Chapter Eighteen

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Luca

When I woke up the next morning, I felt disoriented. My back hurt like hell and Charlotte had her head in my lap, sound asleep, still on the cool tile of the bathroom floor. I thought maybe I dreamt everything that happened last night, but thank God I didn't.

I looked down at Charlotte's tear-stained cheeks, and my heart shattered all over again. I'd never get the sound of her sobs out of my head. The way she continued to cry in her sleep, those heavy sobs turning to soft whimpers. I stayed awake for hours, listening to her heartbreak and stroking her cheek, all the while feeling like an absolute shithead for the things I'd done.

I hated Grant for what he did, but right now, I was hating myself just as much.

The thought of Charlotte lying in a hospital bed about to have our child, terrified and calling for me, blinded me with rage. How could that motherfucker be so callous? Whatever beef we had shouldn't have mattered. He wanted to hurt me so badly that he didn't even think about Charlotte or Layla.

Grant knew exactly what he was doing and wasted years I could have had with Layla. With Charlotte. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he realized he wouldn't get away with it.

The sooner I could get my hands on him, the better. Charlotte and I needed to sit down and talk, but after that, murdering that greedy son of a bitch was at the top of my list. And I wouldn't be able to rest until I did.

Careful not to disturb her, I scooped her Charlotte up off the floor and laid her in the bed. She needed the rest after all I'd put her through in the last few days. A sickening feeling washed over me as I looked at the bruise on her cheek, knowing I did that to her. If she ever gave me the chance again, I'd spend every second of my life trying to make it up to her. I'd do whatever I had to do to be sure I didn't turn into my father. It never should have gotten this bad, but it was the wake up call I needed.

She stirred only slightly when I pulled the covers over her. It was nearly nine in the morning, so I peaked my head in to Layla's room.

I expected to find her playing on her bed, but her room was empty. Panic pulsed through me. I hurried out of the room and down the stairs, hoping to find her. There was no way someone could break into the house and take her without us knowing, but somehow having a child made me more anxious.

A wave of relief washed over me when I got to the bottom of the stairs and the sound of her laughs echoed off the walls. I came around the corner to find her in the kitchen, sharing a bowl of cereal with Seth. She was picking out all the marshmallows from the Lucky Charms and saving the cereal pieces for him.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed when she saw me. Just hearing her call me washed all of my anxiety away. Everything was right in the world when that little angel was happy to see me.

"Hi baby." I offered my arms out to her, and she jumped into them, nestling her head into my chest. "Uncle Seth taught me how to dive! Can I show you my dives today?"

My heart was torn between making up for lost time with my daughter, repairing my relationship with her mother, and torturing the man who robbed me of a normal relationship with them.

Every natural instinct in my body was telling me to find Grant and gutting him like a fish, but things were different now. I couldn't bring myself to leave the girls again, especially after the way things went down with Charlotte. If I had any hope of working this out, they had to be my priority.

"Of course you can! I bet mommy will want to see it too. Can you wait until she gets up?"

Layla nodded enthusiastically, jumping out of my arms and continuing to eat her cereal. I glanced at Seth, and the look in his eye made me falter.

"Hey man." I shoved my hands in my pockets. After my drunken confession about the way I was treating Charlotte, he beat the shit out of me. I deserved it, and that's why I let him do it. I didn't even fight back, taking each punch willingly as part of my penance.

"You fix things with my sister?" He grumbled, hardly looking up at me. He still wasn't happy with me, not that I could blame him.

"Working on it." I nodded. "A lot happened between us, but I think we're heading in the right direction."

"Better be," Seth spat. It was probably going to take some time to fix things in our relationship as well. Seth was practically my brother and one of my closest confidants. Especially since he and Gabe had been out here full time. He was my top advisor and, all things business aside, my best friend. If I had a little sister and my best friend was treating her the way I had been treating Charlotte, I probably would have lost my shit, too.

"What's on the agenda today?" Seth turned the conversation to business, which was a much safer topic for us right now.

"I need to find someone. As fast as possible." Seth would understand the urgency of this. He had a temper just as hot as mine and wouldn't try to talk sense into me like Angelo would. If I let Angelo get into my head, I might not actually go through with this, and I desperately needed to.

"Yeah?" Seth arched an eyebrow.

"Fallon." I spat, carefully not to raise my voice so Layla could hear. She was engrossed in some show a little ways away from us, but I didn't want to take a chance. Just the sound of his name in mouth made me want to vomit. I had been dealing with his shit for too long and the end of it couldn't come soon enough.

"You want me to get you an FBI agent?" Seth smirked. "I'm egotistical, Luca, but I'm not stupid." Once he understood the gravity of the situation, he'd be on board.

