“I know,” Spencer growls. “But it’s not my fucking story to tell.”
“Then whose is it?”
Spencer looks down at me and Charlie’s heavy glare follows right along. He steps into me, clenching his jaw and the hatred in his eyes puts me on edge. I’ve never seen this side of Charlie. He’s always been sweet, loving, and kind, but right now, he’s anything but. “What did you do?”
Colton reaches around me and pushes Charlie back a step. “Back the fuck off, man. Don’t talk to her like that.”
Charlie scoffs. “This chick came in and divided us from the beginning and now she’s fucking gone as far as to have you two fuckers keeping shit from me? You have Jude locked in a fucking dungeon. We don’t do that, we never have. What is so fucking bad that you didn’t trust me? What could he have done to you?”
Tears grow in my eyes but I won’t allow Charlie to keep going like this. He has to know and right now, I don’t give a shit if it means that he’ll look at me differently. His words are hurting and if my truth hurts him right the fuck back, then so be it.
I step into him, slamming my hands against his shoulders and forcing him back with a strength I didn’t know I possessed. I slam him against the wall, right beside the wine cellar door. “That friend of yours, that brother, raped me. He spiked my drink, tore my fucking dress off my body, and as I cried for help, he fucked me like I was his to destroy. That’s why that motherfucker is locked in a fucking dungeon, and the look you’re giving me right now, that’s why I didn’t say a goddamn thing.”
Colton’s hand finds my waist and he pulls me back a step, knowing I need a moment to calm down. “No,” Charlie says. “I know him. He wouldn’t do that.”
Spencer scoffs. “Come on, man. You can’t be that fucking naive. He raped that girl two years ago and she fucking disappeared.”
“He didn’t. He gave me his word.”
“Charlie, come on. You always want to see the best in people but he fucking lied to you. He hurt that girl and now she’s gone. He’s admitted it time and time again, and now he did the same to Ocean and I won’t let him get away with it.”
Charlie continues shaking his head as his horrified gaze comes back to mine. “Surely you saw the signs,” I whisper, hating that I have to open this old scar but the blank expression on his broken face has me going on. “He hated me from the beginning. He came into my room on my first night here and tried something, then the Black Widows beat him up. He cornered me on Colton’s boat to try again, he cornered me in the school pool. It was only a matter of time before he finally got to me, and the night of the Masquerade party, he did. He broke me, Charlie. He hurt me and I’m sorry that this was kept from you but I couldn’t bear the thought of you looking at me like I was used goods. You have such a sweet innocence about you and I love that because when I’m around you, I feel it. Your goodness is contagious and I needed it so damn bad. I couldn’t risk it.”
His gaze sweeps past Colton and Spencer before coming back to mine. “You told them.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t. Colton found me while Jude was … you know. I didn’t tell either of them.”
Charlie glances up at Colton. “You saw it.”
Colton silently nods, not packing on any more details for Charlie to have to work through later. They hold each other’s stare for a moment longer than necessary and the hurt spilling out of Charlie is enough to have me feeling like the world’s worst friend. He trusted us and we lied to him. We kept a secret that would change the way he looked at us and just like that, we became just as bad as the Widows.
Who am I becoming? I don’t like this dishonest, murderous version of myself that I’m turning into. I’ve always prided myself on being a loyal person but that’s not who I am at all. I’m weak. I'm a liar.
Charlie looks toward Spencer and with a heavy breath, he moves over to the wine cellar and peels the door open. He looks back at the three of us and knowing exactly what he’s about to walk in to see, a single tear tracks down my cheek and splashes against my black bikini top.
Charlie tears his gaze away and disappears into the wine cellar, closing the door behind him and I swallow back fear, not knowing what’s going to come from this. Is he going to free him? Give him help? Or is he going to find that same darkness in his soul that I found? Who knows, maybe it’ll completely take over him and he’ll take all his hurt and frustration out on Jude just like I did. Maybe he’ll go too far or maybe it’ll have him throwing up. Charlie is a sweet guy. He wasn’t cut out for torture and murder and now we’ve exposed him to this ugliness.