CHARLOTTE'S POV “Fuck off, asswipe" Jenn snapped. Brandon studied her lazily. “Jennifer Miles". He grinned at me. “Reconnecting with old memories, I see". I said nothing. “You're lucky I wasn't here when you did all that shit to her. I've always known you'd break her. You cannot get away with this, you know". She seethed. I wanted to tell her to drop it. He wasn't going to get away with it, I was sure of that. There was no use exchanging words with him. “I've been reminded". Brandon stared at me with a sly smile. “It appears my darling Charlotte has got some tricks up her sleeves". His smile widened to a mad grin. I tried to keep the shock from my face. Had he somehow gotten wind of our plans? It couldn't be. It's not like I knew the whole plan, and I planned to remedy that. But I was almost sure no one else apart from my dad and Jameson knew what we were about to do. So how did he know? What was he talking about? “Cat got your tongue?" There was lau
BRANDON'S POV My brain was too slow to process the information. “Murdered? What do you mean, murdered?" “Fuck you man". Kareem ended the call. My hands fell to my sides. What was going on? My phone rang again and I picked the call automatically, raising it to my ear. “Is your brain set on straight now?" Kareem asked. “Nat's dead?" I asked. “Yeah man. Murdered. The press is all over everything already. There's no covering it up. It looks fucking staged". “Staged?" I repeated, my brain slowly catching up. “Whoever did this wanted the whole world to know. Press got an anonymous tip". He cursed. I dropped heavily into my chair. “Fuck". “His sister's lost it already. Man". “Staged, you said?" I could not take my eyes away from the black envelope. “That's what it looks like". He said, weary.Strike one, the message had said. But what did Nat have to do with what I did or did not do? I knew Charlotte, she couldn't hurt a fly. It couldn
CHARLOTTE'S POV It was a little difficult to forget Jenn's grilling about Jameson. As I sat in the lounge he'd asked us to meet, I kept reminding myself over and over to be natural with him. It wasn't that he's wasn't a good catch; he was, I just wasn't ready for...that. I might never be. I watched him lock his car from a window. He did things so perfectly, it was almost like he had a personal relationship with the objects. When he drank water he never slammed the cup on any surface, he never jangled keys or made too much noise. He parked his car after thoroughly studying the other cars. He was never careless. It was a big surprise really, for someone who spent the greater part of his high school days making the lives of other kids miserable. I smiled when he sat beside me. “Hi. Good news?" “Well, these are happy times". He smiled back. He was talking about my father, who'd been discharged the previous day, without any complications. All he'd been advised to do
JAMESON'S POV “I don't understand what's going on, mom". I pulled at my tie dejectedly. “It seems like the universe is suddenly against me" I have up on the tie, slumping. I was tired. Tired of everything. My mother stared at me. “The universe is not against you, boy. You'll be all right". She rose and loosened the tie herself. I sighed when it was successfully over my head. It was strangling. “I don't know. First I lost Nat. Now something I'd closed so perfectly is...I just don't know. Who would try to crash our work?" I followed my mother to the kitchen and took a seat at the table. My mom said nothing for a moment, concentrated on pouring a glass of milk. She placed it front of me, giving me a look. “You know there are people who'd want to sabotage your work. It's not possible that there aren't". I groaned. “But you're stronger than them all". She nodded at me to drink, and I obeyed. “You've worked very hard for this", she continued, “And the son I've traine
CHARLOTTE'S POV My breath caught in my throat as he leaned in. I didn't know why I said what I said. I was probably starved of attention and my body spoke for me. I was frozen as he moved closer, my broken mind screaming at me to stop it. He stopped just shy of our lips touching. I almost whined. “We should see about that movie". He whispered, his breath ghosting over my lips. What he was really asking was ‘do you really want this?' I did want it, I wanted it badly. But I knew it would be a mistake. “Yeah, we should. You promised." I whispered back. His gaze dropped to my lips for a see seconds, and then he leaned back. “Bring the ham". He walked out of the kitchen. I sagged, putting my hand over my chest once I could no longer hear his footsteps. My heart was hammering away. I could accept it, I was madly attracted to Jameson. But there was a part of me that wanted more from People, and I did not want to be hurt again. I sighed, fumbling with the pots on
BRANDON'S POV I gave him a dry look, even though I felt slightly uneasy. “And what might those problems be?" “The last one said strike one. Who do you think was struck?” I stared at him. “I don't even want to know what your twisted answer is”. Kareem kept ridiculous thoughts in his head and was too paranoid to be real sometimes. “Nat is dead, you fucker”. He slammed a palm on the table. “And this letter came when you discovered his murder. Or am I wrong?” My breath quickened. “Just because it came after Nat's death does not mean that it has a connection”. I tried to make myself believe it. “Do you believe that, really?” Kareem looked scornful. “Do you?” I said nothing. “You don't”. He said, satisfied. “Unless you're very stupid indeed”. “Charlotte cannot do this though”. I muttered, feeling lost. “You really think so?” Kareem said mockingly. “I warned you”, his voice dropped to a deadly note. “When you divorced the older sister to sleep with th
BRANDON'S POV I waited for some minutes to confirm that she was indeed fast asleep, then I closed my laptop and kept it aside. Tatiana was not a light sleeper, unlike Charlotte. Once she had fallen asleep she could not be awoken until the next day. I kissed her on the forehead to make sure. There was no response. I found Emile wiping down the kitchen drowsily. “The kitchen is not your only station, you know". I said to her. She started, then turned around, her eyes were puffy. “The housekeeper said it is". She yawned and tossed the rag she was holding aside. My housekeeper was a sour old man even I barely saw. But he was efficient, because the house ran smoothly, despite his absence. My mother would have raised hell if it didn't. “Make two cups of coffee ". I said, sitting at the table. I rapped my fingers on the table as she did, watching her work. She placed the two cups before me when she was done and I pushed one back to her, gesturing her to sit. I took a sip
BRANDON'S POV Her nails raked at my face and I grunted, throwing her back. “What the hell is this?" I rubbed streaks of blood from my face. The woman was motionless on the floor. I stepped forward and pushed her over with my foot. It was Nat's sister, and blood was seeping from her ears and nostrils. “Get an ambulance" I said to Ava. “Move!" I roared when she stood motionless. She stumbled out of the office. I lifted the woman into my arms and hurried out after her. ** I paced the hall of the hospital anxiously waiting for the doctor. Nat's sister was rushed to the emergency room as soon as we got into the hospital. My secretary sat quietly in one of the chairs, her eyes following me as I paced. “You should see about that ankle" I turned to her abrubtly, noticing that that her right ankle was purple and swollen. “It'll get worse if you don't". She looked blankly at the injured limb and nodded. She seemed to be in a shock. Someone walked up to me. “The press are causing a