Disclaimer: I only own the story specific characters I created. The originals belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
Eddie slipped out of the bedroom in the morning as quietly as possible. Charlotte had tossed and turned in her sleep for most of the night. She seemed to finally find some calm, and he wanted her to take advantage. He knew her turbulent sleep was mostly about how she felt the party went last night, and he felt some responsibility for that.
"Morning, Eddie," Collette greeting him in the dining room.
"Hey," he filled himself a cup of coffee and took a healthy gulp before he said anymore. "Looks like the cleaners have come and gone already."
"Oh yeah, they were here at the crack of dawn," Collette replied.
"Brice still sleeping?" Eddie asked.
"No, he took Emie and Barty for their morning walks," Collette replied.
"I'm still trying to figure out how that puppy get herself out of the bedroom in the morning," Eddie chuckled.
"Dogs are resourceful," Collette snorted, "You should see some of the things Barty gets into at the vineyard…Is Charlotte still sleeping?"
"It's more like she finally fell asleep," Eddie sighed, "She tossed and turned all night."
"It's none of my business, but what was the deal with your ex-girlfriend showing up last night," Collette replied.
"Not sure," Eddie shrugged.
"It was wildly inappropriate," Collette stated, "Brice almost went over and asked her to leave. I get the feeling he didn't like her much even back when you were dating her."
"Heather was never the best at making good first impressions," Eddie replied, "I didn't like her much when I first met her."
"Why did you date her then?" Collette asked.
"Stupidity?" Eddie theorized, "She pursued me, and I guess at that time in my life it felt good."
"I guess I should be grateful that Brice never had any significant exs," Collette replied, "I mean he dated sporadically, but never anything serious until me."
"Yeah, you're lucky," Eddie snorted, "I'm not all that thrilled with Charlotte's exs either, although that Evan Sparks seemed decent enough."
"Oh, he is," Collette replied, "Evan's a sweetheart, but he and Charlotte were never going to end up together."
"Thanks for that," Eddie stated.
The elevator chimed and Collette and Eddie assumed it was Brice returning with the dogs. They were surprised when Chuck entered the dining room.
"Good morning, Chuck," Collette greeted him with a smile.
"Good morning, Collette," Chuck bent down to greet her with a kiss to her cheek, "Eddie."
"Morning, Chuck," Eddie replied.
"Brice and Charlotte still asleep?"
"Charlotte's still asleep. Brice took the dogs for a walk," Collette replied.
"I'm glad you're here, Eddie," Chuck chose to ignore the fact that Eddie was in his daughter's home so early in the day. "I need to speak with you."
"That's my cue," Collette rose from the table, "I should get dressed anyways. I was meeting my mom for lunch. Only a couple more days before I head back to France to start my final semester."
"We're going to miss you when you're gone, Sweetheart," Chuck replied as she left the room.
"You heard from your P.I.," Eddie concluded.
"I did," Chuck bobbed his head, "Your former flame is an interesting woman."
"Oh?" Eddie raised a curious brow.
"Apparently she's more than the dancer she was when you were dating," Chuck explained, "She's become something of an escort."
"Like a hooker?" Eddie coughed out in surprise.
"A bit classier than that," Chuck replied, "Near as I can tell, the escort service doesn't include sexual services in their offerings, but if the date goes well enough, the woman hired is free to engage."
Eddie winced in reply, "So last night?"
"There's no way to know if she was hired last night or if that was just two friends attending a party together," Chuck stated.
"So what do I do?" Eddie asked.
"Let me handle it," Chuck replied, "You're right in that there is likely more to her appearance last night than simply catching with her friends."
"Are you going to leave me in suspense?" Eddie asked.
"She's having some financial challenges," Chuck stated.
"Obviously, if she's pimping herself out," Eddie replied.
"My guy is going to keep digging but stay clear of her," Chuck replied, "The timing here is suspicious. You and Charlotte were outed as a couple at the Bass gala a little more than a week ago, and now this woman is trying to insert herself back in your life."
"Stay clear of her, got it," Eddie bobbed his head, "Easiest instructions you ever gave me."
"My wife said Charlotte got a bit emotional last night before the ball dropped," Chuck looked concerned.
"She was embarrassed by the way her friends were behaving," Eddie explained, "I think she was looking for a more mature party and didn't enjoy them teasing her and threatening to bring in a keg."
"I remember those early days," Chuck smiled, "You want to be a grown up, but your friends want to stay teenagers."
