Page 56 of Her Beastly Billionaire Rock Star
Charlotte stood and crossed her arms over her chest. “What rules?”
Octavia held out her hand. “Your phone. Hand it over.”
“I need my phone.”
“And you’ll have it when I say you can.”
Blinking, Charlotte recoiled. “No.”
Octavia’s jaw tightened. “Give me the phone, or you’re going to find yourself on the curb.”
“Then I’ll find myself on the curb. You are not getting my phone.”
The next few seconds slowed to a snail’s pace. Octavia lunged forward, slapped Charlotte across the face, and, while she was stunned, dug in her pocket, taking the phone. “You really should do as you’re told.”
Charlotte recovered, holding her hand to her face. The concussion she was recovering from roared back as her head throbbed enough to make her vision blurry. Shaking her head, she swallowed down the nausea that hit. “Give that phone back. I amnotyour servant. You want to kick my dad out of the facility, go ahead. I’ll figure out a way. You want this company, have it. You think you’re the only one with connections? Think again.”
Narrowing her eyes, Octavia stepped closer. “Careful, Charlotte.”
Her observations from earlier floated to mind. Always threats and never action. “What have you done, Octavia? You always threaten me but never follow through. Why is that?”
Octavia’s glare faltered. “Because I enjoy seeing you suffer.”
Tapping her foot, Charlotte studied her stepsister a moment. “What are you afraid of? I had so many contacts when I left for college. People I’d known for more than a decade. Never once did you leave me alone with anyone, especially people who knew me and my father. It makes me wonder…”
Pulling her shoulders back, Octavia lifted her nose. “I’ve done nothing, and I’m certainly not afraid of you.”
“Oh yes, you are. I’ve wondered how you afford the house you live in. Granted, our services are costly, but even that palatial estate was well beyond what we brought in. All the parties you were throwing. Of course, I only knew about them from headlines, but they were so lavish.”
When Octavia remained silent, Charlotte grinned. “You blackmailed people. That’s why you were so adamant about secrets and wanting to know everything. It wasn’t so the business retained its reputation. You did it so you could turn around and blackmail the clients.”
Swallowing hard, Octavia licked her lips, her breathing ratcheting up. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“That’s why the encrypted files and all the security and—”
Octavia stepped forward and pushed her as hard as she could. Charlotte’s body slammed into the wall behind her, and she crumpled to the floor. The last thing she heard was the lock on the door being set. She tried to right herself and fell back. Her eyes slid shut as she hoped that whatever had been planned would happen soon.
Chapter 28
While Charlotte had packed, Emilia had called Noah Wolf, the owner of the private security firm called Guardian Group that Ryder and Mia worked for. They had brought him in once Octavia called. With the timing, they worried she was suspicious. They’d sent one of their men in the area, Thaddeus Tru, who had met Charlotte before she left and was currently being briefed by Ryder about the situation.
Malakai was grateful, but he was still worried. Charlotte had gone in there alone. What if her stepsister did something drastic? If Charlotte didn’t care about getting the business back, why deal with Octavia anymore? Just let the woman have the stupid thing. According to Charlotte, that wasn’t the point. It was a matter of justice, and Charlotte was the judge.
“Someone should’ve gone with her. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Calm down, Malakai,” Emilia said. “She’s only been gone a few hours, and she’ll only be there a couple of days. She’s been safe there before. These guys are the best. They’ll get a plan together, and it’ll be fine.”
Grabbing his nacho bowl filled with cereal, he joined Emilia back on the couch. It was the only thing he could think of to keep his hands busy and his mind off all the things that could go wrong. He’d tried writing a new song, but as worried as he was, the creative juices just weren’t there.
“I know, but I’m not there with her. What if she needs me or…?” He let the sentence die as he spooned a large mound of Fruity Pebbles into his mouth.
“You really do love her.”
He finished his bite and nodded. “With every ounce of my being. If something happens to her when I could have protected her…” He sat forward and set the bowl on the coffee table. “I couldn’t help Sunny, but I can help Charlotte.”
Twisting in the seat, Emilia faced him. “You’re happier than I’ve ever seen you. There’s this glow...a spark in you that’s been missing a long time.”
“She taught me something. I was holding people to an impossible standard, all the while treating them the way I hated to be treated. I was treating them the way I expected to be treated, and it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
