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Chapter Twelve
Mom suggested I met James at the penthouse in the city as a neutral setting, when I asked why, she told me she’d checked James had never taken Charlotte there. I knew I hadn’t in all our years together, so I accepted this had been a positive thought.
Arriving in the underground garage, I saw James’s Aston Martin DBS, and noted he was back in favor with my parents, as it had been left at their house when my father disowned him. I’d heard through Tammy his allowance had been reinstated and he had started work with my father a couple of weeks into the new year. The jury was still out on how I felt about that, given the support my family had shown me at the time he left with Charlotte.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet me,” James said, as I wandered into the living room and threw my bike keys on the coffee table.
“I’m here, say what you’ve got to say, Colby’s out for the day with his grandparents and I want to spend time with Billie.”
“Do you want something to drink?” he asked, tentatively.
“No, I’m not the one who’s nervous, and I’m riding my bike back, remember?”
“Right, sorry,” he replied, and I’d never known him to behave so meekly.
“Sorry for offering me a drink when I’m driving or for fucking Charlotte?”
He heaved a sigh. “Both, but it wasn’t like how she said it happened, Sawyer, I swear.”
“No, so how was it? What can you tell me that will make what you both did more palatable for me?”
“Nothing is going to do that, but I want you to know I did not go after Charlotte.” I stared in disbelief and he stared right back. “I’ d never have done this to you by choice. Brother, she was relentless in the way she came after me. When she first started on me I had thought she was joking, but then she began showing up everywhere I went and I’d already spoken to Josh about how she’d been behaving. I’d intentioned to talk to you when you came home from your tour.”
“Is that so?”
“Sawyer, she wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“So she was persistent and you fucked her.”
“No!” When he forced the word, I raised my eyebrow in question.
“No?”
“Have you ever spoken to Jenson or Aiden about this?” Jenson and Aiden were two of my closest friends.
“I’m not in the habit of dissecting what my brother did to me with my buddies.”
“Exactly. They were there that first night. Josh and I turned up to Aiden’s thirtieth birthday bash. Ten minutes after I arrived, Charlotte and Sara crashed the party and told Aiden we had invited them. I swear we hadn’t, and I largely ignored her and got on with enjoying myself.”
“Save me the gory details,” I snapped.
“No, I’ve finally got you here and you need to hear this. I must have had seven, maybe eight shots during some drinking games, and as we’d been drinking all day, Jenson suggested I go and lie down. I’ll admit I was pretty wasted, you know how it is when you’ve had a long session of booze. Anyway, I went and laid down in one of his guest rooms. I woke up twice, the first time I vaguely remember there was a couple going at it by the wall against the closed door but I was really groggy and passed out again.”
“Nice,” I muttered for feeding me details I thought were irrelevant.
“Second time I woke up with a heavy weight on my legs, then I felt horny and realized Charlotte was on top of me with my dick balls deep inside her. I swear, I have no idea how she even got it up I was so drunk. When I realized what we were doing, I shoved her off and felt disgusted with what she’d done.”
I stared in disbelief, my suspicious eyes locked in on his unblinking ones for what felt like an age, not knowing what to make of his excuse. James had a reputation as one of the most eligible bachelors in The Hamptons and he had a well-earned reputation as a playboy, and I wondered if he had really expected me to believe this story.
I thought I knew Charlotte, but I’d seen a side of her since we’d broken up that I hadn’t liked. Despite what I couldn’t accept about her when we’d been together, given her behaviour toward me since, it had made me wonder how far she’d go when she wanted something enough.
“You were fucking her in my bed. My bed.”
“I’m sorry.” He whispered, the pain in his eyes hurt my heart. “That was on her, and that was the third time.”
“What were you doing there?”
“I’d tried to keep my distance, but that afternoon she’d called me. She was drunk and threatening all kinds of stuff. I went over to your place to plead with her to leave me alone and well …, she was behaving erratically, screaming insults and she kept trying to dial 911.” He shrugged, helplessly. “ I got scared. Not just for myself, for what her accusations could bring on our parents.”
