Charon’s Chaos: Excerpt

Valentina

Happy people were the absolute worst.

The trip to North Carolina to attend a wedding for people she barely knew might have been at least somewhat tolerable if Ian fucking Paxton had let her stay in her hotel room and didn’t hunt her down whenever she tried to find a quiet place to be by herself.

At least he left her alone as long as she stayed within sight. It seemed he’d finally gotten tired of dealing with her. Lord knew it took him long enough to get the message through his thick skull.

She didn’t want to talk to anyone—much less him. He was a reminder of a Valentina Lopez who didn’t exist anymore, and she absolutely refused to think about how gorgeous he looked in a kilt and white tuxedo shirt with jet studs and an honest-to-God bow tie.

He’d gotten a haircut and a shave, making him look like the man she’d once known back in the day with expertly trimmed brown hair and stylish stubble that used to feel amazing between her legs.

She pushed her relationship with Ian back into the nope box where it belonged and refused to think about it.

Past Val would have partnered with Sean Franklin’s elderly grandfather, who could dance an amazing rhumba. She might also have been front and center for the bouquet toss instead of hiding behind a live oak draped in Spanish moss.

Past Val was the life of the fucking party.

She definitely would have been fangirling over her professional idol, Gabrielle Knox. Meeting her should have been the best day of Val’s life instead of yet another endless period of wakefulness until she could drink herself to sleep and pray for just a few hours without nightmares.

After scooting her stool to the end of the bar, she ignored the bartender’s arched eyebrow and took a swig from the bottle of tequila she’d swiped. Although she contemplated finding another hiding spot, Ian had already found her behind the tree. Also, in the bathroom, the car, and in the sea grass with a piece of driftwood concealing her.

Of course, sitting in a bunch of prickly foliage wasn’t one of her smartest ideas. The bugs were vicious, and her calves were spotted with bites.

All she needed was a minute. Just one chance to get away and go where she needed to be without Ian dogging her footsteps. She couldn’t keep living like this, and she was running out of time.

“Hey, Val?”

Her teeth clenched at the sound of Carrie’s voice, and she resisted the urge to find another hiding spot. She was Val’s best friend, but after what happened…

Val took another few swallows from her bottle before turning to face her. “Hi Carrie. You look great.”

She did too. Her cheeks had filled out, and she’d lost the gaunt weariness that had broken Val’s heart for months after they’d first met. Instead of the disgusting brown burlap sack dresses forced upon her by her father’s cult, Carrie wore a blue sundress strewn with pink peonies and a wide-brimmed white hat perched on her wavy red hair. Her sandals revealed toes painted with sparkly pink polish.

Apparently, being married to Ryan Wood, one of the Four Horsemen, suited her.

However, she was the last person Val wanted to talk to—even less so than Ian. Carrie didn’t need to hear her unload about how fucking furious she was—especially when her issues weren’t Carrie’s fault.

She’d been the one to send Carrie to Scotland for their ill-fated girl’s trip. Hell, Val had paid for it. She had also been the one too convinced of her own superiority and safety to pay attention to her surroundings. Sometimes, Val could even manage to remember all that without too much bitterness, but usually not.

Sometimes she wanted to shout at Carrie and ask her what the fuck she’d been thinking to go back to that compound and face Jonas Jamison—Carrie’s father and all-around asshole leader of the Shepherds of the Coming Peace cult.

Even worse, Carrie had fucking done it twice. The first time had been a year after Val met her. Instead of going to the police, she’d trotted back, meek as you please, to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather.

After everything I did to keep that woman safe…

Knowing Jonas was dead was the only reason Val slept at all. It was also the only reason she’d managed to cut her daily showers down to three instead of bathing at least every hour.

Even now, months after her ordeal, she felt dirty. For a woman who was once a paid escort, that was saying something, although it was ridiculous to feel that way.

Accepting money to accompany men, women, and the occasional couple to events, and even sleeping with them on occasion after she was off the clock, never made her feel like she was covered in a thin layer of filth everyone could see.

“Thanks. So do you.”

Liar.

