The Redemption (Charlotte Bloom Book 2) (20 page)

Soon, an older officer walked around the desk to us.

“If you’ll follow me,” he said, gesturing to the back. He was speaking to both of us. I stood and looked at Helen and George.

“Go home. I’ll call Mary when I’m done,” I said. They both looked so tired.

“Are you sure?” Helen asked, standing to hug me.

“Yes,” I whispered, clutching her.

George gave me a quick hug, and then they left. It was just Alec, Natasha, and me… how
comfortable.

“Miss? Are you coming?”

“Yes, sorry,” I said, catching up to them. I saw a few people eye me, and I held my head up and kept walking behind Natasha, who even without heels was still inches taller than me.
Bitch.

We walked down a long hallway and the officer gestured for us to enter the room—an interrogation room.
Great.
I walked behind Natasha as she entered, and I heard voices.

“…my wife, Natasha,” Alec said, standing. He bent down and kissed her… on the lips. I clutched the doorframe as he grabbed her and pulled her in. I felt my throat constrict and I almost threw up all over the white linoleum floor. I felt as though my heart was shattering. I clutched my chest as I swayed, wishing Helen and George had stayed after all.
What the hell was going on?

“And this is?” The officer at the interrogation table pointed to me.

Alec pulled away from Natasha and took her hand. He didn’t even look at me as he uttered the words that broke my heart into a million pieces.

“This is my friend, Charlotte Bloom,” he said. He looked down.
Fucking coward.

“Alec,” I whispered, hoping this was some kind of sick joke.

“I think it would be best if you left,” he said, looking up at me. His gaze was cold and unfriendly. He waved to the door. “I’ll call you.”

My mouth hung open in a silent “O”. This could not be real. There was no way.

“Alec,” I said. “Please.”

“Charlotte, just leave. Now,” he said edgily, shaking his head in exasperation.

The officer at the table cleared his throat, and the officer who’d escorted us turned to take me away, reaching for my arm.

“Goodbye, Alec,” I whispered, a sob escaping my lips. I heard Natasha say something to Alec, and when the officer had me outside the door of the interrogation room, she ran after me.

“Charlotte, wait,” she said, coming up behind me and turning me around. We were too far away now to be within earshot of Alec. The officer who’d escorted me out stood there irritably, his arms crossed, waiting for us to finish. “I owe you an explanation.
We
owe you an explanation,” she said.

“There is no
we
, Natasha. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but Alec loves me. I know he does,” I yelled, not caring if anyone else heard me, including Alec.

“It’s complicated. We’ve been together for almost eight years. He’s the love of my life,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders. “Clearly, this is all some kind of misunderstanding. When I talked to Alec last week, he said he didn’t even want to file the divorce papers, so we held off. Our relationship is tumultuous, but passionate. We’ve been in love for a long time.” She glanced at the officer briefly. He was listening intently.

“He. Does. Not. Love. You,” I said through gritted teeth. I could feel the tears starting to stream down my face.

“I’m sorry, Charlotte. When we slept together last month, we promised each other that we would try and work it out.”

My head spun, and I felt like I was going to faint.

“You
slept
together?”

“I thought he told you?” she frowned. “Men can be so unkind,” she added, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I thought he told you… it was a few weeks ago, when you were in L.A.”

“This isn’t happening,” I said slowly, closing my eyes and willing myself to wake up from this nightmare. When I opened my eyes, Natasha was still there, looking at me with pity.

“We just have a connection, Charlotte. Are we good for each other? Probably not. But he’s my husband, and I owe it to him to try and make it work.”

“We already rented a house together…” I said, desolately. “Just down the road from the Parc.”

She shrugged her shoulders and looked at me sympathetically. She reached out and stroked my arm.

“I’m sorry, Charlotte. I have to go. My husband needs me,” she said, clearly adding the husband part to sting me. “Good luck with everything.” She turned on her heels and left.

I stood there for a few seconds, digesting everything. I couldn’t do a single damn thing. The love of my life was in a room with his
wife
, and I was nothing to him. He’d dismissed me so easily, so quickly… and he’d
slept
with her? That was the part that had slammed me. He’d always told me they’d never been physical. He’d always said it was purely to help her out—that he’d never been attracted to her. Maybe he’d lied. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t proposed yet. He was still waiting to see if things would work out with Natasha.

“Miss?” the officer prompted, gesturing to the door to the waiting room—the room where the
mistresses
hung out, I presumed. “Do you need an escort home?”

I stared up at him, my mouth gaping open. Was I being dismissed?

“Do I need to go home?”

“Well, er, no,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “I just thought… they’ll be in there a while,” he added. “We’d be happy to drive you home.”

“That’s OK. I’ll wait.” I wasn’t going to run away again. I had promised Alec I wouldn’t leave again. I had promised him that I wouldn’t break his heart again.

“Very well then,” he said, looking at me as if I was crazy.

I slumped into the bench and cried silently into my hands, completely overwhelmed. My first instinct had been to run. That was always my gut reaction. That was what had led me to Wales in the first place, but now was not a time to run away. I deserved an explanation from Alec, if nothing else. There had to be some kind of misunderstanding.

I tried not to think about anything too much. The longer I waited, the more I pictured Alec and Natasha kissing—their tall, lean bodies meshing together, sleeping together… the thought sent me into a fit of hysteric sobs. One of the officers brought me tissues. I didn’t even care what I looked like at that point.

