Relinquish(83)
Charlie beams with happiness as she watches my hand caress her belly.
“Imagine that,” she repeats. “We actually did something right for a change, and it happened when we weren’t even trying,” she giggles. I shake my head, and pull my hand away. Trying to get a hold of my emotions.
“How’s your first day going as the Madam?” I ask, trailing my fingers up her spine. Making Charlie the Madam was the best decision I ever made. She’s perfect for the girls. Hearing the news, Veronica got pissed and left. I can honestly say things between the girls have become a lot less catty since her departure.
“Jayden is not taking the team cleaning her up well, and Roman is pacing outside the door like a dog in heat waiting for her. I just…” She closes her eyes. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do,” she huffs, sitting at my desk. It took some threatening and cash to get Jayden from Mick, but in the end, it was all worth it. Charlie seems much happier that Jayden is here. I offered Jayden a position to help Charlie out around the estate, but she refused. Jayden said there’s a void in her life we wouldn’t understand and she’d rather be an escort.
I grab Charlie’s hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Things between Charlie and I are smoother now that we don’t have to fight what we really want, which is just to be together. We’re better people when we’re together than when we’re apart. We both have something the other needs. She needs my strength to cure her pain and my presence when she feels alone. I need her love and that attitude of hers to put me in my place.
“Your job is to be there for the girls, make sure they follow the rules. A lot of girls come in here damaged, although you wouldn’t know it by the fake smiles and how they constantly throw themselves at men. But mostly, that’s an act of filling an emptiness,” I explain, sitting on my desk. She runs her hand down my arm and smiles.
Charlie nods. “If there is something I know, it’s that you have to relinquish it all before you can have it all.”
I hold her arm and pull her back to my front, brushing the hair from her neck.
“Do you have it all, Charlie?” I whisper into her ear.
She turns her head slightly and offers a wicked smile.
“I’m getting there.”