Page 45 of Stolen Salvation

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Yes, you did but we’d just buried our son. You were so lost, baby. You weren’t thinking straight.”

Charlie heard the sharp intake of breath behind her and knew the others were hearing about Freddie for the first time. She didn’t have the energy to deal with that though, she needed to fix this division before it became a permanent rift. “No I wasn’t, but you must see he’s trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need his fucking protection.”

She shook her head. “You’re wrong. We all need it sometimes, Noah.”

Turning to Reaper she saw the shadow of remorse on his handsome face. “I get why you feel the way you do. You just saw me shoot an unarmed man, but I can assure you it wasn’t to stop him talking. It was because his gun was a few feet away and I saw the second he made the choice to go for it and handled it. I did shoot Noah and you’ll never know how sorry I am for that, but that’s between us. I’m not asking you to trust me. I understand that’s an ask too far. Just give me enough time to pack my shit and I’ll get out of your hair.”

Noah spun her to face him. “No, you don’t have to do that.”

“I do. I won’t come between you and your friends.”

With that, she ran from the room to stop him from seeing the desolation on her face. She needed to get the laptop she’d been using and her spare gun and then she’d leave. Sagging onto the bed, the reality of the situation hit her. She’d never be able to get past what she’d done. Some things were just unforgivable and at this point, she didn’t even know if she meant harming their son or shooting her husband. She was a bad joke and had nobody to blame but herself.

Chapter 17

Bishop paced the living room of the old rectory where they’d moved their base after the attack on the safe house. He was livid, his blood almost boiling with fury at Reaper’s accusations against Charlie. Luckily he’d managed to convince her to come with them and she was currently in the shower. But he knew the first chance she got she was running.

He’d set up guard duty outside her room in the hopes of stopping her, but also so he didn’t have to face his friend. Right now he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep it together.

“Hey.”

“Duchess.”

She was leaning on the second step of the stairs, arms crossed as she watched him. “I heard what happened.”

His spine stiffened, and his body went on alert, every muscle looking for a fight. “She didn’t do it.”

Duchess began her ascent up the stairs, arms still crossed until she reached the landing where he was patrolling. “I know.”

“You do?”

“You heard us talking. You know why she did what she did.”

“You knew I was there?”

Duchess cocked her head and he wondered what else she knew. “Come on, Bishop, you know me. I didn’t hear you, but I sensed movement in the hallway so checked the cameras. You looked devastated.”

“I was. I had no idea she felt that way, or that Charlie still loved me. Losing Freddie just imploded our marriage. I thought she hated me. I let myself believe that she’d betrayed me because it was easier than facing the fact that I hadn’t helped her when she was so lost.”

“You were lost too, Bish.”

“I should have protected her. That was my job. Instead, I let her down.”

“You didn’t let me down, Noah.”

His breath left his lungs as he spun to find Charlie leaning in the doorway.

“I’ll see you downstairs in a few. We need a meeting.”

Duchess smiled at Charlie and he saw the mutual respect pass between the two women in an unspoken connection of female understanding.

“Don’t leave me.” The words were out before he could even make sense of them.

“Noah, I never wanted to leave you. You were right. I was lost, and so damn broken. Not just from losing Freddie but from my parents, everything my mother put me through with her alcohol addiction, and the rejection from my father. All of it amassed into a giant meltdown which saw me doing things and being someone I wasn’t.”

“And now?”