanted to himself. It had been a hell of a night.

“Okay, let’s head home,” Dustin said.

When they passed by Matty, who had returned from helping escort Jacqueline out of the building, Charlie stopped and looked up at him.

“Thank you,” he said earnestly. “You’re a good friend to look out for me like that.”

“Of course.” Matty hugged him. “You’re one of us now. We’ve always got your back.”

Charlie hugged Nico and Dom too, smiling faintly at them and thanking them when they echoed the same sentiment.

He got big hugs from Birdie and Natasha who’d been hovering in the hallway, clearly worried.

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