"I can't get into the finer details right now, but he lied to Charlotte a long time ago and is basically the reason she kept the secret as long as she did. Same guy that threw your dad in jail. He's been nothing but issues for us for years and it needs to stop."

Seth's face hardened, all in to avenge his family. "Where do I find this guy?"

"I don't know. Take Marco, he has experience with him. He might be your in."

"And Marco will rat on his friend?"

I chuckled. "When Marco finds out what Grant did, you'll probably have to pull him back from ripping him to shreds himself."

"You want him alive?"

"Oh yeah. The more alive, the better." Revenge with Grant was coming my way soon and until then, I could plot all the ways I was going to make him pay.

"Is Charlotte going to be okay with this? They dated, didn't they?"

I clenched my jaw, mustering every ounce of restraint I could. Like I needed the fucking reminder of that asshole's hands on her. That single thought made me want to break every one of his fingers off and shove them so far up his ass that he'd ever be able to fuck a woman again.

"We're not telling her. Yet anyway. She'll feel the same way. I just don't want to involve her yet." Charlotte had too big of a heart for her own good. I knew exactly what she would say. He thought he was helping, he supported them for years, they wouldn't have survived without him. Yada, yada, yada. It was all bullshit. If the motherfucker had called me like he said he did all those years ago, all of that would have been unnecessary.

He probably did all that shit because he felt guilty and like he had to make up for it somehow. I had no sympathy for the guy. He tried to drive a wedge between Charlotte and I for our entire relationship and now that he finally had, he had to pay whether she liked it or not.

"And that's moving in the right direction?" He said pointedly.

I was about to respond when Charlotte's voice floated into the kitchen.

"Good morning." She smiled, freshly showered and bright eyed. Make up covered her bruises, which I was grateful for because I doubted Seth would appreciate the visual reminder. I frowned, knowing she must have woken up as soon as I left. She needed rest. I could see how the last few weeks were wearing on her, but she wouldn't want to hear that.

"Hi momma!" Layla greeted, running over and wrapping herself around her mom's legs.

"Sorry, I guess I overslept." Char bent down and kissed the top of Layla's head. I committed that sight to memory so I could play it back in my head whenever I needed a second of relief. They were perfection.

"You didn't oversleep. Seth got her breakfast, actually. I just barely came down." I said.

"Thank you!" She smiled at her brother. "You're really getting the hang of this uncle thing, huh?"

"I guess I am. Having the most perfect niece in the whole world makes it easy, though." Seth laughed, wrapping his arm around Charlotte's shoulder. I loved seeing them together after all this time.

"Remind me to come get you the next time she has a meltdown." Charlotte teased, bending down and picking Layla up.

"Layla's been practicing her dives. She wanted to show us as soon as you got up." I said.

"Don't you have to go into work?" She asked, somewhat surprised.

"I moved some things around, but I could hang around here for a little while today." I couldn't read her expression. It was a mix of frustration and relief. "I was actually hoping I could take you out for breakfast. Maybe finish our conversation?"

Charlotte bit her lip in apprehension. I doubted being alone with me was all that enticing right now.

"Please." I wanted to reach for her, but didn't out of respect for her boundaries. We had a long way to go.

"Sure." She nodded. "That would be nice."

"I'll take you to the pool, Layla." Seth offered. "We can practice so that when your mommy and daddy get home, you'll be a professional.

"Yay!" Layla cheered, running up the stairs after her swimming suit. Seth chuckled, following after her.

"Hey Seth, that thing we talked about earlier..." I began.

"Already in motion." He smirked, leaving me and Charlotte alone in the kitchen.

"Are you feeling better today?" She asked, busying herself at the coffee pot. I didn't have to see her blushing cheeks to know she was trying to avoid looking at me.

"I told you, I wasn't drunk." I rolled my eyes, not wanting to argue with her so soon this morning.

She turned around then, chewing on her cheek. He was silent for a minute, as if she was sizing me up. "So when you said..."

She paused, not able to bring herself to finish the statement. She didn't need to, though. I knew exactly what was on her mind.

I moved toward her, stopping just short of touching her. She flinched, squeezing her eyes shut and tensing her body, as if she expected me to hit her again. The realization nearly crumbled me.

"I meant every word I said last night. When I said I love you, I meant it. When I said how fucking sorry I was for what I did to you and the way I've been treating, I meant it. I meant it all, Charlotte."

I felt her take a deep breath, her body slowly relaxing.

"Come on. Let's go get something to eat and talk." I offered my hand out to her, waiting for her to take it.

She stared down at it, pressing her lips together, but eventually took it.

It was a small step, but I would take whatever I could. I wasn't above groveling at her feet. Not anymore. Not after what I did. 


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