PLAYING FOR KEEPS

CHAPTER 3

CHARLIE

Silence filled the apartment.

Julian's hand tightened on my waist. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me." Daniel didn't look away from me. "I've thought about Charlie every day since I learned what her mother did. Wondered who she was. What she was like. If she needed help."

"You're engaged," Julian said, his voice low and dangerous.

"To a woman who apparently lied to me." Daniel's expression hardened. "To a woman who turned away the one person I wanted to help most."

"This is insane," I said. "You don't even know me."

"I know your mother was selfless. I know you work two jobs while going to school. I know you'd rather sleep on the street than ask for handouts." His eyes searched mine. "I know more than you think."

"Because you've been stalking her information?" Julian stepped between us. "Back off, Daniel."

"Or what? You'll fight me over a girl you met twelve hours ago?"

"Yes."

The word hung in the air.

Marcus appeared from the hallway, drawn by the tension. "Whoa. What did I miss?"

"Your brother's an i***t," Julian snapped.

"Which one? I have two."

"Daniel just confessed he's in love with Charlie."

Marcus's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? But you're engaged to that blonde chick."

"Melissa," Daniel said tightly. "Who apparently isn't who I thought she was."

"This is crazy." I pulled away from Julian, needing space. "I'm leaving."

"No." Both brothers said it at once.

I looked between them. Julian, intense and possessive. Daniel, quiet and yearning. This was a disaster.

"I can't be here. This is too much."

"Charlie, please." Julian reached for me. "Don't let this chase you away."

"Your brother just said he's in love with me. Your ex offered me money to disappear. Your father wants me gone. How is any of this okay?"

"Because I want you here," Julian said simply. "Doesn't that count for something?"

It did. God help me, it did.

But before I could answer, my phone rang.

Melissa.

I stared at the screen, my heart pounding.

"Answer it," Daniel said. "I want to hear what she has to say."

I put it on speaker with shaking hands.

"Charlie! Oh my god, where are you? I've been so worried."

The concern in her voice sounded real. Almost.

"I'm fine."

"Are you still with Julian Valentino? The photos are everywhere. Charlie, you need to be careful. Guys like that, they use girls like us."

"Girls like us?" I repeated.

"You know what I mean. We're not from their world. They'll chew you up and spit you out."

Daniel's jaw clenched.

"Funny," I said. "You seemed pretty eager to push me toward him last night."

Silence. Then, "I was trying to help. I thought if he was interested, maybe he'd give you money or something. I didn't think you'd actually sleep with him."

Julian's expression went murderous.

"Careful, Melissa," I said quietly.

"I'm just being honest. Look, come stay with me. We'll figure this out together. You don't need to prostitute yourself for a place to live."

"Like you prostituted yourself to Daniel?" The words came out before I could stop them.

Another pause. Longer this time.

"What are you talking about?"

"He's here, Mel. Daniel. Your fiancé. The one you apparently never told about me."

I heard her sharp intake of breath.

"Charlie, I can explain."

"Can you? Can you explain why you told him you've been looking for me when you knew exactly where I was? When you refused to help me last night?"

"It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it," Daniel said, his voice like ice.

"Daniel! Baby, this isn't what it sounds like."

"Then what is it? Because from where I'm standing, you lied to me. About everything."

"I was protecting you! Charlie's mother died because of mine. That guilt, it's eaten at me my whole life. I didn't want you to feel obligated to help her."

"Obligated?" Daniel's hands clenched into fists. "I wanted to help her. I begged you to help me find her."

"And I was going to! Eventually. When the time was right."

"The time was right three years ago, Melissa."

"I was scared, okay? Scared you'd look at her the way you're probably looking at her right now. Like she's some kind of saint because of what her mother did."

"I'm looking at her," Daniel said slowly, "like she's someone who needed help and you turned her away. Someone who's been struggling while you spent my money on designer bags."

"That's not fair."

"None of this is fair!" His voice cracked. "Charlie's mother died saving yours. The least we could do is make sure her daughter had a roof over her head."

"She has one now, doesn't she?" Melissa's voice turned sharp. "With your brother. Funny how that worked out."

Julian grabbed the phone. "Stay away from her, Melissa. I mean it."

"Or what? You'll sic Daddy's lawyers on me? Please. Everyone knows you're bored and she's your latest toy. Give it a week and you'll move on."

"You don't know anything about what I feel."