"She keeps thinking that she's not mature enough for me," Eddie admitted, "It's simply not true."
"I can see why she's struggling," Chuck replied.
"I can too, but it's not an issue for me, at all," Eddie stated.
"Women are stubborn," Chuck snorted, "Charlotte has a lot of her mother in her, which means she's extra stubborn. It just takes patience."
"Which I have in abundance," Eddie replied.
"Good," Chuck smiled. "I'm heading back upstairs. I'll let you know if I hear more."
"Thanks for looking into it, Chuck," Eddie replied.
"I take care of my family, and you're dating my daughter. Her happiness is the most important thing to me," Chuck reminded him.
When Brice returned with Emie and Barty, Eddie carried Emie into Charlotte's bedroom and placed her on the bed, knowing the fluffy little pup would go immediately to Charlotte and wake her.
The feel of a cold nose against her own pulled Charlotte from her fitful sleep. Her eyes locked with the chocolate brown ones of her puppy. She couldn't help smiling at the sight. "How did you get up here, Sweetheart?" Charlotte reached out to scratch behind her pup's ears. She watched her little pup try to access the bed many time since she'd arrived and failed each time. It was adorable to watch the determined struggle.
Eddie cleared his throat to draw Charlotte's attention to him. "Good morning, Sleepyhead."
"What time is it?" Charlotte stretched dramatically.
"Nearly noon," he glanced at the clock, "I was worried you might want to sleep the day away."
"Tempting," she snorted as Emie nudged against her to get more attention. Charlotte brought her into her lap and gave her a thorough rub down. "Did the cleaners finish up already?"
"Yep," he planted himself on the bed next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "The place is back to spotless, and the furniture has been put back exactly where it was before the party. If I hadn't attended it myself, I'd never have known there was a party last night."
"Good," she replied.
"Talk to me," he could feel her anxiety as she tensed in his arms.
"I guess I'm still annoyed about last night," she replied, "I mean these people were my friends for years, some of them have been since grade school. How can I ever invite them to parties again? How can I trust they'll behave the way adults should?"
Eddie kissed her temple, "Growing up doesn't happen overnight. My friends behaved like the frat guys I'd known in college for years after we graduated. It takes time to learn adult appropriate behavior."
"Yeah," she bobbed her head.
"I got a text from Abby," he pulled out his phone, "She's really anxious to have lunch with you. She's been on a bit of a Thai kick lately, so I booked you at the Thai restaurant near my parents' place tomorrow at noon."
"Thank you," she glanced towards her phone. It sat on the nightstand. She'd turned off the ringer before she went to bed. She'd been afraid to even look at it for fear she'd be getting messages from party-goers about all the inappropriateness from the previous event.
"Rip off the bandage, Sweetheart," he grabbed the phone and handed it to her, "The messages won't disappear even if you try to ignore them."
She began scrolling through several of the messages, including the group text conversation between her sorority sisters. Most of them where raving about the party while being equally mortified by how juvenile their significant others had behaved. Most vowed to properly chastise their men, which made Charlotte giggle.
"Not as bad as you feared?" he asked.
"No," she replied, "My sorority sisters, they had fun, but vowed to put their significant others in their proper place. They all seem to love you."
"Of course they did," he grinned proudly, "I'm very loveable, as you well know."
Charlotte shoved at his shoulder playfully as she continued scrolling, "Who is Caroline Snead?"
"Isn't she that gossip columnist from the Post?" he stated.
"She wants a statement about my boyfriend spending time with a known escort," Charlotte looked genuinely confused. "What the heck is she talking about?"
"Damn," he frowned, "I should have known this wasn't going to go away quietly."
"What's she talking about?" Charlotte pressed, "Have you been with an…escort?" She nearly lost it as the last word left her mouth.
"No, never," he assured her, "I had a funny feeling about Heather's appearance last night, so I had your father look into it. Apparently she's fallen on hard times and is working with an escort service."
"She's a hooker?" Charlotte gasped.
"According to your dad, sex isn't a particular service that is offered, but if the date goes well, it's not completely out of the question," Eddie replied.
"Ew," Charlotte cringed, "And this woman was in my home."
"Yeah," he bobbed his head, "I have no way of knowing if Henry hired her for the night, or if they just connected innocently."
"And now this gossip columnist knows," Charlotte went into her closet to dress, "I need to talk to my dad. He'll know how to handle this."
"I'll go with you," Eddie offered as he also got dressed.
