“Your ex is a dozen steps ahead of us.”He let out an exhausted sigh.“Dean will have to confirm this, but my guess is that Marino has access to your email and phone numbers.He’s screening who’s in contact with you.”
It was happening again.Everything she had tried to protect against.
“Despite everything you’ve been doing, he’s been tracking you since before he walked out of prison.If not before.”
Chapter Eleven
Gracewantedtohurryback to bed and hide from what had promised to be a glorious summer day.If what Callum had said was true, everything she’d done to hide had failed.She stared at her phone and willed his voicemail to pop up onscreen.Not even a missed call.
More than hiding under the covers, she needed to leave.She had put Alicia in a dangerous position, and another layer of guilt pancaked upon the ones she usually, hopefully stoically, carried.
Grace paced the living room and wondered if she should trust Callum’s safe houses.Or she could go anywhere in her underground network.No, that would put others who had helped her over the years in the same position as Alicia.
Maybe she should update her parents, and there was a conversation with Hayden that had to be had.She stifled a groan.There were so many things she needed to do that very second that she couldn’t move.
Grace shoved her phone into the pocket of her robe and walked toward the stairs.Her movements were too jerky.Her nerves trembled in her hands.“I have to leave.I’ll write Alicia a note—”
“Hang on.”Callum blocked her escape.“We’re not running away.”
He had said “we.”
“I’m not running—”
“Yeah, Grace.It’s what you do; you run.You hide.If you don’t see that, then you need to take a minute to reflect.”
She stepped around him, completely in agreement but having no idea what else to do.“It’s all I know.”
He grabbed her arms and recentered her in front of him.“We’re not playing defense unless it’s the right course of action, and I’m not convinced it is.Later, maybe.Right now?No.”
“But—”
“And running before Alicia has even walked her dogs won’t help anyone feel good about the situation.”
“He could show up here.It doesn’t matter that there weren’t cameras and listening devices.Dominic has an agenda, and I don’t understand it.”
“We’ll get there.We’ll understand it.”
He kept saying “we,” and it knocked the panic out of her bit by bit.
“If he showed up right now?”Callum smirked.“Let him knock on the door right this fuckin’ second.That would be the easiest way to solve this problem.”
His confidence balanced her panic.“He’s crazy—”
“I’m ready for him.”
She shivered, and the last shreds of doubt were erased.Was Callum really what she needed to stop Dominic?
He stroked her arms.“If he gets near you, I will annihilate him.”
She tipped her head back to meet his steadfast gaze.He would keep her safe.She hadn’t remembered what safety felt like until right now.Her chin dipped, and Grace leaned into him.Her forehead pressed against his sternum.Callum wrapped his arms around her.“It will be okay.I promise.”
All of these promises… She believed him.The warmth of his embrace melted her against his chest, and she let Callum cocoon her in his strength.
Argos and Toto pitter-pattered down the stairs.She inched back, pressing against his arms until he let go.The dogs reached the living room, and Alicia followed, adjusting her glasses to rub her eyes.
“Good morning, early birds.It sounded like you two were going to kill each other.”Alicia tossed a sharp look at Callum.“Everything okay?”
“We’re fine.”Grace rubbed her arms.“We had to compare notes on an issue or two, but it’s resolved.”
