16. Satelites.

I recently completed the renovation of a few rooms in my home. It was a challenging task, but I had the help of Charles throughout the process. Charles is a great friend who always offers his help whenever I need it, and he is handy when it comes to home improvement projects.

During the renovation, Charles would often tease me about installing ceiling lights, which was something I wasn't confident about doing on my own. However, I was grateful for his help with other tasks, like lifting heavy furniture or hanging curtains. He even handled electrical fittings, which was a running joke between us.

Aside from fixing my house in Sicily, Charles also lent a hand to a project that I had been working on for a while - a castle that I had purchased. He helped with various tasks, like installing light bulbs and laying the floor. He was always eager to help, and his help was invaluable. He told me I was not an electrician and I should not touch any lamps or electrical installations. I should just leave him to do them. 

Charles also played a significant role in providing me company, and I rewarded him with food during the renovation. I enjoyed cooking a lot, and he happily ate everything I made. Sometimes we would take a break and sit by the fire, enjoying cans of Coke while admiring the progress we had made. He had put fire on one of the enormous fireplaces that he had also renovated and taken care of. 

Overall, Charles was a great help to me during the renovation. He worked on a food-for-work basis, and I was happy to pay him for his help. I couldn't have completed the project without him, and I'm grateful to have a friend like him. He had been my savior more or less for years now and he was in fleas too, and in quite a big role once he got free time.

So one of the discussion topics was my work, the fleas and what missions were on, what problems had arisen in where, and what I had done to them. Sometimes he would take his phone, tap it same time, and get things done. I knew he was very well connected to Magnum, Jake, and Rob, so he had my head men under his power when he wanted to. It was pretty clear that once or if he ever got out from under Bran's thumb, he might almost challenge my place as the sole leader of the fleas. 

We'd talk about everything. I talked quite a bit about Damon's stuff, what he had done for me over the years, and also how hard Bran was defending Damon's stuff. Damon and the rest of the gang had put the party on probably two or three months ago, and I hadn't heard from them since. I told him about Damien, about the differences between Damon and Damien, the scent, the dictation, the strange stuff that he dropped me in every shed session. 

Charles was there for me when I needed him. I was poisoned, and Charles helped. The pack wasn't interested, no need to really get in touch and there was no rush to gigs or anywhere. It was just nice to be. To talk to someone who understood. For some reason, Bran had always made Charles sound cold and hard. Insensitive.

But it wasn't like that. Charles cared. He admitted how hard it was for him at the European gig to let me do anything because he, too, was very protective and seemed to be even towards me. We had some wine; we sat on one luxurious couch; he was next to me and it just happened. Charles and I kissed. It was lovely. I told him about the party; I told him how Damon's phone was full of women's numbers, and about the divorce.

The flank wedding, the two of them, the shed session. We talked. I told him how Damon has taken appliances and modified them, and how he bragged about how many sheds he has. And I wondered what was Damien and what was Damon. I tried to get my point across that I really truly believed that Damon is not Damien and Damien is his own being and he has been stuffed somehow in Damon's mind. Even Damon himself has no idea or memory. I told Charles about what I had noticed about Damien. How he threatens. I also told him that Damon very rarely promises. Because he always keeps his promises.

Charles said, " That's what Da says it's because Damon is so old and strong, you know what Honey, I'm the same age as Damon and I can say I've killed, I've had women, but I would never want to torture anybody. Never. And I can say I've been through my share of torture and then some, but age is no excuse. Now I don't know why Da is defending Damon with his life and blood. I don't understand, but honey, don't believe in excuses like that or defend Damon's behavior to yourself. What comes to Damien, we just don't know. It seems that there is a distinct difference, but it is also possible that is just part of Damon and it is some kind of survival mechanism for him to forget some of what he has done to you. Don't get your hopes up too much that Damien's side would be something that could be removed from him. It might not happen and more so, he might not let you do it."

Charles sighed, and then we kissed. And we kissed again. It's been a couple of weeks now and yes, we've kissed, but we haven't quite gone any further. I couldn't judge when that would be.

When I actually defended Damon, first I told him what he did, and in the same breath, I started coming up with all the reasons why and how it was my fault, how I can never shut up, and how the fleas have come between us. I told Charles how it is just that I work and forget or don't notice when Damon calls me and his calls go to the answering machine and then I call him back, but he is busy by then. I told him how he left his phone and wallet on the table to protect me. 