Val knew exactly what she looked like, and it wasn’t good. Tucked under a scarf, her hair was a mass of matted tangles she didn’t have the energy to care for. She couldn’t be bothered with make-up, leaving her face blotchy and revealing dark circles under eyes sunk deep into a sallow complexion. Instead of her normal Rockabilly sweetheart blouses and high-waisted shorts, she wore a gray muumuu that covered her from neck to ankles.

She looked fifty instead of twenty-eight. Poorly dressed older women tended to be invisible to other people, so her current look suited her right down to her unpainted toes and chewed nails. She tried not to think about how much she looked like Carrie used to.

Hoping Carrie would go away, she took another drink as Carrie set a plate in front of her. “I snagged the last of the crab cakes for you. I had to fight Ryan for them, and—”

“That was really nice, but I’m not hungry. You can share them with your husband.”

Ryan was also on her shit list for letting Carrie go back to that damned compound. Of course, Carrie had defended herself when that old bitch Betty slapped her. The video of Carrie throat-punching her, and Carrie’s viciously scathing diatribe had millions of views worldwide. Val wished she’d been around to see it instead of being on her way to the hospital for a rape kit. At least they’d knocked her dislocated shoulder back into place first, but only after she threw a fit over it.

The prosecutors even tried to use the video as evidence in Betty’s trial, where she’d been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter for the deaths of over twenty newborns.

Oh yeah, Val remembered Betty Rush, all right. She hoped the nasty cow fucking died in prison. It couldn’t happen a moment too soon.

The beatings wouldn’t be so bad if you obeyed your new husband as a proper woman should.

The joke was on Betty. That farce of a wedding Jonas performed wasn’t legal to begin with, and even if it had been, the sick fucker was dead.

In a somewhat uncharacteristic act of glorious spite, Carrie had Jonas and his stepbrother cremated, then drove over four hundred miles to dump their remains in the waste heap of a commercial hog farm.

Wetness sparkled in Carrie’s green eyes, but she gave Val a wobbly smile and reached for the plate. “It’s okay. I—”

“Wait.” Knowing she’d probably puke it up later, Val grabbed a fork and cut a piece off one of the crab cakes, then grimly shoved it into her mouth.

Making Carrie cry felt a lot like kicking a puppy, so she choked down another bite, then a third. Swallowing hard, she tried to ignore the churning in her gut and prayed the food would stay where it belonged until she could get somewhere private. “It’s really good. Thanks.”

“I knew you’d like it.” Carrie dragged a stool close and sat next to her, then pulled Val into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“Me too.” Squeezing her eyes shut, Val returned the hug, then smiled as she pulled away. A crowd of people blocked her view of Ian, and she narrowed her eyes. “Hey, could you do me a huge favor?”

“Anything. Just name it.”

“Give me a second.” She grabbed a bar napkin and a pen from the bartender and scribbled a hasty note. “I need you to give this to Ian and cover my getaway.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’d rather not say, but if I don’t leave soon, they might not have a bed for me.” She smiled gently and pulled Carrie into another hug. “If you don’t know, Ryan can’t tease it out of you.”

“Good point.” Carrie’s eyes widened as she read the note, and her lower lip trembled. “I don’t know about this. Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure. Tell Ian… Tell him I’ll be back in seventy days.”

***

Ian

“I’ll call the resort and have them reserve the nursery for you,” Sean said. “We haven’t gotten the crib in yet, but I’m thinking you probably won’t need it.”

“No, but I could use a twin bed for her.”

“There’s one in there already,” Sean replied. “Besides, you’re a silent partner. It’s not like we’re going to tell you no.”

“You already paid back the money you borrowed. I’m not a partner.”

“Whatever.” Sean smirked, then added, “Seriously, anything you need is yours. Just ask Sierra.”

“Thanks.” Ian glanced at the bar and focused on Val talking to Carrie.

The long gray dress didn’t detract from her stunning beauty like she probably thought it did. Even wearing a sack with her lush curls wrapped in a scarf, she was one of the most gorgeous women he’d ever seen.

To his relief, Val was eating—well, sort of. She took three bites before laying her fork aside, but it was better than nothing. For months, the only thing he’d managed to get into her was string cheese and popcorn. On very rare occasions, he could tempt her into a cup of her abuela’s estrellita sopita.

