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𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙊𝙏𝙏𝙀 𝙉𝙀𝙍𝙑𝙊𝙐𝙎𝙇𝙔 𝘼𝘿𝙅𝙐𝙎𝙏𝙀𝘿 her dressed as she looked around the extravagant mansion. Even on the Figure 8, nothing was quite like this.

After her and Rafe had arrived in Bridgetown, they'd changed out of their casual clothes into something more put-together. Charlotte wore a dress Rafe had purchased for her. It was beautiful, she couldn't deny that. The colour was a pale orange, the same colour her eighth grade homecoming dress had been. She couldn't tell if it was a coincidence or if Rafe had done it on purpose. She was leaning toward the latter.

They now stood in the house of the potential buyer, and the nerves were coursing through Charlotte. Upon their arrival, they had been shuttled through a huge property, more akin to a compound than anything. Whoever this was, he was extremely wealthy, extremely influential.

"You okay?" Rafe wondered, carefully watching Charlotte. He was preparing them drinks, not seeming to have a worry in the world.

"Yeah." Charlotte answered quietly, her eyes straying to one of the guards who stood by the doorway. "I just feel like—I don't know."

"You are right to be weary, you know." Came a voice from the adjacent sitting room. It was coated in a thick Caribbean accent, sure and strong.

Charlotte and Rafe shared a look as he stepped in front of her, shielding her from whoever was in the next room.

"Who are you?" Rafe demanded, his voice tilting slightly, giving way to some hesitancy that had seeped in.

The man who had spoken turned from where he had been facing the window.

He was middle aged, perhaps slightly younger than Charlotte's parents. His skin was tanned, a thick beard covering his face. He was dressed pristinely, oozing wealth.

"Me?" He wondered, pointing to himself as if they should have known who he was. "My name is Carlos Singh."

He waved his finger in the air, pointing to Rafe first. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cameron." Then looking to Charlotte, he smiled. "And you, Miss. Carrera." He paused for a moment, eyes snagging on the rings that sat on Charlotte's left hand. "Or is it Mrs. Cameron now? I'm sorry, I must have missed the news of your marriage."

The worry Charlotte had been feeling was all encompassing now. Her brows furrowed as she looked to Rafe, searching for any sign of apprehension on his features.

This man should not have know Charlotte's surname. She was only ever introduced to Michel and Julia with her given name.

"Please, come. Sit down." Singh proposed, nodding toward the room behind him. "Come now, I don't bite."

As he turned his back to the pair, Charlotte grabbed onto Rafe's hand, preventing him from following right away. "I don't like this." She whispered, keeping a watchful eye on their less-than trustworthy host.

Rafe's eyes flickered toward her, "It's okay." He assured confidently. "I've got you."

Working her bottom lip between her teeth, Charlotte gave a small nod in Rafe's direction before taking a step into the sitting room. "What is this?" She demanded, deciding to forgo any tiptoeing around what was happening.

Rafe stood directly behind her, his eyes set on Singh as the older man turned to face them. "I apologize, Mrs. Cameron...for taking you away from—your daughter was it?" The way he spoke, it was a clear indication that he knew all of what they had told Michel was a lie.

Charlotte turned slightly, looking to Rafe as she forced the lump in her throat down.

Rafe placed one of his hands on the small of Charlotte's back, allowing her to feel how tense he was.

"What the hell is going on?" He demanded, a certain edge to his voice.

Singh smiled, taking a sip of the glass of whiskey in his hand. "I'm sorry for the false pretences. But, I must assure you that the ends justify the means." He nodded toward the two empty chairs, "Sit down. We have a lot to talk about."

Knowing they had very little choice, Charlotte and Rafe moved toward the seats, lowering themselves into them, still rigid, on high alert.

"Why are we here?" Charlotte questioned again, balling her hands into a fist to hide the trembling. "And how do you know so much about us?"

Singh stood in front of them, an almost arrogant look on his face. "Well, Miss. Carrera, Mr. Cameron," he began, dropping Charlotte's false married name, "We share certain interests, you know. Objectives."

Rafe shook his head, letting out a deep sigh. "Is this not about the cross?"

Charlotte's eyes darted around the room, noting the number of guards surrounding them. They were outnumbered four to two, their odds of escaping weren't looking too positive.

"It is." Singh assured, redrawing her attention as he turned his back to them for a moment. "Tangentially, it is about the cross, but it is also about something much, much bigger than the cross." He was facing a painting that hung on the wall across from them. "By orders of magnitude. The completion of a grand quest."

As he spoke, Charlotte tried to memorize the painting he was focused on, studying each aspect of it.

"You see," Singh continued, "the story goes that 450 years ago, a Spanish soldier came out of the Orinoco Basin with a few gold beads. And when they asked the Spanish soldiers where the beads came from, the Spanish soldier replied that he got them from a peaceful Indigenous tribe who lived in a city of gold."

"El Dorado." The words fell from Charlotte's lips, prompting a small smile to creep across Singh's.

"You've heard of it?" He wondered, eyes locked on her.

Shifting slightly beneath his gaze, Charlotte nodded.

"Smart girl." Singh praised, turning back toward the painting before speaking again. "For the next 450 years, people tried to find that gold, you know. They tired. Conquistadors, knights, captains of ships, tribes, entire nations."

He picked up a blade, studying it for a moment, as he took pause. His movement prompted Rafe to reach out, taking a hold of Charlotte's still shaking hand.