Charles always listened patiently and said, " You two have had thousands of women come between you. No matter how much Honey, Damon kills these women, it doesn't take away the fact that he fucks them and shops with them. Just because you're going to kill someone doesn't make a casual relationship any more acceptable. Damon just can't stand that you created the Fleas and have control over it. It seems like Salvatore is another one of those guys who needs to be in control of everyone all the time. Me, honey, I'm not like that. The fleas are a great thing. And the fact that you go to gigs and run them, Damon should be proud, not bitter. He's a security risk because of those stunts. He seems to have no self-control whatsoever. "

Charles was so damn different from Damon. And somehow so fucking perfect. He tastes so damn good, a couple of times I tasted his blood when I was in a lazy mood. It was like eating melted chocolate. He tasted like apples, but the feel of that blood was like melted chocolate, so perfect.

Like I said, Damon was partying, and I used to get a little off on other things besides Damon sometimes. He didn't like it, but when he did it himself and with so many millions of women. I didn't care. Charles cared about me, really. Again, in a way, I hadn't experienced it in a long time.

Me and Damon. We fucked when it felt good, but now there had been a temper storm before the party where nothing I did was good. I'd called after I'd recovered from the poisoning, and some bimbo had answered. I didn't leave a message.

Damon then called me a couple of hours later and let me know. I was begging for the poisoning myself, and the Fleas were a curse word. PR gig. Well, that's what I was running away from.

When I tried to suggest we go to the Azores. Damon had said coldly. " Why do you always have to go somewhere... I can't, baby, I can't spend all my time planning some ultra-romantic kidnapping scheme. Why don't you just want to spend time with me? "

I'd said we already spent time in Chicago before, but when we did, we didn't fuck. We weren't cuddling.

We'd gone to sit in the living room, and we'd been in Chicago. I was sitting in one chair, and Damon was sitting in another, and he was sexting or sending naughty messages all the time to his women, and eventually, these women started calling him and started setting up dates and how he would take them.

I didn't know what the whole fucking show was about, but I went upstairs to take a shower. And then he rushed in with his eyes burning and accused me of not being jealous. What the fuck was I supposed to do?

I said, "What would you have wanted me to do, Damon, you tell me? Attack you and seduce you or slam the phone against the wall and scream at you. I'm not in the mood to play games. I know what you are, and you know what you are. What's the fucking need for drama now? Are you maybe begging me to take out Damien so you could have an excuse for a shed session? Or what in hell's name is your goddamn problem with me? "

He looked at me and said poisonously, "One day, baby, one day I show you what I can do, not Damien, and believe me, you won't like it at all. You should at least even try to work our marriage and react somehow, but you're just a damn ice queen and nothing matters to you. At least I have the guts to show my feelings to you." 

I didn't have a chance to reply when he stormed out of the room and downstairs. When I got there, he had gone already. He'd slammed the door after he'd left and driven off. Then nothing. I returned to my Kansas castle and then Adam announced they were having a party and Damon was already there. So he did not want to be with me, but to party, fine by me. We had had quite a long time again to be separate, but what I do about it, nothing. Nothing at all.

Charles went to gigs, and I continued to do the castle by myself. We hadn't progressed beyond a couple of kisses because Charles was holding back. I knew from what little I'd heard that Charles had once had a wife, and they'd had Samuel's daughter as an adopted child, a fae child.

Well, I thought we all had our stories, and maybe one day Charles will share his with me. I didn't push. Charles sent text messages almost every day and put up a damn good fight with his father when he tried to get Charles to go to a gig at any time.

Luckily, the party kept Bran pretty busy, so he didn't have time to push Charles all the time. It was amusing to find when I tried to browse the web for Kansas local farms, and there were pictures of the ranch masters. Charles looked at them for a while, picked up his phone, and placed a big order from each farm over the phone. We wouldn't go there. Because most of these were young guys, Charles was also jealous or even possessive on some level.

Charles then came back when I called him and told him I had got an extensive set of lamps that I had ordered and I could probably install them now.

Charles laughed and said, "Just leave the lamps alone, honey, and I won't have to change the whole fuse box again."

The beautiful Sicilian house required some renovation work after I attempted to fix some electrical problems. Although I thought the issues were minor, Charles had to extensively renovate my fuse box and electricity. He explained I was fortunate the house did not burn down because of my electrical mishaps.

He had cursed quite talented when he had to replace my whole fuse box. He even showed me burn marks on the wall that had come from sparks when this old fuse box had blown by my YouTube inspired installation attempts. He had quite clearly stated that I was not fit to be an electrician, not even I would have looked at more videos on how to do it. 

After the electrical work was done, every room required remodeling, including the ceilings, walls, and floors. Charles had me order some exquisite moldings, which he then sawed and installed throughout the house. He was meticulous in his work and made sure that every molding was perfectly aligned and installed.

Charles also took the time to paint the ceilings and install stunning tiles in some areas. He was very cautious about my safety and did not want me to climb high to install curtains or curtain rods, as he did not want me to fall and get hurt. Overall, Charles did an excellent job of renovating the house, and I was thrilled with the results.