Chuck was fuming when Charlotte told him she'd been contacted by the columnist. "Don't respond," Chuck stated, "We have family spokespeople for this very reason, and Ms. Snead knows what is appropriate. It's a shake down for money. Ms. Yeats has already tried to shake us down."
"What?" Eddie gasped, "Heather did what?"
"We were contacted about an hour ago. She threatened to go public with her story if we didn't give her money," Chuck explained, "And another development has come to light. Ms. Yeats is related to Mister Hendrick."
"Wait, Devon?" Charlotte gasped, "Heather and Devon are related?"
"Apparently Mister Hendrick's father is the brother of Ms. Yeats's mother," Chuck stated, "The difference in names made connecting the two a bit challenging."
"Devon never said anything about being related to Heather and there had to have been interaction or at least an exchanged look at the Bass Gala. She was there," Charlotte frowned in confusion.
"Heather never said anything either," Eddie chimed in.
"Near as I can tell, there was something of a falling out between the Yeats and Hendricks family, so it's possible they don't have much of a relationship," Chuck offered.
"Or they didn't until they realized they had us in common," Charlotte muttered angrily. "It's no coincidence she showed up when I made sure Devon was not invited. There's some sort of game going on, and we're not playing ball."
Chuck fought to contain the smirk he felt forming. She was so much like her mother in moments like this.
"Don't worry about this, Princess," Chuck assured his daughter, "This will be handled."
"Dad, don't pay them off," Charlotte held firm, "They don't deserve it."
"No chance," Chuck replied, "Basses don't give in to blackmailers, but, Sweetheart, things are going to get uncomfortable for Devon. Are you sure you can live with that?"
"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked.
"We should tell her what you know about Devon's family," Eddie suggested.
"Tell me what about Devon's family?" Charlotte looked between her father and boyfriend.
"Devon's father was about to be indicted on racketeering charges when they abruptly left the country," Chuck replied.
"What!" Charlotte gasped, "Are you serious? I mean I only met them a couple of times, but they seemed like nice people."
"Even nice people can live lives on the other side of the tracks," Chuck responded calmly.
"If they were criminals, why did you let me associate with them?" Charlotte asked.
"Near as we could tell, Devon didn't have a lot of interactions with his family, and we felt that if we pushed you away, it would make being with him more enticing," Chuck replied.
"Sweetheart, we wanted you to have some independence," Blair chimed in, having stood back until now, "We had our concerns, but we believed your relationship with Devon would eventually run it's course."
"Know that if you were ever in danger, your mother and I would have stepped in," Chuck added.
"I feel like an idiot," Charlotte visibly appeared to deflate, "I thought he was a decent guy. I thought he loved me. I gave him my virginity."
Chuck winced at the knowledge.
"Char, we all make mistakes," Eddie wrapped an arm around her shoulders to console her, "I feel the same way about Heather."
Charlotte shrugged off his touch. "I need some space." She left Blair and Chuck's penthouse abruptly.
"We should have told her sooner," Blair rubbed at her husband's shoulders as he slumped into his chair.
"Probably," Chuck agreed.
Eddie looked helpless.
"Give her some time, Eddie," Blair stated, "She's probably feeling embarrassed and probably quite upset with everyone involved in the situation, mostly herself for her decision in dating Devon in the first place. Ultimately, it's Devon who should have come clean with Charlotte a long time ago. While it's probable that he wasn't involved in his family's dealings, he certainly knew about them. The only reason it never came out in the press was Chuck working overtime to make sure no one found out."
"I should check on her," Eddie turned towards the entryway.
"Eddie, I'd leave her be," Chuck advised the younger man, "She needs to process everything."
"What's going to happen to the gossip columnist?" Eddie asked.
"I'm handling it," Chuck assured him.
"Okay," Eddie bobbed his head as Emie came in and rubbed against him with a bit of a whimper. He bent down to pick her up. "Don't worry, Sweetheart, Charlotte didn't forget about you. She's just upset."
Making his way down to Charlotte's home, he was immediately peppered with questions from Collette and Brice. He could see Daniella hanging back but listening to every word as he tried to explain why Charlotte was so upset when she stormed out of the elevator and basically locked herself in her bedroom.
Emie squirmed in his arms until he put her down. She immediately ran to Charlotte's bedroom door and pawed and yipped at it until she was let it.
It was several hours later when Eddie ventured into Charlotte's bedroom. She was sitting by the window with Emie in her lap.
"Char," Eddie approached her tentatively.
"How long have you known about Devon?" she turned towards him, her eyes, usually the window to what she was thinking, were masked.
