Page 206 of The Grand Duel

“He’s served two, hasn’t he? Lance. Eight years seems harsh given the complexity of the situation.”

“There were two paramedics working on Nina when it happened. They testified against him. Once the jury heard theiraccount of things, it wasn’t good. I knew we were done. I saw the looks on their faces.”

“I’m sorry, Charlie. Truly. What happened is awful and not fair.”

He nods, as if it’s all he can manage. “He’s not good alone,” he says absentmindedly, as if the thought often plagues him. “Lance, I mean.”

My throat is thick with the emotion that sits with us on this porch, but I don’t speak. Not yet. I consider myself lucky, knowing not many people get this side of Charles. This broken man I’ve come to care so much about.

“I have people who watch out for him inside, but he’s the fucking worst man when he’s on his own.”

“Has he ever said why he doesn’t want to see any of you?”

He’s shaking his head before I can finish. “It’s Lance through and through. He thinks he’s a burden to us. To Scar mostly. He’ll want her to move on—not that I’d ever tell her that.”

“Would she?”

He looks at me and smiles. “Not in a million years. They’ll grow old together, those two.”

I smile back at him. “I’m sorry he won’t see you.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“You have good friends. I can’t imagine sharing so much of myself with so many people. It seems exhausting from the outside.”

“They can be. I told you they all come with their own mess.”

“Don’t we all?”

“We do,” he tells me, his eyes back on me and searing deep. “Sometimes I think they think I’m this saviour to them, always having the answers, but really, they saved me.”

I don’t move a muscle. “Saved you from what, Charles?”

“Myself.” I see the contemplation on his face as he battles telling me. “I’d be where Lance is if it wasn’t for him and Mason.”

I frown when he drops his gaze.

“You can talk to me. Tell me anything.”

“I know I can,” he replies. “I’m just not sure you’d think much of me after.”

“Try me.”

He looks across at me. “I planned to have my sister’s rapist beaten to within an inch of his life after she died. I called it off after Mason and Lance talked me out of it.”

I roll my lips, my heart bleeding out for him. For his pain. I can’t even begin to imagine how he must have felt at that time. How I’d feel if it was my sister.

“It still happened.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, confused. “He was beaten up?”

He nods. “Mason and Lance knew it was happening and let it go ahead. They never told me, not for years, too worried I’d lose everything and hate myself for it. They swore they’d take the blame if it ever came out, even now to this day.”

“Well, you’re not to blame. You didn’t even know it was happening.”

His eyes focus on me. “I should have been to blame. I wanted the blame. It was my sister. My mess.”

My heart aches for him. “They were trying to protect you.”