Nate walked into the grifter's bedroom cautiously. He was still cooling down from his earlier outburst but he was prepared for it now. He knew Charlotte's play and he was not going to let her get away with this. He was going to bring Sophie back one way or the other.
"Come to finish the job?" Charlotte growled.
Her stance was unwelcoming this time around. Her voice was dripping with disgust. Her black eyes were watchful and waiting. She was no longer the happy captive. Now she was the woman they held prisoner who had all the power. She was the one everybody should be wary of.
"I'm sorry about that," Nate apologized, a surprise for everyone. "You played me well. My temper got the best of me. I promise it won't happen again."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Mr. Ford," Charlotte retorted.
Too late, Nate thought sadly. "Let's stop pretending and get straight down to business," he replied, "You like doing that after all."
Charlotte grinned at the smart man. She held up the phone and started browsing through it.
"It's not as handy as Mr. Hardison's but it still gets the job done," she remarked, "How come you don't have any pictures in it?"
"Pictures lead the police to me," he explained, "Nothing personal can be kept there."
"You still have her name," she realized.
There was a weird look on her face as she stared at the name that once belonged to her. She even pressed a light finger to it. Her eyes softened a bit and her lips did a tiny tilt up. She looked as though she was fighting the smile that wanted to form.
"Why is she still saved into your phone?"
Nate focused on the name and tried not to let the pain show. He had forgotten all about it. He was so wrapped up in this alternate universe that he completely forgot about his grifter's phone number being in there. Now she probably thought he was an obsessed coward who couldn't even face his girl's death. Then that evil finger hovered over the power button.
"Let's see if she'll answer," she teased darkly.
"Don't," Nate begged with such desperation he didn't know where it was coming from. He had never felt such bliss and pain in his life, not since Sam died at least.
"So you were lying to me about her," Charlotte grinned, "She's alive and has absolutely no idea what kind of stunt you're up to. Maybe I should call her up and pretend to be your girlfriend. I'll bet anything that it will crumple her to the floor."
"NO," Nate grabbed for the phone and missed. "Please, don't call her. I didn't lie. She's gone. I just can't… I can't-"
"You still think she's coming back," she gasped with big black eyes staring at him.
She looked confused by the emotion. It was like she had never even witnessed somebody caring for somebody else like that. She looked just like Parker in that moment. The anger boiled in his veins at the comparison. Charlotte was just as unloved as Parker had been. That was wrong.
Nate growled a reply. It was something that sounded like, "I didn't say that." Then he closed his mouth and regretted the motion. It would only drive her point home and make him feel worse about himself. He was lying to the woman like she wasn't his girlfriend. Well, she technically wasn't.
"She's not coming back," Charlotte stressed, "My husband doesn't allow that. Nobody returns when Damien takes a liking to somebody's girl."
Nate accidentally hissed at the way she said her husband's name. He hated the way she sounded so helpless. She was stuck in a marriage with nothing but hate for the man who put her there. But she was in love with the child they had created and the empire they built. Her lust was for money and her love was power. Even the way she stood before him was completely wrong. She was prim and proper. Her back was perfectly straight and her head never bowed unless it was for a con. Her black eyes demanded a bow in her presence.
"Your hacker understands that," she explained.
The mastermind glared at her for the remark. She just giggled at him. She was baiting him. The wicked, evil woman was enjoying his struggle. At least some things would never change.
"What do you mean?" He hissed.
She shrugged.
"You'll find out eventually," she said, "I don't want to spoil the fun. Do you honestly think you can defeat my husband?"
Nate stared at her in confusion. Then he suddenly got the hint she was giving him. He stared at her for a few minutes as he tried to contemplate what her play was. Finally he gave up.
"Why didn't you tell him about our plans?" He asked.
"What fun would that be?" She laughed, "Besides, I want to see his face when he discovers you destroy his perfect escape plan. I told him that island wouldn't be as safe as he thought. Ribera has always been a push over. That's the probably with corrupt men. Eventually they decide you're not paying them enough."
"Well, your villa was a key selling point," Nathan jibed. He couldn't exactly resist. This was the most normal conversation they ever had in this world. It reminded him of when he was chasing Sophie through Europe.
"You have an incredible mind, Mr. Ford," Charlotte announced, "Did Sophie appreciate it as much as I do?"
"She can keep up," Nate grimaced, "Well, she could. It was what drew us together. She's… uh; she was gorgeous and flaunted it in front of me constantly when I was still with Maggie. But it was that brain of hers that really made her hard to resist. She knew how to push and prod and outwit me at every turn we made."
"And she became enough of a tease to lure you away," Charlotte prodded, "Or was it your son's death that actually tore you away from your ex-wife and into the arms of a grifter?"
"Believe it or not I was an honest man at one point in time," Nate chuckled, "It's what probably made her fall for me. My one regret in life is that-"
The mastermind stopped himself before he could further the damage. He hated himself for falling for her tricks again. Her eyes were so eager to hear more but she was only in it for the blackmail. She was just gathering more information for his demise. She killed Maggie for crying out loud!
"Regret what?" She asked, "What is your one regret? You can't just stop right in the middle of the sentence. That's rude."
