At first, all Charlie could make out was a blurry haze. And then he moved into her line of vision.
“There she is. Welcome back, sis,” Emerson spoke softly.
She tried to feign a smile, but that was too painful. She lay there slowly blinking, bringing things into focus. Charlie was crushed it wasn’t Declan by her side. And it was then that she remembered what had happened. She sucked in a sharp breath. The impact of her memories agitated her. The terror, her pain, the worry that she was going to die. The tears welled.
“Charlie, don’t cry. Everything’s going to be okay.”
She closed her eyes as the fatigue and the pain grew. She had so many questions. She needed answers. She wanted to know how extensive her injuries were. She needed to know where Declan was.
“The nurse is here, Charlie. She’s going to give you something to ease the pain.” Emerson wiped a hand over her forehead as the nurse injected pain medication into her IV. She felt the burning sensation followed quickly by relief.
“Rest, Charlie. Go to sleep. We will all be right here when you wake.”
Charlie gave in, surrendering to the medication’s seduction.
***
“How is she?” Declan asked as he walked into the ICU waiting room. “Has she woken up yet?”
Michaela burst into tears, gripping Declan in a hug. He hated that Katherine had touched their lives. More than that, he hated that Katherine had dragged their private life into the public light of day. He was pissed off beyond belief that she perpetrated this, all to get back at him. More than that though, he was enraged that Charlotte bore the brunt of Katherine’s anger. She would pay.
Michaela, Aaron, and Declan looked expectantly at Emerson as he came into the room. None of them slept since this all began. They were too worried for her.
“Did they let you see her?” Declan asked.
“Yeah. She woke up briefly,” Emerson offered.
“Oh thank God!” Michaela cried out. “How was she doing?”
“She’s in an incredible amount of pain. They gave her something to relieve it, and she slipped back under. She’s confused. She’s frustrated. She can’t speak yet. Probably won’t be able to for days.”
***
Declan didn’t need to do much digging to find out where Griffin spent most of his time for two reasons. One, he wasn’t the most brilliant crayon in the coloring box, and two, it’s difficult to be inconspicuous when you’re sporting a rather large tattoo in the middle of your forehead. When they found him at Saints and Sinners, neither Emerson nor he was surprised to find him pulling some girl along on a leash and onto the stage. She stumbled forward, struggling to keep her balance. He ordered her to bend over, and she agreed, but you could see the fear building in her eyes. In her eyes? My God, what the hell was Natalie doing at that club with that monster?
He stomped up on stage and slammed his fist into Griffin’s jaw. Griffin slumped to the floor of the stage and screamed out his agony. Declan ignored him momentarily, more interested in what Emerson was doing.
“Emerson, what the hell are you doing?” He watched as Emerson dialed a number on his phone. “I’m calling the police so they can come arrest this motherfucker.”
Declan scooped Natalie in his arms and carried her to a private room. He brought her to a leather couch and placed her gently atop it.
“Mr. Pearse,” Natalie whimpered. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t hurt me.”
“What?” Declan looked quizzically at her. “Ms. Ward, I’m not going to hurt you. Are you all right?” He sat next to her, looking her over to assess if her injuries required medical intervention.
“My bottom smarts,” she said.
“As well it should. Griffin’s a madman. Don’t you realize what he did to Charlotte? What were you doing with someone like that?”
“I … ” Natalie stammered. “He’s been training me as his slave. I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t resist him.”
“Look at me, Ms. Ward. What do you mean training you? How did you meet him?”
“It is all so stupid really. He came in looking for Charlie one day, and then convinced me to give him her contact information,” Natalie choked out.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Declan said. “Why would you deliberately go against company policy?”
“He made me feel special at first, then he started punishing me, and when I tried to break free, he threatened me. He told me he would go directly to you and tell you that it was my idea.”
The door opened, and Natalie scrambled to get up. It was Emerson. He stood in the doorway frowning, then sat down on the couch opposite them.
“Did the police take him away yet?” Declan asked.
“Not yet. He’s being difficult and they had to subdue him,” Emerson replied.
“Good. I need to go tell them to take Ms. Ward in for questioning too. My former secretary is the one who helped Griffin find Charlotte,” Declan seethed.
“I can take her. We should go too. The detectives want some more information on how Charlotte was found at the house.”
Declan slammed his fist into the couch. “Damn it. You should have left me to handle Griffin myself. This incident will be all over the papers. They will force Charlotte to testify. She’ll have to reveal a part of her lifestyle that she won’t want public. It will be hell for her. Is that what you really want?”
“I know you could have taken care of it on your own. But do you really want that? Do you really want Charlotte to know the Declan I do? The guy with blood on his hands. The guy who isn’t so much about black and white, but doles out his punishments in those murky gray areas?”
“No. Of course not. I don’t want her touched by the gray areas I used to be immersed in. I want Charlotte clean. I want her to shine, just like she always does. I don’t want to have to talk to her about those things. You may know about them, but I don’t want Charlotte confronted with them, ever.”
“It’s too late for that. Katherine made sure of that when she kidnapped Charlie.”
Declan nodded, a little numb but relieved too. Since the attack, he’d been dreading how things would play out. He needed to keep Charlotte safe, and he wasn’t sure he could do that with Katherine in the picture.
Following Emerson out of the room, Declan felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it to check as they headed down the hallway to the exit. When he glanced down at the phone his gaze met with an explicit photo of Katherine that warned if he didn’t drop what he was doing and go to her house to talk to her, the next message she sent would go to Charlotte.
“I have to go. There’s an issue at work that I have to resolve before I can head back to the hospital. Tell Charlotte I will be there as soon as I can.”
Declan didn’t give Emerson a chance to respond but stepped quickly away into the snowy evening. Once inside his car, he pulled his phone from his pocket and typed out a quick response.
Declan: I’m on my way … leave the door unlocked.
***
Katherine breezed into the hallway as Declan walked in. Her face was taut, set in angry determination. Black Martini in one hand, she shut the door quietly behind him, scowling at Declan.
“You’re late,” she sneered.
Declan stood still for a moment, contemplating his next move. When in doubt provoke the already angry bull. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Katherine?”
“She’s not right for you, Declan.” She took a sip of her martini and wandered further down the darkened hall of her house.