“See that you do.” He stands, and we climb to our feet.
“I give you my word that nothing will happen to that delinquent,” he agrees, eyeballing me. “But if you cross me, all deals are off, and he’s the first one I’ll go after. Do you understand?
“I understand.”
“Good.”
The door opens again, and a tall, skinny blonde with big lips and even bigger tits enters the room. She’s wearing a minuscule white minidress and sky-high stilettos. Diamonds drip from her neck and slender arms. “Darling.” She drapes herself around my father, and I’m not fast enough to disguise the look of disgust from my face. She looks like she’s only a few years older than me, and it’s just so wrong.
Grabbing her by the wrists, he pulls her around in front of him, licking his lips as he eye-fucks her. “Strip and get on your knees.”
He ignores her as she lifts the hem of her dress without argument, focusing on me. “You will stay the night here. Your brother has missed you.”
He’s not asking. But I want to see Drew anyway, so I nod.
“And I expect you both here for dinner every Sunday.”
“We’ll be here,” Charlie says, averting his eyes as the woman pulls her bra off, standing before us in only her panties and high heels.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” I mock.
“She’s no one,” he says, opening the buckle on his belt, his lips twitching as my mouth pulls into a grimace. “Stay if you want to watch,” he adds, challenging me with a knowing look. His loud laughter follows me as I race out the door with Charlie hot on my heels.
Once the door is closed, I spin around, shoving Charlie in the chest. “You can leave.” I stab him with a venomous look, my ass still stinging from his hand.
“I had no choice.”
“There are always choices,” I say, and I’m reminded of Sawyer saying the same thing to me one time. “And you had no issue standing up to him on the sharing thing.” A shiver works its way through me at the thought of all that entails.
“I know how to handle your father.”
“Because you understand how his mind works?” I query, wondering if Charlie shares similar psychopathic traits, because he’s a bit all over the place, and I can’t get an accurate reading on him or his agenda.
His eyes drift upward, toward the spot where one of the hidden cameras is mounted to the wall. “Not here. Let’s talk in your bedroom.”
He moves to take my hand, and I shove my elbow into his ribcage. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
He grabs my elbow, dragging me along the hallway. Pressing his mouth to my ear, he whispers, “We need to perform for the cameras, or do you want your boyfriend to be killed?”
That sobers me up, and I stop fighting, letting him hold my hand, but the second we’re behind closed doors in my room, I push him away. “Start talking.”
“I’m sorry that had to happen, but it won’t be the last unpleasant thing I’m forced to do if you continue to berate him.” He steps toward me.
I hold up a palm. “Don’t come any closer unless you want a black eye. I am fucking pissed.”
“I couldn’t tell.”
“Do not joke with me either.”
“Jeez, tough crowd.”
“Charlie,” I growl, grabbing fistfuls of my long hair in frustration.
He walks to my bed and sits down, patting the space beside him. “Please, sit.”
“Did you not hear what I just said?”
“I’ll take my chances.” He pats the bed again.
I sit my butt down as far away from him as possible, and his face drops. “I’m on your side, Abby. And I’m doing everything I can to help you. Why the hell else would I broker a deal with your father to save Kai’s life if it wasn’t about helping you? It’s not as if I like the asshole. He’s stolen you out from under me before I had a chance to show you how good we could be.”
“Don’t do that.” I can’t handle emotional blackmail right now.
He scoots a little closer. “It’s the truth.” His hands twitch at his sides and I can tell he wants to touch me, but he’s holding back. “I love you, and I want to spend my life with you, but if he’s your choice, I will let you go.”
I examine his face for evidence of the truth. “I thought you wanted to marry me and give me a good life.”
“That is still on the table. And we can do that in Rydeville or far away from here. We can get married and disappear, if that’s what you want.”
“You’d leave your family to run away with me?” Skepticism laces through my words.
“Yes.” He doesn’t hesitate to respond. “It’s what I was planning to do the night of the shootout.”
“You said Oscar was meant to take me to Xavier’s warehouse that night and we would flee to Europe, but how did you know to plan that in advance?”
“I knew it wouldn’t take you long to figure it out.” He runs his hand through his black hair as worry lines form on his brow.
“If you want me to trust you, Charlie, you need to be honest with me.”
“Telling you this places you in greater danger, but I don’t see there’s any way of sheltering you from it now.” He moves closer until there’s only a small gap between us. His emerald green eyes penetrate mine. “Most everything that’s going on is connected to changes happening within the order, and at Parkhurst.”
“What is the order?”
“It’s the hierarchy within the US elite structure. Drew can fill you in on it, but changes are coming, and my father wants out before it happens. A couple years ago, a faction within the elite contacted him, concerned about your father’s agenda and the level of support he was garnering. They asked for his help, and in exchange, they promised to grant him freedom. To let him leave the elite. Leave Rydeville. And put it all behind him.”
“Why does your father want that?”
“Because he’s never wanted any part of it. He inherited it. It was his legacy, but it’s never been what he’s wanted for his family. He’s gone to extreme lengths to shield Mom from the worst excesses of the order, and, occasionally, he’s flouted the archaic rules, even though it was risky.”
He crosses his ankles. “When your father and Christian Montgomery orchestrated Atticus Anderson’s demise, Dad realized he was stuck. That there was no way out, and he tried to toe the line. But your father is power hungry, and the more he gains, the worse he becomes. When the offer came from enemy quarters, it didn’t take him long to decide to help them.”
A light bulb goes off in my head, and my eyes pop wide. “Holy shit. Your father’s been working with Atticus Anderson, hasn’t he?”
Charlie nods.
“And that means—”
“That I’ve been working with the new elite from the beginning.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
That must’ve been what Kai was about to tell me back at the hotel. I dig my nails into the comforter. “You’re all motherfucking lying bastards.” Every muscle in my body tenses. “Was Drew in on it too?”