Tied (Owned 2.50)

Still, that was another reason I felt like shit. She was my best friend and I wasn’t comin’ back. Grace had gone to extraordinary lengths to save me. She truly was an amazin’ person and how did I repay her? By disappearin’ with a man.

But Charlie wasn’t just any man.

“I’m not comin’ back, Grace.”

“What?” Grace exclaimed. “Why? You’re not staying with Zero, are you?”

“Zero is dead,” I replied.

There was another palpable pause before Grace said, “Good.” She added, “So why aren’t you comin’ back?”

“I’ve found the love of my life, Grace.”

Grace glanced back to the man she’d left at the table. He was givin’ us a real stare-down, but he hadn’t stood up yet. “I suppose that’s as good a reason as any,” Grace replied. “You promise it’s not Zero?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” I grinned, making an “x” motion across my heart.

“I’ll miss you,” Grace said, eyes downcast.

“I’ll miss you more,” I replied. “I’ll call you and I’ll visit, Gracie. You have a piece of me.”

“You have a piece of me, too,” Grace replied. I pulled her in for a hug before she could see the tears that had formed on my lids. We hugged for a good five minutes and then separated. I didn’t say goodbye, because it wasn’t a goodbye. I’d see Gracie again. After all, she had a piece of me.

* * *

We were on the Amalfi Coast. Never in a million years had I dreamed I’d end up there. When I’d imagined gettin’ out of Louisiana, I’d thought of places like Tennessee or—and this was my biggest dream—New York. Now here I was with the love of my life, wearin’ a gorgeous red dress that he’d bought me, and sippin’ on wine while starin’ out as the sun set over a brilliant blue ocean.

It was heaven.

“You’re rich,” I’d said when I’d discovered Charlie’s secret.

“Yeah, does that change anything?” he’d teased. “You suddenly more attracted to me now?” After I’d visited Grace, we’d driven for a few hours and then stopped outside a small airport. We’d driven right onto the tarmac. Charlie had refused to tell me anythin’ about what was happening, but I’d kept tryin’ to guess.

Every guess was so wrong.

I never would have guessed he was goin’ to take me on a private plane and then to a yacht where we would sail around the world. How could a small-town girl like me guess that?

“If anythin’ I’m less attracted to you,” I’d responded. “Crap, you got a lotta rules I need to follow now? Like, I probably have to use a special fork and everything. Probably got a nice family I need to impress too, family who is gonna be sorely disappointed when they see my poor ass.”

“My parents are dead,” he’d said simply, holding out his hand for me to take as we ascended the stairs into his private jet.

“Oh, that’s good,” I’d muttered. He’d laughed then, and I remembered thinkin’ how wonderful it was to have someone who understood me so well. Now he was sittin’ in the captain’s chair, gettin’ ready to sail the boat to our next destination. I had no idea where we were goin’, but it didn’t matter.

I wrapped my arms around his back, snugglin’ my face into his neck. Charlie grabbed my wrist and flipped me around, pullin’ me onto his lap so I faced him. I looked up at his hardened jaw, his face shadowed by the glow of the sunset behind him. He almost looked celestial. When he’d rescued me, I’d thought the same thing.

Charlie cupped the back of my neck and pulled me in for a hard kiss. His tongue snaked into mine, claiming me inside out.

“What are you thinking?” he growled, pulling away slowly.

Resting my head on his tough shoulder, I answered truthfully. “I was thinkin’ how when you rescued me, I thought you were an angel.”

Charlie threw his head back and laughed. “Sorry to disappoint.”

As Charlie pulled the boat out of the marina, I didn’t respond. Safe in Charlie’s stony countenance, wrapped by his thick arms, I relaxed as we sailed into the purpling horizon. His free arm wrapped tightly around me and I glanced up once more, getting one last look at the man I loved before his features disappeared into the shadows of night.

Charlie thought he was all hard edges and lines and that I was soft and vulnerable. He thought I needed savin’, and he was partly right on that front. He was wrong, though, in that he thought he was the demon who’d turned me dark. I knew better. The devil was an angel once, and I’d spend the rest of our lives proving that.