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Vidar hated the fact he was bringing Charlie some place he knew she wasn’t comfortable going and where there were people who acted against her. But once she had got the idea about the dinner invitation into her mind, she just wouldn’t let it go. The woman he loved
had a stubborn streak the size of the Atlantic Ocean.
“Remember, if you feel uncomfortable or if they try something, I will take you out of here and we will go back home,” he told her as they were walking up to the moderate house.
“I will. As long as you remember to not snarl, growl, hiss, or make any other non-human sound when Rose is close by. Huxton, Tyson and the boys will be here as well, so we aren’t alone,” she reminded him. Vidar nodded and k*ssed her temple. It had been Vidar that had informed Tyson about the upcoming dinner, and he had informed his husband, who had secured an invitation. Of course, neither Tyson nor Huxton knew why Charlie and he were really there. The official story was that Charlie wanted to reconnect with her father. After Charlie knocked on the door, it was opened by a woman a few years younger than Charlie. Her blue eyes and blond hair set her apart from Charlie and Huxton. Still, Vidar had no doubt that this was Charlie’s half-sister. She smiled at him while ignoring Charlie. Vidar had to bite back. a growl. Great, this was going amazing already.
“Hello, you must be Mr Grim. I’m Sophie. Please come in,” she said, standing back and opening the door. That is when Vidar saw what the woman was wearing and by the way Charlie tensed, she had noticed too. A napkin would have covered more than the bright red.
dress did.
“A pleasure,” Vidar said as he let Charlie enter before him.
“Sophie,” Charlie greeted her sister.
“Oh, hello,” Sophie answered, as it was the first time she had noticed Charlie. Vidar let Charlie walk ahead of him, his hand on her lower back. They walked into a living room where the rest of the family stood. Vidar saw the fury in Huxton’s and Tyson’s eyes before he felt Charlie tense up under his hand. Something was wrong and Vidar’s senses went into fight mode and when he saw an unknown man standing beside Charlie’s stepmother, he assumed he was the reason for the negative mood.
“Donald?” Charme asked just delve via our a sup E LUNA VE
her and the man, apparently named Donald.
“Isn’t it a nice surprise?” Rose chirped happily. “I ran into Donald the other day and he couldn’t stop talking about how much he missed you, and he has always been such a nice young man. I invited him over.” Before she had finished speaking, Vidar found he wasn’t alone blocking Charlie from this Donald. Tyson and Huxton had joined him.
“Honestly. Why would you invite her ex to dinner when you know she is bringing her boyfriend?” Tyson asked. Vidar had already guessed this man was a former boyfriend of Charlie’s. But having it confirmed made him even more weary. By the reaction from Huxton. and Tyson, it hadn’t been a good relationship. Even Charlie’s father looked uncomfortable.
“Why is everyone so worked up over Donald?” Sophie asked as she walked into the room. “Mommy was very kind to invite him. I will entertain Mr Grim and Charlie can have a talk with Donald,” she suggested.
“Oh, that’s a lovely idea. Isn’t she kind? Thinking of others all the time,” Rose praised her
daughter. “And to be honest, I do think Mr Grim would prefer Sophie’s company.”
“That is out of the question. We are leaving,” Vidar said.
“So are we,” Huxton agreed. “I really thought Charlie was being her stubborn self, not forgiving you, dad. What you did was wrong in so many ways. But I honestly thought you had realised how wrong it was and genuinely wanted to make it better. And now you do this? Charlie has been right all along. None of you are allowed near my children from today and I don’t want to see you around our house. If we need to communicate, use the phone.”
“Huxton! Is that the way to speak to your father?” Rose gasped.
“Don’t try to act indignant with me, Rose. I know what you made my father do to Charlie. I should have understood that there was no hope of fixing it. And don’t think I have forgotten about your reaction when I came out to you. I have had enough. We’re leaving,” Huxton said. He and Tyson walked over to the twins that were playing on the floor and picked them up. Vidar had already turned him and Charlie around and was making sure she walked towards. the door, keeping his senses trained on the rest of the people in the room. As the four of them got outside and to their cars, they paused for a while to give Charlie a chance to cuddle
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with the twins and for everyone to calm down a little before driving.
“f**k, I had no idea they would go this far,” Huxton said.
“Hux, darling, not in front of the children,” Tyson reminded his husband. “Thank you Vidar for keeping baby sis safe,” Tyson then said as he rubbed soothing circles on Huxton’s back.
“No need to thank me,” Vidar told him. His arm was around Charlie as she talked to Liam,
who was in her arms.
“You act like I was in some danger, it wasn’t that bad,” she said in a singsong voice.
“It was f**king Donald. I should go back in there and turn him into purée,” Tyson said in a dark voice. It made Vidar’s eyebrow go up in a question. Tyson had been the gentler of the pair, protective of Charlie, but kind and warm. Now he sounded like a trained killing machine. Huxton chuckled at Vidar’s surprised face.
“My lovely husband is one of the highest scoring MMA fighters. Just because he is retired. doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the temper. And love, I thought you told me off for swearing in
front of the kids,” he said.
“I know, I know. He just gets me so angry,” Tyson fumed.
“You are all really sweet, and I appreciate it. I suspect this was all some strange scheme to get Sophie alone with Vidar. You know, it must be killing Rose that I’m seeing someone like Vidar when Sophie isn’t. They probably thought they could dangle Donald in front of me and make me forget about Vidar, as if,” Charlie snorted as she handed Liam back to his father.
Vidar blinked down at her. Now that she had said it, he could see the evidence of it and he thought Tyson’s idea sounded better by the minute.
“You are probably right. But why settle for a bad copy when you can have the premium?” Tyson chuckled. They all said goodbye and left. The car was silent for a long while.
“Are you going to ask?” Charlie wondered after a while.
“Is it okay for me to ask? Judging by the reaction of Huxton and Tyson, it has to be bad,” Vidar said, taking her hand in his. She intertwined their fingers and k*ssed the back of his
hand.
“Until I met you, the few relationships I have had have been catastrophes. But Donald was the biggest and worst of them all,” she said. “It’s embarrassing how cliché it is. But when I started dating him, I loved how much he needed me. He needed my help with his exams, he needed help to buy clothes, he needed help financially. And I was desperate to be needed, because if he needed me, then he wouldn’t leave me,” she confessed. Vidar could feel how uneasy she was about telling him this. He knew what a gift it was for her to show this vulnerable s
side of herself. “Huxton tried to tell me what a bad boyfriend Donald was. Even Tyson told me, this was around the time the two of them started seeing each other, so me and Tyson didn’t know each other as well as we do now. Donald convinced me that my family was against us, and he told me how romantic it would be to run away and get married together.”
“Did you marry him?” Vidar asked. There had been no information about a marriage in her background check.
“No,” she sighed. “We took my car and drove to Vegas. I booked us an hotel room. I don’t know if he got cold feet, or if it was his plan all along. But as I tried on dresses, he took my purse which had all my money, my car keys and our hotel key in it. I later discovered he had cleaned me out completely, maxed all my cards and taken my car. I was left stranded in Vegas without a penny to my name. As luck would have it, the bridle shop owner took pity on me and let me call home. I begged my father to come and get me, or to send me money for a bus ticket. But he said he didn’t have the time and to see it as a good learning opportunity. Huxton was in Europe with Tyson, but Lilly came and got me without hesitation.”
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“Did he contact you after that?” Vidar asked. The rage was bubbling inside of him.
“No, that was the last time I saw him until today. After him, I decided I needed to stay away from boys for a while. Almost two years later I met you and you got me realising the difference between boys and men,” she told him.