Holden, however, had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and wanted to go at Cory full-force. With just under two months until a sick pervert struck again, every instinct was screaming to go hard, push Cory until they were either satisfied he was telling the truth or they caught him in another lie.
None of the men were pleased with the reasons why the ex-Mrs. Saddler was so immensely thrilled she was free of her husband. Not only had he been a cheat but he’d also been an asshole. She’d shared voice mails she’d saved from Cory. Some of the calls had been direct to her cell, some to their daughter, Miranda’s, and a few were left on the home answering machine. When Jonny had played them earlier that day, Holden watched as Jonny clenched his jaw while they’d listened to a husband and father verbally abuse his wife and daughter. Cory Saddler was a mean son-of-a-bitch.
So, yeah, every part of Holden was raring to teach this dick a lesson in manners.
“I can go by myself,” Charleigh protested.
“I can take her.” A new voice entered the conversation and Charleigh paled.
“Hey, baby, what are you doing here?” Chasin asked and rose from his seat. Holden followed suit.
“I was in the neighborhood and wanted to check on Holly. McKenna told me they had a rough night,” Evie said.
It was then it hit Holden just how tight the women were. Evie and Bobby were the latest additions but they’d been brought into the fold and fit right in. It was almost as if Holden couldn’t remember a time when all six women weren’t close.
Fucking hell. Now he got it—why Charleigh had been so uncomfortable. She was the outsider and he played a large part in why that was. She’d formed a friendship with Kennedy and he’d heard that McKenna had gone to Charleigh and Faith’s apartment to bake cookies. He couldn’t remember the details about how that came to be, because he’d been studiously avoiding all talk of mother and daughter. Rory and Faith were friends, they went to the same school, though Faith was in a grade above Rory, and he only knew that because Rory had told him all about it. Holden also knew Evie liked Faith and had given her a few guitar lessons. That knowledge came direct from Evie when she’d warned him so he wouldn’t be on the property when the duo showed up. At the time, he’d appreciated the warning. His Airstream was only a few yards away from Evie’s music studio.
Why hadn’t he kept his mouth shut?
“’Preciate the offer, but I’m done for the day,” Holden said.
Evie’s mouth twisted in indecision before she stood tall, and Holden held his breath, not liking the look on his friend’s face.
“Okay, I’m just gonna address the elephant in the room—”
“Genevieve,” Chasin warned.
“Please, none of you men give Charleigh enough credit. She’s not some wilting flower with no backbone.”
Fuck.
Charlotte Axelson was the exact opposite of a wilting flower. That was the problem. When Charleigh got mad, the shit that flew out of her mouth was enough to cut a man down at his knees. Holden didn’t want to witness two women he cared about—one he loved more than anything—go toe-to-toe, and by the expression on Charleigh’s face, she was ready for battle.
“Leigh-Leigh, baby—”
“What?” she snapped. “She’s right. If she’s got something to say, I’m all for it.”
“Fuck,” Jameson muttered, knowing exactly what Charleigh’s tone meant.
Genevieve sighed and looked at Charleigh.
“What I meant was, they all want to cushion this conversation for you, but they don’t need to because you don’t need them to. Besides, all the conversation is going to consist of is me apologizing for being a bitch to you and poking my nose into something that’s not my business. But I hope you can understand that I was being a friend to Holden when he was in a great deal of pain. That, I won’t apologize for, but I never should’ve turned into the Queen Bitch and froze you out. I didn’t like doing that, but I didn’t want to take the chance that if I was around you, that I’d like you. Then that would really suck, because I love Holden, and I wanted to be on his side. Clearly, things have changed, and now that they have, I was hoping we could start over. I really love your daughter—she’s a great kid and I’d like to be allowed to come over and see her.”
Jameson had visibly relaxed now that a Charleigh-Evie-Smackdown was obviously not going to happen. Chasin was smiling. Nixon, Weston, and Alec were staring at Charleigh expectantly. And Holden was ready for just about anything. It was a crapshoot what his woman would say.
But he shouldn’t have worried.
“Faith would love that.”
“Would tonight be all right? And can Bobby come? She’s been asking, too.”
Charleigh looked at Holden and his heart swelled. “We’ll be home, right?”
Christ.
Square to his solar plexus, the softest blow he’d ever felt. Silky smooth but so damn painful—the most exquisite pain warmed his being.
“Yeah, baby, we’ll be home.”
“It’s kind of strange, me telling you that you can visit your uncle’s house.” Charleigh sheepishly grinned. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”
“We’d like that.”
“If Chasin, Evie, and Bobby are going over for dinner, you know McKenna’s gonna horn in on that. And there’s not a chance Kennedy’s gonna stay away. If four out of the six girl posse’s getting together, then Macy and Silver will not be left out,” Nixon stated. “Why don’t we order in? It’ll be easier to feed the horde and less clean-up.”
Holden stopped paying attention to the others around him as they planned dinner. He only had eyes for the
