Chapter 25

Charlotte

I’masleep when I hear the ring of a phone. Jerking awake, I realize two facts simultaneously. One, it’s late, the sun is streaming into the windows.

And two…Mason is still in bed with me. We haven’t slept past seven in the morning with the exception of that first night when we’d not gone to bed until about five.

I look at the clock realizing it’s already nine.

Mason rolls over, picking up the phone. “’Lo?”

I turn toward him and he’s instantly settling me close again, his arm draped around my back, his hand possessively placed on my hip.

“Are you still asleep?” Roman. I can hear him on the other end, which makes sense. My ear is less than a foot from the phone.

“Not anymore,” Mason rumbles.

“If you’re expecting me to apologize, I’m not going to. While you’ve been in bed, I’ve been working.”

Mason’s fingers stroke my hip and then slide up my side as he drops several kisses into my hair.

I’m not sure what I expected from this arrangement with Mason, but I didn’t realize there would be so much snuggling. It’s an unexpected perk, I think as I stretch, rolling onto my back as my hands rise up above my head.

Roman is still complaining as Mason runs his large palm over my stomach, leaning down to suck on one of my nipples. I gasp, not considering he’d do that while on the phone with his brother.

Roman stops talking. “What the fuck was that?”

“Charlotte just woke up,” he answers, nonplussed. In fact, he’s grinning like a cat who just drank the milk. “If you don’t want to apologize to me, maybe you want to say sorry to her.”

“Mason. After your round of calls last night, where you instilled the fear of God into the other families, they have all gotten back me. We’re having the all-family meeting tonight.”

I feel the change in Mason. He stiffens, his face going hard as he sits up in bed. His attention has been completely diverted and I try not to wince. “Tonight?”

He’s trying to keep me safe. He’s a billionaire businessman. And this is a temporary arrangement. I repeat the list like a mantra, trying to keep my head straight.

Still, I lean forward, brushing my lips across his bare shoulder. He reaches back, wrapping his arm around my body and I do the same, my hand on his chest.

“Nine. We need to prepare, all be on the same page. But there is more.”

“What?”

“Leo was spotted last night. He slipped our men, but it was him.” Relief makes me melt into Mason. As much as he said Leo’s antics were not my fault, I still felt responsible.

“Where?” Mason lets me go, sliding from the bed and walking into the bathroom so that I don’t hear the rest of the conversation.

I flop back down on the bed, trying to control the insecurities. I gave Mason my virginity. Another bucket list item, one of two I promised myself I’d complete.

But now that that is done. What is next? Mason swears I’m getting out of this and that he’ll keep me safe forever. I trust him to keep his word. Which means I need a plan. Will Kim and I still go to New York? Will I see Mason sometimes? My throat closes.

I want to take pictures for the rest of my life. But I don’t care about marketing the same way I do about the art.

I pick up my camera and look at the pictures I’d taken last night. Some of them steal my breath.

The look in Mason’s eye right before he kisses me…

It’s enough to melt the panties right off any normal woman. And the picture of our kiss? I’m sending them all to the printer before I’ve even thought about it.

Then, setting down the camera, I head into my bathroom and start my shower. I’m nearly done when Mason appears.

It’s a good thing he has large showers because he’s made a habit of joining me. But this morning, I’m especially glad to see him. I feel even more vulnerable after last night and as he steps in, I move over, grabbing the soap in my hand.

“Everything all right?” I ask as I start soaping his back.

“It’s good,” he says with a smile over his shoulder. “Just a big day. But by tomorrow, the worst of this will hopefully be behind us.”

I kiss his shoulder again as I keep soaping lower, my hands coming to his front. I’m sliding lower, wanting the closeness only intimacy can provide.

But he grabs my hands, stopping me before I’ve gotten too far, giving them a squeeze before he gently pulls them away. Another wave of disappointment hits me, though I try to ignore it. He just said he had an intense day. He needs his space.

Which is why I get out of the shower and towel off, tipping my head upside down to dry my hair.

“Woman,” he growls as the water turns off. “Don’t tease me like that.”

I giggle, some part of me relieved. I’d worried that after I gave him my virginity, his protection and his affection would end.

I flip my head up and turn to face him naked, leaning back against the counter. “Who’s teasing?”

He puts his hands on the counter on either side of me, capturing my mouth with his. “When I get home tonight, we are going to celebrate.”

“You’ll be careful today, won’t you?”

“These are public meetings. Don’t worry.”

“They did try to blow us up,” I answer, as I place my hands on his chest.

“They’ll retaliate for sure when they learn I’m tightening the vise. That’s why it’s important you stay out of sight. Promise me.”

I nod as he pushes off the counter.

“With that said, I know I mentioned that you could tell Kim my name. Why don’t you invite her here? I can send Jackson for her. You and Kim could spend some time together.”

