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“Charlie, only you would try to flirt and end up with a nasty-ass sausage to eat,” Addy says.
My plan to get under Andrew’s skin may have backfired, but it did in the best way possible. I look over at Andrea and Addy. Their faces are full of happiness and delight at my expense.
I smile back, knowing that in just over a half hour, we have to go back to that courtroom and listen to more lies and bullshit from the man we have all grown to hate.
Andrew finds my eyes across the table, a small smile playing on his lips. He watches me take bite after bite of my lunch. Heat builds low in my belly as his eyes stay glued to my mouth.
At least he isn’t ignoring me anymore.
Chapter Five
Andrew
I bite my tongue on the ride back to the courthouse. I’m angry but not stupid. I won’t cause a scene or do anything to upset my sisters. Charlie already caught me cutting my eyes at her. Her smirk says she thinks she’s being cute, but the feral part of me wants to show her that’s not a game she will win.
I grit my teeth until my jaw hurts. Thankfully, relief comes as we pull into a parking spot back at the courthouse. Charlie climbs out, intentionally putting her tight ass in my face. I don’t know if I’d rather slap it or sink my teeth into it. I do neither. I wait for her to completely exit before I get out.
The others are ahead of me, nearly to the steps. Charlie is between their group and me.
“Charlotte,” I say loud enough for only her to hear me. She stops momentarily and then starts walking again. “Charlotte Reed,” I grind out through gritted teeth.
She stops in her tracks and turns to face me, lifting her chin in defiance. She makes my fucking blood boil and my cock stand at attention without even trying.
I approach her quickly, knowing we don’t have much time before we have to be back inside. I’m not even sure what I’m going to say as I speak.
“Flirting with other men in my presence—or outside of my presence, for that matter—will not happen again,” I say firmly, staring down into her beautiful green eyes.
“Fat fucking chance, Shaw,” she says, spinning to walk away. Her blazing red hair hits my chest as she turns.
I stride behind her. “Stop,” I say sternly. To my surprise, she obeys and turns to face me once again.
“Well? What?”
She’s clearly irritated with me. What the fuck do I even say? She’s not mine. I really have no right to tell her what she can and can’t do. But damn do I want to. Fuck.
“Look, I know I’m sending some mixed signals.” I rake my hand through my hair. I’m so frustrated, I can’t even string words together to make a sentence.
“You think?” she says louder than I think she intended. She closes the small distance between us and lowers her voice. “Last night, you couldn’t get close enough to me. You couldn’t keep your hands off me. This morning, I woke up alone. Today, you acted like nothing happened until I flirted with the server. Now you want to act like you own me.”
Her words hit me like bricks. She has no idea how much I long to own her, mind, body, and soul. I know I fucked up by leaving last night. I knew she would be hurt, but I also knew staying would give her the wrong idea. We can’t be together. Not in the way either of us want. It’ll never work.
I soon realize I’m just standing and staring at her. She stares back, waiting for an answer. “Charlie, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to hurt you. It’s… It’s complicated.” I know she can’t really begin to understand why, but I hope she’s willing to try to not hate me.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Don’t pull the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ cliché. I don’t want to hear that shit.” She doesn’t wait for me to respond before turning and storming up the courthouse stairs and inside without looking back.
Normally, that kind of defiance would infuriate me. I’d plan a suitable punishment, but right now, I’m relieved she did. I’m unsure what else I could tell her. How I could explain how I feel and why I feel the way I do without telling her all the terrible things I’ve done? Intention doesn’t matter if what you’re doing is wrong and you do it anyway.
Pushing those thoughts from my mind, I head inside and take my seat between Adalyn and Andrea. Charlie is back in her seat behind me. I can feel her eyes on me, and I assume they’re probably filled with anger. I won’t turn around to find out. Maybe I’m a coward.
We sit through several more hours of opening arguments, listening to Christopher’s attorney spin his involvement in the scheme with Swank. They claim it was Swank who was the mastermind, and Christopher was fearful for his life and Andrea’s. He only went along with it to protect himself and his future wife.
What a crock of shit.
I’m interested to see how they’ll try to spin the audio and video evidence of Christopher shooting Andrea at the Second Chance Café back in Fraser. I read in a local newspaper article that his attorney is trying to suppress key evidence in the prosecution’s case. I’m sure they’re referring to that video. To say it’s damning for Christopher is an understatement. It’s the nail in his coffin.
“You’re clenching your jaw. I can hear your teeth grinding,” Andrea whispers, patting my leg.
I do my best to relax it and give her an indifferent look. I know she knows I’m angry. What decent brother wouldn’t be? She doesn’t know I’d rip Christopher limb from limb and do it with a smile if I had half a chance. I can’t let her see that dark part of me.