I checked my phone. It was almost three in the morning now, and I could feel the heavy pull of sleep. I kicked my shoes off and pulled my knees into my chest, dozing uncomfortably and fitfully. I kept waking up, thinking this was all a nightmare, and then the station would come into focus, and the heavy dread would set in again. I felt nauseous and angry. It felt like someone was punching me in the gut repeatedly.

I was dozing, laying across the bench in the fetal position, when one of the officers nudged me awake. I shot up, wiping the drool off of my face.

“Everything checks out with your friend.”

“Huh?”

“We’re letting him go. Everything checks out. They have pictures, phone records, letters, and even an apartment lease. I’m… I’m sorry that I’m the one to have to tell you. They have quite a history.”

I doubled over, imagining the pictures of Alec and Natasha.
Oh God, maybe they had wedding pictures…

Suddenly, the waiting room door swung open and in walked Alec and Natasha. I stood quickly, glaring at Natasha before looking expectantly at Alec, waiting for him to say something. He kept his gaze downcast, not making eye contact. I stepped forward, and that’s when I noticed that Alec and Natasha were holding hands.

“Alec?” I asked, my voice weak from crying. He shook his head and closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Charlotte,” he said, his voice breaking. “I can’t be with you. Natasha and I owe it to each other to work it out,” he said robotically.

“You… you’re leaving me?”

“Yes.” He looked at me now, and his eyes were blank, unsmiling. The penetrating gaze he usually held with me was gone, replaced with a vacant, empty look. There was nothing left. He was already gone.

“But… the goats. The chickens. We… we have flights booked,” I pleaded.

He shook his head.

I looked at Natasha. She was looking at him solemnly. She spoke.

“He didn’t want to hurt you,” Natasha added, and I saw her squeeze his hand. “This is for the best.”

“You bitch,” I whispered, ready to scratch her eyes out. I took a step towards her.

“Charlotte,” Alec warned. “Enough.” He held a hand out to stop me, and looked at me with pure… hatred? Loathing?

I took a step back, and I saw that all of the officers were watching us, waiting for me to leave.

“Are you going home with her?”

“Yes.”

“To the apartment you leased together?”

“Yes,” he breathed, looking down.

“Well, then I guess I better go.” I grabbed my shoes and coat. Natasha handed me my purse, and I whipped it out of her hand, glowering at her as I did it. “Goodbye, Alec. I’m leaving. And this time, I’m not coming back,” I hissed. “Have a nice life.”

He winced as I said it, and I was glad. I was glad to be the one hurting
him
for a change. He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket—where I’d placed it after our tryst earlier. He took out a wad of hundred pound notes and held them out to me.

“Here. To get you back to L.A.,” he said, looking at me sorrowfully.

Was this a joke?

“I don’t want your fucking money,” I spat, taking the money and throwing it back at his face. He closed his eyes.
I want to hurt you, Alec. I want to hurt you like you hurt me.

I turned and walked out, trying to keep my composure, but knowing I would break down at any moment. I just had to get out of there… I could feel the tears springing from my eyes.
Just a few more steps…

I got outside the building, noticing the pink sunrise briefly before I felt myself start to fall. It was as if someone had kicked me over, and a dawning realization hit me.

Alec was leaving me.

Alec was leaving me.

Alec was leaving me.

I felt myself implode, and I wretched onto the street, my stomach emptying its contents violently and quickly. I clutched the side of the building as the world twisted around me, and everything went black.

***

“What do you mean
he left her here?
” I heard Mary’s voice screeching at someone, presumably the officer. Warm, sturdy arms had lifted me up and were carrying me. I briefly opened my eyes to see Henry transferring me to their car as Mary kept yelling. “He wouldn’t have just
left
the love of his life in the middle of the parking lot, passed out,” she argued, and I wanted to open my mouth and tell her, but I couldn’t find the words.
He chose her.

“Mr. Baxter and his wife had some business to attend to. They’ll be back later today to give a statement about their marriage, to clear their records. I’d… I’d look after your friend there. It seems Mr. Baxter and Mrs. Veselovsky are working things out, if you know what I mean. I don’t think she took it very well.”

I opened my eyes then and looked over at Mary, who was staring at the officer with such vehemence, I had to stifle a laugh. At least my friends had my back.

“It’s true,” I croaked. “He left me.”

Mary spun around and watched me as Henry set me down in the passenger seat of Henry’s car.

“Oh my god, Charlotte…” she whispered, coming over to me. “What happened?”

The officer nodded and left, clearly uncomfortable. Mary and Henry got into the car, and we started off.

“I don’t know,” I answered weakly. “I called Natasha, and she met me at the station. We went to go see him and they… they kissed.”

“What?” Henry snapped his head towards me. “Are you sure?”

I frowned at him.

“Oh, I’m sure. It wasn’t a friendly peck either. It was a full-on, hands running through their hair, make out session.”

“But…” Mary spoke, and then trailed off, shaking her head in confusion.

“And then he told me to leave. He demanded that I leave. But I didn’t. I sat in the waiting room most of the night, trying to sleep, trying to make sense of everything. Natasha came out and told me that they’d slept together, that they loved each other, and that they’d promised each other that they would try to make it work this time.”

“But Alec never loved her,” Henry murmured. “He’s my best mate. I can guarantee that he never loved her, not like he loves you.”

“Yeah, well, he chose
her
, and then when they came out of the interrogation room, they were holding hands. He said he was sorry, and that… that he was leaving me,” I said as a single teardrop fell down my cheek.

“That doesn’t sound like Alec at all,” Henry said, looking at me. “What else happened?”