Page 40 of Third Time is the Charm (Passion and Perseverance #3)

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t Darcy sitting on the floor outside her apartment door, the paper bag presumably filled with their dinner as well as a wine bottle-shaped bag sitting next to him.

His legs outstretched, ankles crossed in front of him, he looked up expectantly as the stairwell door opened.

He’d been waiting and she hadn’t been the first one to come through this door.

“I hope you haven’t been sitting there all day,” she murmured and gave her best attempt at a smile.

“I would have, but I don’t think I’d have an ass anymore if I did,” he said, groaning as he stood up. “No, I went to our satellite office and worked for a while before scouring the city for the best Chinese food.”

Of course, Fitz Corp had a satellite office here.

Beth unlocked the door, letting them both inside. “And what was your result?” Her stomach rumbled again at the mention of Chinese food; she was definitely craving Chinese food… or maybe she was just craving food in general at this point.

“The Q,” was his abrupt answer, setting the bags down on her tiny kitchen counter.

Good choice, Mr. Darcy.

She watched as he took a look around her apartment – small compared to where her and Jane had lived in New York and microscopic compared to his penthouse.

“Not quite like New York, but I don’t need much. It’s just me, so the smaller space is easier to clean,” she murmured, unnerved by his inspection.

“It’s very nice, very homey,” Darcy quickly responded. “I like it.”

Or maybe he just liked the part where she mentioned that it was ‘just her.’

Beth set her stuff down just inside her bedroom, closing the door slightly, embarrassed by the mess she had left last night when she’d come home and crashed.

“Sorry it’s a little messy, I got home late last night after my flight and I didn’t expect to see you.”

“Beth, it’s fine. Let’s eat – I can hear your stomach rumbling from here and I’m afraid if you don’t eat dinner, you might eat me,” he said, giving her a tight smile while he pulled out the take-out containers from the paper bag.

Beth moaned as the smell of hot Chinese food permeated her apartment, opening the containers to find all of her favorites.

“I think I remembered all the ones that you like,” he said, rummaging through the kitchen drawers for her corkscrew.

Beth blushed. Of course, this Mr. Thoughtful-Darcy had ordered her favorites.

“Behind you,” she mumbled, putting the first forkful of lo mein into her mouth.

She continued to eat to appease her stomach, but her eyes remained on him as she opened the bottle of wine.

He easily found the wine glasses since she only had two cupboards in her kitchen and poured them both a generous glass of whatever red he had picked.

As good as it looked, she instead reached for the carton of sesame chicken wanting to make sure her stomach was moderately full before she started putting alcohol into her system.

“Why are you here?” she asked bluntly. “Actually, how did you know where I live? And get my number?”

Dumb questions really. The man had the money to find anyone and it wasn’t like she’d gone into witness protection.

“I asked Jane on the way to the airport. It’s not her fault; I was a little upset as I’m sure you can imagine...” His eyes flared. “I told you, I’m not letting you go this time.”

Beth sighed, that was the Darcy she knew – demanding and determined. “Did you really get a restraining order against Caroline?” She switched gears, hardly able to believe her memory that he’d actually done it.

“Yes, I told you I did.”

“I know, I was just having a hard time believing it. I still picture her… Well, never mind…” she trailed off, taking a bite of the chicken.

“She’s not allowed to come near me,” he reiterated, his jaw tensing as she referred to seeing Caro in his apartment that morning.

“And I’d like to take you to get one as soon as possible.

I have everything that you need; I don’t want her anywhere near you.

” His hard, unyielding tone emphasized just how emphatic he was about having this done.

“I don’t see what the point is now; it’s not like I’m going to have to see her again,” Beth replied.

“I don’t fucking care,” he said a little too harshly, judging by her surprised face.

He toned his voice down before continuing, “I don’t want to take any chances.

Maybe you’ve put it behind you, but I still remember everything that she did to you.

And to think that that morning you were there with her, alone…

Fuck… ” he cursed, taking a sip of the wine he’d poured.

