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She sends a sweet grin my way. “I’ll do my best.”
I wait until we finish eating before I broach the subject of Paul Venti. I catch Noah’s eye and begin by saying, “You asked me earlier if I thought your father was involved in what happened today. Maybe, in a roundabout way, but he wasn’t directly responsible.”
Charli asks, “How can you be so sure?” She stares into my eyes. I know she knows. She then turns to her brother, who glances between us.
I tell it like it is. Easier to rip off the Band-Aid with a single yank. “Paul Venti was located earlier today. I’m sorry, but he’s dead. Demon got a lead and found him today. His body hasn’t been claimed, and they were waiting for a family member to come forward and identify him.”
Noah’s eyes become hard, then narrow to slits. “Good. He was a useless piece of shit. He was never a father,” he declares with finality, then storms out of the room. Charli calls for him and begins to pull the covers away.
“I got him, babe. Stay put. I’ll be right back.” Before she gets any farther, I’m out the door. Noah’s pacing the length of the living room when I approach.
“I’m fine,” he snaps. Obviously not, but I tread lightly.
“I believe you, bud. Whether he meant something to you or not, it’s a shock. The fact that he hasn’t been there for you or your sister means that the loss becomes anger. Makes total sense.”
“He raped his own daughter!” he grunts, his jaw clenched and fists tight by his side. “He’s lucky I didn’t find him first.”
I cross my arms and decide to give it to him straight. “That was my plan.” Noah jerks his head up and glares. “Yeah.” I nod. “I had every intention of making him pay with as much of the same physical and emotional pain that he put your sister through as possible. I thought I’d add in a few licks for your mom and you. He wasn’t going to walk away. I was going to make sure that Charlotte and you could breathe easy.”
“You were?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“You hardly know us.”
“I love your sister. Haven’t told her yet, and I’d appreciate if you kept that to yourself for now. I’m only telling you so you can understand where I’m coming from. With everything that’s gone on in the last few days, this isn’t the time.”
Noah finally plops onto the sofa. “She deserves a good man in her life.”
I take a seat beside him. “She’s got one.” I smirk, knocking my shoulder against his. Then I get serious. “In the next few days, I have to take her to identify the body. That’s gonna suck, and she’ll need her family close.”
“I’ll go,” he offers.
“You haven’t seen your father in years. Unfortunately, it has to be Charlotte. I hate doing this to her, but it needs to be done.”
“I’m coming with you both,” Noah insists.
I get what he’s feeling. There’s nothing he can do except support his sister through it, and he needs to be there.
“Absolutely,” I agree. I can see that Noah’s exhausted. “Get some sleep. I’m going to go check on Charli. She needs to take her pain meds.”
“You’re staying?”
“Damn straight. I’m with Charli all night. You good with that?” It’s not that Noah has a choice, but getting him on board will be easier on Charlotte.
“Don’t hurt my sister,” he whispers hoarsely.
“Never,” I say. “She’s my girl. I wouldn’t take us there if I weren’t sure. I wouldn’t do that to you and especially not to her.”
* * *
Charlotte
Apparently,getting shot in the leg makes it really hard to get up and move around. I got as far as pushing myself up and flopped back down. I hear Wildcard and Noah talking. I can’t tell what they’re saying, but Noah’s voice is calm. Wildcard is probably right, and he needs a man to talk things through with.
Noah’s never had a decent role model growing up. Since Guard and the others have taken him under their wings, Noah’s blossomed. I stopped worrying about him getting into trouble, and he’s loving the idea of working at the garage. He’s a totally different kid, well, young man, but to me, he’ll always be my baby brother.
The door creaks open, and Wildcard comes in. “He’s good, dollface. He just needed to vent.” He plants himself beside me in bed with his back against the headboard. He opens his hand. “You’re going to start feeling the pain. Saint said to take one before bed. It’ll help.”
