Dangerous Hearts

The Invitation

Charlie's POV

I snapped out of sleep when my alarm went off and nearly threw my phone across the room. Even though I felt like I hadn't had enough sleep, which is totally normal for me nowadays, after I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stretched a little bit, I felt more awake now.

I had enough time for a quick shower and to unload the dishwasher before I had to pick Oliver up from school. My shift tonight wouldn't start until after Stephen came to pick him up and it would only last for a few hours since I was covering for one of my co-workers while she was dealing with some personal business.

After that, I had the weekend to myself. Stella was going to stay over at her boyfriend's house this weekend and claimed that I needed a little TLC. She was right, I did need a little bit of a home spa day for myself. I also needed to fix up some of the stuff around the house and that was first on my list. No point in making myself feel all special and then basically killing myself over house work afterwards. I'd probably need another shower too, but I'd worry about that part later. I still had some disgusting smells from last night on me that were already giving me a headache and I was desperate to get rid of them for awhile.

I took a quick shower to wash my body off and then got changed into some leggings and a loose shirt and some tennis shoes. Then I went to unload the dishwasher really quickly and then had to run out the door since I'd taken too much time in the shower and didn't want to be late to the pick-up line.

Without Oli to chatter the time away, I ended up blasting music on the radio and having my own mini-concert to an old Backstreet Boys song that I'm sure will embarrass him when he gets older. I made it to the school in record time to be the literal last person in the line. I sighed and settled in for the wait. Luckily, it was going pretty steady, so I should be up in front to pick him up soon. When I was almost to the front, I could see Oli's face peering around his teachers looking for me and as soon as he caught sight of me, his face lit up with a huge smile and I grinned back at him as I parked the car and unlocked the door for him to get in.

"Hi mom!"

I laughed softly, "Hi baby, how was your day?"

And he launched into a play-by-play of what had happened today as I pulled away from the school and drove us back home. It seemed like he felt better about the weekend now than he had this morning and I just hoped it stayed that way for him.

Stella's little bug was in the driveway when we got back and Oliver bounded into the house to greet her before she left for the weekend. I walked in the door in time to hear her shout, "Oli-bear! How was your day, kiddo?" He was spider-monkeying all over her and she was all smiles as he told her about his day with the same vigor that he'd used to tell me. I leaned against the door frame to watch them with a small smile on my face. I loved these two so much, it was unbelievable that I was so lucky to have them in my life.

"Okay, you two," I giggled at them, "snack time, and Stella has to go."

They hugged real quick, and Stella kissed his head, "See ya, Oli-bear. Have fun this weekend! Bye Charlie!" I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows at her with my own, 'yeah, have fun' as I pulled out some fruit for a snack from the fridge.

"Bye, Stella!" Oliver yelled as she left.

We ate some of the concoction of watermelon, grapes, strawberries, and cantelope in the bowl before I had him do his homework so he didn't have to worry about doing it when he came back from his dad's. I knew he wouldn't do it there, and he was always so tired when he came back anyway.

I started cleaning up while he worked at the table. I put some music on for us to work with. It actually helped us concentrate, surprisingly, and when he was done with his homework, he got up to help me sweep and mop the floors.

Our house was big enough for the three of us, but it was still relatively small and super easy to clean up. It fit our little ragtag group perfectly and was cute and homey, and I adored it. Stella and I had pieced together every penny that we had to buy it for us when we moved in together after my divorce five years ago, and it was the best thing we'd ever done.

We finished cleaning quickly, and I checked over his homework to make sure he didn't get anything wrong. He only had a few mistakes, and they were easy to fix with a quick explanation.

By the time we'd finished everything, it was nearing five-thirty, and we still had to pack for the weekend. I grabbed his little overnight bag on the way to his room while he skipped ahead of me and I grabbed clothes, underwear, extra socks, and his toothbrush and toothpaste and put them all in there neatly so that he could find everything over the weekend. He also added the book he'd been reading lately and a few other items to keep him entertained over there. His dad didn't believe he needed any toys to play with because he was ten years old and should start acting older. It was all sports TV and takeout for him.

I'd tried to talk to him about it, but he was as stubborn as a mule and the backhand to the face he'd managed to throw without Oli seeing had made me stop trying to tell him anything anymore for fear that he'd do worse in front of him.

"Okay, kiddo," I said as I zipped the bag up and looked over at him, "I think that's everything. Do you want anything else in there?"