"All your father told me was that Devon's family left the country to avoid indictment, but Devon had no real connection to his family," he approached at took as set in the available space in front of the window.
"How long have you known?" Charlotte asked.
"Since the night after Devon first showed up and conned his way into being your houseguest," he replied.
"And why didn't you tell me about it?" there was an edge to Charlotte's voice which made him nervous.
"I didn't want you thinking I was badmouthing him because I felt threatened," Eddie replied.
"And you were protecting me," Charlotte added.
"Yes," Eddie nodded.
"Because I'm just a stupid, naïve child who doesn't know enough about the world to make decisions for myself with all the available information," she hissed.
"No," Eddie responded immediately, "Char, I knew Devon was important to you. You don't give your affection away to just anyone. I know you're careful with your heart. You always have been. I didn't want you doubting yourself."
"Because doubting what I felt for Devon might make me doubt what I feel for you," she snapped.
"No," he stated, "Char, I'm not Devon. You've known me your entire life. You know who and what I am."
"I have been sheltered and protected from all the bad things in this world for my entire life, from my father and now you. When is everyone going to realize that I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't need your protection," she jabbed a finger in his chest.
"I'm not protecting you because I think you're a little girl. I'm trying to protect you because I love you. That's what people do when they're in love, they try to take away any potential pain that may be inflicted on the other because when they hurt, you hurt," he explained.
"Then you must be in unspeakable pain because that is how I'm feeling right now," tears trailed down Charlotte's cheeks, "I trusted Devon. I thought he was a good guy, but now I don't even know if I ever knew who he was."
"I'm feeling the same way about Heather," he reached for her hand, only to be brushed away.
"I think you should stay at your parents' place tonight," she stated, "I…ah…I need to process this."
"Okay," he bobbed his head, "As long as you promise me that we'll be able to fix this distance I feel between us right now."
Charlotte's breath hitched as his words sunk in. He was worried she would end thing with him over this. She tentatively reached out a hand to him. He quickly took it and brought it to his lips, kissing it softly. "I love you, Eddie, so much, but I need time. I'm a little mad at you for not telling me about Devon when you first found out. I'm a heck of a lot more mad at Devon for not telling me about his family ever, but mostly I'm mad at myself for not trusting my instincts when he always brushed questions about his family aside. I don't even know how many times I asked him about what his parents did. He always used to tell me it didn't matter, or they weren't anything important like what my parents did. It always bothered me, but I just let him brush them aside."
Eddie kissed her hands again, "You always seen the good in people, Charlotte. I hope you never lose that because it makes you the woman I fell in love with. Yes, Devon might not be who you thought he was, but that's on him, not you."
"I guess I should be happy I ended things before they got really complicated, like getting engaged or married or god forbid having a kid with him," Charlotte sighed heavily.
"Just be happy you're with me," he gave her hands a squeeze, "You know me, Charlotte. You know everything you need to know about me."
"Like dating a woman that's now an escort," she bit her lip to stop a smile from forming, "I don't know which is worse. Dating a guy who was mobbed up, or dating a woman who is now an escort."
"I'd say we've both traded up," he recognized the teasing nature of her comment.
"Definitely," she bobbed her head, leaning in to kiss him softly.
"Still want me to leave?" he asked.
"Yeah," she frowned, "I'm sorry, but I just need space."
"I get it," he assured her, "You're still a little mad at me."
"It's probably not the mature thing to ask you to leave," she sighed.
"If it's what you need, I'll do it. I'll hate it. I probably won't get much sleep, but I understand," he told her, "If you need anything, I'm only a phone call away. I have no problem hopping in a cab in the middle of the night to get back to you."
"Thank you," she felt tears welling in her eyes.
"I'd better grab a few things before I head over to my folks place," he rose to his feet, "I don't even keep a toothbrush there anymore."
Charlotte laughed as she rose along side him, wrapping her arms around his torso. Eddie held her close for a few minutes, savoring the feel of her in his arms.
Charlotte walked Eddie to the elevator, giving him a reassuring kiss before thanking him once more for being so understanding.
"Everything okay, Char?" Collette was waiting for her.
Charlotte spent the rest of the night being consoled by her soon-to-be sister-in-law. The pair eventually had something akin to a slumber party in Charlotte's room, much to Brice's annoyance since Charlotte monopolized both his fiancée and his dog as Barty slept at the foot of Charlotte's bed as he used to do when she was going through tough times.
TBC…