I feel like a crazy person. The height of teenage drama. I got into a car with a guy because the guy I really want doesn’t want me. How fucking cliché is that bullshit?
“It does make sense. With what happened to you from your medical file, I am surprised that you have even glimmers of memories. Let’s keep going. What flash comes next?”
I soften my shoulders, rolling my head around as I try to piece it together.
“Blaine and I were talking. He made the wrong turn.” Flash after flash, like clips of a movie reel pop into my brain. “There was a loud bang and then there was a lot of glass.”
I suck in a deep breath, willing my mind to keep the movie playing in my brain.
“Can you focus on what you guys were talking about?” Hilary’s voice breaks in as memories start to flood back in.
Oh my God...
That scar.
He was there.
He was the one who found me on the road after the accident.
My body quakes and trembles uncontrollably. Adrenaline soaks my blood as my heartbeat bounds against my temples. Every nerve in me burns and buzzes as Scarface’s last words assault me.
I mutter them under my breath to myself. “There are no accidents, Charlotte. Your dead brother knows that better than anyone.”
“What?” Hilary asks, putting her hand on my knee. “Can you repeat that last statement?”
My eyes snap to hers as my jaw hangs. “I have to go,” I finally spit out, scrambling to my feet.
“We still have thirty minutes left,” She jumps up, trying to stop me from leaving her office. “I think we were making really good progress.”
My eyes sting as I yank open the door. “I have to go,” I repeat.
Running out into the parking lot, I collapse over a nearby trash can.
Where is he? I need him! He said he’d come!
Standing like an idiot in the middle of the packed parking lot, I take a few deep breaths to keep the gagging in check.
Everything starts crashing back into my mind, making it hard for me to breathe. Hyperventilating, the crash assaults my mind over and over. The hot pavement. The feeling of relief when I see the cop walking toward me. The terror that commands me when I realize that it’s Scarface. His words. Those terrible, horrible, disgusting words. Words that meant so many things in my life were a lie.
Was Andrew murdered?
How could that even be possible?
Who would have wanted to snuff out such a bright light?
He was innocent.
I’m innocent.
Why would someone want to attack me?
What did I ever do to deserve this?
I feel dizzy. My knees wobble, damn near ready to give out. I sink down onto the curb trying to catch my breath.
Finally, Xander’s ringtone starts blasting.
“Xander?” I whimper.
“I’m turning down the street now, babe.”
“Okay,” I say with a shuddering breath.
No matter what it is, Xander is the one whom I run to.
After everything, he is and will always be the one I want to play knight in shining armor to my damsel in distress.
It doesn’t take long for Xander’s Pontiac GTO Judge to barrel into the parking lot.
I yank open the passenger’s side door and dive into the seat after Xander moves his gym bag for me.
Xander is huffing, covered in sweat.
“What’s going on?” he asks, putting the car into park.
“I don’t know,” I stammer. “I don’t know what to make of any of this.”
“Any of what?” His hand lands on mine as our eyes meet.
I furrow my brow, forcing myself to actually spit the words out. “There are no accidents, Charlotte. Your dead brother knows that better than anyone.”
“What?” Xander’s face twists, confusion shadowing his features.
My eyes grow wide as I stare at the guy who has broken my heart over and over...he’s still the guy I love more than anything. My eyes dart away, looking out the windshield at a squirrel running along a tree limb. Damn. I wish I was that squirrel, then none of this shit would be happening. I wish I had never remembered any of this crap. It’s all too much. Too much weight, too much sorrow, too much pain.
“Char, what did you just say?” Xander’s hand grips around my wrist as he shakes my arm to make me look at him again.
“The man with the scar on his face, the one who was next to my car at the beach, the one who attacked me outside of Green Cactus! Fuck, Xander! I remember him now. He was there, at the accident scene! I was lying on the pavement, barely conscious, but I was awake enough to see him come up to me wearing a policeman’s uniform. He leaned over me and said those words.” Tears sprung to my eyes. “He meant Andrew was murdered, Xan,” I whisper. “Someone killed my brother and it could have been him!”
I couldn’t believe the words that were spilling out of my mouth. How could this be happening? Why was any of this happening? How could my brother have been a target for Scarface?
Thoughts pop between my ears like bullets and my temples throb from the unexpected pressure.
Xander drops my hand, running it over his as he lets out a low growl.
“He was there?” he rumbles, knotting his fingers in his short, disheveled hair. “He spoke to you?”
“It was-s him. I’d know his-s ugly face anywhere,” I sob as my head falls into my hands.
Xander starts the car again. “I love you, Char. And if it is the last thing I do on this planet, I am going to find that sonofabitch and make him pay for ever laying a finger on you.”
“What does that mean?” I spit out between sniffles. What does any of it mean? Does he really love me? Is it even possible for an Iazetti to truly love someone? Is he just telling me these things to calm me down?
No. It can’t be. Xander wouldn’t keep coming back, keep trying to do the right thing, keep trying to do better if he didn’t actually love me.
The realization of that fact calms me a little as I turn to look at Xander, still waiting for his answer.
His eyes were fixated on the road as his jaw churned. “It means that I am going to take you home and then I have to take care of something.”
“No,” I force out of my mouth. “I meant do you actually love me?”
The words linger around me as Xander’s shoulders soften a little. He shoots a quick glance over to me while sucking in a deep breath.
“Charlotte, I really do love you, and I always have.”
Chapter 9
Xander
I have to find Lorenzo, and if he doesn’t talk, I’m gonna tear each of his limbs from his body before putting a bullet between his eyes.
Blood courses through my veins, boiling as it flows. I hold Charlotte tight in my arms as she clutches me.
Like I’m gonna leave her.
Again.
Last time I pushed her away, she got into a car with that asshole Blaine and almost died.
She needs to know that won’t happen again, but because of my shitty track record, it’s no wonder she doesn’t believe me.
Hell, I’d think I’m full of crap, too.
I’d been able to console her long enough to drive her back to her house, and somehow we’d managed to escape the prying eyes of the house staff long enough to sneak up to her bedroom.