LOGINCHARLOTTE’S P.O.V.I hadn’t been in his room before, and while I wanted to look around, that would have to wait.The second my back hit the bed, I was lifting my head and kissing him again, pulling him down on top of me. My hands slid over his shoulders and down his arms, pushing his shirt down and off of him, exposing his tanned, sculpted body. I wanted to explore him, to investigate each tattoo covering his arms, but as he lifted the bottom of my shirt, my mind went blank. All I could think about was feeling his skin against mine anywhere… everywhere. I lifted my back, moving with him as he pulled it up and over my head. I didn’t even question it when he reached under me to the clasp of my bra, pausing to meet my eyes. Quickly, I nodded, my breathing speeding up as I started to pull at my straps to get it off as fast as possible. Derek unclipped it, leaning back to pull it off. His eyes traveled over my face before moving down to my my chest, and a shot of excitement shot to m
CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V.Derek held the front door open for me, allowing me to enter first.The dinner with his family tonight didn’t really feel like a date, but this sure did. The nerves and anxiety from seeing his family after everything that happened were gone, and now I just felt comfortable and happy.I was expecting butterflies, but I had been to his house multiple times now that it felt normal coming in here. It felt homey, and the faint sweet scent in the air made my mouth water as I could tell he had just baked the cake today. “Would you like a glass of wine?” Derek asked, guiding me to the kitchen. “Yes, please,” I breathed as he released my hand to go around the counter and grab two glasses that were hanging under one of the cabinets. While he poured, I found myself transfixed by him.I leaned against the kitchen island as I watched him pull out the cheesecake from the fridge. It looked as perfect as he did, and I could hide the blush when I remembered that he had actually b
CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V.From the corner of my eye, I noticed Derek looking over at me several times on our drive, but he never let go of my hand, and for that I was grateful. “This is it, isn’t it?” He asked, and my neck twisted so fast that I was surprised I didn’t give myself whiplash. This wasn’t it! I wasn’t ready to lose him! “This is our first fight. Are we in a fight? If we are, I really need you to tell me what I did wrong.” I let my head fall back against the headrest and laughed, my eyes closing as I let myself relax from the moment of pure and absolute terror that had just consumed me. “No,” I said, shaking my head, and I heard him sigh. He lifted our hands, pulling them up to his mouth and kissed the back of mine before setting them back on my thigh. “Oh, good.” “I just thought…” I started, unsure of how to tell him how blind I had been. “Charlotte?” He asked, but didn’t look as worried as before. “I had so much going on that I hadn’t pieced together that you weren’t jus
CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V.The entire table went silent, every head turning to stare at me, but I refused to look away from Naomi. She had the nerve to take me in and treat me like a daughter, but was so quick to turn on me and blame me when her son… the man she raised decided he was going to cheat on and then attack me. Derek reached down, placing his hand on mine over his knee, squeezing my hand under the table. I had expected her anger. I expected her to yell and scream, possibly to throw something at me as she defended her son, but she was nothing like him. So instead, Naomi’s face fell. She looked absolutely devastated by my words, but I didn’t feel any remorse. “You really hate him that much? You had so many good years together before this.” She whispered, her eyebrows pinched together, and I could hear the plea in her voice, begging me to confirm that Justin was a good man deep down, that he was still the boy she raised, but I didn’t believe that. “That is how scared of him I am,”
CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V.I was grateful that Derek had grabbed my hand as soon as we got into the car. If he hadn’t, I might have jumped out on the freeway. I could tuck and roll. Another car would have hit me, but it was a risk I was willing to take. I hadn’t talked to his family since before I asked for a divorce. They showed up at the hearing, but we didn’t talk, and I didn’t know what they thought of me.There was a voice in the back of my head telling me that they hated me and wouldn’t want me here tonight. Their son, grandson, and in Nonna’s case, her great-grandson was in jail now. He had lost his mind after I had asked for a divorce, and that made me feel a little responsible even though the rational part of me knew that wasn’t true. I hesitated as we reached the door, pulling at my hand to make Derek release mine. I had just divorced Justin, and holding hands with Derek in front of them so soon after made me feel like a horrible person. “Charlotte,” Derek whispered, turning to
LYDIA’S P.O.V.“I can’t be stuck in here again!” I whispered to myself as my breathing came faster and faster with each passing moment. Even though I had joked about it with Charlotte, the last time I was stuck in there, it had fucked with my head. No one had been here. I had been trapped inside for just over an hour and had started to come to peace that I was going to freeze to death. Then one of the delivery drivers I had been waiting for showed up and got me out. My hand pushed the knob, feeling it sink in, going all the way down to the metal door, but the door itself didn’t budge as I leaned into it. “Lydia?” Paul asked, stepping closer to me, and I pushed against the door again. “I thought you were fixing this!” I spun on him, my eyes wide as the panic settled deep into my bones until the small room began to blur. “I just got here,” He said, and while I knew it wasn’t his fault it was broken, he was the one who let the door close behind him. “I can’t breathe,” I said, gasp
CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V. I wanted to set it on fire. It took me a moment to collect myself before I rushed outside to the car and yanked the door open. I could hear Justin laughing behind me in the kitchen, but the sound just grated on my nerves. I didn’t want to find anything, but with my camera rec
CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V.I woke up with a pounding headache that was only made worse by my phone ringing. My hand slid across the bed as I searched for it, but I froze as I touched a warm, hard chest instead.A flash of dark green eyes and a devilish grin popped into my mind, and I tensed as I tried to r
CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V. Lydia grumbled under her breath as she shoved the hotel keycard into the slot for the third time. The light flashed red again, and I groaned, stumbling to the side a few steps before regaining my footing. We had been at the club all night, and there was no way I wanted to retur
CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V"Ms. Valente, the divorce papers you requested will be ready within a week."I forced a tight-lipped smile to my lawyer, nodding my head as I stood. “I look forward to it. Thank you,” I said, pulling on my coat at the door, feeling my phone vibrating in the pocket. My best frien







