Mafia Queen

Chapter Seventeen

Luca

The house was quiet when I walked in the door. I had taken way longer than I thought, and wouldn't be surprised if Charlotte had fallen asleep. I had to field a frantic call from Serena, who was having second thoughts about this entire thing. She thought Niko was on to her, but I assured her everything was in her mind. Tomorrow this would all be over and we could all move on and pretend that Niko was never in our lives.

The light in the kitchen was still on and when I walked in, I saw two empty wine bottles and an empty bottle of tequila on the counter. My heart beat skyrocketed, hoping Charlotte hadn't consumed all of that herself. Even if someone had been here, that was still a lot of alcohol.

I hurried up the stairs, wanting to find her and make sure she was okay. Charlotte could hold her alcohol, but by the looks of things, she could have easily drank herself into a coma tonight.

"Char?"

I was both relieved and worried when I heard soft cries coming from our bathroom. I opened the door slowly. Charlotte was crouched on the floor with her head in her hands and a half full wineglass on the floor next to her. I picked it up and poured the rest of it down the drain.

"Charlotte? Can you hear me?" I bent down next to her, cautiously putting my hand on her back. She was more drunk than I had seen her in a long time. "I'm going to sit down, okay?"

She didn't even flinch when I touched her, which was a good sign. Charlotte was pretty predictable when she was drunk, either incredibly irritable or emotional and overly lovey. With any luck, I'd get the latter tonight.

"Baby, are you okay? Can I get you some water?" I scooted closer, letting my leg fall against hers.

"I'm fine." She whispered, her head still between her knees.

"What can I do to make this better?" My voice broke. It was so hard to see her like this. She was usually so strong and resilient, and it was like a shock to my system to see her falling apart at the seams like this.

"I don't know." Her voice was breathy. "I want to go to sleep, but all I see every time I shut my eyes is you with her. Touching her. Kissing her. Fucking her. And I get it. That might be the worst part. I know things have been off between us and I understand that you want something newer and less..." She let out a heavy sob, and I couldn't take it anymore.

"Charlotte, look at me." I grabbed her chin, tilting her face to me. "I haven't slept with her. I haven't kissed her. And I haven't even touched her except for when I let her cry on me after she told me about all the horrible things her husband has done to her and hundreds of other women."

She swallowed tears back, a slight frown on her face.

"Do not ever for one second think that I'm unhappy or unsatisfied with you or whatever you've got on your mind. I married you because I knew you were the only woman I was ever capable of fully giving myself to and fully loving. Because I was a thousand percent sure I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life. No matter how 'off' we get or whatever is going on between us. Even my worst days with you and our family are ten times better than anything I could ever have with anyone else. I'm more attracted to you now than I was even in the beginning. This isn't about sex, it's not about me being bored, it's about nothing other than work. And I'm so fucking sorry that I let it collide with our personal lives the way it has."

I may have said all of that for nothing considering how drunk she was, but we had a history of having the important conversations on the bathroom floor, and I needed to get it off of my chest. I needed her to hear it.

"I've told you before that there are times when you won't be able to know all the details, and unfortunately, this is one of those times. Serena is married to a man I'm trying to take down. A disgusting, ruthless man who prays on innocent women and who is getting dangerously close to home for me. It had to look like an affair so that he wouldn't see it coming. We met in the hotel room so he would think she was working, and I paid her each time. The pictures were photoshopped. Every single one of them. And I know how shady this all sounds, especially with the pictures, but when this is all done tomorrow, I'll bring her here and she can tell you herself."