"I know you don't do relationships, Julian. I know you go through girls like most people go through coffee. So forgive me if I'm not impressed by your sudden knight in shining armor routine."

She hung up.

I felt sick. Everything she said, it was true. Julian didn't do relationships. This was new for him. What if she was right? What if I was just his rebellion?

"Don't," Julian said, reading my expression. "Don't let her get in your head."

"She's not wrong though."

"She is wrong. About everything." He cupped my face in his hands. "I've never felt like this before, Charlie. Never wanted someone to stay. Never cared if they did."

"That's supposed to make me feel better? That I'm your first experiment in commitment?"

"You're not an experiment. You're..." He stopped, frustrated. "I don't have the words yet. But I know this is real."

"You can't know that. Not after one night."

"I can. I do."

Daniel cleared his throat. "For what it's worth, I believe him. Julian doesn't do uncertain. When he wants something, he knows."

"Stay out of this," Julian snapped.

"Hard to do when the woman I've been looking for is standing in your apartment."

"You mean the woman you're using as an excuse to leave your lying fiancée?"

Daniel's expression went cold. "Don't pretend you understand my relationship."

"I understand you're engaged and sniffing around my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend of twelve hours."

"Stop!" I shouted. "Both of you, just stop."

They fell silent.

I looked between them, these two brothers fighting over me like I was a prize. It should have felt flattering. Instead, it felt suffocating.

"I need air," I said.

"I'll come with you," Julian offered.

"No. I need to think. Alone."

His face fell, but he nodded. "Take your time. I'll be here when you get back."

"If she comes back," Daniel murmured.

I grabbed my phone and headed for the door, needing to escape before I did something stupid like cry.

The elevator felt like a cage. I jabbed the lobby button repeatedly, willing it to move faster.

The doors started to close.

A hand shot through, stopping them.

Victoria stepped inside, her smile sharp as glass.

"Going somewhere, sweetheart?"

My stomach dropped. "What do you want?"

"To have a little chat. Woman to woman." She pressed the emergency stop button.

The elevator lurched to a halt.

"Let me out."

"In a minute. First, you need to understand something." She stepped closer, and I smelled her expensive perfume. "Julian is mine. He always has been, always will be. You're just a distraction."

"He doesn't seem to think so."

"He will. Once he gets bored. Once the novelty wears off and he remembers you're just some poor scholarship student with nothing to offer."

The words hit harder than they should have.

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know your type. You think landing a rich guy will solve all your problems. But Julian doesn't rescue people, Charlie. He collects them. And when he's done playing hero, he'll throw you away like all the others."

"You're wrong."

"Am I? Ask yourself this. Why did he really bring you home? Was it because he cares? Or because you were homeless and pitiful and it made him feel good to save you?"

I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell her she was wrong.

But doubt crept in, cold and insidious.

"I see I've given you something to think about." Victoria smiled. "Smart girl. Now, I'm going to give you a chance to walk away with your dignity intact. Take it."

"And if I don't?"

Her smile turned cruel. "Then I'll destroy you. Your reputation, your scholarship, your future. I have the money and connections to make you disappear, Charlie. Don't test me."

She pressed the button. The elevator started moving again.

When the doors opened, she stepped out, then turned back.

"Oh, and one more thing. Melissa's not your only enemy now. You took something that belongs to me. I always get back what's mine."

The doors closed.

I stood there, shaking, her words echoing in my head.

My phone buzzed.

A text from an unknown number: *Check your email.*

With trembling hands, I opened my email.

The message had no subject. Just a link.

I clicked it.

And felt the world drop out from under me.

It was a video. From last night. Of Julian and me in his apartment. In his bedroom.

Someone had recorded us through the window.

The message below read: *Leave Julian alone or this goes public. You have 24 hours.*

I couldn't breathe.

Someone had been watching us. Recording us. Had evidence of the most intimate moment of my life.

My phone rang. Julian.

I stared at it, panic clawing at my throat.

If I told him, he'd try to fix it. Might make it worse. Might confirm that I really was just a problem he needed to solve.

If I didn't tell him, this video would ruin us both.

The phone kept ringing.

I had to decide.

Trust Julian and risk everything.

Or run and save us both.

My finger hovered over the answer button.

Then I saw movement in my peripheral vision.

A black car pulled up to the curb. The back door opened.

A man in an expensive suit stepped out. Older, distinguished, with Julian's eyes.

His father.

And he was looking right at me.

"Miss Wade," he said. "I think it's time we had a conversation."