After everything is cleared away, Abby nabs me and Drew and pulls us out to the sunnier side of the living room. “We need a photo,” she says, positioning herself in between me and her brother and sliding her arm around my waist. “For my gorgeous new photo frame.”
Kaiden snaps a few pics, sending them to my cell. “I’ll print out a copy for you too,” Abby assures me, looping her arm through mine. And when I’m hugging her goodbye a few hours later, I hug her tight, ecstatic to have her in my life. Go figure.
“Do you need to get home, or could you come back to my place for a while? There are some things we need to discuss,” Charlie says while backing out of the driveway.
I wave at Abby, Drew, and Kaiden, watching as they withdraw into the house and shut the door.
“I want to have that conversation,” I agree, glad he put it out there so bluntly and that he’s not trying to shield anything from me. “Let me message Xena and check she’s okay to keep Dad company for a few hours.” I tap out a text to my friend, and she responds affirmatively. “We’re good.”
My eyes almost bug out of my head when we pull up in front of Charlie’s home fifteen minutes later. “Holy shit. You live here?” I gawk at the impressive mansion set on the grounds of a sprawling estate. “How many rooms do you have?”
“I honestly couldn’t tell you.” He pulls into a garage at the back of the property, maneuvering his Land Rover into a spot beside a silver Bentley. There are at least ten other cars in here. A mix of sports cars, top-end luxury cars, and SUVS, and if I added it up, I’m guessing the cost of these cars outweighs the cost of my house.
He helps me out of the car, escorting me into the house through a side door in the garage. He gives me a quick guided tour, but it still takes a half hour to show me the lower level because this place is massive.
I cannot fathom the enormity of his wealth.
It’s one thing to know he’s rich but quite another to be confronted by it in such a visible way.
I also can’t believe he lives in this gorgeous, rambling mansion all by himself. I don’t think I’d like it.
He brings me down to a basement room that is obviously his man lair, and it’s the most casual, comfortable room he’s shown me to date. It has a fully stocked bar, a pool table, top-of-the-line stereo system, and a wall-mounted TV screen that is almost the size of the screen in the Rydeville movie theater.
He pops a beer, the first alcohol he’s drank all day, and then, he makes me a mean gin cocktail. We kick off our shoes and snuggle up on the couch, sipping our drinks and just enjoying each other’s company. After a few minutes, we put our drinks down on the coffee table and turn so we’re facing one another.
“How much do you know about Parkhurst and the elite organization,” he asks, and I appreciate he’s getting straight to it.
“As much as I’ve heard on the news or found online. I know Parkhurst was the headquarters for the elite, but the public perception was that of a private medical and pharmaceutical company.” He nods. “And I know they made several high-profile arrests. Former elite members who were involved in wide-ranging criminal activities.”
“All that is correct,” Charlie says, tucking my hair behind my ears. “But that’s not the half of it. The elite is an organization that was started in the eighteen hundreds by our forefathers. As generations passed, membership was inherited by the children in each family. There is no choice. It is something we all must accept as tradition. Descendants of founding fathers in every state hold most seniority within the elite, but there is an inner circle, made up of other important members of rich society who are the backbone of the organization.”
“It sounds like fiction,” I admit.
“You have no idea.” He shakes his head. “It’s the most powerful organization in the world, and its reach spans multiple countries. Members are important figureheads in business and government. Fraud and corruption are commonplace as are illegal activities. What you heard at Abby and Kai’s house today is not unusual. These men have their fingers in several cookie jars, and they believe they are above the law. Usually, they are. But Abby and the others threw a wrench in the works. It’s a story in itself, and one I’ll tell you another day, but they almost succeeded in bringing the elite to their knees. It’s a first, and I doubt the elite will leave themselves open to exposure again.”
“Before Epstein, I might have accused you of blowing smoke, but I know this shit exists.”
“It does, and we are in the thick of it. The organization is restructuring, and I must play a part whether I want to or not. Kai, Rick, Abby, and Drew are in the same boat. It’s what I’ve been training for since I was ten.”
“Training?” I rub a hand along the back of my neck. “What do you mean?”
He audibly gulps. “Drew, Trent, and I have been going to Parkhurst annually to prepare for the time when we would become full members of the elite and assume our birthright.”
“Trent was Sylvia’s son? The bomb killed him, right?” I ask, remembering what I’ve read.
“Someone has done their homework,” he says, and I blush.
“I was curious about Abby,” I truthfully admit. “So, I read everything I could get my hands on.”
He kisses me softly. “I’m impressed, and maybe, you’re more ready for this world than I think.” He pulls me into his arms, and I reposition myself on his lap with my legs stretched out to the side. “Trent used to be one of my closest friends, but he was a bastard, and at the time he died, we were enemies. The bomb didn’t kill him. Jackson did.”
I startle, jumping on his lap as shock rams into me.
“It was self-defense,” Charlie explains, “and I have zero remorse for his death, because he tried to kill Abby.”
“But you took the bullet instead,” I say, working it all out in my mind.
“Yes.” He clasps my face in his warm palms. “And I hope you know I’d take a bullet for you too.”
A shudder works its way through me. “I hope you never have to.”
“So do I, but the world I inhabit is a dangerous world, and you need to understand what you are walking into if you decide to continue dating me.”
Now, it’s my turn to cup his face. “There is no decision to be made. It’s already done. I’m yours, Charlie. Whatever is coming, we will face it together because I’m all in, and there is nothing you can say that will make me change my mind.”
CHAPTER 15
Charlie
I want to believe that so badly, but I’m terrified she’ll want nothing to do with me when she finds out the stuff I’ve done. I’m not giving her specifics, because some of it is too heinous to speak out loud, but I need to tell her enough so she understands the kind of man I am. “I hope you still feel like that after you find out what I’ve done.”
“Hey.” She pins me with those luscious eyes, emotion brimming behind them. “I know there’s a good guy behind that asshole front you like to wear.”
“I’ve done a lot of bad shit, Demi. Things I can’t take back.”