“Please, Haidyn…don’t do this.”
When I say nothing, she arches her back and screams at the top of her lungs. She’s yanking so hard on the rope that the bed shakes.
“Calm down, Charlotte.” I cup her tear-streaked face. “Shh, you’re okay.” She tries to shake her head, but I hold it in place. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Nnnnoooo.” She sobs and sniffs, taking a deep breath. “Please…” She licks her lips. “Please untie me.”
“I can’t,” I say softly.
Fresh tears fill her eyes, and her lips tremble. “Please,” she cries desperately, and my chest tightens at leaving her here like this.
“Okay, doll face. Okay,” I say, and she closes her eyes tightly. “Just breathe. Deep breaths.” I need her to calm down.
“Untie me…” She looks up at her wrist while yanking on it.
“Okay. Just calm down. Can you do that for me?”
She nods quickly. “Yeah.” She lets out a long breath and repeats, “Yeah.”
I turn and open her nightstand, removing the two things that I need. “I’m sorry,” I say because I didn’t want to do this. “You’ve left me with no choice.” I rip off three pieces of the duct tape and place the tip of them on the edge.
“HAIDYN!” she screams, arching her back. Tears instantly fill her eyes, and she yanks so hard on the rope that the bed shakes. “You promised!” She begins to cry again. “Please don’t leave me…don’t do this….”
I shove the wadded-up thong into her mouth, and she arches her neck, trying to get her face away from my hold. I slap my hands over her full mouth while my free hand grabs one piece at a time, securing them on her mouth. I use more pieces than I normally would because her face is wet. I’m hoping between all of them, they’ll stick.
Her gagged sobs start to fill the room. Getting up off the bed, I pick up my cell to make a call. Placing it on speakerphone, I set it on the bed next to her and grab my jeans off the floor to remove my pocketknife while it rings for the second time.
“Hello?” a familiar voice answers.
“Hey,” I say in greeting. She screams into her gag, but it’s too muffled that even he can’t hear it.
“What’s up, man? Where the fuck are you? I tried calling you last night…”
“I was at Charlotte’s,” I answer. No reason to lie. He’ll figure it out anyway. “I need a favor,” I say, moving this conversation along. I have somewhere to be. When I came up with this idea, I knew that I couldn’t leave her here like this for very long. I needed someone to come get her and take care of her like I would.
“Name it,” Kashton tells me.
I take the knife and place it on my skin at the back of my neck and press the blade into it, feeling the skin cut and the warm blood run down my back as her screams grow louder. “I need you to come get Charlotte. She’s at her house.”
“And where are you?” Kashton asks.
“I have somewhere to be,” I answer, squeezing the skin until I feel the tracking device pop out. I had it replaced but can’t takethe chance of them looking for me. That will put her in jeopardy. I made a deal, and I will honor it.
“Haidyn—”
“Tell Saint I’m sorry.” I interrupt whatever he was about to ask.
“What the fuck is going on, Haidyn?” Saint barks, letting me know that Kashton also has me on speakerphone, and he was listening in.
“Nothing,” I lie as my eyes drop to a sobbing Charlotte while she thrashes on the bed, tears falling out of the corner of her eyes. “I just need you to understand that I’m sorry for what I did.” If anyone took my wife away from me, I’d lose my mind. It took me falling in love with Charlotte to see that I only hurt him. I’m glad that he was able to find his way back to her.
“Haidyn,” Saint snaps.
“Charlotte is at her house. I’ll send you the address.” I end the phone call and send them the information they need. Then I pull up another number and send one last text before I delete it along with the text that has the address I received so no one can read them before placing it on the nightstand right next to hers. I made sure to wipe out all calls and messages last night so they wouldn’t be able to find anything on my phone. I know my brothers, and they will dig through it for any hints. There will be none.
Then I catch sight of my wedding ring. I take it off and turn to the bed. I cup her tear-streaked face and lean over her trembling body. “Just know that it was real for me, and I hope that one day you can forgive me, beautiful.”
She blinks, her nostrils flaring as she breathes deeply through them.
