Charlie wasn’t prepared for her own damn reaction. She slapped him so hard it felt like she broke her hand. It was like a match that lit a firework.
“You got to go,” he said, grabbing her by her upper arm, squeezing so tightly that she was sure bruises of his fingertips would linger on her skin.
“Go where, hmm? I have nowhere to go!” she shouted, resisting, as he pulled her toward the door. The rest of the room was still, spectators to her heartbreak as she fought him, swinging and twisting and grabbing onto whatever she could get her hands on to stop him from getting her to the door. She fought so hard her nails broke with every blow, but Demi was unmoved at her effort.
The scuffle was out of control. The more she fought to stay, the more he tried to get her out. Demi lost his grip as Charlie fell to the floor. He was livid. Disgusted. Done. Demi was done as he snatched her ankle, dragging her into the hallway, naked. The sheet was gone. Her body and soul were on display.
Her skin was burning and red from being dragged across the carpet and she tasted blood on her lip, somehow, through the chaos it had busted.
“All yo’ shit is out here already,” he said. There was no sympathy, no love in his stare, just nothingness. It was like he was passing a bum on the street. Even then, he would have felt more than he felt in this moment. Charlie had turned Demi off. Once that occurred, he lost interest quickly.
“Where’s my dog, Demi? What about Bails?” she asked.
“Bails is on me. He’s good,” Demi said, crushing her heart because Demi had no idea how much Charlie needed that dog. He was her emotional stability when she had none.
“He’s mine! Demi! You can’t take my dog!” Charlie said. “Please, I need him!”
Thehimshe was talking about wasn’t the dog. It was Demi. She loved him so damn much and he was leaving her. Permanently. She felt it. Even when she had discovered he was married she felt in the back of her soul that one day they would find one another again. One day. She hoped. She was sure she had touched his soul in a way that he would hunger for her sobadly that she would be worth leaving his unhappy home. But now, she knew that herhimwas never coming back.
Demi ignored her tantrum and changed the subject. This wasn’t a debate. It was a dictatorship. This was going his way and his way only. He was too enraged to give a damn about her feelings, even when he could see them being crushed under the weight of every word he spoke.
“Anything that’s left out here after an hour, toss that shit,” Demi said. He walked away and Charlie felt the abandonment issues creeping to the surface.
“Fuck you, nigga! I hope you die!” She didn’t even know she had that much rage in her and apparently neither did he. He turned, staring at her one, long, final time, a flicker of pain flashed in his eyes and disappeared in a milli-second, leaving her wondering if he felt anything at all.
“I really never knew you, huh, Charlie?” He searched her eyes. “I’m finally meeting the real you and you fucked up just like the rest of us.” The elevator arrived and he stepped on. It took everything in Charlie not to go after him. She marched back to her door, distraught.
She grabbed jeans and a top from the mess that laid in the middle of the hallway as one of Demi’s men guarded the door. It was clear she wouldn’t be getting back inside.
“I.. I... need my bag and my keys,” Charlie said, voice shaking. She was so hurt. Her pride was incinerated. This was a stage of shame and she was the star of the show. “They’re on the floor right next to the door.”
Demi’s goon looked at her sympathetically. She knew she looked pathetic. Still, she held her head high, despite feeling like Demi had walked all over her.
The man disappeared inside and by the time he came back out, Charlie had managed to pack a survival kit. She stuffed as muchas she could inside one box that she could manage to carry alone and then she took the purse and her keys before walking out.
Heartbroken.
Chapter 20
Iwent hard on her,” Demi said as Bails sat beside him, his big head resting in Demi’s lap. He was alone in Lauren’s hospital room. The glow of the machines and the bathroom light cast a shadow over her. Bails whined, undoubtedly because Demi had stolen him from his comfort, his master. Bails missed her.
“I know, man,” he said to the dog. Demi missed her too. Bails whimpered as he lifted his head and blinked big, watery eyes as Demi feathered his coat. Before Charlie, he would have never taken a liking to a dog. After her, he just wanted to feel something, even if it was hard for him, even if it felt unordinary, even when it hurt. Charlize Woods made him feel. In this moment, he was just a lonely man with his dog. The door opened and a nurse walked in.
“Sorry to interrupt your rest,” she said.
“I’m good. Do your thing,” Demi said, his eyes remaining on Lauren.
“She’s doing better,” the woman said as she pulled down the IV bag. She replaced it with another and then lifted the blanket from Lauren’s body. A quick change of Lauren’s dressings and she was popping off the latex gloves. “All of her vitals are stabilizing. We’re just waiting for her to wake up.”
Demi watched like a guard dog. Bails was his. He was Lauren’s. He just wanted the doctors and nurses to treat her right.
“I’m not supposed to tell you this, but the doctor plans to release her. She could be home by the end of the week as long as she continues breathing unassisted,” the nurse informed. “She can heal at home.”
Relief. It flooded him. He would never forgive himself for her falling victim to a game he started, but he thanked God that she was being spared. He would never allow himself or his family to be caught slipping again.
He had locked his entire team down, to salvage lives. He didn’t want anybody else under his watch to feel what he was feeling. Inadequacy. Like a king who had lost one too many soldiers in war. Demi had murdered those responsible, but still, it didn’t erase what had occurred. While he had been distracted with Charlie, his family had been left uncovered. It was a stain on his soul like none he had ever felt before. If a man couldn’t protect his family, what was he good for?
“Surprise!”
