Page 78 of Winning You
“I’m going to fucking kill him?—”
“He was arrested, trying to break into the wedding I was shooting.”
Frankie froze. “Are you serious?”
Fallon opened his eyes and looked up at him. “He was screaming about me cheating on him. The whole wedding was ruined. I had to refund the bride.”
Frankie let out a soft breath and walked over, taking a seat in front of his brother. The table beneath him creaked but held his weight, and he took Fallon’s hands into his. “How close did he get to you?”
“I didn’t even know he was there. The couple got through the vows, and then when they were walking out, I was following them with the videographer, and Charlie was in the lobby. He was already in handcuffs, but he started screaming and saying…saying horrible things.”
Frankie didn’t need to ask what kind of horrible things. He knew, and Fallon didn’t need to relive them aloud. “One officer told me I should get an order of protection.”
“Of course. Yes. We can do that in the morning.” He squeezed Fallon’s hands, then stood up. “Do you want something to help you sleep?”
“Yes, please,” Fallon whispered. “Can I use your bed?”
“You don’t have to ask. Go in there, and I’ll get you a pill and some water.” His sleeping pills were low dose, but Fallon rarelyever took anything besides melatonin, so it would knock him right out.
He put a pill in his hand, then filled water from the fridge and found his brother curled up in the middle of the bed with all the pillows around him like a little nest. It made him think of Lucas for a second, and his heart squeezed tightly with pain.
First, Lucas went missing, and now this?
“Here,” he said.
Fallon sat up and dry-swallowed the pill the way he always did, then chased it with water. “Thanks. I let Fen know I wouldn’t be back. I didn’t think I could take Elodie tonight. I’m sorry. I know I’m a bad brother.”
“You are an amazing brother, and no one is judging you for needing quiet after all this.” Something had to be done about this fucker. Frankie couldn’t actually murder him, and he didn’t exactly have money for a lawyer, but he wasn’t going to sit on his ass while this man tormented any part of his family. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”
Fallon nodded, clearly done with words, so Frankie showed himself out and sat on the couch.
He was still in his date clothes and felt ridiculous about it, but he wasn’t going to go disturb his brother to change. He could crash on the couch in his boxers.
Leaning against the cushions, he put his feet up, then pulled out his phone and began to scroll for pro bono lawyers. Maybe someone could help them. Maybe he could get a consultation to figure out what to do about this.
A restraining order was nothing more than a piece of paper. It wasn’t going to stop Charlie if he was going to take shit this far. He had no idea if more could be done, but he had to try.
He got through nineteen query emails before his eyes started to feel crossed, and he glanced at the time on his phone. Shit.It was nearly eleven, and he still hadn’t heard from Lucas. Something felt unsettled, and it wasn’t just his brother.
“I should go over there,” he told himself. “Just to check. Just one more time, and if he’s not there…” He trailed off and yanked the door open, and a body tumbled into his arms.
“Oh, fuck.” Lucas scrambled to get his footing, and Frankie felt the sudden urge to let out a laugh. Or maybe a sob. “Frankie?”
“Yeah. Hey, I—oh my god.” Lucas had stepped back, and now Frankie could see him. And his face. His cheek was starting to turn dark purple, his eyelid swollen and fat, and there was a cut a good inch long. “Oh my god, what the fuck happened?” His voice darkened. “Who did this?”
Lucas grimaced. “Can I come in?”
“Actually…” Frankie hesitated.
Lucas’s ears pinked. “Do you have company? Oh shit, did you get another date when I?—”
“Baby. Princess. No. There is only you, but my brother’s here, trying to sleep. Some shit went down tonight.”
“Charlie,” Lucas said quietly. He stepped back into the hall, and Frankie followed him.
“Yes.”
Lucas took a deep, shaking breath, then said, “He did this to me.”
