Chapter 5 - THE BROTHER WHO SOLD HER“No.”
Charmian stared at the photograph.
Vincent said nothing.
“No.”
She took the phone.
Tommy looked healthier than she expected.
Clean clothes.
No bruises.
No restraints.
He stood beside Gideon holding a drink.
The timestamp was two days earlier.
Charmian shook her head.
“He wouldn’t.”
Vincent hated what he had to say.
“He already did.”
They returned to the estate.
Charmian sat in the kitchen where Vincent had first found her.
This time no dishes filled the sink.
No blood.
Only silence.
Aleandro laid out evidence.
Tommy’s gambling debt had been manufactured.
Gideon supplied money through Petrov intermediaries.
Tommy intentionally accumulated debt.
Then disappeared.
The objective was to pressure Charmian into searching through her mother’s belongings.
Tommy knew about the necklace.
He simply did not know where Evelyn had hidden it.
Charmian listened without crying.
That worried Vincent more.
“Why?”
Her voice was almost empty.
Aleandro hesitated.
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Gideon promised him two million.”
Charmian laughed once.
“My brother sold me for two million dollars.”
Vincent corrected her.
“No.”
She looked up.
“He tried.”
The distinction mattered to Vincent.
Charmian stood.
“I want to see him.”
“No.”
“You don’t decide that.”
“Currently, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re angry enough to walk into a trap.”
“So are you.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admit it.”
She started toward the door.
Vincent caught her wrist.
Charmian flinched.
He immediately released her.
The bruise.
The Petrovs.
Gideon.
Too many men had grabbed her.
Vincent stepped backward.
“I won’t stop you physically.”
Charmian stared.
“But if you go after Tommy tonight, you’ll be doing exactly what Gideon expects.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Go to school.”
She almost screamed.
“My brother sold me, my mother was murdered, and you want me to attend economics?”
“Yes.”
“You’re insane.”
“Probably.”
Vincent leaned against the counter.
“But Gideon has spent weeks controlling your choices through fear.”
His voice softened.
“Do one thing tomorrow because you choose it.”
That landed.
The next morning, Charmian returned to St. Jude’s.
Students stared at her fading bruises.
She kept walking.
Professor Hannah Webb allowed her to retake the missed midterm.
Not because Vincent threatened anyone.
Charmian asked.
Professor Webb listened.
Then simply said, “Life happened. Sit down.”
Charmian scored ninety-four.
When she returned to the estate, Vincent was waiting outside.
“How?”
She tried not to smile.
“Ninety-four.”
“Terrible.”
Her mouth opened.
“I missed six points.”
“Exactly.”
She realized he was teasing.
“You’re unbelievably annoying.”
“I’ve been told.”
It was the first time she laughed around him.
Something changed.
Not romance.
Not yet.
Trust.
Fragile.
Unexpected.
Vincent handed her an envelope.
Inside was a tuition statement.
Paid.
Charmian’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
“It’s handled.”
“No.”
She shoved it back.
“I don’t want your money.”
“It isn’t charity.”
“It literally is.”
“Then repay it.”
“How?”
“Graduate.”
She stared.
Vincent continued.
“My father established an education fund years ago. It’s been sitting mostly unused.”
That was partially true.
He had reactivated it that morning.
Charmian narrowed her eyes.
“You’re manipulating definitions.”
“Yes.”
“At least you’re honest.”
“Occasionally.”
She accepted the envelope reluctantly.
But peace lasted less than an hour.
Aleandro entered.
“We found Tommy.”
A motel outside Detroit.
Vincent looked at Charmian.
She was already reaching for her coat.
This time he did not stop her.
They traveled together.
Tommy opened the motel door.
Charmian punched him.
Hard.
He stumbled backward.
Vincent remained in the hallway.
“That was satisfying,” Aleandro muttered.
Charmian entered.
“How could you?”
Tommy touched his bleeding nose.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
“I was drowning.”
“So you drowned me?”
“I thought Gideon only wanted Mom’s files.”
“You let men beat me.”
“I didn’t know Viktor would—”
“Stop.”
Her voice broke.
“You always say you didn’t know.”
Tommy looked down.
Charmian’s anger became grief.
“I spent my whole life saving you.”
Tommy whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You’re sorry the plan failed.”
That hit him.
Tommy sat.
Then he began crying.
Gideon had promised him money.
Instead, after obtaining the ledger, Gideon planned to kill him.
Tommy finally understood he was disposable.
“I can help.”
Vincent entered.
“How?”
Tommy looked terrified.
“Gideon is meeting someone tomorrow.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
Tommy gave them the location.
Then he looked at Charmian.
“Will you forgive me?”
She stood.
“I don’t know.”
Tommy’s face collapsed.
Charmian continued.
“But I’m done destroying myself to rescue you.”
She walked out.
Vincent followed.
Outside, she cried.
He stood beside her without touching her.
After several minutes she said, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Because nothing I say makes that better.”
She looked at him.
“That might be the smartest thing you’ve ever said.”
“I’ll try not to repeat it.”
She laughed through tears.
Then unexpectedly leaned against his shoulder.
Vincent became perfectly still.
He had held dying men.
Buried friends.
Ordered violence without blinking.
Yet a nineteen-year-old student trusting him enough to rest her head against his shoulder frightened him in an entirely different way.
He looked down at her.
And understood something dangerous.
Protection had become personal.
Which meant he needed boundaries.
Because Charmian was nineteen, employed in his home, financially vulnerable, and dependent on his protection.
Whatever feeling was beginning inside him had no right to become hers to manage.
He stepped gently away.
“Come on.”
Charmian looked confused.
“Where?”
“Home.”
But behind them, Aleandro’s phone rang.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Vincent asked.
Aleandro looked toward Tommy’s motel room.
“Tommy’s location was bait.”
Vincent went cold.
“Meaning?”
“The Costa estate just lost power.”
Charmian’s face drained.
The ledger copy was there.
So were Vincent’s servers.
But Gideon had made one mistake.
Vincent had not left the original evidence inside the estate.
May you like
He had placed it somewhere no criminal in his world would willingly search.
Inside Charmian’s college.
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