“She’s not right and I want you to have every protection from her. ”

Beth picked up her glass, letting the sweet burn fill her mouth and rush down her throat. “I’ll think about it,” she murmured. If she ever went back to New York, she would do it, remembering how paranoid and afraid Caroline’s games had made her.

She watched Darcy’s jaw flex at her middle-ground answer, but he, surprisingly, didn’t push any farther, instead changing the subject to something more mundane.

“How was work today?”

“Good.” She took another quick sip of her wine before picking up the carton of noodles again. “The Contest is next weekend so there is a lot to do, a lot to keep myself and my mind busy.”

“Do you like your new job?” He picked up another container of spicy chicken but made no move to eat any, instead just watching her intently.

It was as though he was trying to take her all in, unsure of why she was still letting him stay in her presence, let alone continue a relatively normal conversation with.

“I do. It’s very different than before. Most things are on a much smaller scale but I feel like I’m making a bigger difference, if that makes any sense.”

“Absolutely,” he agreed with a nod. “It’s one of the reasons Fitz Corp has kept so many of its smaller companies, like the one Lydia works for, separate. Consolidation makes things easier in some ways, but there is so much more that is lost.”

“How hard was it not to fire George?” The mention of Lydia had her wondering just how well he’d been able to control his anger and the ease with which he could have exacted revenge.

“It wasn’t too bad.” Beth raised her eyebrows. “Alright, alright, it was fucking hard, but not as hard as it would have been a few months earlier.” What does that mean? “I will admit, as much as it pains me, that he’s actually not doing too terrible of a job,” he mumbled gruffly.

“But what he’s doing to Lydia…”

“I don’t think he realized what he was getting himself into when he agreed to marry her for this job.

I think he’s starting to realize how much responsibility a wife and family are and he doesn’t know how to handle it.

Lydia didn’t leave him because he’s terrible to her, she left because she felt like she was a burden to him and she didn’t want her child to feel like that as well. ”

“Do you think he’ll ever change?” she asked softly, taking another sip of her wine.

“I never thought he could change, but then again, I never thought I could either. Love can work miracles,” he said, the molten chocolate of his eyes deepening as it met hers. “Especially when it’s love for a child – or so I’ve heard.”

“I don’t know,” she replied, still skeptical even though she hadn’t seen Wickham since they moved; Darcy, on the other hand, would have had more frequent contact with him since then.

“We’ll see,” he echoed her sentiment.

“So, how have you been?” she asked, the wine starting to encourage a deeper line of questioning.

“Ok,” he answered initially, his lips thinning. Beth thought that would be the end of it; Darcy never wanted to talk about or elaborate on his feelings. And then he shocked her by continuing, “I was devastated at first.” Her eyes shot up to his.

“I didn’t know about the whole Caroline thing, well, about you seeing her there.

Charles and I came back to find her there like I told you, but that only made me angry.

Then we got to Jane’s and no one was there.

It was when we arrived at your parent’s house that I found out.

” He swallowed hard, pouring more wine into both of their glasses.

“I was in shock. I wasn’t expecting it, obviously.

I expected the anger, the hurt, the pain, the guilt – they were all things that I’d talked to Charles about and prepared myself to handle.

But, for you to have left already… Nothing could have prepared me for that. ”

“I couldn’t stay…” she whispered, taking another sip of her wine, hoping that he would continue to share with her and reveal this side of Darcy that she’d rarely seen.

“I felt like all the air had been pulled from my lungs when your father said that you were gone. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t talked to me.

I knew what I had said to you was horrible and in no way was justified by what had happened, but I just couldn’t believe that you had left. ”

She swallowed hard. “What did he say?” Beth asked even though she knew the answer; she craved to hear it from Darcy’s perspective; she craved to hear more of this vulnerable side and how what she’d done had had an effect on him.

“He just talked to me about you – not specifically why you left or where you had gone because he didn’t know.

But he told me about you and your personality and the things that shaped you.

Some of it I knew, but some of it I listened to and realized how what I had said could have pushed you to leave.

It wasn’t an answer, but he shed some light on the path that had gotten us here. ”