"No," Nate shouted, "I won't give you anymore ammo. You want to call her, go ahead! You'll probably have better luck than I will. Hit the redial button. I've been dialing that number ever since this whole mess began. I get nothing but a busy signal. I don't even get her voicemail."
"You care for her," Charlotte said tilting her head to the left in thought, "Just like I care for my husband-"
"Don't even lie to me about that," Nate growled, "I may not be able to read you as plain as day but I can definitely tell you don't love the bastard you call a husband."
"And how can you be so sure?" She demanded.
"Your eyes," he explained, "They're blank. They hold no emotion with the only exception being Sam."
She scoffed at his reply.
"Plus you say his name like he's a bug and you want him squished," he finished.
The grifter stared at him for a few minutes. Her black eyes peered into his sole with the need of understanding. She seemed to find him just as fascinating in this life as she had in their past.
"Do you know how I earned the name Charlotte Prentice?" She asked.
The question was meant to be rhetorical but the mastermind nodded his head anyway. Then he noticed her scandalized face and decided to divulge further information.
"You married the Duke of Hanover William Prentice," he explained, "Then you left him when he hit you after your miscarriage. He was drunk and eventually found the bottom of a bottle with his grave because you-"
Smack!
The grifter's whip of a hand hit his face immediately. Fire was blazing in her eyes and her chest was heaving. She was shaking with her anger and acting very… Sophie-like.
"How do you know that?" She growled, "Where did you get this information? Who told you about me?"
You, Nate thought bitterly. Instead he said, "Why did you kill Maggie when you knew I was over her?"
"Because she was the only open I had," she replied, "Why do you expect me to follow you instead of my husband?"
"I don't."
"You do too," she scowled, "Every time you look at me it's like you're seeing her."
"Who?"
"This Sophie woman!" She howled waving the phone violently in indication, "Why do you keep comparing me to her? I've done nothing to convince you of anything. Is it because I'm a grifter? Because she was probably a bad one if you chased her!"
"She was an angel," Nate replied darkly, "She helped me take down several rich bastards who took advantage of the innocent. She reopened her stubborn heart and forced me to live again. She saved more people than you could ever hope to. How dare you compare yourself to her?"
The silence that filled the room was thick with anger and pain. They were both breathing heavily and glaring hurtful daggers at each other. They were aiming to kill each other with their words. Neither was willing to bend at the other's will and it was frustrating. Why was it so frustrating? She wasn't the grifter he had known. They weren't the same anymore.
"You don't think I can change either," she sighed, "Do you?"
Nate stared at the woman. He didn't know how to answer her and that scared him. He didn't realize she had listened to their conversation after dinner. But she had mentioned Hardison's Nana so it wasn't that far-fetched of an idea. She really sounded as though she wanted to him to believe in her. And why not? He was the only witness to her change before. He watched her change right before his eyes like nobody else could. The others had never seen just how good she was before. They had no idea what a menace she had been to I.Y.S. Why couldn't she change this time around too?
"I think you can," he said, "but you have to try first."
"What's stopping me from dialing my husband right now and telling him exactly where I am?" She demanded heatedly.
"Nothing," Nate admitted, "just you."
The grifter smiled evilly and pulled open the window doors. She raced out to the balcony and dangled the phone over the edge. She beckoned him closer and kept a firm grip on the prized possession.
"Since you know me so well," Charlotte dared, "Tell me why I should throw this over the edge."
"That's my phone," Nate argued, "Why would I want you to throw that over the edge?"
"Because I just called my husband," she explained, "and the phone is being traced even as we speak."
The mastermind stared at her determined grin. He studied her expression and the way she moved the phone in her hands. She was subtly nudging it closer and closer to the edge. She would pull it back seconds before it went over though. She was toying with him. But her eyes were glowing.
She hung up the phone and smiled.
"Time is running out," she chimed.
Then she dialed again.
"Your son," Nate said, "What I promised you is possible. I can give you and your son a brand new beginning. You will never have to worry about him becoming anything like his father."
She hung up the phone and smiled again.
"You're still not convincing me," she hummed dialing again as she spoke.
"We can do it, so… Charlotte," he stammered, "Your husband is just going to use him like he used you. You're not as trapped as you think. You can still save your son. You can still choose."
The grifter hung up the phone. This time though, she didn't dial again. She just waited for him to continue with baited breath. He had her interest.
"He's going to rescue me," she explained. But she did not dial again.
Nate shook his head.
"Oh, Charlotte," he sighed, "We both know that's not true. He thinks he's better off without you."
The grifter giggled at him and the mastermind grinned with her. It was like they were sharing an old joke.
"But we both know it's the other way around," he said, "For Sam too."
"But he's Sam's father," she complained.
"You're going to have to choose between your husband and your son," Nate moaned, "You know that. Even if he decides to rescue you and do the unexpected, that is a choice you have to make."
The grifter didn't reply to his words. She just continued to hold the cellphone in the air and taunt him with the way she stared at it. Her freedom was a phone call away. Yet she still hadn't made the call. Maybe he was getting through after all.
"You just…" Nate struggled with words for the very first time since this whole mess began. His emotions finally made it so he couldn't say the right thing. Why did he always have this problem when she was involved?
"You just have to decide what's more important," he explained, "Your husband's empire or your son's morality."
The cellphone fell.