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“-We'll keep her locked up for a while if need be, then we'll put a tranquilizer tracking bracelet on her and introduce her to The Site and our people. She'll learn a new way of living, Charlie—we've all had to do it.”
Charlie doesn't utter a word. I'm not sure if he's ignoring his brother or being slowly influenced by him. Either way, I'm anxious. I won't let him take me. I can't.
“Look, I get why you're forcing her hand by sending her back early, but what if she doesn't change her mind and stay with you? What if she leaves?”
“That's a chance I have to take. I love that girl—I won't make decisions for her. I won't treat her like my property.”
The world closes in on me, and I have to grab my chest because it's... It aches.
No one has ever said they love me before.
Someone sighs—I think Andres. “You're mad for not taking advantage of this last week with her. You'll regret it, Charlie, trust me.”
“I probably will, but last night something happened that scared the shit outa me, and I won't risk it happening again.”
I flush with embarrassment, and as Andres badgers Charlie for what happened, I'm unable to listen in anymore. The last thing I need to hear is Charlie telling his brother that I'm fucking crazy and explaining the reasons why.
Pushing away from the wall, I sneak around the house, click open the front doors, and peer through a crack to make sure I don't run in to anyone.
I hope Andres can talk Charlie around to letting me stay for the last week—I'm not ready to go home yet. I'm not ready to go until I tell Charlie that I care about him.
There isn't anyone in the welcome hall, so I sneak upstairs to my room and sink into bed fully clothed, trying not to wish the day away because I know it's the last day of peace I have left. It's the last day with Charlie I have left.
It amazes me that I've just overheard Maksim outbid a government agency for me and I'm more concerned about my time with Charlie. I don't even remember how I got like this. I'd usually focus on the imperative, boycotting anything less. Now, I'm emotionally selfish.
———
“Blaire, baby,” Charlie says, startling me.
Peering over the duvet at him, I see he's standing there in the open doorway, dressed in dark jeans over black boots and a red polo shirt under his brown leather jacket. He looks like he's going out. Nervous, I find his blue gaze but he still cannot look me in the eyes.
That hurts.
“The job has been moved forward,” he says in a deep tone.
I frown, studying the carrier bag he's holding in one hand.
“Why?”
He scratches his head, blinking at the floor. “We've been waiting for a map of the bank vault, and Maksim got it a few hours ago, so we need to do the job now.”
Why do I feel like he's lying to me? Why do I feel like the whole 'waiting for a map of the vault' has been an excuse to lengthen my stay? He was in such a rush for me to grasp control of London for fifteen minutes, yet he's only mentioned the job once in the entire time I've been here with him. And, to add to my suspicion, he confessed to his brother that he's trying to force my hand by sending me home early...
I think about all this for a moment, but then what's about to happen hits me like a ton of bricks.
“We are... we're going back to London today?” I push the blankets aside to stand, and suddenly, nothing else matters to me. I have to do the job in my apartment. My computers are the only computers set up and equip for the job.
Charlie nods, the muscles in his temples ticking.
I glance down at the floor, then back up at him, my throat burning to cry. “I... Charlie... I...” I have a million things I want to say.I don't want to go!
“We need to get a move on.” He waves me onward, and still cannot look at me. “We have to be at your apartment in two hours.”
“But, I-”
“C'mon, Blaire,” he says, stopping me from speaking
This is happening too quickly—my anxiety is through the roof. I thought we had tonight at least. I have so much that I want to ask him. So many questions about what he's found out about me, but most of all, I want to tell him that I care about him. He has to know.
