Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Pushing thoughts of his brother out of his mind, he made his way outside. Gash paused when he saw Sally on the ground, studying.
Sally looked at him, then toward Charlotte. “Okay, I’ll look scarce.”
He waited until Sally was gone, and the door had closed giving them some privacy, or as much privacy as they could have in the garden.
Charlotte was nibbling her lip, and he moved toward her.
“That was fast,” she said.
“I read the file. I didn’t need to read all of it.” He’d glanced through some of the pages. Gash knew as much as he needed to about the situation.
“Do you still think I know where Rebecca and Jeff are?” Charlotte chuckled.
“Don’t do that. Don’t make jokes.” He knelt down, holding onto her knees.
Tears were once again in Charlotte’s eyes. “You were drunk. I never expected you to remember what happened. You thought I’d put you to bed after passing out.”
“I don’t remember the day clearly.”
“You were my first,” she said.
Gash winced. “You were a virgin.”
“Yep. How unlucky am I? Not only do I have sex for the first time with a man so drunk he doesn’t know his own name, but I get pregnant the first time.” Charlotte shook her head. “I guess I asked for what I got.”
He cupped her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. “No, you didn’t get what you deserved.” Unable to hold back any more, he took possession of her lips. It was a simple kiss, and yet it was totally right. Pulling away, he wiped the tears that fell down her cheeks, hating the fact she was crying. “We made a baby?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to kill Jeff. I will make him suffer, and make him wish that he never looked in your direction.”
“Do you forgive me?” she asked, sobbing.
“You’ve got nothing to forgive, baby. Nothing at all. I’m the one who should be asking you for forgiveness.”
“Why? There’s nothing to forgive you either, Gash. I know you didn’t want to have sex with me. I shouldn’t have let it get that far.”
She was staring down at her hands, which lay in her lap.
Gash didn’t know what to say. Charlotte had always been unreachable to him. She was the kind of woman a man like him couldn’t have. He wasn’t a good man. He had killed people and didn’t care that he’d ended lives. When he first met Charlotte, she had always been the sunlight. She reminded him of purity, love, and everything he’d sold his soul to never have.
“You deserved better than a man like me. I’m not a good guy. I’m a fucking evil bastard, Charlotte.”
“Stop it.”
“No. You’re an amazing woman. I loved spending time with you, but I knew I wasn’t the guy for you. You’re the kind of girl who deserved someone who was gentle, kind.”
“You don’t know me at all,” she said. “I was attracted to you, and you gave me the most amazing night of my life. When I woke in the morning, reality came back, and that sucked.”
“And you got pregnant. Were you going to tell me?”
“I told you that I was going to tell you, Gash. I knew I had to make you believe that we’d been together. You deserved a chance to be a father.”
He took a deep breath to stop himself from falling apart. “I’d have believed you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know you. That fucker took away our chance to be together. We would have been happy, Charlotte. I’d have made you my old lady, and no one would have ever hurt you.”
“Seven years, Gash. We would have had a seven year old child.”
Pressing his head against hers, he gripped the back of her neck, holding her tightly.
“I will end him, Charlotte.”
“Not without me. You’re not leaving me behind. I need this, Gash.”
They would have to do this together, and Gash wasn’t going to let her go.
Chapter Six
“I can’t believe this,” Angel said, coming out of the kitchen of the club. Anthony trailed behind her. Eva looked up from the table where Miles and Tabitha were doing their homework.
“What is it?”
“I’ve just got a call from the school. Daisy’s parents have left her there. I picked Anthony up, and I had thought about taking Daisy home, but the teacher wouldn’t let me. Now, they can’t get in touch with her parents, and the school decided to contact me.” Angel growled. “They really annoy you.”
Eva laughed. “You can swear if you want. The kids hear enough around their dads.”
“I’m not interested in adding to their vocabulary. Will you watch Anthony while I go and get her?”
“I want to go,” Anthony said.
“I’ll go, too. She’s my best friend,” Tabitha said. “Her mommy’s mean to her.”
Angel’s heart sank. She had done her best to keep Lash and the boys out of it. This was not the first time that Daisy had been left at school, waiting to be picked up. If she didn’t pick her up, Eva would, or one of the other women. Daisy was best friends with Tabitha, and they’d been close since the two had started nursery. Angel wanted to take Daisy away from her drug addict parents, but so far, their lawyer had advised not to get involved. She didn’t like to cause conflict, and even though Tiny had given the parents a talking to, she didn’t want more trouble.