Thank God for Mariella Lopez. Without her, he didn’t think Val would be doing as well as she was. Not that she was doing well, by any stretch of the imagination, but at least she’d talk to her grandmother somewhat pleasantly.

“You got it,” Sean said. “Do you want it stocked with art supplies or anything?”

“Yes, please. Also, Val loves to read. I’ll give you the key to her house if you can have someone pick up a few dozen books from her shelves.”

Sean nodded and wrapped his arm around Gabby’s waist. “We can make that happen.”

“And I can give her an e-reader loaded with my library,” Gabby added. “I’ll send you an access code to my movie collection too. They’re all low angst with happy ever afters.”

“Thanks.” He glanced around for Val and frowned when he didn’t immediately see her. “Hey, did you see where Val went?”

“She was talking to Carrie a moment ago,” Gabby said. “Perhaps she went to the ladies.”

“Maybe.” He turned back and smiled at Sean and Gabby. “Thanks for agreeing to help out. I really appreciate you both.”

“It’s our pleasure.”

Leaving them to enjoy their wedding reception, Ian searched the crowd, growing more concerned with each passing moment. Worse, he couldn’t find Carrie right away either, and when he finally caught up to her, she did everything in her power to avoid him.

His worry growing, he snagged Ryan from a group of Sean’s family and pulled him aside. “Have you seen Valentina?”

“No, but I saw her with Carrie about an hour ago. Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. Carrie runs whenever I get close, and I can’t find Val anywhere.”

Ryan scowled and cursed under his breath. “Sounds like I have a naughty girl who’s keeping secrets. Give me a minute and I’ll catch her.”

He hurried off and returned quickly with Carrie in tow. To Ian’s surprise, her lips were set in a mulish line, and she jerked out of Ryan’s grasp.

“Here,” she said, handing him a folded bar napkin. “Val asked me to give you this.”

Hey,

Don’t blow a gasket, but I had to get away. It’s all too much, and as usual, you aren’t listening to me. I’m going to a place where I can get help before things get any worse. Use my house if you want it. Otherwise, leave a note for the housekeeper.

See you soon. Or maybe not.

V

He thrust the note at Ryan and resisted the urge to shake Carrie until she spilled some answers. “When did she leave?”

“Over an hour ago. I called her an Uber.”

“Did she say where she was going?” Ryan asked, returning the note to Ian.

“No, and I didn’t ask.” Carrie lifted her chin, somehow managing to stare Ian down. “She said she’ll be back in seventy days.”

“What does that mean?” Ian demanded. “I—”

“I want to know what the hell she meant when she wrote you weren’t listening to her,” Carrie snapped. “I guess you’re a little slow on the uptake, sport, but if you’re actually interested, she’s checking herself into rehab.”

He couldn’t decide if he was happy or scared out of his wits. Considering Val’s social anxiety, traveling by herself was going to be a nightmare for her, and she wouldn’t have anyone to keep her safe and grounded.

“You don’t know where, and you wouldn’t tell me if you did.”

“Give the man a fucking kewpie doll.” After giving him one last poisonous glare, she stalked away.

“Carrie, wait!”

Instead of answering, she flipped him off and continued on her way.

“Ouch.” Ryan winced. “Sorry about that. When Carrie goes off, she goes nuclear.”

Ian knew that better than anyone. Carrie went from cheerful and pleasant to screaming profanities with no middle ground. In her defense, it took a lot to set her off.

“And I’m her favorite target.” Ian rubbed his face and slumped down to sit on a bench. “I did listen to Val, man. I asked her constantly if she needed help, and she didn’t say a word.”

“Maybe it wasn’t the right kind of listening.” Ryan sat next to him and rested his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know. I’m not exactly the woman-whisperer. I spent enough time fucking things up with Carrie on my own.”

“I don’t even know where Val went. What if she has a problem and I’m not there to help?”

“I think that was the point.” Ryan stood and squeezed his shoulder. “If she’s checking into an inpatient facility, she’s going to be safe. We’ll have to wait on the rest until she comes back home.”