Page 27 of Piggy
Charlotte
“ Rowen ,” Meghan growls, her venom carried through clenched teeth. “If I am on speaker, take me off now .”
I am about to yell once more, but Grayson hits the mute button and shakes his head.
Gently, he brings my knuckles to his lips, savoring a kiss. Then he holds my hand to his cheek.
“Charlotte. Trust me. She’s right. You don’t belong with an animal like me. If I stay, I’ll damage you. You know it, too. I can tell.”
I scoff. He can’t be choosing her !
He lets go of my hand and retrieves his phone to disconnect from the car and talk to her privately—
But I smack his hand.
His head whips toward me. “Did you just slap me?”
He’s stunned. But I’m shaking, vibrating with rage and helpless love .
Something shifts. Nope. I’m not scared anymore. This woman’s unhinged. He’s broken like her, but in ways I don’t understand.
And maybe, I’m supposed to be the hero this time!
“You can’t go back to Meghan!” I shout. “She’s crazy.”
He snickers. “I don’t need your help, Piggy.”
That should discourage me, but it doesn’t. It just drives me harder. “No, Grayson. She’s manipulating you. And, uh— you’re mine!”
Her wicked laugh carries through the speakers, shrill. “Game over, girl. Restart with a man more like you.”
I disconnect the call entirely.
His face twists, taken aback by my sudden fire, but I can’t stop.
I snatch his phone, spit in his face, and rush out of the car so fast, I trip and fall to my knees. I chuck his phone into the bushes and crawl on all fours, as fast as I can, panicked.
Because I hear it.
His heavy footsteps growing louder.
I’m grabbed, yanked upright like I weigh nothing, his hand gripping my arm too tight.
I look up, heart pounding, head spinning. “Uhh... sorry,” I breathe. “Sorry... but not really! She’s forbidden, Grayson!”
He rolls his eyes. His voice is sharp and mocking as he says, “Forbidden? ”
But he leans down, brushes the dirt from my scraped knees, then tugs on my dress so it sits in place, like he owns me.
I bite my bottom lip. Even now, in the chaos and darkness, he just automatically takes care of me. Nobody has ever taken care of me. Except him. I take care of everyone else.
I just now realized that.
“Listen, Charlotte.” His voice is deep, but measured, watching me with every word he speaks. “I’m not a good man. And I fucked the wrong woman. I’ve been living in that wreckage ever since.”
He pauses, a moment of hesitation.
“But there’s something else I never planned on telling you. Ever.” His hands flex at his sides. “But you deserve the truth. I want you to really know me.”
A breath. A beat. And then—
“I used to watch a lot of porn. Not the normal kind. The real dark shit. Different than what we’ve done. Torture fantasies. Scenes with girls kidnapped, screaming, degraded. Masked men taking what they want. Watched em’ over and over.”
“You were into watching girls get... hurt?” I cover my mouth, heart pounding.
I hope he doesn’t want me to do that!
He steps closer, towering, which causes me to tense. His eyes still locked on mine. Not begging or pleading. Just owning it .
“I still like it. You should know that. But I’ve never wanted to do it to you. I didn’t tell you because it’d scare someone as sweet as you. And you? You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to truly protect.”
His voice softens, barely a whisper now. “Do you believe me?”
I nod, but I’ve never seen that kind of porn. I just know it sounds like the men who want those things must be dangerous.
Yet, I find myself taking his hand, though cautiously, as I want to hear more.
As I hoped, he continues. “That night, I recognized Meghan as a girl in some of the videos. That’s why I figured she was into it, too... Then she wasn’t into it. I couldn’t fucking tell. To this day, I don’t know if she was. I think she likes that I am still confused.”
I bite my lip, thinking. Gosh. Meghan did that kind of porn before the rape. Maybe she was into it.
“Do you still talk to Meghan because she makes you? Because she will send you back to prison if you don’t?”
“Kind of. There is a restraining order, but we break it all the time.” He sighs. “After prison, she wouldn’t leave me alone. We became... friends. Don’t freak out, but we eventually cammed torture fetish together. I always wore masks.”
I gasp. “You’ve done those awful things, too! You actually hurt her? ”
He rubs his face. “Yeah. It’s what her subscribers pay for, anyway. It’s her niche.” He pauses, and for the first time, he looks ashamed as he adds, “Honestly, though, I like taking care of Meghan.”
I flinch. “What! Why?”
He shrugs. “Because she’s seen every fucked-up part of me... and doesn’t mind. Fuck, she loves me, supposedly. More obsessed. Probably too much.”
I blink. Now I am jealous of her. He must love her too and she’s beautiful and—
“Baby. I see the wheels turning in your head. Don’t compare yourself to her. I mean, damn , I spent the last year missing you. I was surrounded by sex and couldn’t fuck anyone.”
My chest tightens. I fidget, twisting my fingers together like a nervous little girl I don’t want to be. He intimidates me so much.
“Grayson. I don’t understand why you are into that stuff—”
He takes my hands, and says with urgency, “I would never hurt you that way, Charlotte. Not even if you begged me to. You are like this... most precious thing I don’t want anyone to hurt.”
I can’t help but smile, ignoring all that dark stuff I don’t want to think about. So I reply, “Well, I know I liked what we had. And I love you. Meghan doesn’t.”
“Do ya? Because you looked freaked out when I told you about my past.”
He’s not wrong .
But I also know the side of Grayson I fell in love with made me feel safer and happier than any other time in my life.
Gosh , I miss that so much.
I blurt, “I’m going to EMT school.”
His brow furrows, clearly caught off guard.
“I want to have a better career. Save the house. Get Atticus back from the State.”
He tilts his head, a slow grin growing at the edge of his mouth, but his eyes are still holding curiosity. “Why are you telling me this, Charlotte? Right now?”
I swallow, nervous. “Because I need help, too. And maybe... maybe you could take care of me instead of Meghan.”
“You really want to be with me?” he asks, surprised.
I smile wide, dumb and girly. I cover my mouth, looking at Grayson as I nod.
He cocks his head. “If you want to be mine, you need to know I won’t let you go this time. Do you understand? You sure you’re ready for that?”
I flush beet red. I nod once more, no hesitation this time, because yeah, I fear the darkness in him.
But I’d still rather face the world with him beside me.
I trust him, too. He wouldn’t do those mean things to me.
He said so! I’m different than other women.
.. I could see in his eyes he wasn’t lying.
Yeah. I’m ready.
“Yep, I want to be yours,” I reply assuredly, trying not to smile because my next words need to sound as tough as I can make them .
“But you can’t talk to that woman anymore. Got it?”
He fails to stifle a laugh, gazing down with a smirk. “Okay, Piggy.”
His knuckles gloss down the swoop of my neck, giving me goosebumps. His lips follow, hot and sensual across my skin. He murmurs, “No need to squeal anymore, baby. I got you now, and nobody hurts my girl.”