Page 24 of Fractured Fate

“Okay. You’ve gotta tell me what’s going on.” He knocked his head against the wall behind him. “I’m worried about you,” he added in a softer tone.

She closed her eyes. “Please don’t worry. You know I’m not used to being away from home. The heat’s getting to me. It’s really nothing.”

“And the police?”

“I didn’t say anything about the police,” she fired off fast, averting her gaze. “Listen, I’m tired.” She looked back at the screen. “I think I’m just gonna take another cold shower and turn in. Call me tomorrow?”

The corners of his mouth turned down. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you want.” He took a deep breath and released it. “Try to get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Aiden.”

She didn’t miss how his smile dropped, and his jaw clenched right before he disconnected the call. He didn’t believe her, but he refrained from calling her out on lying.

What could she say to him?

If she told him someone broke into her home, he would drive all the way to Athens to help her in the middle of the night. Aiden was a protector by nature. She knew that. From the moment they met, he seemed on a mission to save someone. He was the first to approach her about Blaire’s whereabouts and was the first to suspect the TA’s involvement in the kidnapping.

From what she heard from Blaire before that happened, Aiden had helped her boyfriend, Lukas, when they first got together. It seemed Lukas had issues with commitment, and Aiden helped him with those issues. Riley said Aiden also helped both her and Seth but didn’t elaborate on it.

Blaire had laughed at Charlotte when she referred to Aiden as an “alpha knight,” but that’s what he acted like. He embodied strength and protectiveness. He was the chosen leader of their group of friends. They all called him the big brother of the group, but that sounded weird to Charlotte. She never called him that.

She didn’t want Aiden as a brother.

Her face screwed up at the thought. She couldn’t picture it.

They flirted a little before she left for Athens, but it was all in good fun. Nothing came of it. She doubted he ever felt anything for her. She couldn’t feel anything for him.

They came from two different worlds.

His world held money and status, if the rumors of Blackthorn Academy families were to be believed. Her world held a public university, grants, possible future loans, and mental illness.

Other than the crazy TA who wasn’t at the academy anymore, she doubted he had to deal with weirdos like the one who broke into her home in his gated world. The security had to be top-notch.

Laughing to herself, she went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

She at least knew the money part of his world was accurate. Riley’s shopping addiction rivaled her gaming addiction. Only one of them could actually support the habit, and it wasn’t her.

After taking her medicine, she moved into her bedroom, now armed with a chef’s knife from the knife block on her counter. It was still early, and she didn’t want to take another shower, even though she felt sweaty and gross. It wouldn’t matter when toweling off would only make her sweat again.

She sat on the edge of her bed, placing the knife on the nightstand within arm’s reach of where she slept.

Going to bed early wouldn’t kill her. She needed to get up early anyway to go file a report at the police station. So much for a long weekend.

She couldn’t continue living this way.

She needed total darkness to sleep; but tonight, every light in her apartment remained on. Until the police caught whoever broke into her apartment, it would stay that way.

6

ON HER OWN

Charlotte’s stomach twisted with anxiety as she stood in the silent parking lot staring up at the gabled roof of the Department of Police Services building. The entrance to the open-air passageway loomed, casting dark shadows across the glass wall at the front of the police station.

Taking a slow, steady breath, she stepped forward from the asphalt to the concrete sidewalk, only to startle at laughter erupting behind her.

Her palm met the large square pillar beside her as she watched two officers walk past her, deep in lighthearted conversation.

“Get it together,” she mumbled to herself.