I was completely gutted.
Was he going to be tortured again?Killed?Would I ever even see him again?
How could he leave like that without even saying goodbye?
Vox gave me a somewhat awkward yet sympathetic look. Like he knew I was about to cry but didn’t really know what to do about it.
I was spiraling and literally shaking as my heart shattered into what felt like a million pieces in my chest when I heard the front door open.
Everyone should have been home except Cal, so both Vox and I nearly sprinted out of the living room to see who it was.
Vox cocked his rifle as we went, and panic coursed through me.
What if Vox missed some of Damian’s men!? What if we were under attack!?
My fears died the moment my eyes fell on the cause of my mental fucking breakdown.
“Hey, ginger snap.” Cal beamed at me as he stepped through the door.
He was backlit by a purple and orange sunset, his almost black hair glowing chestnut brown where the light hit it.
My eyes flew over his body from head to toe, frantically looking for any sign of injury or distress.
His usual all-black clothes were covered in fine grey dust, and he had a smear of blood on his cheek and on his fingers.
In one hand, he was clutching a very large, scary-looking gun. In his other hand, he had a bouquet of lilies.
He kicked the door shut behind him, giving Vox and me an easy grin as he stepped forward.
The initial shock of seeing him back and in one piece wore off, and I was suddenlypissed.
“Where thefuckhave you been!” I barked, rushing forward and shoving him roughly with both hands.
He cocked his head to the side, frowning at me.
“I was just?—”
“Howdareyou scare me like that!” I was shouting now, and I shoved him again, angry tears burning in my eyes.
Cal glanced at Vox, but Vox crossed his arms and scowled at Cal, clearly just as pissed off as I was.
“Awh, come on, baby, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, pouting. “I knew you might be upset with me… Look, I brought you flowers.”
He tried to hand me the bouquet, but I snatched them up and tossed them onto one of the antique tables that garnished the front foyer.
“Don’t youbabyme!” I snarled, trying to shove him again but failing. He stepped easily out of the way, handing the large gun to Vox, who begrudgingly took it from him. Next, he shrugged out of his backpack and handed that to Vox as well.
“Saved you one.” He winked. Vox just narrowed his eyes at Cal before shoving his finger in his face angrily.
‘We’re not done here’was the overall tone of Vox’s expression. For a minute, I thought they were going to get into it, but Vox just shot me a ‘he’s your problem now’shrug and stalked back into the living room.
Great. No friends among thieves… or mercenaries, I guess.
“Ryan, baby, come here,” Cal said, turning to face me, but I was still furious.
I threw a punch at him, and he barked out a laugh, catching it easily in his bloody hand. He wrapped his fingers around my fist and jerked me into him.
“I’msorry,okay? I couldn’t tell you where I was going. You thought I was going to overt-exert myself by giving you ablowjob.There’s no way you would have let me go back to kill him. I had to sneak away.”
