“This is bullshit.” Callum adjusts his posture and rolls his shoulders back. “It’s always about what you want. You decide what’s allowed and what isn’t.”
“We made a promise to Ben.”
“She’s an adult. And technically, she’s my wife.” Callum clenches his fists. “She made a choice. I just gave her what she wanted.”
I should smooth this over the way I always do, but my mouth stays closed. The right thing to do would be to take Silas’s side. We promised Ben that she is off-limits. But Callum has a point; Tania can make her own choices. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about her every single night when I’m alone in bed.
I’ve wanted her since she walked through the door at the lake house, and I didn’t recognize her at first. She’s smart. Funny. Clever. And fucking gorgeous.
I want her in ways that have nothing to do with the arrangement. And I’ve been pretending I don’t.
Silas pushes back from the desk and rises. “Get out.”
Callum stares at him. Three seconds. Four. His breathing is harsh in the quiet.
He heads for the door, shouldering past me hard enough that I have to brace against the frame.
Silas circles the desk, grabs his coffee mug, and drains it. “Don’t tell me you’re on his side.”
“I’m not on anyone’s side.”
“Then what are you doing here?” He carries the mug to the small bar cart in the corner and pours whiskey into it instead of coffee.
“Making sure you two don’t kill each other.”
“We’re fine.” The whiskey disappears in two swallows.
“You’re not fine. Callum’s not fine. And Tania?—”
“Is Ben’s sister.” He refills the mug but doesn’t drink from it. “We can hold her hand in public and smile for the cameras. But we don’t fuck around with her in the back of a car.”
“How did you find out?” I can’t imagine either of them offered that information willingly.
“Tania seemed upset. Callum seemed guilty.” He sets the mug down hard enough that liquid sloshes over the rim. “I pried it out of him.”
I don’t have a response for that. What can I say?
Silas returns to his desk and pulls his laptop closer. “I need some time to myself. Whatever you do, don’t tell Ben what Callum did.”
I snort. He doesn’t have to tell me not to tell Ben. There’s no way I would actually get in the middle of that shitstorm.
I turn and leave.
I find Tania in her room an hour later.
The door is open. She’s lying on her bed staring at the ceiling, with one arm thrown over her eyes.
I rap my knuckles against the doorframe. She lifts her head and forces a smile.
“Hey.” I stay in the doorway. “ Are you okay?”
Her mouth twitches, and she sits up. “I heard yelling.”
“Yeah. Silas and Callum got into it.”
She pulls her knees up to her body, arms wrapping around them. “Were they fighting about me?”
“They fight about a lot of things.”
