“What’s wrong?” I crouch beside her and notice that there are boxes of Christmas decorations sitting next to the Christmas tree box I got out of storage yesterday.
I pull Charlotte onto my lap and hold her tight, listening as her quiet sadness turns to loud sobs.
“Baby?” I whisper as I rock her.
After a moment, she speaks quietly. “I just don’t think I can do it.”
“What?”
“Can we go to Santorini now?”
“What… why? What’s happened?”
“How can it possibly be Christmas without your family?” she whispers through her tears. “Can we just skip it this year? I promise, next year I’ll make it up to you.”
My heart drops. She can’t stand the thought of having a Christmas with her family not talking to her. “What did you do today?” I ask, looking around helplessly.
“I bought Christmas decorations.”
“Do you want to put the tree up?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
I watch her for a moment. I remember how hard this time of year used to be for me, too. “Do you want me to put the tree up naked?” I tease. “You can drink wine and watch.”
“No.” She wipes her eyes. “I just don’t want to have Christmas this year, Spence. Let’s just leave it.”
She doesn’t want to have Christmas?
We remain silent, both of us lost in our own thoughts until I can’t stand the quiet a moment longer.
“Why don’t you go home to Nottingham for Christmas, babe?”
She frowns up at me in question.
“Go home for Christmas and spend it with your family. I’ll see you after,” I offer.
“I’m not having Christmas without you.” She gasps, as if shocked by the mere suggestion of it.
“There’s no other way around it, Charlotte. They don’t want me there and I hate seeing you like this. I’d rather spend Christmas alone than see you hurt.”
“I’m staying with you, Spencer. Don’t you see?”
“See what?”
“This is a no-win situation. I can’t be without you, so I have to learn to live without them.”
She curls herself into my chest and holds me tight as she cries. Loud, uncontrollable sobs make her entire body shake.
All I can do is sit and hold her.
The room becomes a shady haze of red as I feel the adrenaline begin to pump through my veins.
“What can I do?” I whisper. “I’ll make you some dinner.”
“I’m not hungry, thanks.” She kisses me as she tries to pull herself together. “I’m just going to go to bed, baby, is that okay?”
I brush her hair back from her forehead. “Of course, it is.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I kiss her. “I’ll be up to tuck you in in a minute.” I help her off my lap and watch her walk up the stairs until she disappears out of sight.
I pour myself a scotch and drink it down. Anger is coursing through my veins like wildfire. The only thing she ever did wrong was fall in love with me.
I drink my scotch with a shaky hand.
Who the fuck do they think they are?
1105
I punch in the code to the gates of the estate and drive through to the main house. I shouldn’t be here but I’m past caring what they think of me.
I hardly slept last night. I stayed awake watching my angel cry.
I can’t do it anymore. I have no patience and no fucks left to give.
I park the car, and Harold’s guards appear out of nowhere. “What do you want?” one asks me.
“I want to see Harold,” I announce, despite it being early morning. The earlier my arrival, the more chance I had of them being home.
“He’s not here.”
“Then I’ll wait. Or… find him,” I snap. “Better still, get Edward out here.”
One of them scurries into the house leaving me to stand at the bottom of the porch steps. It seems a lifetime ago when I was at the bottom of Charlotte’s steps on that first date, begging her to let me in.
If only I knew what kind of Heaven awaited me, I would have stayed that night and saved us both a lot of time.
The front door opens, and Harold’s face comes into view. I glare at him and storm up the stairs, brushing past him to enter his house.
The guard tries to stop me but Harold holds his hand up. “He’s fine.”
I soon find Edward in the living room. “You fucking prick.” I growl and I push him hard in the chest.
“What the hell?” He staggers back before regaining his composure and pushing me in return.
“Stop it.” Harold growls. “I’ve had enough of you both!”
“Are you happy?” I yell at Harold.
“Get the hell out.” Edward sneers.
“Don’t push me, cunt, or I’ll fucking knock you out. Explain to me why Charlotte, a woman who you’re both supposed to love, spent the night crying because you two won’t see her?”
Harold’s face falls.
“She’s fucking heartbroken!” I cry. “And why? All because neither one of you has enough guts to trust me?”
Edward glares at me. “You’re no good for her.”
“She doesn’t want a fucking Christmas because of you. I came home from work last night to find her on the floor sobbing over her fucked-up, selfish family.”
Edward’s eyes drop to the floor.
“I don’t give a fuck if you don’t like me,” I shout. “But you will not punish her for loving me.” I’m so angry, my eyes fill with unexpected tears.
Edward lifts his chin in defiance. “She needs to come home. It’s where she belongs.”
My temper hits an all-time high. “Nobody can love her more than I do. Nobody! I’ve done some fucked-up things in my life, I’ll admit, but I love her and I’m marrying her whether you like it or not. If you keep going like this, the hurt you inflict on her will be way too deep for you to ever repair.”
Harold watches me, and I turn to him. “Do you think your wife would be proud of the way you’re treating your beloved daughter?” I whisper in contempt.
His haunted eyes hold mine.
“I wouldn’t treat a fucking dog the way you’ve treated her. You, of all people, should understand how she feels.” I sneer. “You fell for the hired help, for Christ’s sake.”
“You leave my mother the fuck out of this,” Edward snaps and throws a punch at my jaw. I stagger back, recover quickly, and then I punch him in the face as hard as I can. We grab each other turning it into a scuffle. Punches are thrown and the table tips over in the foyer. A guard comes rushing in from outside.
We struggle on the floor until I’m dragged to my feet by my biceps.
“Get him outside!” Edward yells.
“You make this right!” I yell at Harold with hot blood trickling from my lip. “Do you hear me? You fix this.”
I’m pushed out of the front door and down the stairs before I’m thrown into my car by the guards.
I’m so angry I can’t even see straight.
I take off and speed out the gates, glaring at the estate behind me disappearing quickly. I wince as I touch my eye, I think it’s already black.
*
It’s late afternoon and I’m just tidying up for the day. I had to buy a new shirt before I could come into the office. The one I was wearing got ripped this morning in Nottingham. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this black eye and cut lip to Charlotte, either. I’ll think I’ll say it happened in the gym while boxing.
My phone rings and the name Angel lights up the screen.
“Hello, my beautiful girl.”
“Hi,” she breathes, and I can tell that she’s smiling. “Thank you for being so wonderful.”
I frown, wondering what she means. “How are you feeling?” I ask. Does she know about my little psycho attack in Nottingham this morning?
She exhales heavily. “Better. You won’t believe it.”
“What?”
“My father just called me.”
I frown. “He did?” I hesitate. Shit. “What did he say?”
“He wants to repair this rift between us. He wants to start again.”
My eyebrows rise in surprise. “What?”
“He invited us to go to dinner with the family in London on Saturday night.”
“He did?”
“William is coming home, too, and Dad wants to have dinner with everyone there. I’m so excited, Spence. I was hoping he would come around, and now he has,” she gushes happily.