2025-09-02 15:32:08The clock read 11 p.m.
Charles knew it was time for Sadie to go to sleep. She’d had a hell of a tough day, and on top of that, he’d piled his own nonsense on her just because he’d felt like it. The guilt sat heavy on his chest. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to let her drift off just like this—not when he’d promised to put her on a call with his godfather.“Which do you think is perfect?” Sadie asked, drawing his attention to a pair of shoes on her iPad. “This…” she ran the her thumb over one, “or this?”To Charles, they looked identical. But he’d already given her enough grief tonight; he wasn’t about to add fuel to it. “I think this one’s better,” he said, pointing.“Really?” Her eyes lingered on the screen, filled with an obsession he couldn’t even begin to understand. “One of my friends said the same thing, but I’d have gone for this one.”Charles inhaled deeply, steadying himself. Then three… two… one… “Sadie, could you help me out
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Charles slipped into the club, bracing for the usual wall of noise that rattled eardrums from the doorway. Instead, the place was hushed. The music was soft, more like background perfume than sound. For a “crazy night,” it felt like someone had hit mute.“Thought I saw you in baggy pants the other time,” one of Sadie’s friends was saying.Charles spotted them at a round table across the room. All seated, all calm. This was the wild ride August had hyped up? Maybe the guy wasn’t as unhinged as Charles thought.“What do you mean you ordered it?” another friend pressed. “You brought your boyfriend here?”“George and I,” Natasha chimed in, bright and smug. “We ordered it a few minutes ago.”Charles cut the distance fast, before she started rewriting the whole night into some fantasy where he was her sugar sponsor. She was already on the edge of making it sound like he’d bought her dress as some “pick me” gift.“Over here!” Thomas wav
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Charles tried to snatch the card back, but Thomas tucked it behind him like a child hiding candy.“What are you doing with this?” Thomas waved it in Charles’ face, only to pull it away again. “And you were acting like some saint when you caught me reading that magazine the other day.”“How do you even know about this?” Charles asked, voice low, eyes narrowing.“What? You didn’t want me to know about this card?” Thomas replied, his tone dripping with exaggerated shock.Charles inhaled sharply. Was there a country where homicide wasn’t a crime? If there was, he needed to book Thomas a one-way trip with him.“Remember Sadie’s father asked me to meet him yesterday?” Charles said through his teeth. “He dropped a lot of madness on me. Told me he wanted me to handle a company.”Thomas nodded slowly, studying him. Finally, he pressed the card back into Charles’ palm. “Congratulations in advance,” he muttered, like Charles had just won th
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“And this…” Smith pulled out another picture. Two men. Not just shaking hands, no—they were tangled in ways that made Charles’ stomach churn. “They’re both top executives.”Charles snapped his gaze to him. “If I wanted to watch porn, I’d have downloaded it on my phone.”Smith chuckled, unbothered. “Apologies if this was unexpected, but these are the only pictures I was given to introduce them.” Then, without missing a beat, he shoved more photos forward—each one worse than the last. Charles actually felt his stomach threaten rebellion.“I’ll meet them at work when I come around,” he cut in sharply, waving off the pictures before he gagged.“Oh, really? That makes more sense,” Smith said with a grin, as if none of this was insane.“When should we expect you, sir?”Charles’ brain screeched. Expect me? He hadn’t agreed to anything.“Are there any married people in the company?” Charles asked, partly to buy time, partly beca
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Charles pressed the phone harder against his ear as he listened, jaw set. “I'm sorry, sir, no. The person you were after the other time—I can’t tell if it’s female or male, but whoever it was escaped with a car that came to his aid. No plate number, no trail. Our best bet is the man is just one of those she managed to get on his nerves recently.” Charles’ voice came out low. “What about the house I asked you to get me?” “Um, about that, sir…” the man hesitated. “It’s basically going to be… not that easy. The people around there are closely knitted. Everyone knows everyone. We could look into each one, but it’ll take time. We’re checking for anyone not tied to Dario’s ex while also making sure we’ve got enough leverage on them so you can stay for a couple of days.” Charles rubbed his temple, already feeling the frustration mounting. “How many days will that take you?” There was a
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“This way, everyone,” he said loudly. “We’re not letting what happened ruin the mood tonight. If you’re scared of enjoyment, you can go home. But for the next four hours—” He cut himself off deliberately, grinning, then signaled them forward.Charles noticed Sadie had already linked up with her friend. He caught Natasha’s eye and motioned for her to hang back.Natasha smirked as she drifted close. She gave his chest a playful tap. “You looked shy a second ago. Afraid Miss Sadie will find out you fell in love with me after, what, two hours?”Charles scanned the area before leaning in. His voice dropped low. “I’m not signing up for anything romantic with you. Not now, not ever.”Natasha leaned in anyway, lips parting, eyes closed. “We can’t kiss here,” she whispered.Charles stepped back, letting her hang there with her eyes shut until she finally peeked them open again.He saved her from embarrassment with a quick deflection. “Tho
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“Good thing,” Charles replied dryly. “Not sure I’d trust some stranger to check me out.”She smirked, then shook her head. “Be ready for Miss Sadie to drag you to a hospital. That’s the last thing you want, isn’t it?”Damn. She read him too easily.“I feel sorry for Miss Sadie,” Natasha continued softly. “She can’t even live a quiet life. I’ve barely been around her twenty hours and she’s already been through this mess.”“Thought you’d been with her longer,” Charles said, side glance sharp.“No. I just met her today. That’s why I was saying earlier—we clicked instantly. I don’t get what those men wanted though. It’s not her life. If they wanted her dead, they would’ve pulled the trigger already.”Charles mulled that over. She was right. Whoever those men were, Sadie wasn’t the target to kill. The fact they killed all their own men instead… meant something deeper was hidden. Loose ends weren’t allowed to live.A beam of l
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