He turns to the door. “Take care of her.”
“Wait,” I say, and he pauses. I look at her, she hasn’t moved, and then move my gaze back to him, frowning. “That’s the same thing her father said to me before I killed him.” I trail off thinking of what Bill just said about the day on the water. “I thought he meant the yacht.” I scratch the back of my head.
He chuckles. “He hated that damn thing. Isabella wanted it. Why do you think it was named after her?” The room grows silent, and he exits.
I close down my computer and walk over to the couch. Leaning over, I slide my arms under her and pick her up. Sheremains a lifeless doll all the way to our room, and I lay her on the bed, then gently undress her until she’s naked. I help her under the covers and undress myself before I get in beside her.
Her body is so warm, and I cuddle into her, holding her tight and kissing her forehead.
CHARLOTTE
I openmy heavy eyes to see I’m lying in bed with Haidyn back in his room. Last I remember, we were in his office, and I lay on the couch because I could barely keep my eyes open.
Snuggling closer to him, he turns on his side, and I look up to see he’s already staring at me. “Why are you awake?” I whisper. What time is it? A quick look around tells me it’s still nighttime.
“I like to watch you sleep,” he admits shamelessly.
I understand what he means because I enjoyed watching him sleep that one time I woke up and he was next to me in his bed. “You need to rest,” I tell him.
His soft laughter makes his chest rumble against me. “I’ve got plenty of time for that.”
“Can I…?” My eyes drop to his Lords crest, trying to get the courage to ask what I want to know.
“Use your words, doll face,” he says, running his hand up and down my thigh that lies over his hip.
“What happened to your mother?” My eyes meet his.
He’s never talked about his mother or his father. But then again, Haidyn and I don’t have any conversations about his childhood. I don’t know what it was like, but I can guess it wasn’t pretty. I know what kind of man his father was from the one video Hudson sent me but nothing about his mother. So many secrets and lies have been uncovered in the last couple of weeks regarding my mother that I want to know about his. His fatherwas such an awful man, but his mother had to have been good, right? For Haidyn to turn out how he did? To have a heart as big as he does.
“She left when I was ten,” he answers.
“Left?” like walked away from him and his father? That’s not an option. “The Lords regifted her?”
He rolls onto his back, and I run my hand over his hard chest, feeling the slow rhythm of his heartbeat. I go to move my leg off his waist, but his hand grabs my thigh, holding it in place.
“No. My mom was your typical Lady—did whatever my dad said and hated her life.” He sighs. “We had a house, but my father practically lived here at Carnage. All of our fathers chose this place over their homes. One morning, I woke up at our house, and she made me breakfast. Then she grabbed her bag that she had packed on the counter and just walked out the door.”
“But…in the Lords email I received, it said your parents were deceased.”
“My father treated her like shit,” he continues like I didn’t speak. “He wanted a big family of boys—an army, as he called it. I remember her being pregnant with their second child. I was so excited to get a brother. Complications during the pregnancy resulted in losing the baby. I remember words like hemorrhage and emergency hysterectomy. He hated her after that. Thought she was worthless.”
My chest tightens at his words, but I’m not surprised.
Turning onto his side once again, he reaches out and pushes a few strands of my hair behind my ear. “A part of me always thought that he killed her. He never seemed surprised that she didn’t come home that night. He went on with life like she was never there to begin with. I wasn’t sure until you told me that day in your kitchen that both of my parents were deceased. If the Lords know she’s dead, then my father killed her.”
I sit up, my chest aching. “Haidyn…I’m so sorry…I shouldn’t have?—”
“Hey,” he sits up and places both hands on my face, giving me a soft smile. “Quit apologizing for something you had no control over, doll face.”
I swallow the knot in my throat. “I should have never told you?—”
“I drugged you.” He interrupts me. “You couldn’t have lied even if you wanted to.” Placing his forehead on mine, he sighs. “I should be the one telling you I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
I shake my head, and he nods his. “Yes.” Pulling back, he searches my eyes and gives me a soft smile. “I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
“No,” I argue, not accepting his apology. I know what he did was wrong, but I also understand that this man saved me from a life damned to hell. Not all Ladies are as lucky as me. They don’t find a Lord who protects them, falls in love with them, would give their own life for them.
“No?” He chuckles, and I don’t understand how he can be laughing right now.
