Page 113 of No Fear

“Of course. Sorry. You sure you’re OK?” His voice was full of concern.

“Yes. Go. I’ll be out in a bit.” She pushed him gently out the door and closed it. He could get himself around the condo fairly well, so he’d be fine while she showered.

Stepping under the spray, she closed her eyes, trying to process everything. Her ex-fiancé attended sex parties with women and men. That had been shocking. It seemed her whole relationship with Simon was a sham. A front to please his father, so he would get the business. That hurt. What hurt most of all was Donnie had found this out behind her back. He’d investigated Simon and collected all this information and not said a word.

The tears came hard. Hurt, angry tears. She really had thought Simon loved her. How stupid could she be? Simon Radwell, eligible bachelor had chosen her. Chosen her because she was a gullible idiot. He was right. She was.

Turning off the shower, Charlie dried off then brushed her teeth.

Donnie. Was she being an idiot there, too? How could he not discuss this with her?

For a fleeting moment, she thought about running. Go back to Albany and forget about the man in the next room. No. She wasn't leaving until she got an explanation. He owed her that much.

Donnie had settled at the island. When she entered, he looked up and smiled.

“Feel better?”

“Why are there pictures of Simon and emails about him on your laptop?”

She walked around the other side of the island, needing some distance between them. Donnie’s face fell.

“You saw them?” he asked quietly.

“I saw everything. I'm sorry I used your laptop without asking. I wanted to check a work email and didn't think you would mind. Why the hell do you have all that stuff, and more importantly, why didn't you tell me?”

Her voice had risen in anger. And hurt. She didn’t wait for his answer. She pressed hard on the countertop, to steady herself, and spoke harshly.

“You give me a line about wanting to earn my trust. Never hurting me. All this time you’ve been hiding this?”

“Charlie, I can explain. Calm down, please.” He hadn’t moved. His face was tense and he looked crestfallen. Or maybe it was pity for her being so fucking gullible.

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down. How long have you known about Simon? How do you know?” She had so many questions.

“I didn't know any of this until after you had already ended it. I swear. That night at the hotel when he had his hands on you, I spoke with him before he left. He was using, Charlie.”

“Using? You mean drugs?” This just got better and better. It would explain his moods, the aggression.

“Yes. I don’t know what, but I asked him, and he didn't deny it. You were engaged to the man, but after what I witnessed, I was worried about what he might do. I asked Mackie to look into him.”

“Oh, great, so everyone knows, but me?”

“No! Mackie is discreet. I only wanted to see how bad the drug thing was, and then I was going to tell you. We had just connected again. If I had told you he was on drugs without proof, I didn’t think you would believe me. Then, before I even heard back from Mackie, you told me it was over.”

“You still should have told me.”

“All Mackie originally found out was that Simon was still partying. We didn’t know about the sham marriage or have the pictures showing the types of parties. You were so upset I didn’t want to cause you any more pain. So, I decided not to tell you.”

She turned away from him. She wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe he was just looking out for her, but then, how did he get the photos, the emails? She turned back to him.

“Then why did you continue to look into him? How did the photos and emails come about?”

“I didn’t tell Mackie you had ended it and didn’t realize he was still probing. When I got back to Coronado, he told me about the emails. That the marriage was a sham to enable Simon to get control of his father’s business.”

“So why didn’t you tell me then?”

“Because you had just rocked my fucking world, and I was about to leave for a mission. I couldn’t call you and drop that bombshell, then disappear. I couldn’t do it.” His calm tone finally cracked.

Charlie grabbed a glass and got water. Hearing he hadn't known before she ended things with Simon made it a little easier to digest, but he still shouldn’t have kept this from her.