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"𝙇𝙀𝙏—𝙐𝙎—𝙊𝙐𝙏!" Between each word, Charlotte pounded her fists against the wooden door, desperation dripping into her tone.

"Lottie," Rafe sighed from where he sat on the bed, "They're not gonna let us out."

Not giving up, Charlotte tried for the dozenth time to turn the handle. "What do you think they're doing to her?" She wondered, turning to Rafe with an exasperated expression.

He rose his brows, "Probably having the exact same conversation he just had with us. She'll be fine, Charlotte."

"God." Charlotte muttered, "Would it kill you to pretend to care about my sister just this once?"

Thinking for a moment, Rafe nodded. "Probably."

"Rafe—"

He cut her off by raising his hand in front of his face. "Lottie, I don't need to hear it."

"Hear what? That you're acting like a total ass now that Kiara's back?" Charlotte challenged, hands placed on her hips.

Rafe looked up at her for a moment before dipping his head, giving it a small shake. "Can you really blame me?"

Faltering for a moment, Charlotte's face clouded in confusion. "What?"

"Come on, Charlotte." Rafe breathed, looking up again to reveal his distressed features. "You can't tell me that you're not going to go back to Kildare with your sister. You're going to leave me behind the first chance you get."

Recoiling slightly, Charlotte absorbed what Rafe was saying...truthfully, she hadn't thought much further than making sure Rafe and her sister made it out of this nightmare alive.

Silent for a moment, Charlotte took a few steps toward the bed, lowering herself down next to Rafe. "I'm not just going to throw away everything we've built back up over this past month." She assured, her voice soft when she finally spoke. "I won't if you won't."

Despite all the shit that he had done to her, Charlotte couldn't abandon Rafe, even if she was given the opportunity to do so.

Glancing over at her, Rafe studied her face as if to catch any indication that she was lying to him. Charlotte held his gaze, not at all worried that she wasn't telling the truth.

Because in her mind, this was all going to work out. She had her sister, and she had Rafe. Once she knew the rest of her friends were safe, Charlotte would be content. That was all she needed.

"You're really not going to leave me?" Rafe wondered, a certain helplessness creeping into his voice.

Leaning over to press her lips to his, Charlotte shook her head slightly. "No." She assured as she pulled back slightly. "But let's worry about getting my sister and getting the hell out of here first."

Rafe exhaled, looking back toward the locked door. The mood suddenly shifted between the two of them, his expression changing as he looked back to her. "You're telling the truth...about that diary, right?"

Charlotte had to consciously force her face not to fall slightly at Rafe's words. Because she wasn't telling the truth.

"Yes." She lied easily, hating how effortlessly it rolled off her tongue. "I don't know what the hell he's talking about."

She may have been telling him the truth about not leaving him, but there was no way she could tell him the truth about this. She wasn't going to do that to Pope.

Much to Charlotte's relief, the topic was quickly dropped between them as the sound of a key entering the lock from the outside met their ears.

The two of them stood up, Rafe taking a small step in front of Charlotte as the doorknob turned, soon followed by the door swinging open.

Gripping into Rafe's hand in a desperate need for comfort amidst her anxiety, Charlotte watched as Carlos Singh entered their room, followed closely by one of his guards. Next to him was Kiara, unharmed, but rather pissed off.

Relief flooded Charlotte's body as she resisted the urge to run to her sister. She knew that wasn't smart given the man with the gun watching them with a stoic expression.

Singh extended his arms, gesturing to the room around them, "I trust that you three will enjoy the grounds during your stay. I must warn you though, I am not a man of infinite patience." He held up a single finger, being sure to look each of the three in the eye for a moment. "You have one day."

Nodding toward the windows behind him, Singh spoke again, ignoring the uneasy looks that were being shared between the three teenagers. "Go to the window for a little demonstration." He made to move past Rafe, patting him on the shoulder. "I think you'll enjoy it, you know."

He was gone before any of them could inquire any further, the door shut and locked with a quiet click.

No sooner had the door been closed was Charlotte pulling Kiara toward her in a tight embrace, tears stinging her eyes as she clutched onto her younger sister. The two had never been overly affectionate with each other, but in that moment, Charlotte never wanted to let Kiara go again.

"I knew it." She whispered, voice wobbling. "I knew you were alive."

Kiara's own eyes were filled with tears she she pulled back to take in her sister's appearance. "I thought I might never see you again." She whispered, her voice giving way to the despair she had felt over her big sister's absence.

Charlotte pushed the hair from Kiara's face, "It's okay." She assured, "I'm here now."

A tear tumbled down Kiara's cheek as she shook her head, "What the hell happened to you on that boat?"

A heaviness seemed to settled in the air as Charlotte stole a glance at Rafe. He was standing by the window, already looking at her when she met his gaze. "It's a long story." Charlotte answered, refocusing on her sister. "But I'm okay."

Kiara turned to Rafe, her eyes full of distaste. "What did you do to her?"

Rafe couldn't fight the eye-roll as he scoffed, "Seriously, Kiara?"

"Yes, seriously. I know that you—"

Kiara's words fell silent in her throat as her attention caught on something outside on the grounds. Still holding onto Charlotte, she pulled the two of them toward the window where Rafe was already standing.

Leaning into the side of Rafe, Charlotte attempted to see what had caught her sister's attention.

Down below, two guards were pulling a man onto the deck, said man seeming to resist their efforts.

