His lips part like he's going to say something, but he just looks at me, his expression unreadable, then turns and walks toward the house.
I follow.
Inside, the estate is quiet, the only sound the soft click of our shoes on marble.
Callum doesn't call for Tommy or any of the other guards. He doesn't hand me off or issue orders.
He walks me up the stairs himself. Each step feels like I'm climbing out of one life and into another.
When we reach the top, I notice immediately.
No one is there.
No guards flanking the door. No one sitting in the chair across the hall watching.
I stop, confused.
"Where are the guards?" I ask, my voice low.
"They're gone," he says simply.
He unlocks my door and pushes it open. He turns and motions for me to walk in.
I walk past him inside.
"They won't be guarding your room anymore," he continues.
I turn to look at him, and my stomach drops.
The old instinct flares up. The one that says when something changes, it's because you did something wrong or it's because you failed.
"I'm sorry if I did anything," I say, the words spilling out before I can stop them.
Callum's eyes narrow. He tilts his head slightly, his gaze sharpening like he's trying to read something written across my face.
"You have nothing to be sorry about," he says in his low tone. "I assigned them to other jobs."
I blink, trying to process his words. Trying to understand what this means. "Oh."
He stands there in the doorway watching me, and I have the strangest, most humiliating thought.
Please stay.
Not because I'm scared, but because in the car, in the warehouse, in the chaos, he was the solid thing.
And now I'm back in the room with my thoughts.
Hell, even if it's just to talk about this kiss, let me know he felt something too and I'm not going crazy.
But he doesn't give me anything to ease my mind.
"Door stays unlocked now," he says, pulling the key from the lock and slipping it back into his pocket. "Don't make me regret this."
My chest tightens.
Unlocked? He's leaving it unlocked?
A million thoughts race through my mind, tangled and frantic, but I can't grab hold of any of them long enough to speak, so I just nod fast.
