AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It takes us up, then opens on Mason’s foyer. Jameson goes first, Gabriel right behind him.
“Stop,” Gabriel says.
“Go to hell,” Jameson shoots back.
“Jameson? Gabriel?” Charlotte. She’s in the big sitting area between the living room and the open-plan dining room. Jameson breezes past with a mumbledhey, Sunshine.Gabriel is too busy chasing Jameson to say anything. My best friend’s blue eyes meet mine. “Oh my God. Hi.”
She comes over to hug me. Deeper into the penthouse, a door slams. Voices rise.
“Do you not understand whatfuck you and go to hellmeans?” Jameson shouts. “Get the fuck out.”
Charlotte takes my hand and pulls me into the living room. It has a pocket door, which she closes.
“Mason’s at the office, so that should give them a little privacy.” She looks me up and down. “Did you sleep at Gabriel’s place last night?”
I scrub my hands over my face. “He slept at mine.”
Her eyes go wide. “Are you back on again?”
“I don’t know if that’s the most important thing happening today.” I feel raw about it. And scared. “But he came to the bakery and said all kinds of things that basically mean that he loves me. Then he said he’s still going to take down the consortium anyway.”
“What?” Charlotte whisper-shouts. “So you decided to be a couple?”
“No. I’m not letting him break my heart again. But I couldn’t make him leave. It’s pretty fucked up, Lottie. I don’t know what we’re doing. Whatever it is, it’s temporary.”
Charlotte throws her arms around me, and I hug her back. “Oh, Elise. I don’t know what to say.”
“I don’t know what to think. Jameson called him this morning, and—”
“It’s not good.” She hugs me for another few moments, then takes my hand and guides us both to the couch. Charlotte fallsinto it and stretches her legs out onto the ottoman. “Mason’s worried sick about Gabriel. And Jameson’s been taking even more chances lately.”
“They had an argument in the parking lot. Jameson seemed pretty furious at Gabriel.”
“I wish he would just stop.” She looks up at the ceiling. “I know the people in the consortium deserve to face the consequences for what they did. But it doesn’t feel like that’s happening. It feels like the only people getting hurt are Mason and his siblings.Again.”
“It’s coming for all of us.”
“What do you mean, all of us?”
I look her in the eye. “Lydia called me earlier this week in the middle of the night. She was at this party and needed to get out. I was so scared.” Charlotte puts her hand on my arm. “I didn’t know who to call. So I called Gabriel. He came with me to pick her up, and when we brought her home the next day…”
“Elise, you can call me any time. I don’t mind if you wake me up.”
“You’re pregnant. You’re tired.”
“I’m your best friend even when I’m pregnant.”
“Maybe I wanted to call him.” Admitting this to her is painful, but it’s the truth. All the secrets and lies we’ve been keeping are deadly. “Maybe I missed him. I don’t know. But when we brought her home the next day, my dad kicked me out of the house. He said I couldn’t come back unless I decided to join the consortium.”
“What the hell,” Charlotte murmurs, her face pale. “What thehell.”
“I know.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“No. I don’t—I don’t know. Everything is so complicated, Lottie. I don’t want anything to do with the consortium, butGabriel is set on doing this. I don’t want him to go it alone. So I thought I escaped the past, but it’s back. That’s what I meant. It’s not dead and gone the way I hoped it was. I can’t run away anymore. I just have to face it.”
Charlotte’s quiet. Her lips thin, like she’s forcing herself not to speak. “Wow.” She brushes her knuckles over her belly, which doesn’t hint at a baby yet, and tucks her hair behind her ear. “I amreallyannoyed with him.”
