Chapter 26

Charlotte

There aren’tmany places to hide in Mason’s penthouse, even his bed has a frame that goes to the floor, so I end up in the cabinet in his bathroom.

With shaking fingers, I turn my ringer off and then dial Mason.

It rings twenty times before it goes to voicemail, a half sob fills my chest but I push it down and try again.

My heart is pounding in my chest as the phone goes to voicemail a second time.

That’s when I hear the ding of the elevator.

I stifle a scream as the sound of footsteps on the marble floor echo through the apartment.

“Charlotte.”

My breath catches as I try to dial again. My vision is blurring but I know who the voice belongs to. Leo. I don’t answer. I’m not helping him find my hiding spot.

“What are you doing, Charlotte? Come on out, sweetheart. We need to talk.”

Sweetheart. I am not his sweetheart. I’m not Mason’s either if what Leo has said is true.

I hit the call button again, the line ringing for a third time.

Finally, he picks up. “Charlotte?”

“Mason,” I whisper in a quick rush. “Hurry. Leo’s here.”

“Fuck.” He doesn’t hang up, but he doesn’t say anything else as his footsteps echo through the line.

I’ve got the phone to my ear when Leo calls again, the sound closer. “Where are you? I’m guessing we don’t have a lot of time for hide and seek, so why don’t you come out so we can have a little chat.”

I don’t say a word, but the smallest whimper escapes my lips.

Mason snarls into the phone his steps moving quicker as Leo enters the bathroom.

“I know you read my texts, Charlotte. I saw the moment you saw them. You have to turn off the Read feature but then again, you’ve always been crap with technology.”

I shrink deeper into the cabinet.

“So I know you know that Mason was always going to betray you.”

“Fuck,” Mason grunts into the phone. Clearly he can hear Leo too. “That motherfucker.”

“Come with me and we’ll go far away,” Leo says standing just above the cabinet. He knows I’m here. “Mexico? South of France?”

I’m shaking, barely able to hold the phone. I don’t trust Mason in this moment, but I trust Leo way less…

I know I shouldn’t trust Mason, but right now, I just want him here.

The door opens and Leo’s face appears. I scream then and Mason snarls into my ear as Leo grins. “Who are you talking to?”

“Put my fucking brother on the phone,” Mason rumbles into the line through gritted teeth.

I hold out the phone to Leo, our eyes locked, though I’m still completely silent.

Leo takes it, his fingers brushing mine. It takes everything in me not to recoil. “Hello, big brother.”

“Touch one hair on her head?—”

“Don’t play that shit,” Leo spits back. “She knows the truth, Mason. Knows how you told the entire family you’d hand her over to the Dukes. Enjoy your tunnel and your money.”

And then Leo throws my phone, grabbing my arm with a quick jerk. Burning pain shoots through me as he wrenches my shoulder socket.

I scream again, as I land half out of the cabinet. The small of my back landing awkwardly on the lip of the cabinet and more pain shoots through me.

Leo wraps an arm around my waist pulling me the rest of the way out. “Stop fighting, Charlotte, and you won’t get hurt.”

“Let me go,” I cry, trying to pull away, trying to fight. With his hands on my waist, he hauls me over his shoulder, my fight doing almost nothing to stop him. “Please, Leo. Please let me go.”

“I’m doing this for your own good.”

I sob out a gasping cry as my good hand fists and pounds on his back. “This is not for my good.”

I think I hear Mason roar through my phone on the other side of the room, but I can’t be sure as I try to kick my legs.

“You want to stay here and let him turn you over to the Dukes? Don’t be stupid, Charlotte.”

“I don’t want to go with you!” I cry, squirming, which only makes his arm tighten.

“I know you don’t. I saw that book you made, stupid woman.” He smacks my ass, making me go still. It’s not like when Mason does it. It’s meant to humiliate, not excite, and I try to hit him back, though I’m like a buzzing fly. I’m just annoying him. “But try to understand you are safer with me than you ever were with him.”

“It’s not true.”

“Mason doesn’t get to win this one,” he roars, his strides growing longer.

He’s carrying me away from the bathroom and my phone. I give a desperate sob. “Please put me down, Leo. You’re scaring me.”

“You won’t be scared when we’re sitting on a beach.”

“You hurt my shoulder,” I try again. Just trying to say something, anything to make him stop. Delay. “I can’t feel my arm.”

He pauses at those words, stopping in the hall. His shoulders are even larger than Mason’s, the rough edge cutting into my belly. “We’ll look at it later. I know Mason’s already en route. We don’t have much time. The drive?—”

“He’s not driving,” I shake my head, realizing that Leo has made a miscalculation. He thinks Mason is at the Kincaid Enterprise building and not here.

The elevator whirs and though I can’t see the light…I know. Mason is on his way. Relief makes me limp against Leo’s back.

“Who is that?”

I don’t answer. I don’t need to. We don’t move as I hear the elevator doors open.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Mason spits and I hiccup a cry knowing that Leo isn’t taking me anywhere. My eyes fill with tears but upside down, they just rest on my lashes. “Put her down.”

I hear the click of a gun, the hammer cocking back, and I stiffen again, trying to lift up.

“Don’t move, Charlotte,” Mason commands as he crosses the room. I go still again.

“Such a good girl, isn’t she, big brother?” Leo says as he gently sets my feet on the floor. The blood has rushed to my head and I sway as his hands leave me. “And completely smitten with you. You win again, don’t you?”

Leo raises his hands up.

“It was never a competition.” Mason reaches me, turning me and pulling me against him. He catches my shoulder and I suck in my breath as pain shoots through my arm.

Mason’s gaze flicks down me, assessing the damage, before he tucks me behind him.

“You’re right about that,” Leo straightens his shoulders. “Charlotte has been yours since our second date. The company yours. The family yours. The revenge yours.”

I press myself to Mason’s back, useless tears leaking from my eyes.

Next to me, Roman appears, a pistol in his hand. Jake comes to my other side and I hear Luke step up behind me. I’m surrounded but not entirely certain I’m safe. Is Mason going to hand me over tonight?

Has this all been a ploy to keep me here?

“Leo,” Mason says in a flat voice. “It’s not?—”

“It’s all right, big brother. You’re right not to trust me. My move against the Italians got this place bombed, didn’t it? But you, man who thinks of everything, saw that possibility. Built this place to withstand it.”

I feel Mason stiffen. “Your move against the Italians? You’d better explain.”