Page 111 of Tailored for You

I assumed he was in hiding, somewhere different from Apple; otherwise, he would have shown up by now.

He could stay there for all I cared. There was a worry I had that he would pop up at the worst time and cause as much destruction as he could, but I’d cross that bridge when I needed to.

Minnie pulled back, motherly affection on her face. “You look so happy.” Her eyes went glassy. “Love looks good on you.”

I laughed, pulling her through the massive doors that were left open and into the kitchen. Harper was having too much fun having teatime with the guys; I’d bring her up when she was done.

“This place is amazing. It’s like stepping into an Italian Villa,” Minnie said as she dragged a hand across the countertop. “I know Statuario marble when I see it.”

Enzo walked into the kitchen, with Charles Senior following.

“Thanks for coming. There is something Serena and I wanted to talk to both of you about.” I side-eyed Enzo. What was he talking about?

He came over, grabbed my hand, and motioned for Charles and Minnie to follow us.

Enzo walked down a hallway, through the door that led to the garage, and to a door in the back corner.

When he opened it, I expected to see another hallway, since I knew there was a small building on the other side of the garage that I hadn’t explored yet. The house was too big, and this was only my second time here, so much of the house was still a mystery to me.

Instead, some stairs led down. Enzo flicked a switch, and the lights came on, illuminating our way down the steps.

Enzo went down, and while this was probably a good time to ask questions, I followed silently instead.

The room was made of concrete and smelled dank. There was a tool chest against the wall that Enzo leaned against.

A tarp covered part of the floor and the back wall.

In the center of all that was a man, tied to a chair, with a black bag covered his face.

That was fine. I didn’t need to see the face to know it was Charles.

I heard Minnie’s sharp intake of breath as she came up next to me. She brought her hand to her mouth, her hands shaking. Charles Senior crossed his arms over his chest, looking madder than I’d ever seen him.

“It took time to extract him from his hiding spot properly, but no one knows he’s here. We don’t need him hanging over our heads, wondering when he’s going to show up and try to implode our lives,” Enzo said, his voice carrying a dangerous edge.

Charles must have been able to hear us. While Enzo talked, he shook, trying to stand or rock the chair. Enzo must’ve gagged him because he tried to yell, but it came out muffled.

“If it were up to you, what would you do?” Charles Senior asked. Minnie turned to her husband with a surprised face.

“I’d kill him, make it look like an accident, so there’d be a record,” Enzo said with no emotion.

“No.” Minnie’s voice broke on that one word.

Charles turned to her, his face softening. “He’s taken it a step too far. We tried, for years, to make him see the light, baby. If Enzo hadn’t gotten to Harper first, he would have kidnapped her because he knew it would have hurt us.” He leaned his forehead to hers, the most tender I’d ever seen him be toward her. “He’s only going to try and hurt us. I don’t know where we went wrong, but we need to let him go.”

Minnie’s back was to me so that I couldn’t read her face, but her heartbreak radiated off her.

She pulled back, her voice cracked. “I can’t ask you to hurt him. But he needs to go. We can’t keep protecting him when all he does is hurt us.”

I closed my eyes, my heart squeezing in my chest. That had to be one of the hardest decisions Minnie had ever made in her life.

Enzo nodded, walked over to Charles, and pulled off the hood.

Charles’ mouth was covered with multiple layers of duct tape. His face was a mess—dried blood under a broken nose, two black eyes, a busted lop, sweat and dirt clinging to his skin.

Enzo shrugged. “He tripped.”

I took one last look at the man I had hoped would step up and be a parent. Be a dad that Harper could rely on, and have that cherished father-daughter relationship.