Page 114 of Charlie
She was right of course. I squeezed her hand. “The thought of him forcing himself on you makes me so angry. I should have been there to protect you. If I’d known what he was really like…”
We fell quiet for a moment, until I looked into her eyes. “I know about the report and my grandfather asking you to come here.”
She held her breath. “Are you disappointed that it wasn’t a random meeting between us?”
“I’m confused about what was real and what was not.”
She pointed from me to her. “This is real.”
My Adam’s apple bobbed in my throat. “You sure? I mean it feels real, but it turns out that I’m not the best judge of character.”
“I love you, Charles.” She moved closer and kissed me. “You can trust that.”
“Why would you be with someone stupid enough to fall for a scammer like Conor?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. None of you did. He was a master at deception and if I hadn’t been warned before going in, there’s a real chance that I would have fallen for his charm as well. And for what it’s worth, I’m happy you brought me here?”
I pulled back a little. “How can you say that?”
She frowned. “Look around you. Five children are alive because you brought me in there. Who would have stopped him? Who would have called the cops? Who would have insisted three of the children stay away from the meeting? Without you becoming a member, things might have turned out very differently for these kids.”
“Huh.” I thought about it. “I see what you mean, but if I hadn’t been there, my grandfather wouldn’t have started an investigation, and then there wouldn’t have been the same pressure on Conor. People might still be alive if he hadn’t been pushed to a breaking point.
“It would have happened sooner or later. I’m only sorry that the police didn’t arrest him before he lost his shit.”
I yawned. “And I’m sorry that I believed all his lies.”
Liv let her finger run from the tip of my nose to my lips. “It was his lies that brought me to you. Are you sorry about that?”
I pulled her in and kissed her. “No. For that I’m grateful. The day I met you again was one of the best days in my life, and I will happily spend the rest of my life making up for all the awful things that I’ve put you through.”
“The rest of your life, huh?” She smiled at me as we lay nose to nose.
“And every life after that.” I moved forward, placing a long soft kiss on her lips.
“Wow, that’s commitment.”
“Yeah. It is.” I let my hand slide up her arm. “Does it scare you?”
“No. If anything it excites me.”
For a moment she was quiet. “Charles.”
“Mmm.”
“I worry about the children. What are the chances of them staying together?”
I groaned. “Slim. If Nathan has family, they’re most likely in England where his parents were from, and I’m pretty sure Ciara had sisters up in the northern part of Ireland. I remember her talking about them.”
“What about Lumi? Aisha was from India, right?”
“Yeah, but she grew up in London. Her family shunned her after she got pregnant outside of wedlock.”
“But if her family cut her off then why was she of interest to Conor? Did they still give her money?”
“Yes, she used to joke that they were paying her to stay hidden to avoid bringing public shame to them. I don’t know what story the family has been telling their social circle, but they never wanted anything to do with Lumi before, so I doubt they’ll want her now.”
Liv bit her lip and whispered, “And River? Her mom is in a psychiatric hospital. What if she’ll never be capable of taking care of her daughter?”
