Chapter 15 – Past Pain

Eric and Charlotte continued talking on the trip home. When she went silent, he glanced over to see her asleep.

"Sleep tight, Char." He patted her head lightly while stopped at a red light.

He pulled up to her mansion and parked her car. He opened her door and shook her shoulders. "Char, we're home." She still didn't respond. "I'd hate to wake you from a good sleep..." He undid her seatbelt and went to pick her up.

"I'll do that; you're still injured," Timo carefully cradled her in his arms. "What took so long?"

"We—"

"Is she okay?" Timo glanced down at her as he carried her in.

"Yes; she just fell asleep on the ride home."

"She fell asleep with you right there... twice?"

"Yeah, why? Is something wrong with that? I'm not some sleazeball who would take advantage of her," Eric huffed.

Timo cleared his throat. "No, it's fine." He frowned for a split-second, and his expression cleared. He carried her to her room, and Eric helped him get her tucked into bed.

Eric kissed her forehead. "Sleep tight." He turned to find Timo staring at him with his arms crossed. "What's wrong now?"

"Come," Timo left.

Eric shook off the uneasy feeling and followed him to his own room.

"What were you thinking?" Timo growled at him, slamming his hands on the table between them.

Eric flinched back. "What'd I do?"

"I trusted you with her, and you two were gone well past the proper time, and off who knows where without so much as a phone call."

"I didn't know we were supposed to check in. We are adults, after all."

"Does that matter? Does being adults mean you shouldn't act proper? And why was she so tired? Do you have any idea how rare it is for her to sleep with someone else around?"

She has trouble sleeping around others? "There's a reason I took her out there, though."

"Oh? What is it?"

"She seemed shaken after a run in with a bunch of men in suits at the restaurant."

"Why would that bother her? She lives in a corporate world surrounded by them."

"I'm not sure it was them so much as... Mr. Belloff's son. At least, I think it was the mention of his name."

Timo froze. "Dean Belloff? He wasn't there, was he?"

"No, why? Is he so bad that even you have an issue with him?"

"Sit down," Timo motioned to the table. "I'll make a pot of coffee and we can have a little chat."

Eric sat down, back straight and palms sweating.

Timo set a coffee down in front of him and sat across the table with his own.

"Thanks. So, what did you want to talk about?" Eric asked and blew on his coffee.

"Charlotte... Though I'm not sure where to start," Timo sighed. "I know she says she doesn't date much because of how busy she is, or maybe even because of how protective I am, but those are only excuses. Ugh... I'm not even sure I should be telling you this without her permission."

"Maybe I should wait for her to talk to me about it."

"Honestly, it's such a trigger for her. I'm not sure I should mention it."

"Then maybe I shouldn't know about it."

Timo stared at him for a moment. "I think you should know in case you have to save her from a situation... and maybe you'll even heal the scar that was left on her heart."

Eric swallowed hard. "O-okay, if you think it's necessary."

Timo nodded. "Her adoptive parents once set Charlotte up with Mr. Belloff's son, Dean, in an arranged marriage."

Eric's eyes widened. "She was engaged?"

"They went on a few dates to see if they liked each other first, before setting a date. Dean was aggressive in pursuing her, and quite insistent on moving past the dating phase."

"Did they?"

"Yes, after much prodding. He kept whispering sweet nothings to woo her, and she eventually said yes."

"Did she mean it?"

"Oddly, it seemed like she ended up falling for his charm, but I suspect it was his declarations of love that got her."

"He said he loved her?" You should mean it if you're saying that.

"At first sight."

"They're not married now, so can I assume they didn't make it down the aisle?"

Timo's expression darkened. "After they got engaged, he became controlling, and ended up hitting her when she went against him."

Eric's jaw dropped. "Wha... What the hell is wrong with him?! And why didn't you stop him?"

"I didn't know anything had happened until I saw a nasty bruise."

"Char doesn't seem like she'd put up with any crap like that."

