Confiscating Charlie by Lucy Leroux Read Free Book Online Page A

still in high school. ”
    Sergei dropped the report on the conference table. “ Noah . ”
    “ It ’ s not what you think. Charlie ’ s nineteen. She had to miss a lot of school so she ’ s only now going to graduate, but she ’ s amazing. Honestly, I don ’ t know how this happened so quickly, but I ’ m crazy about her. ”
    Sergei passed a hand over his face. “ I forget how young you are sometimes. That ’ s what you get for being an overachiever. So how did you meet this girl? ”
    Noah broke out into a huge grin. “ My dad married her older sister. She ’ s Charlie ’ s legal guardian. ”
    The tall Russian threw back his head and laughed. “ Have you told Alex? ”
    “ No, not yet. But I think I can count on his support. ”
    Sergei clapped him on the back. “ As long as you ’ re serious about her, yes, I think you can. ”
    Noah didn ’ t need the warning. Afterwards, he stopped at his real estate agent ’ s office to give her new specifications for her search before driving back home.
    ****
    Charlie didn ’ t want a graduation party. He argued with her, but she easily convinced him that a private celebration was a much better idea.
    That didn ’ t stop him from going to watch her get her diploma with a huge bouquet of roses. It caused a bit of a stir, since he had a few fans in the student body at Dalton. A few of the faculty tried to make a fuss over him, but he politely reminded them that this was Charlie ’ s day.
    After that, he ’ d thrown a possessive arm around her shoulders and taken her home. They spent the afternoon making love in his room. They took a break for dinner, but went straight back to bed afterwards.
    She ’ d been ecstatic to hear about his new job. She asked if his new place was going to be near the Columbia dorms. He didn ’ t know how to tell her she wasn ’ t going to need a dorm room.
    He ’ d gotten a text from his real estate agent. She had found him the perfect apartment approximately half-way between the Columbia campus and Damov ’ s engineering offices. The two were fairly close together. After work, he could walk to campus to pick Charlie up and help her carry her books home.
    The next morning, Noah woke up early. He was training himself to keep normal hours so it wouldn ’ t be too much of an adjustment when he went to work at Damov early each morning, setting his watch alarm on vibrate so he wouldn ’ t wake Charlie.
    He left her asleep in bed and went downstairs to put on a pot of coffee. He surprised one of the maids holding a mass of high-end shopping bags and packages going up the stairs. Once he helped her get them to the second story, he went back down, frowning. Apparently, his father was home early.
    But it wasn ’ t his father. Darla was alone in the kitchen.
    “ Hello, ” he said, stopping short when he saw her.
    She looked like she ’ d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar as she mixed herself a mimosa using a bottle of Crystal.
    Charlie strongly resembled her sister in terms of build and coloring. But Charlie ’ s face was softer and her eyes fairly sparkled with intelligence.
    By comparison, Darla had the angular features of a model. He could see why his father had been taken with her, enough to marry her out from under the nose of another man. But he preferred Charlie ’ s sweeter look.
    “ Hi, you must be Noah. I didn ’ t know you would be here, ” Darla said, recovering from her startle gracefully.
    That was a little surprising. He ’ d half-expected the staff to call his father and Darla to tell them all about his relationship with Charlie. But apparently no one had tattled on them. He liked to think everyone had recognized that Charlie was better off with him than without.
    “ Is my father here? ”
    “ No, he was delayed. You know how he is, ” Darla said, waving a bejeweled hand. “ I simply couldn ’ t wait to see my baby sister any longer. ”
    Noah didn ’ t buy that for a second. Darla had gotten bored,