The Other Side

“Jesus, Mark. You okay?”

“I’m fine. Stephen’s fussing over nothing.” Mark knew Stephen had a right to be concerned but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He struggled to focus on Roberto. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“I am. I thought you’d want to know that we caught the person who shot up the restaurant where Charli was shot. A fourteen-year-old wannabe gangster kid from the poorer side of town.”

“A teenager shot at Charli?” Mark couldn’t believe it. While it was a relief that Charli’s shooter had been arrested and was going to jail, he still wished it had been Andy. “Did he say why he did it?”

“That’s the scary part.” Roberto’s expression went grim. “He was paid to do it. Said a guy paid him $20,000 to kill Charli. Had her photograph and everything.”

“He was a hitman? At his age?” Mark pressed his fingers to the bridge of her nose. “Does Charli know about this?”

“I was going to tell her once I’d told you.” Roberto took a breath. “Mark, he didn’t know any names but he recognized the guy who hired him. It was…”

But Mark didn’t hear anything beyond that. He could feel the world spinning faster and faster, sliding sideways down the wall. The world went black before his head hit the ground.

*****

“What about this?”

Atalya held up a onesie in red with ‘Unbearably Cute’ written across the front.

“Aw, that’s cute.” Charli picked out a pale blue onesie with a white star on one shoulder. “But I prefer this one.” She glanced at the price tags. “And it’s cheaper as well.”

“How about we get both of them?”

“Really, Mom, are you sure?” Charli bit her lip. “Both outfits are cute but I don’t think my budget can stretch that far.”

Atalya laughed and slid an arm through Charli’s as she popped both outfits into the basket Charli was carrying.

“I’m paying for all this, remember? We can get both if you want both.”

Mark had said the same thing, urging her to take his credit card. He said since he had the money he could easily spend on a few extras. Charli knew he was worth millions and could afford to ‘spend’ but she couldn’t. She was used to working on a budget, which she had set herself when she came out that morning. But Atalya was determined to screw that up.

“I don’t want to take advantage of your generosity.” She protested weakly.

Atalya smiled.

“Honey, it’s more of taking advantage of you. Mark told me to make sure you bought what you wanted to buy, no expense spared.”

Charli sighed. Mark had been doing that a lot lately. He seemed to think that he could shower money on her but Charli had told him she didn’t care about the money. To her it was immaterial. As long as she was happy with what she had, she didn’t care about money.

And she was happy now that she and Mark had revealed to each other how they felt. Things were a lot more comfortable between them and Mark wasn’t afraid to treat her like a princess. Charli couldn’t believe how sweet the man was. He made her meals, helped her to bath and wash her hair and to dress. He didn’t complain and even urged Charli to relax and allow the help.

Plus the s*x was hotter than ever. Even though they still hadn’t had s*x because Mark didn’t want to bust her stitches, his inventiveness in the bed made Charli’s toes curl. She was getting hot and bothered thinking about it now.

Although she wasn’t sure if they would be doing anything when they met later on. The last couple of days Mark had fallen ill with something, sweating and carrying a temperature. He had refused to stay in bed, intent on getting to training, which had concerned Charli. But Mark was insistent that he was fine.

Charli thought otherwise.

“How are things with Mark?” Atalya’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “You two seemed pretty happy when he dropped you off earlier. Although,” Atalya frowned, “He didn’t look very well.”

“He thinks he caught my cold and he’s suffering.” Charli smiled. “But other than that things are great. He does love me, Mom. We made it official when we came home from the hospital.”

Atalya grinned and hugged her daughter.

“That’s fantastic. I’m so pleased for you, honey. Mark is a lovely guy. I couldn’t ask for a better man.”

Charli couldn’t agree more. Mark was good for her and she had found herself smiling more since Mark told her he loved her. That was the best feeling she had experienced in a long time.

It was going to be hard with Andy still in the city and playing tennis against Mark but Charli was confident that things would work out their way. Andy was going downhill with himself and he was going to get himself banned one of these days, either with his violent behavior or his drug use. He hadn’t contacted her since that day in the hospital and Charli was grateful. She didn’t ever want to see the man she had devoted a vast amount of her life to.

She didn’t want to see him again.

They reached the checkout and were standing in line when Charli’s phone started ringing. Charli sighed and fished it out, glancing at the caller ID. Stephen’s name was flashing up.

“Sorry, Mom, I’ve got to take this.”

“I’m paying anyway.” Atalya held up Mark’s credit card, Mark having told her to get what they wanted and believing Atalya would spoil Charli as he wanted to do. “Go on.”

Charli hurried outside, her heart pounding. Why would Stephen be calling her? Unless Mark’s cell phone had run out of battery. But it didn’t bode well.

“Hey, Stephen.” Charli leaned against a concrete pillar. “What’s the matter?”

“Mark’s in the hospital, Charli.”

Even though she had braced for bad news, Charli still didn’t anticipate the sledgehammer to the chest. She sagged to the ground shaking. People around her looked at her with a mix of curiosity and disgust but nobody approached her, giving her a wide berth. Charli ignored them.

“What happened?”

“He collapsed on the court. The paramedics had to restart his heart. They think he was poisoned.”

“Whoa, back up there.” Charli felt cold. “His heart stopped?”