“I’m allowed guests?” I ask as we both make our way into my room.

“You’re not a prisoner.” He kisses me again. “Any chance you could put out breakfast while I dress?”

“Of course,” I answer as I slip into a simple dress. My hair and makeup can wait. I’m busy in the kitchen as I cook a few eggs, and I realize I’m also famished.

Mason comes out dressed, wolfs down his breakfast, and then drops a kiss on my forehead before he heads for the door. “We’re having all the meetings today down on the second floor of this building.”

“Here?” I turn to look at him as I take a bite of my own breakfast.

“I’m not going to be further away than a few floors if you need me.”

“Thank you,” I say as I watch him go. Is he staying in the building for my benefit? I swallow down a lump as I finish my breakfast and then start getting ready for the day. Once I’ve blown out my hair, I pull the pictures from the printer, adding them to the book I’m creating for Mason.

Sitting on the couch, I spread my project out on the coffee table, adding pictures here, rearranging them there. I’m creating a story with them, only I don’t actually know the ending.

I’ve done all the pictures in black and white and the whole series is an ode to Mason. It begins as fractured pieces, just small shots of his hand or his arm, and builds to fuller, whole pictures, and finally the emotional images from last night.

It feels like some sort of culmination, and I suppose it is.

I’ve given Mason my virginity and my heart. But I started taking these pictures to answer the question of his intentions.

I start from the beginning. The images are beautiful but cold.

As I move along, they warm. Is that my feelings or his? I stop on the one from last night where he looks at me before he kisses me.

What do I see in his eyes? Possessiveness, but that’s always been there. Tenderness too. It’s in the way his hand is wrapped about my back. He’s not grabbing my ass, he’s supporting my weight.

And the kiss, it’s hot and yet it’s gentle. More gentle than I ever imagined from him. Blood is rushing in my ears. Am I imagining it or does Mason have some feelings for me too?

He told me he’d protect me forever. Maybe, I’m not…

My phone dings again and I leave the photo book to pick it up.

It’s Kim.

Hey you,you promised to call. Where are you?

But my brow wrinkles.It’s the only message from her. There are none from last night and I click back out of my chat with her and look at the list of messages.

I gasp, nearly dropping my phone. My late-night messages were not from Kim.

They were from Leo.

Of course he had my number when we dated. I never changed it, but I also would have thought he’d have deleted me from his contacts a long time ago…

My hand trembling,I touch the messages, my eyes flying over the words.

I knowyou think you’re all cozy in that penthouse with Mason as your big bad protector.

But you should knowthat he promised the entire family that he’d give you to the Dukes to punish the Italians. Did he tell you that while he tucked you in his bed?

He never cared about you.You have always been a means to an end.

Like I said.You chose the wrong brother.

I don’t even realizeI’ve sunk to the floor until my hand presses to the tile.

My eyes have blurred so I can’t even read the messages again. Is it true? Was I always just a pawn in Mason’s plot for revenge?

Did he plan to turn me over? I’ve been wondering why he’d go to such lengths and now I feel like I have the piece of the puzzle I was always missing. It all makes sense.

I shake my head, carefully setting my phone next to me on the floor. My head spins as I try to get up. What a stupid fool I was…

Drawing in a deep breath, I try to come up with a plan…

Picking up my other phone, I call down to Jackson.

“Hey, Charlotte,” he says, his voice friendly as ever.

“Hey, Jackson,” I reply as I clear my throat, I can hear the emotion in my vocal cords, but I try to shake them off. I don’t want Jackson to worry. I don’t even have a super clear plan here. I just need to get out. Find some space and think…

“Everything all right?” Jackson asks in his usual friendly way.

“Fine. I just need to go out to the store. I?—”

“Sorry, Charlotte. No can do.”

“What?” I can barely breathe my pulse is racing so quickly.

“Mason’s orders. No one can come in or out.”

My fingers touch my forehead. “I thought I wasn’t a prisoner,” I whisper as much to myself as to him. But he still hears me.

“Rules apply to everyone, even me,” Jackson answers. “With the bombing, everyone is staying in the building, using the empty apartments. Safer.”

I shake my head. How am I going to face Mason after reading those texts? “I need to leave, Jackson. I can’t stay I…” My voice breaks.

“Hang on. What’s got you so—” But his voice cuts out as I hear a thump and then another, the sound of the phone clattering on the ground, creating static on the line.

“Jackson? Jackson?” I call into the phone. But I hear a click and then the phone line goes dead.

I stare at my phone wondering what is going on when the light to the elevator illuminates.

For a second I blink at it, trying to puzzle out what’s happening. Who could be coming up? No one has the code but family…

And then my brain starts to work. Someone knocked Jackson out. Took his phone. The phone with the code. But who?

But I don’t wait for the answer as I grab my phone and run…