"All fighting each other in a race for the end of the rainbow. Thousands of lives, laid on the pyre of gold fever. And it falls to me, you know. It falls to me to complete the task. To bring full circle a quest that has gone on for almost 500 years. Perhaps...perhaps the greatest quest in the history of the Western hemisphere." Singh declared, eyes shifting between the two teenagers in front of him.

Feeling safe beneath Rafe's grasp, Charlotte met Singh's eyes. "That's all very interesting," she began, working to steady her voice. "But what does that have to do with us?"

A small chuckle fell from the man's lips. "You two...you two are going to play a part in that."

Rafe physically rolled his eyes as Charlotte quirked a brow, less unnerved and more confused at this point.

"What about you Miss. Carrera?" Singh wondered, taking the seat closest to Charlotte. "You seem to have an interest in history, no?"

Charlotte shrugged, attempting to remain nonchalant. "I suppose so."

Rafe pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Yeah, I didn't listen to a word you said, okay? How much are you gonna keep philosophizing before you let us out of here?"

If there was one thing you could say about Rafe Cameron, it was that he was a master at getting straight to the point.

Singh let out a humourless laugh. "You are direct, aren't you, Mr. Cameron?"

Giving Rafe's hand a small squeeze of reassurance, Charlotte addressed their host. "What do you need from us?"

Swivelling his eyes toward her, Singh nodded slightly, beginning to realize which one of the couple was likely to negotiate with him. "I am under the impression that you and your friends are in possession of something that can help me get what I want."

At the mention of her friends, Charlotte tensed slightly. "Which is?"

"An old manuscript." Singh answered. "A diary, actually."

Denmark's diary....they had the copy of it.

Rafe turned to Charlotte, attempting to study her face as she stared back at Singh.

"Do you know where my friends are?" She demanded, knowing that if anyone would know, it would be this stalker. "Where my sister is?"

Singh watched her with a small smile, not providing her with an answer either way.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rafe declared, redirecting the conversation back to Singh's request.

Charlotte nodded, dropping the topic of her friends for the time being. "Rafe's right. This is ridiculous. I don't know anything about a diary."

Singh furrowed his brows, "How else could you have learned that the cross was on the Royal Merchant?"

Charlotte stilled for a moment, but Rafe was quick to intercede. "Are you saying she's lying?" He accused.

With the false air of happiness dropping from his features, Singh leaned forward. "I don't believe you." He challenged Charlotte. "You and your boyfriend here couldn't have found the cross without it."

Her mouth was open to object, but Rafe cut her off as he stood to his feet, in turn pulling Charlotte up with him. "Look, this is ridiculous." He argued. "We're leaving. We don't know anything about a diary, okay? So—"

The two were stopped in their escape attempt by an armed guard. He blocked the doorway, eyes set straight ahead.

"Let us go." Charlotte demanded, turning to Singh. "We don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Lie. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Do I look like a fool to you two?" Singh wondered. "Do I look like a fool to you?"

Charlotte bit back a response as he approached the two of them. "You have the cross." Singh spoke to Rafe before focusing on Charlotte. "She and she friends had the cross at one point. So one of you has the diary."

He looked to Rafe once again. "And if you really don't know, I suggest you convince your girlfriend to tell me. Once I have the diary...you'll be free to leave."

Charlotte's heart fell in her chest, knowing there was no way she was ever going to give up that diary. She couldn't do that to Pope...not after what she was doing with the cross.

Rafe pulled Charlotte toward him as Singh motioned to his men. "Take these two upstairs and bring the other one down."

"Hey, come on." Rafe pleaded, a distressed look covering his features. "We don't know anything, alright?"

Singh ignored him, turning his back to them as the guards latched onto them, prying Rafe and Charlotte away from each other.

"Don't fucking touch her!" Rafe snapped, anger replacing the distressed expression as they were dragged toward the stairs.

Charlotte struggled against the men, trying to prevent them from getting her up the stairs. "Get your hands off of me."

"Relax!" Came a voice from the top of the stairs, addressing their own captors, in a struggle for freedom themselves. 

Something shot through Charlotte's body at the sound of the voice...relief, excitement, fear, sadness, anger. All emotions seemed to ravel into one as she dragged her eyes upward, knowing she would recognize that voice anywhere.

Kiara Carrera was being ushered down the stairs. Dressed in a red dress, looking rather unharmed.

As if feeling eyes on her, Kiara ceased her resisting and met the utterly shocked gaze of her older sister.

"Charlotte?"

Rafe looked between the two, an almost wild expression on his features as he tried to pull free from his guards.

"Kiara." The name fell from Charlotte's lips as tears burst from her eyes with no control. As if a force had overtaken her, Charlotte managed to rip free form the guards, rushing toward her younger sister.

Kiara was enveloped in Charlotte's arms in a split second, the two of them clutching onto each other for dear life as tears streamed down both of their cheeks.

"Don't—" Charlotte rushed out, knowing they had no time. "Don't tell him anything."

"Hey! That's enough." Charlotte's guard spat, pulling the two girls away from each other. "Upstairs." He ordered, shoving Charlotte after Rafe.

Charlotte fought against him once more, managing to watch as he little sister was pulled into Singh's sitting room.

A hard lump had lodged itself in her throat, a dark grasp on her heart.

Everything had just changed.

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