“Like what?”
I decide to join her on the floor, sitting across from her with Doja in between us. The cat rubs her face against my knee and I scratch the top of her head. “Hard to explain.”
“Really?” Her gaze finds mine, skepticism in her tone. “I’m a smart person, Perry. I can understand plenty of things.”
I want to tell her so damn bad. Fuck Winston’s warning. He might keep things from Ash, but I refuse to keep anything from Charlotte.
“I never said you weren’t smart.” I’m startled when Doja walks onto my lap and curls up, her eyes falling closed. Funny how I used to think I hated cats. “The private detective found him. He’s here. First spotted in Brooklyn. Was making his way to the Halcyon building when they lost him.”
I don’t need to explain whoheis. As my wife just said, she’s smart. She understands plenty of things.
“They lost him?” Charlotte sounds as disgusted as I feel. “Did Winston fire them?”
I chuckle. “Guess it was the detective’s son who lost him. Hard to fire your family.”
“True that,” she says with a sigh. She finally lifts her gaze to mine, and I get lost in her pretty blue eyes for a moment. “I spent the afternoon with your mother and sister.”
That snaps me back to reality. “I heard.”
She frowns. “How did you hear?”
“Winston put security on all three of you the moment he found out you were together.”
“Oh.”
“There will be extra security tailing you from now on until they find him,” I say, my voice firm. I don’t want her to argue with me. It’s going to happen whether she likes it or not. “We’ve got two guys at the front door right now. Both are around six-foot-five and weigh two-fifty.”
Her lips curl into the smallest smile. “Wow. I’m impressed.”
“This isn’t a laughing matter, Charlotte.” Her smile fades. “He’s not going to stop trying to get to you. Something needs to be done.”
“What exactly are you suggesting should be done?” she asks carefully.
I avert my head, wishing I could tell her the truth. That I want to strangle this motherfucker with my bare hands.
Actually, she knows that’s my truth. I just hate bringing it up in front of her all the time.
“Perry.” I turn to look at her when she says my name. “What exactly do you think should be done about Seamus?”
“Don’t say his name,” I bite out. It enrages me, the sound of her voice saying that asshole’s name. I want him banished from her memories. I want him gone.
For good.
Chapter Twenty
Charlotte
I’m nervous, andhave been since I took that test earlier. Perry’s mood isn’t helping matters either. I want to work up the nerve to tell him about it, but he seems too angry to hear me.
He has every right to be angry, though. He hates Seamus and knowing that he was in the vicinity of Halcyon earlier has set Perry off.
Sets me off too. He’s back. Maybe he never really left, which is horrible to contemplate. I feel more secure, knowing that extra security has been put in place, but still.
It’s nerve-wracking, the thought of Seamus lurking around. Watching us. What if Perry tries to hurt him—or something worse? What if Seamus tries to hurt Perry?
What if Perry tries to kill him?
I can’t stand the thought of him being arrested, not when there’s so much on the line. I can’t lose him. I need him now more than ever.