Free Treacherous by L.L Hunter Page B

me
a beer.”
    “ I’ll buy you a beer.
Tell me.”
    “ He was let out on
bail the night before his high school formal. And guess who his
attorney was at the time?”
    “ No!”
    “ That’s right. Mr DA
himself, Stephen Jayne.”
    “ Shit.”
    “ Told ya.”
    “ No. Shit, Mark. He’s
in there.”
    “ In where?”
    “ It’s Charli’s
twenty-first birthday party tonight. Susan invited me. And guess
who accompanied Charli tonight?”
    “ Shit.”
    “ Yeah. I’ve got to
go.”
    “ Call me if you need
backup.”
    “ Will do.” After
hanging up I almost ran to the front door of the Jayne residence.
When I saw it was open, I slipped inside.
    “ Nathan. You made
it.”
    “ Oh, hi, Susan.
Where’s Charli?”
    “ Oh, I believe she was
with that friend of hers, Mia, just a second ago. Over by the
bar.”
    “ Thanks.” After
scanning the room, sure enough, I found Charli standing by the bar
with Mia as her mother said. I had my suspicions about Mia, too, so
I kept my distance and observed. Frankie, or Levi, was nowhere to
be seen. It only took a minute for Charli to spot me, and before
long, she was coming over. My heart picked up its pace.
    “ What are you doing
here?” she asked, almost accusingly. I decided to tell her the
truth. After all, everything was unravelling now.
    “ Your mother invited
me.” Before I could confess anything else, our attention was stolen
by the sounds of Stephen Jayne yelling at someone in his office.
Before I could stop her, Charli was making her way towards the
door. Charli was safe from where she was standing, so I went around
the corner into the bathroom. I had been to this house once before,
so I knew that this toilet sat next door to Stephen’s office and
had a vent in the wall, so anything being said on the other side of
the wall could be heard easily. I locked the door, sat down on the
toilet, and listened.
    My suspicions were
correct. Levi was in Stephen’s office arguing with him. Oh, shit.
Things were turning bad. I was almost tempted to burst in there and
blow my cover, but decided to stay and listen a little longer. I
had been trained to wait until the absolute last minute to pounce.
Levi was saying something about getting what was owed to him, and
Stephen was begging for him not to harm Charli. I knew what this
meant. It meant I had to pull my head out of my arse and do my job.
I had to protect Charli as I was hired to do, feelings or not. Her
life was at stake. I burst out of the toilet just in time to see
Levi coming out of Stephen’s office, and Charli disappearing into
the crowd.
    “ Charli!” I shouted,
but my voice harmonised with his. I turned and saw him looking at
the invisible path Charli had made through the crowd. When our eyes
met, we shared something other than mutual feelings of hate towards
each other. It was game on.
     

Chapter
Eighteen
     
    Charli
     
    After the party and
when everyone had left, even Frankie, or Levi, whatever his name
was, I retreated to my room. I needed to be alone. I was still
reeling after hearing what I had heard inside my father’s office.
The truth was… I didn’t know what the truth was. Frankie had lied
to me—not only about his name. He lied to get closer to me. I had a
feeling it was all a sham. What did he mean by getting what was
owed to him? What did my father owe him? I wanted so desperately to
ask my father about it, but I realised I wasn’t supposed to know.
Something was going on, and I was being kept in the dark. And after
the events of my birthday party, all I wanted right now was to curl
up in my bed and sleep. I had only consumed two glasses of my
favourite cocktail and one glass of pink champagne, but I felt like
I had a hangover. After dragging myself off my bed, I slipped out
of my dress and hopped into the shower. I felt cold, but not from
the temperature of the air. What Frankie had said, and my father…
chilled me to my core. I slumped against the wall of the shower,
allowing the hot water