“She went back to the city.”
“How long ago?”
“About half an hour.”
“Fuck!” He slams his fist against the counter, startling the both of us. “This is the fucking press. Victoria is a business colleague and nothing more. These pictures are completely out of context. I’ve never touched the stupid bitch, nor would I ever.”
I don’t know why I believe him. The thing is that even though I disliked him, he proved me wrong, which is something quite unheard of. He loves Charlie. And yeah, I know the past was fucked up, but that was years ago, and they have both grown since then.
I just didn’t understand why Charlie had this massive trust issue, and why she couldn’t see how much he loved her. I also know tabloids can spin shit out of their asses and manipulate photographs. I learned that the hard way when there was a picture of Rocky a few years back at a sporting event, and it looked like a chick was blowing him.
This isn’t about taking sides, but Charlie is stubborn, and right now, I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy. Not that I’m going to tell him that.
We need to get back to the city as soon as possible and fix the damage that’s been done. Charlie will shut everyone out, including me, because it’s her defense mechanism. I try her number again—still voicemail. I ask Rocky to get Will from next door. It isn’t long before Adriana and Elijah walk into the kitchen.
“Hey, guys, what’s happening?” Adriana takes a seat at the table, grabbing a banana and peeling it. She glances from me to Lex, confused by our silence.
“Charlie’s gone,” I tell her.
“Gone? Where?”
I hand her the paper from the floor, watching as Lex is standing at the window gazing outside. His eyes are glazed over, his expression heartbroken. Maybe he knew, just like me, how Charlie would take this.
“Lex, is this true?”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Adriana?” he shot back.
“But the photos look, well—”
“What, Adriana?”
“Well, they look like what the article says.”
“Fuck, Adriana!”
“Lex, calm down,” Elijah warns him.
“Don’t you get it? She finally fucking told me she trusts me and wants a future with me, and then this happens. This is so fucked up!” He slams his fist on the counter again, startling us. “Last night…”
Adriana puts her arm around her brother’s shoulder, attempting to comfort him. “Last night, what?”
“Lex, we need to head back,” I tell him, noticing the time. “Let me deal with her in the meantime. She needs to calm down. You need to make sure whoever posted this article retracts their damn words. Look, Will is going to be here any minute. Can you please not mention why she left?”
A few minutes later, Will walks in. He’s elated to see Lex, who tries his best not to show any anger in front of the child. I have to hand it to him, taking a kid’s feelings into account is hard to do when you are feeling like complete shit. Will asks where Charlie is, so Adriana quickly explains that something urgent came up in the city. He doesn’t seem to notice anything else, but he begs Lex to ride in the car with us. Of course, Lex agrees, and that’s the end of the conversation.
We pack our things and drive out of The Hamptons. Adriana and Elijah take Charlie’s car, and the rest of us take the RV Rocky borrowed from a friend. I sit in the back with Will as he quietly plays on his iPad. Every so often, he looks up and asks if we are home yet. I scour my emails for anything from Charlie. Nothing. Frustrated, I place the phone back in my bag and stare out the window.
Lex is texting furiously on his phone—the constant pinging sound keeps coming through. Thankfully, he at least has the decency not to answer calls because his words would be enough to make Will scared of him for life. A few moments later, my phone vibrates. I grab it out of my purse, Eric’s name flashing on the screen.
“What do you want?” I answer, careful not to mention his name.
“Nikki.” His voice is all high-pitched, typical Eric in panic mode. “What the hell is going on?”
“With what?”
“With Charlie. She texted me, and I found her crying in the basement of her building. She didn’t want to tell me what happened, but Emma said there was some article about Lex being caught with his pants down this morning.”
“Correct.”