He shook his head, "No, I got everything I need."

I ruffled his hair and gave him a grin, "Alright. Well, your dad should be here soon. Do you want to wait outside for him?" He perked up at that and nodded vigorously before grabbing his basketball for us to shoot some baskets while we waited. I'd gotten him a basketball goal for Christmas last year, and we often enjoyed playing outside when the weather was nice. He was getting better and better at making them because of how much he practiced. He wanted to play for the middle school team when he got a little bit older, so he'd started to practice nearly every day, and I often went out there with him. Not only to keep an eye on him so nothing happened, but to actually play too. I wasn't very good at it, but at least I managed to get one in every now and again.

We passed the time playing 'Around the World' or 'Horse' until I saw Stephen pull up in his over-priced corvette and honk at us to move out of the driveway so he could park beside my car, effectively ending our game. Oliver handed me his ball and went to hug his dad while I grabbed his bag and laid the ball inside the door of the house.

"Hey, kid! How's it going?" Stephen said as he stepped out of the car and hugged Oli back.

"Good! I'm ready to go to the game tomorrow!"

Stephen chuckled, "Me too! Go give your mom a hug and hop in." He turned to me as Oliver launched himself at me to give me a bear hug.

"Bye, mom, love you!"

I kissed his head and squeezed him back, "Bye, baby. I love you too. You go have fun this weekend, okay?"

"We will!" He took off for the car and slipped into the back seat to settle in for the ride. I always felt a twinge in my heart whenever he went with Stephen, and it started happening already, even though they hadn't left yet.

Stephen walked towards me, "I wanted to ask you if you'd have dinner with me on Thursday. I know it's your day off." That was his way of telling me that he'd been stalking me and watching my work hours on top of trying to 'mend' our relationship for the gazillionth time since the divorce.

"I'm not going to have dinner with you, Stephen," I said carefully, "and I'm not interested in trying to get back together with you."

He stepped towards me again, and I backed away from him at his advance, ramming my ribs straight into the corner of the mailbox against the house. I hid the wince from him, even though it hurt like the dickens. I had nowhere to go now as he caged me in with his arms leaning against the house on either side of my head. "Come on, Charlie, I just want another chance to be with you," he cooed, leaning in to press his nose against my hair by my ear. "We had a good time together, didn't we?"

I was too frozen to try to break away from him, but I wasn't going to back down from my decision. I sighed, "I said 'no' Stephen." I halfway managed to keep my voice from shaking. This position brought back quite a few unpleasant memories, and while I was working through them with the help of my therapist, I still hadn't gotten over this particular fear of being trapped and vulnerable. "Oliver is waiting for you," I flicked a glance over his shoulder and could just barely make out the shape of his head as he bent over his book. "You should go and have fun. I'll see you guys at six on Sunday."

He inhaled sharply, making me flinch in preparation for a hit of some kind, but he pushed himself away from me and shot me a glare. "You won't be able to keep away from me forever, Charlie," he said in a low voice, the one that sent chills of panic down my spine because of how even and toneless he could make it sound. The calm before the storm was how I described it because it usually followed with him losing his mind and taking it out on me.

I breathed a sigh of relief when he finally stepped away and got in his car. I made myself smile brightly and wave at Oliver as they passed by.

I started trembling then, and that made my ribs protest. I didn't hit them hard enough to break anything, but I'd still bumped them on the corner of the mailbox hard enough to bruise an old injury I'd had there before. I pressed my hand on it gently before finally turning to go inside.

"Excuse me, miss?" I jumped at the unexpected voice behind me and turned around to see a man in dark clothes walking up my driveway towards me.

I tried to calm my racing heart with a hand to my chest and cleared my throat before answering, "Yes? Can I help you?"

He smiled gently and stopped walking a few steps away from me. His eyes scanned my appearance quickly with a sharpness that was both intriguing and frightening. They stopped at where my hand was still pressed against my side before flicking back up to my face and continuing on, "My name is Joseph Stantos. I'm here on behalf of my employer, Alexander Jameson-the man you patched up in the alley last night-he wanted me to ask you if you'd be willing to join him for dinner tonight as thanks for helping him out?"

The man I helped in the alley?

It took me a second to remember the reason I'd been so late for work last night before my eyes widened in realization, "Oh! Is he okay? I was worried that I hadn't done enough for him." That's the question that my brain decided to come up with? Not, how in the world did they figure out where I lived or something along those lines? Nope. How's the man who held a gun to my face doing?

