Page 89 of Sing Me Home
Maggie looked at Sage and Ella. “And we won’t say a word,” she instructed, her tone making it clear this was not a request.
Griffin held out his car keys. “Here. And grab her a king-size Twix,” he said under his breath. Those were Charlie’s favorite.
They hurried out the front door.
I eased Charlie onto my knee and she gladly came. Then I wrapped my arms around her, cocooning her as much as I could while not blocking her from the others.
Theo, who’d been pacing, shook out his hands and switched seats with James. “Tell us what happened,” he said, impressively calm. Calmer than me. I was shaking, so angry and overwhelmed. I tried to slow my breathing. She needed me right now. I could lose my crap later.
She turned in my arms, her back against my chest, and I hated that I couldn’t see her face. I felt her lungs lift and fall a few times in the silence, as if gearing up. Then she began. “Lorne?—”
“I knew that bastard was responsible!” Theo spat.
My sentiments exactly.
“Oh my gosh,” Charlie’s laugh was bitter. “I’ll never get it out if you stop me after every word.”
“No more talking,” James ordered, pointing his finger accusingly at Theo. “Just like during graduation where you hold your applause till the end.” Then he turned it on the rest of us. “We speak when spoken to.” He gestured at Charlie. “The floor isallyours.”
“Thank you, James.” She blew her breath out in a long O. “Lorne had some addictions.” She shook her head. “But the worst one was…” She froze for a few seconds, her heart pounding so hard it echoed in my chest. “Porn,” she said with an exhale.
It felt like someone had taken an ax to my heart. How could he have a porn addiction when he was married to the most beautiful girl in the world?
“Freaking perv,” Bowen hissed.
“Lorne the porn addict,” Liam said with a disgusted snort. “It’s like his parents saw it coming.”
James snapped his fingers. “Quiet.”
“I’m telling you that because it’s important to the story,” she said, voice trembling. “It wasn’t your basic porn addiction—lying in bed, scrolling on his phone. It was hardcore. Pay per view subscriptions, OnlyFans, he couldn’t keep a job because he kept getting caught at work.” She exhaled slowly. “He blew every dollar he ever got. And every dollar I got too. I didn’t know before, because as we all know, I married him way too fast.” Was that why she wanted to wait so long for us to get married? She’d known me her whole life though. “He couldn’t hide it for long but he was very good at hiding the fact that he was in serious debt. I didn’t even know until a couple of weeks before everything went down.” She paused and I could feel her tense up even more. “He borrowed money from a loan shark. One day, he told me everything and begged me to sell my 4Runner so he could pay him off. He said that if he didn’t pay him, the guy would rough him up. Maybe worse.”
“I wish they had,” Theo bit out.
“Shh.” James ordered.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Theo.” Charlie’s voice was louder, braver, but still quavering. She held her hands up, needing a second of calm before continuing. “So I sold my 4Runner, bought a beater, and gave him the difference. He told me that he’d paid the guy off. But he must not have because a week or so later, I’m walking home from work—since my beater had already broken down,” her voice was tight, “—when I get a text from Lorne that just says911. I find his location and grab an Uber with money we didn’t have, and beg the driver to go as fast as he can. It’s a pool hall in a really sketchy part of town. I run inside and he’s getting his face kicked in by a couple of guys. So…” But the words caught in her throat. She leaned into my chest like she needed me to carry some of the weight. So I held her closer, wishing I could take even a little of it away. “I get between them thinking they won’t hit a woman. But…I was wrong.” The words sounded like they were torn from her throat.
“So he calls you down there,” Bowen says, ignoring James’s glare. “Basically luring you into his mess.”
“Pretty much,” she said.
“Lorne wouldn’t let that happen though,” Theo spat. “He protected you. You were just a casualty in the fallout, right?”
James pounded the table. “Let her talk.”
“No.” She shook her head. “He let me take it for him. My last memory is me lying on the floor as he ran out the door. Then I passed out. When I woke up, I was in the ICU.”
“He left you to die?” Griffin’s voice cracked.
Theo erupted from his seat again. I would’ve been up too—pacing and plotting my revenge—if Charlie hadn’t been in my lap. “I’m going to kick his?—”
“No!” Charlie almost yelled. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. Any of you. The last thing I need is you going to jail because you can’t keep your masculinity in check.”
“So that’s why you didn’t call us?” I whispered. I’d meant it to come out at normal volume but my throat was thick and scratchy.
She adjusted to look at me, her eyes turned down. “There were a lot of reasons and most of them had more to do with how I felt about myself than you all.”
“Why did you stay with him?” Griffin asked. “When you found out about his addiction?”
