Alicia didn’t look convinced.“It was a shitty fuckin’ marriage.That’s the background you need to know.”
“I get that.I do.I swear.I’m just looking for—”
“The divorce attorneys negotiated an agreement that was intentionally vague.I never had a restraining order.I never went to the hospital.I didn’t document anything he did to me.”She pinched a bead between her fingers, then twisted the bracelet again.“Given his vast control overeverythingin my life, there was nothing I could do until they arrested him.When they led Dominic away in handcuffs, a world of possibilities opened up.”
Did to her… His molars clenched.Grace wouldn’t look at him.
Alicia squeezed Grace’s hand and glared at him in a way that said he needed to shut up and move on.
“Take a drink.”She handed Grace her glass of iced tea and then took a long drink from her own glass.“Maybe we need a little bourbon to top these off.”
Grace rolled her eyes.“You don’t drink.”
Alicia snorted.“Well, today seems like a good day for a bad habit.”She poured the simple syrup into her iced tea and used the spoon to smash the lemon and mix the sugar, visibly more angry than with the intent of stirring.“That will have to do for now.”
He focused on Grace.She hadn’t looked at him since he’d read the note aloud.Even as she leaned into Alicia for support, her eyes fixed on the pink rug like it offered her a way out of this mess.
“I don’t need to know any more,” he said.
Her iced tea trembled in her hand.Grace wrapped both palms around the sweating glass and rested it on her knee.“How long has he known where I am?”
The Grace that Callum used to know would not want kid gloves.This Grace?No idea how the truth would hit.This was a balancing act he wasn’t sure how to pull off.“Longer than I did.”
She didn’t react.Silence lingered in the living room.
Alicia broke the quiet, cursed under her breath, and stroked one of her dogs.“I don’t get it.”
Callum dropped into a chair that didn’t look sturdy enough to hold him.“What’s not to get?”
“If he wants Grace to go with him, why didn’t he just knock on the door and take her?”
“You know the answer to that.”Grace rolled her eyes.“What fun would that be?”
Callum tried to see all the moves in Dominic’s 3D chess game.“Alicia makes a good point.”
If Grace were property to be repossessed, the game wasn’t needed.If the game was needed, Grace wasn’t the collector’s item she feared.That made the situation worse.
“Of course I make a good point.”Alicia watched the ice cubes in her iced tea swirl as she twirled her spoon.“All right, Mister Man.What do we do?”
“If he doesn’t know about me,” Callum said, “we need to keep it that way.”
“First you wanted a security system and answered the door with a gun, now you want to hang low?Does that make sense to you, Grace?”
Grace shook her head.“Nothing makes sense.”
Bigger concerns spiraled into his mind.If Dominic had known where Grace was staying, then he could have gone much farther than simply letting her know.He could be watching.Listening.Playing his games.“I need to make some phone calls.”
“How long until Dominic figures out that you’re with us?”
He might already know.Callum shrugged.“Like I said, I want to make some calls.”
“If you explained who you’re calling, what you’re discussing, that would probably make us feel better,” Alicia suggested in a way that brooked little discussion.
“It’s late now, but I’d like to get a team up here to sweep your place.See if there’s anything listening or watching.”
Alicia scowled and glanced pointedly at her dogs and cat.“You’re out of your damn mind.None of my boys would let someone walk in here and hide—”
“None of your boys would be able to tell you if someone tranqued them for an hour and did their business.”
