Fatal Beauty - Nazarea Andrews Page 0,2

it.

“Charlie?” she croaks, and swallows. Reaches for the spumante on the bedside table.

“I need you.”

The whisper from the other end of the line chills her, and she shudders, rubbing away the goosebumps that trace along her arms.

That’s it—those three words and nothing more.

Sleep is forgotten completely as she sits up and nods. “I’ll be right there.”

Chapter 2

Wallace Bryce Talbert was dead. She stood next to him, and distantly, she was aware of the blood spilling out, spreading to seep around her toes, sinking into the crack of her feet.

They had hardwood floors. She could mop. She should mop. Except it was a crime scene. You didn’t just mop up a crime scene. There were procedures to follow and—her stomach heaves suddenly, and she whirls, her foot sliding in the spreading blood as she scrambles for the trash bin. She’s still in the dress she wore to their engagement party, her hair half down, makeup smudged.

Hair falls in the trashcan, and she gags as vomit catches in it.

She straightens slowly and makes a face. Wonderful. There was now a dead body on the floor and vomit in her hair. The night was definitely on a downward spiral.

There is a sharp knock on the front door, but Charlie doesn't move to answer.

She shouldn't have called Ella, but it happened before she could think, while Wallace was still gasping, his eyes shocked and angry while she fumbled for her phone and stood over him.

"Charlie?"

The voice breaks the cocoon of distance, and she draws in a shuddering breath.

"Oh holy fuck." EJ breathes the curse like a prayer and stumbles across the room to grab Charlie, yanking her around. Her eyes and hands are frantic as she looks over the other woman, and a hysterical giggle works it's way up Charlie's throat and bubbles over.

EJ goes still and watchful, her sharp blue eyes locked onto Charlie's. "Charlie, I need you to focus on me. Tell me what happened."

The words snap her laughter off and Charlie shudders, a full body spasm that makes EJ's hands on her shoulders tighten for a heartbeat.

"He hit me. Again. I had too, EJ."

Ella stills, and from the ground, Charlie stares at her, eyes almost pleading.

Charlotte Brooks. Who has never in her life pled for anything.

Ella expels a slow breath. "Get up, honey."

For a moment, she hesitates and Ella nods at the blood. "We're going to get you cleaned up. And then we'll talk about Tre. But you have to start by getting off the ground."

EJ waits, patient, and it occurs to Charlie that she's here. In yoga pants and tousled hair and slept in makeup, she's here.

And Tre is still dead. So fucking dead.

She pukes again, and EJ hisses a curse as the vomit splatters across the hardwood.

She's covered in vomit and blood and there's a dead fucking body on her floor. "Shouldn't have called you," Charlie mumbles.

EJ sighs and reaches down grabbing Charlie under the arm. She pulls her out of the blood and across the living room, shoving her into the lavender-accented guest bath.

“Little late to worry about it, Charlie. Now come on.”

Charlie stands in a corner, quiet and too still, watching as EJ turns on the shower. She turns back, and her gaze is sympathetic but unflinching.

“Get in.”

“We need to call the police,” Charlie whispers.

“First, you get in.”

EJ makes a quiet noise when Charlie doesn’t move, and stalks across the bathroom. She reaches around her and tugs the zipper, and the gorgeous designer dress covered in blood and puke falls to the ground.

EJ gasps. Charlie’s hand are moving, fluttering over her bare belly, and hips, but there’s no way to hide. Not this.

She’s wearing a strapless peach bra and matching panties, and bruises.

So many fucking bruises.

“Charlie?” EJ whispers, green eyes searching the other woman’s.

Charlie shakes her head, hiding behind a veil of dirty hair, and EJ clenches her teeth. Nods once. The bathroom is filling with steam. “Get in. Take as long as you need.”

Charlie listens. Maybe she is too tired to do anything else. But she strips off the bra and panties, avoiding her friend’s furious eyes and steps into the shower.

The water runs red with the blood coming off her, and there, hidden by the shower curtain and the water, she finally cries, shoulders shaking in silent sobs as EJ scoops up the discarded clothing and slips out.

*

She can’t quite grasp how things got so fucked up so quickly. Not Tre being dead—she expected that in a vague sort of way. Tre had lived with