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“It’s a mistake.”
“Maybe.”
Charity shakes her head. “I can’t just sit by and watch you do this. If he’s hanging out with people like that, this man is dangerous, Hallie. It’s not cute, it’s not fun, it’s dangerous, and I…” She shakes her head, looking toward the hall. “Honestly, I can’t be party to it.”
I don’t want her to leave, but I can’t ask Calvin’s friends to leave, either.
“Maybe we could get drinks and appetizers at that Italian place we liked in Chelsea one night and celebrate just the two of us.”
“I don’t want to celebrate,” she tells me. “I think you’re making a horrible mistake and I want to stop you.”
I look down.
I don’t know what to say. What Icansay.
Charity doesn’t have the same problem. She picks up momentum from my silence, nodding her head as she moves toward the elevator. “I’m going to. I’ll show you.”
“Charity…”
“No.” She pushes the elevator button. It opens immediately, and she backs inside. “I’ll show you who he really is, Hallie.”
“Charity, please don’t…”
But, before I can finish my sentence, the doors slide closed.
Sighing helplessly, I mutter, “…do anything crazy.”
It’s too late.
She’s gone.
Chapter Forty Four
Calvin
I tried with Charity, I really did.
I wanted to play nice. She’s Hallie’s best friend, and I know Hallie loves her.
I also didn’t want to waste all of my goddamn time watching her. She’s not nearly as interesting as my Hallie, and my time would be better spent observing her than her faithless cohort.
In a perfect world, that’s what I would be doing between meetings. Watching Hallie use her free time to bring her little fly named Eli to life with little pops of color. Admiring the absent way she brushes her hair out of her face when she’s trying to concentrate.
God, I love her.
But no, I don’t get to spend my work breaks enjoying my beautiful fiancée, because I have to keep my eye on her goddamned nosy friend.
I suppose I should have known better than to have Nick and Arson at a party with one of the “good guys.” It would’ve been more convenient for me—and more lucrative for her—if Charity had gone the route of becoming a criminal defense attorney instead. Hell, maybe I could have gotten her some work.
But given she’s the pain in the ass variety, she wants to separate us.
That’s never going to happen. It wouldn’t have happened even without a baby, but there’s no way in hell she’ll be able to pull Hallie from my clutches now.
And if she tries, we’re going to have a very big problem.
I have a strong hunch she’s already trying. It isn’t easy convincing Arson to do this job—he can’t even do it himself, he’s too recognizable to her. Luckily, he knows a girl who goes to the same salon, and that provides the perfect opportunity. While Charity is getting lowlights put in her hair and gabbing with the stylist under a heat lamp, Arson’s girl is able to get her hands on Charity’s phone and swap out the SIM card for one of mine.
That in and of itself is very uncomfortable because this isn’t technology that eventechnicallyexists, and I don’t want my equipment in the wrong hands, but it’s a calculated risk, and one I have to make.
