I let out a slow breath.Here we go.
“That’s part of the problem,” I said. “According to Alex.”
She stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” I sat on the edge of the bed with my elbows on my knees. “Jameson just said that your inheritance is somehow in the mix and that there’s a possibility you might not get it even though you’re married.”
She blinked at me like I’d slapped her with a sentence she couldn’t process. “That’s ridiculous. Our grandfather made the rules. We get married, we get access. I’m married.”
“I know,” I said gently.
“No, I mean, it’s absurd.” She paced a small circle at the foot of the bed, bare feet silent on the rug. “Oh, God. This is crazy. So you have to go to Chicago with your lawyer because of me?”
“Gregory,” I said firmly. “Not you. Let’s just get some sleep, okay? It’s been a long day. We can talk about this more tomorrow.”
Charlotte exhaled a long, harsh breath, then jerked the covers back and slipped beneath them like she was trying to disappear, and I hated that. I hated the way her shoulders curled in on themselves and how she was staring at the ceiling instead of at me.
Mostly, I hated that I recognized the look on her face right now. I’d worn it a hundred times myself, so I knew it really fucking well.
She felt like a burden.Hell no. Not on my watch, you won’t.
I slid across the mattress and wrapped an arm around her waist before she could get lost in whatever spiral she’d been sucked into. She drew in a sharp breath as I pulled her against my chest.
“Hey,” I murmured into her hair. She didn’t answer, but she didn’t pull away either. I tucked my chin near her temple. “You think you’re causing trouble for me.”
She breathed out, barely a whisper of air. “Aren’t I?”
“No,” I said, immediately and firmly. “Not even close.”
She didn’t argue, but she didn’t believe me either. I could feel it in the tension along her spine. Charlotte was so damn tough, so quick with those sharp eyebrows and sharper comments, but when it came to her own worth, she was glass. Clear. Transparent. Delicate.
Like a single wrong word could crack something she’d spent her whole life trying to glue together. I couldn’t let this break her. I fucking refused. She was worth more than all the money in her inheritance combined with all the money in mine. So much more.
“You’re not a burden,” I murmured, my voice quieter now. “I swear to you, you’re not.”
“I didn’t want…” she trailed off, letting out a deep sigh. “I didn’t want all of this to blow back on you.”
“You think I can’t handle Chicago?” I teased lightly, brushing my thumb over her hip. “I grew up meditating with goats and shoveling manure every summer. I can handle your family.”
She produced a weak little exhale that was probably supposed to have been a laugh. “You did not meditate with goats.”
“Maybe not regularly. I mean, Mom made me try it once and it was fucking terrible, but the point is that I did sign up for this.”
Her body stilled, like she was bracing for the worst still to come. “Not for?—”
“All of this,” I said emphatically, tightening my arm around her. “You. Us. Stop acting like you’re something I accidentally tripped over.”
Silence stretched between us for a long minute before she whispered, “I didn’t mean to make your life harder.”
“You didn’t.” I pressed my mouth to the side of her head. “You made it interesting.”
She finally turned a little, just enough to look at me fully. Her eyes were shimmering in the dark. “Interesting, huh?”
“And better.” I traced the soft line of her jaw. “God, Charlotte. You make my life so much better.”
That did it. Her shoulders finally dropped, her breathing stopped for a moment, and her weight melted back into me. She rolled toward me slowly, almost cautiously, like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed.
I moved with her, bringing her close enough that she’d feel every inhale I took. When her hand slipped onto my chest, my heart kicked hard against her fingers.
