“Me, too,” She repeats, not looking up from her plate. “Me, too.”
Once we are done eating, Callum comes to our table to escort us to the vehicles. He greets me with a kiss on the top of my hand and then places one on my forehead. I take a deep, steadying breath I didn’t realize I needed. He pulls me close, but I’m tense. I can feel his stare, and I give Aisling a soft smile in an attempt not to end lunch on such a bad note.
“I have an errand to run before our appointment, so I'll meet you there once I'm done,” she says with a soft smile. There’s that mask again. Itlooks like I need to work on schooling my facial expressions, which will come in handy one day. Hopefully not any time soon.
Chapter 17
Maeve
Taska (n) a sensation of great spiritual anguish
Callum keeps his arm around my shoulders as we walk to the car, only this time, Ronan is in the driver's seat. Callum opens the back door and motions for me to scoot in. I get in, looking to the front, and Ronan is looking down at his phone until Callum shuts the door behind him. Ronan turns around, propping his hand on the passenger headrest, and looks over at me, a bruise blooming across his jawline. I want to feel bad about it, but he’d done it to himself.
“I ask that passengers keep their hands inside the vehicle andto themselvesat all times,” Ronan says, trying so hard to be serious.
I can’t help but give him a slight grin. He winks as he turns back around to begin our short trip to the boutique. Callum rests his hand on top of my knee, tracing lazy circles with his thumb. He looks so relaxed, so calm.
“So your mom tells me that you’ve known the rift was fake since we were fifteen?” I say, daring him to deny it. His jaw flexes, and he scratches the scruff on his face with his free hand.
“Yeah…”
“Yeah? YEAH? What the fuck do you meanyeah,Callum?” I grit out, leaning forward to face him. “You’ve known for all these years and you never told me?” My voice rising more with every word.
“Mae, I wasn’tallowedto tell you,” he says evenly.
Bull Shit.
“Oh, don’t you dare pull the ‘daddy said I couldn’t tell you’ card. We’ve both broken that rule before.”
“It’s complicated,” he says with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair. “My father said that it would put you at risk if you knew and weren’t able to keep it a secret.”
What thefuck?I feel hot anger wash over me.
“Keep a secret from who? I don’t exactly have a lot of friends, Callum,” I say, searching his face, looking for any kind of deception.
“He didn’t tell me who, not in the beginning at least. I figured it out over time,” he tells me, pausing.
“Callum, I swear to god. Speak.”
“Nessa, okay? They didn’t want Nessa to go around saying everything was fake.” The muscles in his jaw feather as he grits his teeth.
“Nessa? Seriously? Nessa wouldn’t…” This time, I pause because it’s true. Nessa would have run her mouth, and there’s no telling how far that information would have gone. She’d always been obsessed with living out a mafia princess fantasy, and having this volatile information would have been too much for her to resist.
“Have they located her yet?” I ask, taking in a deep breath to steady my nerves. Ronan speaks first, and I realize that I’d forgotten he was in the SUV.
So he does know how to shut his mouth,I think acidly.
“No. No one has seen her since Tuesday night. Can you think of anywhere she may be lying low?” He asks, looking at me through the rearview mirror, eyebrows raising in inquiry.
“Orin already gave you all of the places I know, I’m sure. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t go many places without Orin,” I say, turning around and spotting his SUV following behind us, further proving my point.
They both breathe out a laugh and nod their heads, agreeing with me. I begin to wonder what the two of them had done over the years. As if he can read my mind, Callum cups my cheeks in his palms. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and soak in his warm, comforting scent. I’m still mad at him, but I feel myself relax into his touch for a moment until Ronan swerves, sending me flying into the door, almost hard enough to make me hit my head on the window. Callum’s arm shoots out, wrapping around my waist and catching me in time.
Ronan throws his hands up in the air. “What the hell, man?! No-driving motherfuckers!”
The blacked-out Charger that cut us off is now slamming on its brakes just ahead of us. An uneasy feeling washes over me. I readjust myself in the seat, leaning closer to Callum.
“What’s wrong, Mae?” He asks with a raised brow, rubbing my arm.
