Mr. CEO(53)

“I’m going to handle this, Charlotte.” She stands in her doorway, pulling the door closer to her. “He won’t get away with it.” I’m doing my best to convey that I’ve done everything I can do. “I promise you.” I put as much emotion as I can in my voice, but her body language is still tense. My heart squeezes in my chest.

She looks at me with complete distrust, and I don’t understand it. I don’t know where this animosity is coming from.

“Please forgive me, Rose,” I whisper and put my hand up to push her hair out of her face, but she flinches and moves away, leaving me to let my hand fall.

I clear my throat and let the silence pass between us. She looks past me, and doesn’t say anything.

“I’ll keep you updated on the legal matters.” Her eyes dart to mine. “We can sue him for harassment at least. I’ll bury him financially. Taking away his social circle, bankrupting him, it won’t be enough.” My heart beats frantically as the adrenaline pumps through my veins. I will make him pay for what he did. I stare into Charlotte’s baby blue eyes, but she gives me nothing in return. Cold as ice.

“I’m sure Patterson will have his legal team try to shut down the case, but my legal team is far better than anything Johnny Black can throw at me.”

“Who?” she asks, with her forehead pinching, her demeanor changing slightly.

I nod my head, realizing I jumped into this without explaining much. Fuck. I wish she’d just let me in so I can talk to her without this awkwardness between us. “His name is Chadwick Patterson. He’s the one who sent the emails, it was his IP address and it’s not the first-”

“No, Black. Johnny Black.” She says his name with a harsh edge and a bit of distaste. It’s odd, he has a reputation, but I’m surprised she’d know anything about him or his shady legal tactics.

“Yes, Patterson uses Black for his legal defense and I’m sure he has him on retainer.”

She looks me dead in the eye as her breathing picks up. Her grip tightens on the door as her face reddens and her bottom lip trembles with a mix of anger and sadness.

“I’m so tired of being lied to and not knowing what to think.” She spits out her words with venom. She’s practically shaking, and I’m not sure what to make of the situation. I put my hands up in surrender.

“Rose,” I say and try to keep my voice gentle and calming, “I’m not lying to you. I’ve never lied to you.”

She throws the door open and turns her back on me. The doorknob hits the wall, sending the door flying back at me. I put my hand out to keep it from shutting and cautiously take a step forward. She’s not okay and she needs me, but I’m not sure what the hell is wrong with her.

No f*cking way am I walking into her apartment. Not without knowing what the f*ck she’s doing, and whether or not I’m even welcomed.

“Rose?” I call out to her as she practically stomps to the kitchen island and snatches something off the counter.

She walks back to me with a deadly look. “This Johnny Black?” she asks, her voice accusatory, with a raised voice, shoving the card in my face.

I take her wrist in my hand and lower it, keeping my eyes on hers as a warning. She’s upset, but I don’t f*cking like the way she’s talking to me.

Her breathing is still frantic, but she seems to calm slightly. As she looks at the floor, I take a look at the card.

“Yes,” I say and her eyes reach mine and they flash with a knowing look. “Where did you get this?” I ask. My voice is low and threatening, but not toward her. I’m f*cking pissed that she had any contact with that snake at all.

“I’ve been online, I’ve been searching and searching for the name of the woman you did this to before, but I couldn’t find anything.”

“What the f*ck are you talking about?” Anger makes me push the door open and slam it shut behind me. She takes a step back into her foyer and keeps eye contact.

“He told me you’d done this before.” She motions to the card. “You don’t know how much it hurt me,” she says and her voice cracks and her eyes glass over. The strong suit of armor crumbles into dust and the pain I know she’s feeling comes through as her shoulders hunch and her arms wrap around herself. “I couldn’t believe you’d do this to me,” she says in almost a whisper before wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Never,” I say just above a murmur, taking another step forward and slowly pulling her into my chest. “I would never. I have never done that. I would never do anything to hurt you,” I whisper into her hair. Her body is tense and stiff, but after a moment, she relaxes against me.

“He lied to me,” she says softly, letting her cheek rest against my hard chest. Although anger is coursing through my blood, holding her in my arms is taming the beast that’s pacing inside of me. I’ll save my anger for them.

Right now she needs me.

“I don’t know what to believe.” She speaks so low, I barely hear her. She pulls away slightly, and it cracks a barrier that’s kept me from taking her. Her words trigger something in me. A need to prove to her that she’s mine. That I would never hurt her.

I take a step forward and then another. Her eyes widen and stare back at me as her back hits the wall of her small apartment foyer.