𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

ninety eight.

─☼☼☼─

𝙍𝘼𝙁𝙀

𝙎𝙃𝙊𝘾𝙆 𝙍𝙄𝙋𝙋𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙄𝙏𝙎 way through the group as they all laid eyes on Charlotte. They couldn't believe they'd found her. It seemed like one in a million, yet here she was.

Rafe held onto her as tight as possible, never wanting to let go. Charlotte's arms snaked around his waist, her grasp was just as tight on him.

She sobbed into his chest, and all Rafe could do for a moment was comfort her. He pressed kisses to the top of her head, whispering assurances over and over again.

Despite the fact that he could have held onto her like that for forever, Rafe was relieved when Charlotte pulled back slightly to look at him. He wanted to get a good look at her, to make sure she was actually okay,

Her lip was swollen and split, meaning someone had likely hit hurt. Rafe knew the minute he laid eyes on the son of a bitch who'd done that to her, he'd make them wish they never touched his Lottie.

He reached out, running a thumb over her lip gently. Charlotte didn't flinch, just looked up at him with her wide, brown eyes.

"How did you─" It was only now that she seemed to realize that there were more people here aside from her and Rafe. Her lips trembled at the sight of her friends, so grateful to see them all. And then she looked back to Rafe, and her expression said it all. She couldn't believe he'd agreed to work with the Pogues...but she knew he'd done it for her, and that made her love him more than she could ever explain.

Rafe still held her as close as he could while still being able to look at her face. Her eyes held a story, the trauma she had suffered in the past day or so.

"Don't worry about it right now," he shushed gently. "Just know that you're safe."

Although Rafe wished that it had just been them standing there, he was soon reminded that it wasn't.

"Who's blood is that?" The Maybank kid demanded, physically removing Charlotte from Rafe so he could get a good look at her.

Charlotte dragged her eyes up to meet his, giving him a small shake of her head. "It's not mine." She said gently, tears settling in her eyes once again. "It's Mateo's."

JJ had no idea who she was talking about, but Rafe and Kiara did. A small gasp flew from Kiara's lips. "Charley, what happened?"

Clearing her throat, Charlotte shook away the tears. "Ryan," she answered. "One of Singh's men...he has a gun. Mateo tried to save me and—" She cut herself off, unable to finish her thought.

Rafe cut in between her and JJ, once again taking Charlotte into his arms. "It's okay, baby." He assured, wrapping his arms around her in a way that he hoped made her feel like she was protected from the world around her.

"So what I'm hearing is that we need to get moving?" Cleo questioned, an impatience on her features.

Pope nodded in agreement, "Yeah, if he's out here with a gun then we need to get the hell out of here."

Looking down at Charlotte, Rafe let out a sigh, "Can we not just let Lottie rest for a minute?"

Charlotte shook her head, taking a small step back from him. "I'm okay." She assured. "Pope and Cleo are right. We should move."