The Brightest Sunset (The Darkest Sunrise #2)

“Jesus, Charlotte,” he whispered. “That doesn’t make what he’s doing to you okay.”

“What he’s doing to me?” I asked. “Let me tell you exactly what he’s doing to me, Tom. He’s making me happy. He’s making me laugh. And, even when I’m crying, he makes me feel safe. He makes me feel loved. He’s reminding me that the world is full of light even when you can’t see it. And, more than all of that, he’s shown me that there doesn’t have to be light for something to be beautiful. Love can grow in the darkness, Tom. I know this is true because of him.”

At the thought, Porter’s warmth enveloped me. He didn’t even have to be in the room to soothe me.

Tom rested his hand on my hip and gave me a squeeze. “Charlotte—”

“I’m going to let you off the hook here. I know you think Porter is playing me. And, being the big tough detective-slash-father-figure, nothing I say is going to change your mind. But let me tell you this: If the way I feel with Porter is the product of a game, then I am willing to be his pawn for the rest of my life.” I sucked in a shaky breath. “He makes me happy, Tom. Remember that woman at the restaurant you and Mom saw a while back? The one whose face was bright and her laugh was loud?”

His face became impossibly gentle, and he swallowed as he nodded.

I stared deep into his eyes, begging for him to believe me. “He makes me that woman.”

He sighed, and his strong shoulders rounded with defeat. “For the record, I’m not okay with this.” He looked up, his eyes blazing with love. “But there isn’t one damn thing in this world I wouldn’t do to make you happy.”

I grinned in victory. “Including getting Porter out of jail?”





* * *





I was falling apart, pacing in that holding cell. It was nine the next morning and I still hadn’t been able to so much as call someone. The stench of piss and vomit from the guy asleep on the bench beside me was enough to melt my nose hairs, but that wasn’t why I was sick to my stomach. I had no idea how Travis was doing, where Hannah was, or how Charlotte was holding up. I had too many people depending on me to be stuck behind bars because of a worthless order of protection.

I’d asked for my lawyer no less than seven thousand times, but if anyone had heard, no one was acting on it. I was losing my patience. Well, what was left of it, anyway.

Brady Boyd had caught the brunt of me losing it. And, if it hadn’t been for the security guards, he would have been on the receiving end of me losing all of it. I hadn’t known that it was possible to hate that motherfucker more than I already did. Oh, but the minute he’d opened his mouth to Charlotte, a whole new level of loathing usually reserved for Catherine had opened up inside me. And the day’s emotional upheaval had manifested in rage. I’d have felt bad if the asshole didn’t deserve it. But, when he’d mentioned taking Travis away from Charlotte, I had known he deserved a whole hell of a lot worse than I’d ever dole out.

“Hey!” I yelled at an officer as he passed by my cell. “Any word on my attorney?”

“Yeah, I got word,” a quasi-familiar voice replied from the other end of the hallway.

I strained my head against the bars, hope spiraling inside me only for it to fall flat as Tom Stafford came marching toward me.

“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled under my breath.

According to Charlotte, Tom was not one of my biggest fans. According to every run-in I’d ever had with the man since the truth about Travis had come out, he hated me with a fucking passion. Either way, his being there was not a good sign.

“Not a single word,” he ordered when he stopped in front of me.

I held his stoic gaze as he motioned for one of the uniforms to unlock the cell door.

I sent up a million thanks to whomever had brainwashed him into releasing me.

They seemed a tad premature the minute he caught my arm and started dragging me down the hall.

Without the first fucking clue of where he was taking me or if I was even being released, I couldn’t help myself. He was my only lifeline to my son.

“How’s Travis?” I asked.

“Shut it, Porter,” he growled.

“You have to give me something. I’ve been wearing holes in the floor, stuck in this godforsaken place all night.”

“Shut. Up.” He jerked my arm as two police officers turned the corner and came strolling toward us.

They all shared chin jerks.

I momentarily quieted as they passed.

And then I dove right back into my questions. “What about Charlotte? How’s she holding up?”

He suddenly stopped and shoved me against a wall. “For once, do what you are goddamn told and shut your fucking mouth.”

“Is that what you would do in my situation?” I shot back. “Shut your mouth while the people you love are falling to pieces around you? Fuck that, Tom. I am not that man.”

He turned his eyes to the ceiling and mumbled, “I did not sign up for this bullshit.”

“And you think I did? You think I willingly signed up to have my whole life flipped upside down? My child snatched from me? My woman’s heart broken time and fucking time again? This is my nightmare. I know you hate it, but Charlotte is my family. And I’m not quitting my family. No matter how hard you and Brady try to fight me. You can lock me up, throw away the key, but I will never stop trying to keep my family together.”

“For fuck’s sake, son. Give it a rest.” He grabbed my arm again and started dragging me toward a mystery door at the end of the hallway.

“I want to talk to my attorney,” I demanded.

“And you will get that a hell of a lot quicker if you shut your mouth.”

I silently followed him for a few more steps before adding, “I’m serious, Tom. I love her. Charlotte and those kids are my life.”

“Jesus Christ,” he cussed, stopping at the door. “I got it, okay? You love Charlotte. She loves you. The world is filled with rainbows and butterflies when you two are together…yadda yadda yadda.” He snatched the door open and shoved me through it. “Listen to your attorney this time, son.”

“Porter!” Charlotte called as I stumbled into the waiting room at the front of the police station.

I blinked. Tanner was there, huddled together with…

I blinked again. My two attorneys?

I had no fucking idea how the tide had turned and I was now a free man, but I wasn’t about to waste time asking questions—at least, not about that.

I moved straight to Charlotte. “How’s Travis?”

She grinned and a blast of relief filled my empty chest. “Hanging in there. He’s still on the vent, but Greg and the cardiologist agree, so they’re going to wean him off it today. I want to be there for that, so I gave Brady some time with him this morning.”

My jaw turned hard, and I could only imagine the fury on my face.

She pressed up onto her toes and brushed her lips with mine. “Relax. My mom is up there too. She knows to call me if anything changes. I don’t have a choice but to let him see him. However, we do have a choice how we handle this from here on out.”