Sweet Retribution (Rydeville High Elite #3)(12)

CHAPTER FIVE


Dinner is a tense affair, and no one appears to have much of an appetite. Poor Mrs. Rose went to so much trouble preparing Lillian and Charlie’s favorite spaghetti and meatballs dish with salad and homemade garlic bread, but it’s being pushed around full plates instead of lining the insides of our stomachs.

“We need to discuss the funeral, Mom,” Charlie says, when we’ve all given up on the pretense of eating.

I start clearing the plates away.

“I can’t,” Elizabeth whispers, and a fresh wave of tears pools in her eyes. “I just can’t.” A sob bursts free of her mouth.

“I can’t do it alone, Mom.” Charlie leans across the table, taking her hand in his. “I’ve got things to organize in the office, and I can’t be in two places at once.”

“I can help,” I say.

Shock splays across his face. “You will?”

I nod, sliding his half-eaten plate out from in front of him. “I don’t have much to do until school starts back. I’ve got time to organize it if you let me know what you want.”

“Thank you, sweetie.” Elizabeth squeezes my waist, and I press a kiss to the top of her head.

“It’s the least I can do.” Because if your son wasn’t obsessed with me, he might not have sold your husband out.

“If you could call the funeral directors in the morning and arrange a meeting, that would be great,” Charlie says, apprising me carefully.

“Okay. Sure.”

I’m rinsing the plates in the kitchen when Charlie walks in. “You don’t have to do that. Mrs. Rose will clean up in the morning.”

I shrug. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

He comes up behind me. “Could we talk?”

“About what?” I ask, bending down and stacking plates in the dishwasher.

“About last night, I—”

“I don’t want to hear more excuses, Charlie. I’m so sick of everyone lying to me.”

“Abby.” He holds my arm. “Come into the den.” He looks over his shoulder. “It’s not exactly private in here.”

I close the dishwasher and follow him downstairs to the basement den, working out how I’m going to play this as we walk in silence.

“Want a drink?” he asks, closing the door behind us.

“Sure.” I jump onto a stool, watching his long fingers work expertly as he fixes our drinks.

He hands me a vodka cocktail and takes his beer bottle, walking over to the leather couch. I sit down, keeping ample space between us. He takes a long drink from his beer, his throat working overtime, and I study him for a minute, remembering all kinds of stories from our childhood, wondering if everything has been a lie.

I sip on my cocktail, happy to let him start the conversation.

“Last night was unforgivable.” His tongue darts out, wetting his full lips. “And I wish I could take it back.”

“But you can’t.”

“Like you can’t take back all the mistakes you’ve made,” he coolly replies.

I settle back in the couch, eyeing him over the rim of my drink. “Like what?”

“Like hooking up with Kaiden when you knew it was going nowhere.”

“That’s a matter of opinion.”

He leans forward, placing his half-empty bottle on his knee. “The only opinion that matters is your father’s, and he’ll never approve.” He reaches out toward me, but I jerk back, and his hand drops to his side. “You need to let him go and give us a chance. I know we can be so good together.”

He’s starting to sound like a broken record.

“If this is your idea of an apology, it sucks.”

He sighs, placing his beer down on the table and scooting over close to my side. He winds his hand through my hair. “I will make it up to you. I promise. But you need to make me a promise too.”

The nerve of him to think he has the right to demand anything of me. Still, I’m supposed to be gravitating toward the doting wife impression, so I need to give him something. “What?”

“You will leave your old life behind. Anderson, Hunt, Lauder, and Xavier are a part of your past. I’m your future.”

I stare into his eyes, honestly checking to see if there’s some alien life form inhabiting Charlie’s body. “I’m not giving Xavier up. He’s my only best friend.” Jane has moved away, and while I miss her, and I want to reach out to her, I’ve come around to my brother’s way of thinking.

Rydeville is not safe for her.

Associating with us is not safe for her.

She is better off without us.

It kills me to admit that, but it’s the truth.

I’ve got to let her go.

But I’m fucked if I’m letting Xavier go too.

“I’ll be your best friend.” He takes hold of my neck, pulling my face closer to his. “I will be everything you need.”

Holy shit. He’s batshit crazy. Like fucking certifiable.

“Xavier is nonnegotiable,” I say, plucking his hand off my neck and moving away from him. Giving in would be out of character for me, so I can react naturally and still play my role to perfection. “And Jethro goes.”