Secret Indiscretions (Carson Cove Scandals 2)

“Hopefully she waits until after the honeymoon to tell Taylor what happened…” I picked up my fork and aimlessly stabbed at the food that had been left in my spot while I was gone.

“Hmm.” Melanie reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. “My mother is calling…”

“You can answer it—there’s plenty of people in here staring at their phones.” I motioned to the room.

“Okay.” She nodded quickly and lifted it to her ear. “Hello? Mom?”

“Tell her I said hello.” I gave Melanie a half-hearted wave, but then I watched the smile disappear from her face.

“Mom hold on. Oh my god— I’ll be right there. Is Charley okay?” Melanie pushed me—hard—and started standing up. “Then call an ambulance!”

“What happened?” I immediately stood to my feet.

“We need to go.” Melanie grabbed my hand, and tears started forming in the corner of her eyes. “There was an accident. Charley’s hurt!”

“Oh my god…” I nodded, and we started walking towards the door.

“Jon—Jon!” Leo came running up. “You must already know.”

“Not now, Leo—wait…” I titled my head. “Know what?”

“The accident.” Leo matched our steps as Melanie and I kept walking. “One of my guys was following Ms. Monroe when it happened…”

Leo offered to drive, so the three of us climbed into his black sedan. Melanie was terrified and in tears. I tried to calm her down—hold her hand—and I wanted to tell her everything was going to be okay, but I didn’t know how serious the accident was. If Charley was hurt, nothing I could say would help. Melanie’s mom had apparently taken Charley to the movies since she couldn’t go to the wedding, and on the way home, their car had been run off the road—based on what Leo’s guy said, it was clearly intentional. If he hadn’t been behind them, it might have been worse because the other car took off as soon as he came to a screeching halt and stepped out of the car. He didn’t get a good look at the driver, but I had a feeling I already knew who it was—Jackson.

“There they are!” Melanie pointed ahead, and I saw a police car and an ambulance on the side of the road next to one of Leo’s black sedans.

“Oh god, they hit a tree…” I opened the door and stepped out before Leo got the car stopped.

“Sir you can’t…” A police officer stepped into my path.

“We’re family!” I nearly knocked the officer to the ground as I ran past him—and if Leo hadn’t been behind me, I might have ended up in handcuffs.

A paramedic had already gotten Charley out of the car. She was sitting in the back of the ambulance and looked relatively unharmed except for a cut on her arm. Melanie ran to her, and since it didn’t look like she was seriously injured, I sprinted down the embankment to check on her mother. The entire front of the car was smashed, and part of the front fender was wrapped around the tree. A paramedic was kneeling beside the car and checking on her. The airbag had gone off on impact, and part of the windshield was shattered. She had a few cuts, but none of them were serious.

“Lydia, are you okay?” I dropped down to my knees beside the paramedic.

“Jon…” She had a glazed-over look in her eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine, but Charley’s hurt…”

“Charley’s in the ambulance.” I motioned behind me.

“I think she has a concussion.” The paramedic looked over at me. “We’ve got another ambulance on the way to take her to the hospital.”

“Did you see who was driving the other car?” I tilted my head and took Lydia’s hand. “Was it Jackson?”

“No…” Her face twisted into a confused stare. “It was a woman—she was smiling when she hit my car…”

“The other ambulance is here.” The paramedic put his hand on my arm. “Sir, we need to get her to the hospital.”

“Yeah.” I nodded and stood.

Fuck…

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Melanie

My thoughts were spinning out of control. I was doing my best not to let my anger take over because Charley didn’t need to see me rage. There was only one person who would go after them—I couldn’t believe Jackson would go that far. I saw the hate in his eyes when the police came into the hotel room and arrested him—he swore I would pay for it—but I never expected him to take it out on his own daughter. The boy I once loved truly was a monster, and it didn’t matter if he was high on drugs or just pissed off—I had to make sure it was the last time he came near my family. I never thought I would be the kind of person that could take a life, but I had to protect Charley from him, even if it destroyed all of the good inside me.