𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙬𝙤.

─☼☼☼─

-RAFE-

𝙎𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝙊𝙊𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙎𝙊 beautiful beneath the sunlight, her head tilted up slightly as if to catch every ray that haloed around her. A light smile played at her lips as she basked in the heat, the waves beneath the boat gently lulling her to sleep.

Rafe could watch her all day. He would watch her all day given the opportunity.

Because she was his nows. Just as he was hers.

Whatever had happened with the Pogues had guided her right back to where she should be─with him.

They would sell the gold from the cross, be set for a while. They could move into Tannyhill, or buy a new place. He didn't really care, as long as he was with her. He would take over his father's company, save it from despair. He would marry Charlotte, watch her become a mother to his children.

He would heal from everything, from all of this. He would be the man she wanted, the man she had always deserved.

"Are you ever going to tell me what we're doing here?" Charlotte wondered, her eyes still closed as she spoke for the first time in a while, breaking Rafe from his thoughts. "Not that I'm complaining." She added, finally opening her eyes to reach for the glass of whiskey that sat next to her.

Rafe watched silently for a moment as she took a sip of her drink. Charlotte had never been a drinker. Sure, she drank socially, but it was extremely out of the norm for her to drink when it was just the two of them, especially on a Tuesday morning at ten am.

Deciding not to comment on the oddity, Rafe moved across the yacht, sitting at the end of the bench where Charlotte was laying. He lifted her feet for a moment before placing them on his lap. "I told you, I have something to show you."

Charlotte hummed slightly, smiling as Rafe gently traced shapes onto her bare legs. "I could fall asleep right now." She murmured, closing her eyes once again. "I slept like shit last night."

To the outside observer, her words help no connotation, but to Rafe they revealed something that had been gnawing at him. Swiping his tongue across his bottom lip, he spoke. "You were with them last night, weren't you?"

The blissful smile fell from Charlotte's lips as she reopened her eyes, sitting up slightly so she could face him. Rafe already knew the answer, but he was curious to see what Charlotte was going to say.

In a shock to both of them, she didn't lie.

"Yes." Her voice was raspy as she spoke, throat tight in anticipation of his reaction.

But again, shocking both of them, Rafe didn't react with anger, instead he nodded slowly. "Something happened?" He deduced. "Something that made you come to me instead." He wasn't angry or accusatory. Rather, he was curious what had actually happened. She'd been off since arriving at his doorstep two hours ago...sad.

Charlotte was silent for a moment as she chewed on her bottom lip. When she spoke, her voice was defeated. "I'm so sick of all this shit with the cross...you, them, them, you. I just can't take it anymore. And now Pope doesn't even trust me so─" She shook her head, voice breaking for a moment. "I just want to get rid of it, one way or another."