Charlotte

I've always been a talker. Conversation came easy for me. I could always find a way to fill an awkward silence or make small talk with anyone, anywhere. But as I stood here today in front of Grant, I couldn't think of a single thing. Thankfully, he broke the growing silence first.

"You look well." He was timid, choosing his words carefully.

"If you have something you want to say, you better do it quickly. They won't be gone long." I replied curtly. I was already regretting that I had agreed to this conversation but like always, I was clinging on to some hope he'd apologize. That he'd take responsibility for his actions and all of the pain he caused me. He never did though. He never would, and I had come to terms with that. It didn't stop me from wanting it, though.

"I don't like seeing you like this." He sighed, setting the takeout down on the front desk. "Being controlled by that... that..."

"Luca." I crossed my arms. "His name is Luca."

"Yes, Luca." His tone was bitter. Was that jealousy I detected? "How's that going, anyways?"

"It's going fine, thanks for asking." Now I knew where he was going with this. He was here to lecture me about Luca.

He smirked as if he knew something I didn't. "You can't be serious, Char. Do you have any idea who that guy is?"

"Grant, really." I sighed exasperatedly. "I agreed to let you stay because you said you were here to apologize, and if that's not going to happen, you need to leave."

"He's a criminal, Charlotte. You know that, right?"

"Forgive me for not putting a lot of stock in your judge of character." I rolled my eyes. "You're the one who left me, Grant. You cheated on me, and broke my heart, and now that I'm moving on and happy with someone else, you can't stand it."

"He's not just anyone, Charlotte. Luca Catalano is a murderer and a trafficker and a drug dealer. You can't tell me you're okay with any of that."

"You need to leave." I said firmly, kicking myself for even giving him this opportunity. It was completely useless, and I had learned my lesson.

"You're kicking me out?"

"No," Luca's voice wafted into the room like a dark, looming cloud. "I'm kicking you out."

Luca

I wasn't planning on going by the gallery today, but when I got Reggie's text, I didn't have much of a choice. I was busy most of the day trying to reschedule the gun exchange with Santos,  but it wasn't going well. Dealing with a pesky FBI agent felt like a nice outlet for all the pent up frustration I was feeling, and I was just down the street when Reggie let me know the Grant showed up at the gallery to try to talk to Charlotte.

I was more irritated than I should have been when he told me that Charlotte not only agreed, but also sent him away so that they could talk in private. Reggie was there for a reason, and that was to keep her safe, which he couldn't do from the bakery down the street. He answered to me, not to her, and apparently they both needed reminded of that.

Jenni and Reggie were standing outside of the gallery when I got there.

"Boss!" Reggie stuttered. "I'm sorry. I didn't think..."

"We'll talk later." I said pointedly.

"What are you doing here?" Jenni's eyes widened in shock.

"Where is Charlotte?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"She's inside with a client." She stood in front of me, not letting me inside the gallery. As if her tiny five foot two frame would be any match for me if I decided to push it.

"A client?" I scoffed. "Or Grant Fallon?"

"Okay, I'm only going to let you in because I think you might hate that bastard just as much as I do..." Jenni rolled her eyes. "But before I do, I want to be clear about something."

I smirked, rubbing my chin. I liked Jenni. She was fiercely protective of Charlotte, and wasn't the least bit afraid to stand up to me. I could only imagine where this was going. "What's that?"

"Charlotte is my best friend, and she has a heart of gold. She's generous and compassionate and she would literally list herself on fire to keep the people she cares about warm."

I couldn't help but smile. "I know. Those are some of the reasons I love her."

"Love her?" She arched her eyebrow at me.

I nodded. I realized it was soon to say after just a few months together, but I couldn't deny how strong my feelings were for her. Even when she annoyed the hell out of me and made stupid decisions like she was right now.

Relationships were new for me. Commitment was new for me. But something about Charlotte and me considering things I thought were completely out of reach. A wife. A family. A future that was more than just the Mafia.  And damn, did it feel good to say it out loud.

"For Charlotte's sake, I hope you understand the weight of that statement. She has a way of finding the good in just about anything in the world. Even bad boys like you. That's how she ended up with a loser like Grant in the first place."

"Well, I can promise you I'm nothing like him."

"You're right." Jenni smirked. "You're worse."

I archer my eyebrow at her. "How so?"

"You're smooth and say all the right things to her. You've got her saying thinking this casual, no commitment thing is fun and what she wants. But we both know it's not. She's falling for you, and you're protecting yourself so you can have a clean break when you decide to leave. Maybe not on purpose, but subconsciously. And you're tossing the word love around to me, but I'm guessing you haven't told her that. Because that makes it too real. That's too much of a commitment and you're worried you won't be able to come back from it once you tell her.  You may be fooling her, but I'm not as blinded as she is. If you hurt her..."

