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“I do.”
“You’d take a bullet for her.”
“Yep.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Auggie. Good man.”
“I try to be.” Auggie winks at me. “I keep telling you, babe: you don’t need to keep secrets from me. If you’ve got a problem, thenI’vegot a problem. We’ll figure it outtogether.”
I’m going to faint.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Carlo says. He turns to me. “Sweetheart, stop glaring at him. He didn’t let the cat out of the bag. I already knew about your engagement when I got here. I just wanted to give you the chance to tell me about it, yourself.”
“What do you mean you already knew?” I ask.
Carlo chuckles. “I went to your friend’s bar yesterday looking for you, and the bouncer told me you’d been there the other day with your newfiancé.” He motions to Auggie. “If this strapping young buck ain’t him, then youractualfiancé’s not gonna be too happy you’re spending quality alone-time in a cramped space with this guy. I’m telling you right now, if I swung that way, I’d be all over this hunk of man like white on rice.”
“Thanks, Carlo.”
“Look at you! You’re a catch.”
“Back at you, man.”
As both men laugh, I barf a little in my both.
“Carlo, I need to talk to you in private,” I gasp out. I’m rapidly losing my mind. Devolving into a total freakout.
Auggie chuckles. “It’s okay,babe. You know I’m not the jealous type—unlike Carlo’s wife.Am I right?”
Carlo laughs. “As rain. You have no idea.”
Auggie returns to me. “So, you don’t have to downplay your history with Carlo to me. I don’t feel threatened by him—other than the fact that the big guy here could clearly break me like a twig. Haha. So, let’s all be friends and talk about this problem of yours that needs fixing . . .in extreme detail.”
Oh my god, Auggie’s painfully clueless!Why is he doing this? Has he had a stroke? Bumped his head? Eaten a magic mushroom?
With a charming smile, Auggie says, “Carlo, in case you have any doubts at all about me being Charlotte’s fiancé, let me put them to rest now. The bar you went to yesterday to look for Charlotte? It was Captain’s. The downtown location. The name of Charlotte’s friend who owns the bar? Tessa. The name of the bouncer you spoke to about Charlotte’s fiancé? That would be Brody.”
“Yep to all of it.”
“Charlotte and I were there on Thursday afternoon, along with my father, to celebrate our engagement.”
Carlo flashes me a snarky look. “Now, how would he know any of those details, if he wasn’t the fiancé the bouncer told me about, eh?” He returns to Auggie with a lopsided grin. “Not that I ever doubted you, though.”
“So, what’s up?” Auggie says. “Tell meeverything.”
Carlo leans against a wall. “Well, in a nutshell, my friend, the situation is this: I know your beautiful, cheery fiancée looks like an angel sent from heaven. And to be fair, she is. But this angel of yours did a very bad thing last month. She made a whopper of a mistake, Auggie, and I’m left trying to clean up the mess.”
My heart is exploding. “Can wepleasetake a walk, Carlo?Please. I don’t want to involve Auggie in any of this.”
Carlo snickers and nudges Auggie. “That one hates accepting anyone’s help, especially from a man. She likes her independence.”
“She sure does.”
“But this time,” Carlo says, “trust me on this, Charlotte needs to accept your help, Auggie. Because if we don’t help her fix her mistake, some massive shit could hit the fan forallof us.”
Auggie looks apprehensive. “What, exactly, did Charlotte do?”
“No, Carlo.Please.”
