Charlotte After Dark

Chapter 50: Don't Give Me a Reason

"Where is she?" Luca's voice bellowed, echoing through the house as I stood outside his office. It sent a strong shockwave of fear through me as I jumped back. I had never heard his voice so angered before.

The door opened to reveal Joaquin, with a displeased look on his face.

"Come on," he told me, gesturing for me to enter the study before he followed me back in. I felt like I was walking into Luca's study, ready to be slaughtered. Luca's face was bathed in seething anger, his eyes narrowed as I entered. Had he required to need to breathe, I was sure that his chest would have been heaving heavily. I tried my best to avoid his direct line of site, but he made it difficult. He wanted me to look him in the eyes.

"I have his assistant on the phone," Pallas said. She tried to look at Luca with an empty expression, desperate to mask her fear of him in this moment. If Pallas had something to fear in Luca, I knew I was absolutely in deep trouble.

Luca slammed his fist on the desk. The desk resisted his strength, with a loathsome sound of cracking wood as both Pallas and I jumped back. Joaquin stood behind us resolute, but I felt his hand catch me in the small of my back as I recoiled from Luca's display of dissatisfaction. I found an odd sense of comfort in Joaquin's small gesture, but noticed that he didn't offer it to Pallas.

"I don't want his assistant. I want him. If he can't even come to the phone, maybe it's better I come to his office," Luca replied, his voice harsh as he spoke to Pallas. The way he enunciated his words made the evidence of his ire even greater. It sent cold chills through my body. If that was how he was speaking towards Beauregard Callendar, I didn't want to imagine how he was going to speak to me.

"He wants to know if it's better that he come down to Mr. Callendar's office. Tonight," Pallas stressed as she hastened her exit from the room. I envied her. There was nothing more I wanted to do than to escape this room.

"Sit down," Luca commanded me without giving me so much as a glance. He turned his chair around to face the large window that stood situated from his desk as he looked out at the small enclave where he had given me the gift of the book, Fountainhead, which I hadn't even opened yet. He ran a hand through his dark hair and let out a disgruntled sigh.

I took my seat eagerly, unwilling to set any more of Luca's anger towards me. His anger overcame me like a wave and it surely would have suffocated me if I still needed to breathe. It felt like a tight grip had been placed around my entire body, paralyzing me. To be frank, Luca was pissed.

As we took our seats, Luca spun the seat back to face us, but his displeased expression still remained. Joaquin remained rigid beside me in his seat, his back not even touching the back of his chair.

"Explain," Luca instructed.

"Well--" I began but Luca interrupted me.

"From him. I have no inclination for your contemptuous and superfluous expression this evening," Luca stated, grabbing the bridge of his nose as he spoke. I imagined that I gave him a lot of headaches because he seemed to do this frequently in my presence. I felt a hard lump grow in my throat as Luca talked to me with disdain. I was sure he didn't care how his tone made me feel.

Joaquin stretched out his arms and let out a centering sigh before he began his explanation.

"Charlotte finished her lesson early at Lestrange's so I decided she deserved to see something other than the concrete walls of Lestrange's warehouse or her bedroom. So I took her to the Liberty Bell, as it's only a few blocks from Lestrange's location, and Lycaon's Corner is relatively benign these days."