"Jenni," I held my hand up. "I know you have your own ideas about the kind of guy I am, but I promise, the last thing I want to do is hurt Charlotte. Like I said, I love her. And you're right, I haven't told her that yet, but only because I'm trying to be respectful of where she is with things. I am going to do everything I can in my power to make sure she's happy and taken care of the rest of her life. And right now, that means getting Grant Fallon the hell away from her."

Jenni smirked. "I guess that's a good start. Go on in. They're in the back."

Jenni's pep talk has caught me off guard and I went into the gallery with a bad taste in my mouth. She obviously didn't think very highly of me, and it made me wonder where Charlotte's head was really at. And it even had me questioning my own intentions. Was I putting off telling Charlotte the truth about my feelings to protect her or myself? 

I stalked down the hallway, not waiting a single second before opening the back door.

"You're kicking me out?" Grant asked, shooting Charlotte a pathetic frown.

"No. I'm kicking you out." I said, walking into the room.

Both of them looked at me in complete shock.

"Sorry to interrupt." I said. "But Grant, I think it's time you leave. Charlotte made it clear she doesn't want you here, and I don't want to have to make a scene."

He still didn't move. "I'm not asking, Fallon. You can leave now, or I can kick your ass and you can leave in an ambulance. Your choice." Or better yet, a body bag.

"You're going to let him do this?" He turned to Charlotte.

I grabbed his shoulder, digging my fingers into his scrawny muscles. "You're talking to me, not to her."

Grant shrugged me off, backing away and toward the door. "Fine." He glared. "You deserve him, Charlotte. Don't come crying to me when you realize what a mistake you're making."

He scurried down the hallway and Charlotte and I were left alone. She looked bewildered at first, but her face quickly twisted into a harsh glare.

"You didn't need to do that, you know. I was handling it."

"Really?" I chuckled. "It didn't look like you were handling it. Especially considering I gave you a direct order not to see that son of a bitch."

"A direct order? Who do you think you're talking to here, Luca? I'm not one of your men you can order around like that." Charlotte glared, like she had any right to be upset with me in this situation.

"You're damn right. You're my girlfriend. And you how ninety-five percent of the men in my world would have handled what just happened? Walking in and finding you alone with a man they explicitly told you to stay away from?" I moved closer to her, hovering inches away from her face. Her face was set into a hard scowl, masking any hint of intimidation she had. The only clue I had that she was nervous was the tiny quiver in her lips. "Any other man in the Mafia would have put a bullet in Grant Fallon and then beat you bloody and senseless."

"You aren't..." Charlotte opened her mouth to speak but couldn't even finish the sentence. She was trying to gauge whether or not I was serious.

"Of course, I'm not, Charlotte. You know how I feel about that kind of thing."

She scoffed. "So what? I'm supposed to be thankful you have some resemblance of morals? You realize how controlling and barbaric you sound right now right?"

No one ever challenged me in the way she was, especially no girlfriend I'd ever had before. Her sharp tongue was cutting, but mostly because what she was saying was true.

"I think you should go, too." She said, turning her back to me. "I need to be alone for awhile."

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. Of course, I had fucked this up. "You're not going home with me?"

"No." She shook her head. "I'm staying at my house tonight. Something about my boyfriend threatening to beat me up for talking to another man doesn't feel all that inviting."

"Charlotte, that wasn't what I said. You know I would never do that. I'm just trying to get you to understand..."

"Then talk to me like a normal person. Not your solider, not someone you're trying to intimidate into following your orders. Talk to me like your girlfriend."

"I can try. I want to try, but this is new for me. It's not how I usually handle situations. It's not the way I was raised or how my life works."

"Then I guess you need to decide what you want. Because I'm not doing this. I shouldn't have let Grant stay, but that's on me. It's not your job to reprimand me or punish me or tell me how stupid it was. And it certainly isn't your job to stand there and tell me about how lucky I am you aren't going to hit me because you can't control your jealousy."

I was too stunned to speak.

"Go. I want to be alone. Reggie can stay, and I'll let him follow me home and stay until I'm safe inside the fortress you built in my apartment." She rolled her eyes, turning back to the canvas. There was a cup of dirty water sitting next to it where she was soaking her brushes and Charlotte reached for it, tossing it onto the canvas and ruining whatever it was she was working on.

She was done talking, and the longer I stayed here, the worse it would be. We were both angry and getting no where tonight.