Joseph smiled politely and inclined his head, "He's tough, miss. It'll take much more than that to put him down."

I let out a small laugh at that; I'm pretty sure I was in shock about this whole thing anyway. "I took us in a different direction," I tried to reel us back into his original reason for this visit, "he wants me to join him for dinner?" He nodded. "Where at?"

"He owns our estate where we live. That's where you'll have dinner. There's a nice view of the city from the courtyard. Alexander enjoys dining there."

He owns an entire estate with a nice view of the city. And he wants me to have dinner with him because I helped him out? Who in the world did I stumble upon last night?

"He's not having you bring me to my death, is he?" I asked timidly, remembering how hostile he'd looked holding the gun to me before it had shifted to avid curiosity and keen awareness of what I was doing to him.

Joseph chuckled good-naturally, "Absolutely not. You're the guest of honor tonight."

I'll admit, I was curious about him, and Joseph seemed to be nice enough as he stood in front of me waiting for my answer. He seemed very sure that I wouldn't come to any harm, but I wanted to be absolutely sure because I didn't just have me to think about, I had Oliver and Stella depending on me and I didn't want to leave them alone.

"You won't let anything happen to me?" It was weird asking him for his protection when we were going to see his boss, who had the ultimate power to do whatever he wanted, but having someone to have my back in case things went wrong was always a good thing. Despite the fact that my ex-husband was an abusive, pathological liar, I still tried to believe that everyone else had some good in them.

Joseph looked over me once again and put his hand over his heart, "I swear on my life, I won't let anything happen to you." He stepped forward a little bit and fixed me with a calm gaze, "With the line of work we're in, it can be messy, but we're not all bad. Alex makes sure of it, and I will make sure that you are perfectly safe the entire time you're there."

Looking into his clear blue eyes and seeing the honesty in them, it finally had me nodding in agreement. "Okay. What time do I need to be there? I have a short shift tonight."

"I've been told to drive you there myself since the terrain to get there is a little rocky for most vehicles," he glanced over at my tiny car, "I don't think yours will make it. I can pick you up from the hospital when your shift is over. If you'd like?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I can do that. Is there anything specific I should wear?" I didn't know if I should wear anything fancy or comfy or a mixture of both for this dinner since I didn't know what exactly I was walking into. I didn't know if I needed to be able to run away, so heels were out, or if I didn't have to run at all, so heels could be in. I needed an idea for attire so I could dress accordingly.

"Nothing too fancy, but I'm sure dressing cute would soften him up some more," he grinned, "If you ask me, he's taken quite a liking to you since last night. I'll explain more about that later on, or he will. For now, though, I'll leave you to get ready for your shift and have you text or call me when you're ready to be picked up. We can exchange numbers real quick so it's easier later on." I pulled out my phone and he told me his number so I could send him a message and have him save it for later. Once that was done, we said our goodbyes and I watched as he walked away to his car. It was parked just down the block and he waved as he pulled away.

I smiled at him and waved back before slipping into the house to go get ready. Thank god I'd showered this morning, but I needed to wash my hair real quick, so after picking out a navy blue sweater dress with some tan ankle boots, I washed my hair under the faucet in the bath and then put some eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss. I blow dried my hair and ran my straightener over it to get some of my baby hairs under control. I threw on my clothes and shoes and gave myself one last glance over before grabbing my purse and keys and leaving the house. Luckily, I always had a couple spare clothes and shoes in my locker at work, so me coming into work dressed up wouldn't affect anyone.

My shift went by relatively easy and I managed to text Joseph and let him know that I would be finished with my shift in about thirty minutes.

Joseph had pulled a large black SUV in front of the entrance to the hospital and was leaning against it, waiting for me. He smiled at me as I walked up to him, "You look great," he grabbed my hand and helped me into the passenger seat, and I thanked him as I buckled my seatbelt. "It's going to take about half an hour to get there, so pick some music and get comfortable." He grinned and started the car.

I grinned back at him, "Okay, but I'm warning you, if a song I love comes on, you're getting a concert," I joked.

He laughed, "I'm here for it. I might even join you if I know it."

I was beginning to really like Joseph as a friend. He reminded me a lot of Stella and I's relationship, and at least this part of the night was turning out to be great.

I squashed any nerves I had of meeting his boss on the ride there and just enjoyed the music and the idle chit chat with Joseph.