"Who the hell is that?" Rafe questioned, eyes flickering to Kiara.

The youngest Carrera didn't take her eyes off of the scene below. "I know him. It's Jimmy Portis."

"Who?" Charlotte wondered, confused as to how Kiara knew who the man was.

Kiara shook her head. "He was trying to help me."

Something settled deep within Charlotte's stomach, a feeling of dark uneasiness. Whatever the hell was going on, was a lot bigger than she initially thought.

To confirm Charlotte's feelings of unease, Singh and a few of his men came into view from down below. The little demonstration that he had been referring to earlier seemingly beginning. He looked up to the window, giving the three of them a smug smile as he pulled a gun from his waistband.

Charlotte's heart froze as a breath escaped from her lips. Rafe tensed beside her, his eyes clouding in concern. "Whoa, whoa, whoa."

It felt like a hand was squeezing the air from Charlotte's lungs as she watched Singh raise the gun, aim it at Portis, and fire.

A noise tumbled from her lips as the sound of the gunshot reverberated in her ears. Kiara's eyes were wide as she stared forward, her chest heaving with deep breaths.

"This diary." Rafe instantly spoke, looking between the two sisters. "No bullshit. Don't bullshit me, okay? Do either of you have it?"

Charlotte could tell by the tone of his voice that he was just as disturbed by what had just happened as any of them. That almost made lying to him even worse.

"I already told you." Charlotte reminded, "No."

Rafe believed her, eyes shifting to her younger sister. "Kie. Do you have it?" He enunciated each of his words, driving home the importance of what he was asking.

Stealing a quick glance at her sister, one that Rafe likely missed, Kiara finally shook her head. Slipping into the same lie Charlotte had. "No."

As Kiara answered Rafe, Charlotte had focused on something outside. Looking past the fallen body of Jimmy Portis, she felt something in her chest constrict as she watched another figure be led up the stairs. He wasn't dressed as a guard, but he didn't look like a captive either.

As he turned his head slightly, it felt like the air had been knocked from Charlotte's lungs.

Her audible gasp caused Rafe and Kiara to turn to her. "Lottie?" Rafe wondered, his hand straying to her lower back. "What's—"

He cut himself off, following Charlotte's line of sight. "Is that—"

"Mateo." Charlotte finished, a mixture of emotions overtaking her as she watched him approach Singh with a handshake. "Mother fucker." She gritted out, face reddening in betrayal.

Kiara looked between the two of them, utterly lost. "Who the hell is Mateo?"

Raking a hand through her hair, Charlotte stepped away from the window, feeling like a complete idiot for trusting a boy she barely knew. "We were paying him to find you guys." She answered her sister, a edge to her voice. "I'm such a fucking idiot."

"We?" Kiara wondered, seemingly to be hung up on Charlotte's use of the collective pronoun.

Despite the circumstances, Rafe wore a smug smile. "Yeah, Kie. I was helping Lottie find you guys."

Kiara wore a disgusted expression. "What, so you and your daddy could come finish us off?"

"Stop." Charlotte ordered, feeling tears of frustration pricking at her eyes. "I cannot handle you two arguing right now."

Earning an eye-roll from Kiara, Rafe stepped toward Charlotte, cupping her cheeks so she was looking up at him. "This isn't your fault." He assured. "Mateo's a fucking ass and I'll be sure to let him know that the next time I see him."

As if on cue, there was a soft knock at their door.

"It's locked from the outside!" Charlotte snapped before lowering her voice. "Fucking morons."

The lock clicked, the door slowly opening.

And if he had been summoned by their discussion of him, Mateo himself stepped into the room.

Rafe was the first to react, marching toward him. "You better get the fuck out of here, man."

Raising his hands in surrender, Mateo looked at Rafe for only a brief moment, his attention mostly on Charlotte. "Can you just let me explain, please?"

Biting down on the inside of her cheek, Charlotte crossed her arms across her chest. "Explain what, Mateo. That you played me? I don't really need to hear your explanation. I already feel stupid enough."

Mateo flinched slightly at the reality of what he had done. "It's not that simple, Charlotte. I swear I didn't have choice."

Kiara was at her sister's side now, regarding Mateo with an expression that could scare a grown man. It seemed to scare Mateo slightly as he took a small step back.

"Did he threaten to kill you?" Charlotte challenged, not letting up.

"No." Mateo answered, voice small.

"Threaten to kill your family?"

"No. But, Charlotte please just listen to me."

Charlotte didn't want to listen to him. "Then you had a choice."

Mateo looked like he was on the verge of tears. "I needed the money." He insisted. "When Singh found out I was helping you, he offered to pay me way more than guys were paying me and I couldn't—I couldn't say no."

Clenching her jaw, Charlotte turned her back to Mateo, unable to look at him any longer. She'd only known him for a short stint of time, but she had thought she could trust him, thought he was her friend.

"Just get the hell out, man." Rafe ordered, his voice dark. "And don't come near her again, or I'll fucking kill you."

There was a beat of silence, as if M
teo was hoping Charlotte would allow him to explain more. When she didn't turn around to face him, he finally conceded, turning toward the door, the floorboards creaking beneath him.

The locked clicked behind him, signalling that the three of them were alone again, alone in their small prison.

Charlotte didn't know what fate was to become of them...she just hoped it wasn't anything like Jimmy Portis'.

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