Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
And look where that got me. I should have been less concerned with perfect attendance and more concerned with learning how to read people. I've made so many mistakes.
I’m probably making one now, filling the dresser drawers with my clothes in the house I swore I’d never move back into. My heavy heart is dragging me down. Already, I miss Callum so much it hurts—and I hate myself even more for it since he doesn’t deserve my heartache.
That doesn’t stop me from grasping at straws, frantic to explain away Dad’s beliefs. I can't imagine how he could be right. Callum never does anything without a motive; there can't be one. My mom, the woman smiling at me from a framed photo on the dresser, couldn't have done anything to put herself in his crosshairs. She was good, pure, and devoted to us.
The alternative is Dad driving himself crazy trying to solve what could’ve been a simple car crash. Not comforting. And if I ask him for specifics, he won’t give them up, if only because of my friendship with Tatum.
I wish I could trust either of the men in my life to give me the whole truth. I’m sick of never knowing who to believe, whether I’m being manipulated—for good reasons or otherwise. I sag down onto the bed and stare up at the ceiling. I’m tired of being in the dark, tired of allowing myself to be led astray. If I want answers, there might be only one way to get them. I might have to dig for the truth on my own.
CALLUM
It’s nothing but a house, though it’s not the house that’s the problem.
It’s that she would rather live in that tiny dump of a house than with me. She’d rather return to the one place she swore she didn’t want to be, with a father who suffocates her. All because the idea of living with me is too disgusting for her to consider. The blood in my veins is boiling.
The place is dark except for the light over the front door, illuminating a rundown porch. They’ve been gone for half an hour, she and her dad. Romero witnessed it—I didn’t want to be here in case she recognized me on her way out.
She or Charlie. That prick. The man’s had it out for me long before our daughters ever met. Even if she didn’t notice me parked halfway down the block, he would have. He’s got a sixth sense when it comes to me.
All the more reason to get the hell out of here before they return.
“What is taking so goddamn long?” I growl into my phone, staring at the upstairs window I know looks into her bedroom. The blinds are drawn, and any innocent neighbor wouldn’t notice the faint glow behind them. They wouldn’t be scanning for it in a quiet, peaceful neighborhood like this.
They don’t know the big, bad wolf has arrived.
I know what to look for, of course, and every moment that glow persists is a moment closer to Romero being discovered when the man of the house returns. I’d imagine he’s working by flashlight, which I doubt makes it easier to get shit done efficiently.
Not my problem.
Romero sighs. “The name of the game is discretion, right? Hiding the camera? Feel free to come in here and do this if you think you could do a better job.”
If I didn't need him so goddamn badly, I'd fire him here and now. Nobody talks to me that way. I'm still Callum fucking Torrio.
Callum Torrio, who is now parked halfway down the block on the street the woman he loves grew up on. Waiting for his right-hand man to finish planting a camera in her bedroom so I can at least look at her. I’ve become addicted to the sight of her, and the past two days without her have felt like hell. I’m addicted to her scent, her touch, her taste. None of those I’ll get to have again unless I can convince her that nothing was going on with Amanda. I hate the thought of her thinking what we shared wasn’t real.
There’s the option of taking her anyway and keeping her tied to my bed until she promises she’ll never leave, but that’s a bit unconventional, and I highly doubt Tatum would allow it. My only option is to wait patiently, which is not my strongest attribute.
When she left my house, I knew this was where she would end up. She had no other place to go but was so determined to get away from me. Hence it was obvious that she would go straight back to the one place she wanted to avoid. I recall the things she said about Charlie, how he keeps her in a cage. I won’t deny the proof that’s in front of me.