Chapter Seven

THOUGHTS FINALLY STARTEDracing around her head once Charlotte was able to successfully vanquish the urge to cry. If she only had a day left with Sano, then tears would only be a waste of time. What she needed now was a plan, and to do that she needed to make a choice. Did she tell Sano about Cass" vision?

The answer came to her in an instant.

Absolutely not.

Doing so would only be pointlessly hurtful, and Charlotte never could bear seeing her husband in pain. It was enough that she knew they only had less than twenty-four hours to themselves, and after that...

What then?

How exactly did God plan to take her husband away this time? Since she couldn"t believe He could ever be cruel enough to kill Landon at a young age for a second time, God was surely planning something else, like...

Erasing his memories of her?

The thought was more than enough to have Charlotte take deep, big gulps of air. She had never been the type to hyperventilate, but just imagining how it would feel, to have Sano look at her like she was a stranger—-

It hurt.

A lot.

But it also made a lot of sense.

Tomorrow, God could take Landon"s soul away, give Sano"s body a new one, and no one would be the wiser for it except her. She had prayed to God to give her Land back even just for a day, and He had done it. Would she let today go to waste simply because she knew what tomorrow had to bring?

NO.

Having an extra minute, or even an extra second, to be with someone you had lost was more than what most other people were granted. Less than a day was still better than nothing, and she needed to be less greedy and more grateful about this miracle.

I"m sorry, God.

It"s only because I love him so much, and I missed him so, so much.

Maybe she would never understand why God could only grant her just another day with her husband, but one didn"t have to understand in order to love and trust Him.

If this is what You think is best, so be it.

But in the meantime—-

The others were still deep in discussion when Charlotte returned to the conference room, and she could feel Sano staring at her as she bowed in apology.

"Please do not feel the need to apologize," Yuki said before she could get a word out. "We were made aware by Sano of an important call you had to take. I hope everything"s alright?"

"Um, yes, it"s fine now." Charlotte was relieved when Yuki"s assistant required his attention at that moment, thus cutting their conversation short. The less said about her call with Cass, the better. Since her husband"s job had made him exceptionally good at spotting lies, Charlotte had learned early on the best way to conceal the truth was not to try hiding it at all.

"Are you really alright?" Sano asked under his breath as soon as she was back in her seat returned his phone.

"I am," she assured him even as she scooted her chair just an inch closer towards his.

She wanted to make every second of today count, be as close to him as possible, and...ugh.

It"s not enough, Charlotte thought in frustration, and so she inched her chair closer even more.

"Charles?" Sano"s puzzlement was evident in his voice, but she ignored this.

Just a bit closer, she thought, and just as her chair squeaked an inch closer to Sano"s, she heard Lace snicker from across the table.

"You can always just sit on his lap, you know."

Charlotte had always been too proper to sit on Landon"s lap before, and the realization made her heart ache with regret. If she had known how little time she had with her husband, she would"ve probably stuck to him like glue. Maybe even sign up with the CIA herself just to remain close to him at all times.

It was too late to change the past, Charlotte thought, but since the present was another matter...

Charlotte dumped her chair in favor of Sano"s lap, and although everyone else in the room was mostly amused, Sano was now looking at her like she had sprouted another head in the past five seconds.

"Are you okay?"

No, Charlotte thought. I can"t possibly be okay knowing that you"ll leave me again.

But since saying such words out loud would only lead to Sano pointlessly sharing her pain—-

"Cass said we"ll have the best day of our lives today."

A shudder rocked Sano"s tall, hard body as she whispered the words into his ears, and a smile touched her lips despite everything. Ears had also been her husband"s weakness, and since it was also the case with Sano, she was hoping that meant the rest of Land"s sexual fetishes had remained—-

Aaah.

Sano had only cupped her waist to give it a squeeze, but it was still more than enough to make Charlotte start to feel wet between her legs. She looked into his eyes, and the glitter of desire in his gaze made her forget they had company. It had been so, so long since—-

Simultaneous groans from Yuki and Lace had Charlotte quickly looking away from Sano with heated cheeks, and her gaze accidentally crashed on KC, who was now looking rather...dreamy?

Yuki grimaced upon seeing Charlotte looking at his wife in bemusement.

"I"m afraid seeing you on Sano"s lap has given my wife ideas—-"

Charlotte choked. Ideas? What did he mean by "ideas"?

"—-for a new manga."

Oh, so that was what he meant.

"It"s best to expect senpai not to be of much use for the next hour or so."

"You call your wife senpai?" Charlotte couldn"t help asking curiously.

"It"s an inside joke between us, and an endearment of sorts. Whenever I call my wife this, she gets—-"

KC suddenly burst into life as she slammed a hand over her husband"s mouth. "TMI, Yuki!"

Sano was suddenly looking at Charlotte. "I believe Charles and I are the same. When I call her Charlotte, she—-" Sano winced as Charlotte"s elbow connected with his guts. "Never mind," he said instead, and the whole room laughed.

Yuki checked his watch. "Yume should be ready to have us board anytime now, but before that..." He reached for his iPhone, saying, "Please check your inbox. Everyone should have an e-document requiring your signature. The document contains today"s minutes and a draft for next meeting"s agenda."

Everyone reached for their respective phones, but when Sano tried to lift her off his lap, Charlotte stayed put and pretended not to notice anything. He was probably thinking she had lost her mind or something, but she didn"t care. Today, she was going to stick to him like they were conjoined twins, and—-

"Every time you"re clingy like this," Sano murmured against her hair, "it"s usually because you have something to hide."

"You"ll just have to wait and see," Charlotte said without missing a beat, and after a moment, Sano simply grunted in response. Phew. She remained in the circle of his arms as she felt him retrieve his phone from his pocket. Sano"s chest felt so hard and hot against her back, and it made her want to...

Well, why not?

They were married, after all, and if the others thought she was being too forward, she only had to remind herself of Cass" vision—-

You and Sano will just have one day...

Sano noticeably stiffened as she leaned against him. Ooooh. He felt even hotter and harder than she imagined, and oh...dear. His erection had started to swell under her butt, and she had to fight against the urge to squirm.

He seemed to be taking a really long time to open his email, and...

Wait a minute.

Her head turned sharply as she looked at him over her shoulder, and Sano"s smirk told her everything she had to know. The jerk!

"It"s your fault for being so sexy, Charles."

The words had her cheeks flaming, and she heard Sano chuckle as she quickly looked away. It was one thing to know in her heart that Sano was also Landon, but having Sano flirt with her would apparently take getting more used to.

Sano had to tighten his arms around her as he placed his iPhone on the table, and Charlotte couldn"t help noticing how his signature, albeit in Japanese, still bore a strong resemblance to Landon"s handwriting.

"Your turn," Sano murmured as he handed her his stylus, and Charlotte was about to thank him when she felt his hand reach into the pocket of her coat.

"Let me get it for you." She could feel him smirking again as he spoke, and Charlotte was about to elbow him yet again when she felt his other hand slip under her coat, and it was all she could do not to jump out of his lap.

Seriously?

He was going to touch her now, when all of his friends—-oh...my...God.

As Sano retrieved her phone from her pocket, his other hand had also started to move, and Charlotte could only suck her breath in as his hand came into contact with the underside of her breast. His touch felt new and familiar at the same time, but more than anything else it felt unbelievably...

Gone?

Sano had abruptly withdrew his hands for some reason, but before Charlotte could figure out why, Sano was already placing her iPhone on the table, and her lips parted in dismay. Its screen had lit up with an unread message, and the preview was pretty...damning.

Addie: Hey there, Woman Who Let Lukas Tsaldaris Get Away.