“This will not work if you keep lying.”
“Maybe you should listen to me.Because I’m not.”
“Maybeyou’re trying to protect them.Maybe you signed a legal agreement.Maybe you have something else going on, or fuck it, Grace, maybe you’re just scared.The thing is, I trump everyone.I’m at the top of the pile of people involved in this.Do you get that?Because everyone else you’ve stitched into your disappearing act?They’re beneath me.Under me.I call rank in this crazy-ass world you created.”
“You sound like an ass.”
“I am an ass right now.Get that through your beautiful brain.Look, I don’t care who helped you pull off this gigantic, fraudulent charade.I’m over it with Hayden.I don’t care about your attorneys.But starting right now, you have to be upfront with me.”
“I don’t have attorneys.”
“Your phone records say otherwise.”Gone was the emotion from his voice.Callum was disconcertingly cold, and the shift terrified her.
She couldn’t continue their standoff and reached for her coffee.Her hand trembled.She wrapped her other hand around it to steady the mug.“What part of ‘no attorneys’ do you not understand?”
He ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek.His jaw sawed, and both irritationandfrustration burned hot in his angry eyes.“We know that Dominic’s not the only one looking for you, babe.”
She faltered mid-sip of coffee.“What are you talking about?”
“The attorneys who represented you in Dominic’s felony trial—”
Her attorneys didn’t know she was alive.They couldn’t be looking for her.“No.”
“Andyour divorce attorney,” he said, lifting two fingers, then added a third, “and some attorneys at the Department of Justice.”
“No.”Her stomach bottomed out.The coffee mug shook harder than she could hide.She set it down.“They aren’t.They don’t know I’m alive.”
“Your phone records disagree and have almost since the day Marino was released.”
That was back in April, and now it was August.“No.”
“What’s the point of lying?Because you don’t want to go into witness protection?Do you know how much of my time you have wasted?”
Her stomach turned, as if her coffee had spoiled in her gut.“That’s.Not.Possible.Why would I lie?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and paced again.“I don’t know.”
Grace grabbed his biceps.“If I have to trust you, you have to trust me.”
He looked down.Tension flexed in his jaw, and his pinched lips rolled together.
“Callum.”She squeezed her fingers into his arms.“Listen to me.Trust me.”
His breath came quicker.“I had no reason not to.Then you left.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.Tears blurred her vision.“So sorry.”
He deflated, wrapped an arm around her like he was angry, until he folded her to his chest.She sobbed.Years of emotions and bad decisions and fear bubbled up.
“I shouldn’t have come at you like that.”He wrapped his other arm around her.“Take a breath.”
But that wasn’t why she was crying.She’d hurt him.Hurt everyone.And he was pulling away when they’d just reconnected.“I really am so sorry.”
He soothed a hand over her back.“It’s okay.C’mere.”Guiding them to the couch, Callum pulled her next to him and held her close, still soothing, still rubbing, until she caught her breath and wiped her eyes.
“I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” he whispered.“I’ve got a short fuse when it comes to betrayal—not by you,” he caught himself.“I’ve got other shit on my mind.”He kept her close, resting his chin on top of her head.“It’s okay.Catch your breath.”
Again, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.They were due for a blowup, she guessed.They’d had them over the years, but it had never ended with her crying.