"She's stronger now that she used to be. Back then, she was still new in the business world, and worried any bad talk about her would ruin her career."

"But, she obviously ended it eventually... Did he ever get charged?"

"No..." Timo swallowed.

"What? Why not? Did his father use money to cover it up?"

"Well... It's my fault."

Eric stared at him for a moment in confusion. "Your fault?"

"Once I spotted the bruise, I confronted her about it. She didn't want to talk at first, but eventually, a waterfall of information came tumbling out. I went with her to break off the engagement with Dean, and I snapped..."

"What'd you do?"

Timo smirked. "I beat Dean to a bloody pulp..."

Eric's jaw dropped. "Wow... That's a good thing, isn't it? Gave him what he deserved, and maybe he'd think twice about doing something horrible like that again."

"It felt good to put him in his place... but that only lasted a moment. He threatened to sue me."

"Oh, crap."

"But Charlotte protected me. In exchange for sweeping what he did to her under the rug, he agreed not to sue me..."

"Oh..."

Timo huffed and glanced up at Eric.

He looks so destroyed.

"We have to keep her safe from that sadistic pig, but I'm also not really supposed to go near him."

"He must be afraid of you," Eric smiled. I kinda am, too.

"I hope so, but if his father's showing up again, I'm afraid Dean's fear of me isn't going to be enough to scare him away this time."

Eric thought back to what Mr. Belloff said. "Um... It seemed like his father wanted to set them up again. Something about Dean wanting to see her."

"Dammit," Timo groaned and covered his face with his hands as he leant on the table.

"As long as she doesn't agree to meet him, it should be fine, right?"

Timo groaned again and thumped his fist on the table, making the cups clang. "I wish it was that easy, but you don't know Dean. He's... relentless and overbearing. If he's dead set on seeing her, he'll pop up everywhere, and constantly pester her to give him another chance."

"She can still say no."

"He's a charmer who knows how to wrap women around his little finger."

"Gather proof of stalking and get a restraining order?"

"I probably could, but he still has evidence of me assaulting him."

"So basically, if you try to do anything to Dean, he'll sue you for assault? How bad did you beat him?"

Timo laughed. "Not enough, it seems."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Be careful."

"I can't believe she went through so much..."

"I wasn't going to ask you, but can you go with her to work as her assistant?"

"Not sure I'm suited to it, but I guess so."

"And start as soon as you're able to."

"Ribs still hurt a bit, but as long as I'm not lugging around something heavy for too long, or constantly twisting and turning, I'll be fine."

"I should be able to set you up with something to do. I hope you're good with schedules and phones."

"Sounds like a desk job."

"Not when you're with Miss Charlotte Burne. You'll have to be with her constantly, and learn many names and faces."

Eric's stomach turned. "This is going to be hard, isn't it?"

"It'll probably be hard, but the pay is good. And this would be all on top of what Charlotte already gives you."

"Gives me? I haven't used the credit card much... and I haven't needed anything since I started living here."

Tim's eye twitched. "Didn't Charlotte tell you? She's been paying directly to your bank account every week since you got here."

Eric's eyes widened. "Why?"

"Think of it like an allowance. When you work as her assistant, you'll have the salary on top of the allowance, as per her instructions."

"I haven't looked at my bank account for a while, since it was empty..." And I wasn't paying for anything...

"She wanted to make sure that if you chose to leave, you'd have enough money to live off of for a while."

"Feels like she's being way more generous than she needs to be..."

"Well," Timo glanced at him, debating if he should explain. "Let's just say she cares, and she thinks you're worth it."

I doubt I'm worth that much. "Okay..." Eric cringed.

Timo sighed and got up. "I think I'll leave it at that for now."

Eric nodded. "Okay, goodnight then."

"Goodnight..."

Eric sat alone in silence for a while, thinking about Charlotte. Am I really even good enough to stay nearby to keep her safe? Am I worth of her attention?