Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
One of those people in the corner is Max, and my mind scrambles to make sense of what I’m seeing. Miles is pulling a gun on Max? That can’t be!
Then I realize it’s Mr. Hargrove and the greasy-haired stranger who are being held at gunpoint, and Max and another man are slapping handcuffs on them.
What the hell is going on?
I’ve heard of a citizen’s arrest, but I don’t imagine it would look like this. Why do they have guns and handcuffs, and what did Mr. Hargrove do?
Suddenly, everyone is talking all at once, and somewhere behind me I hear a woman yell Rick’s name. I turn to see Rick running in the opposite direction and Alexis calling after him.
Then Sadie’s at my side, along with Adam, who’s taking in the scene for the first time. “Dad?” The look of shock on his face is even greater than mine.
My sister looks back and forth between me and the men. “Callie … what’s going on?”
“I … I don’t know.” What am I even looking at?
I can’t make any sense of it, except to know that whatever is happening is very, very bad. My stomach goes sour as the three of us, along with most of the reception attendees, who are all now crowded into the hallway, gape at the scene playing out in the corner.
“Callie … tell me I’m seeing double.” Sadie’s voice is shaking like mine.
“What’s going on here?” Adam starts toward his father, but Miles promptly orders him to stay back. Adam finds his sister behind me and pulls her into his arms.
“What’s happening?” my mother demands. I don’t know what delayed her but she’s just now arriving. Her mouth hangs open as she takes it all in.
Max pulls on a rubber glove, picks up a small wedding gift from the floor, and drops it into a white plastic bag. I feel like I’m watching it all happen on a movie screen rather than in real life, because it’s all too incredible to comprehend.
Miles is holding his watch up to his mouth, talking into it. Another man I don’t recognize still has a gun aimed at the greasy-haired man and at Mr. Hargrove, who is loudly and angrily demanding a lawyer.
“Callie, who is that man you brought to the wedding? Why are there two of them, and what are they doing!?” Mom is screeching, on the verge of hysterics.
I’m in shock and can’t speak. I’m trapped in a dream—the worst dream ever—and I have no idea how to wake up.
I’ve been sharing so much with these men—my room, my body, and my heart. I’ve been falling for them, and I don’t even know who they are.
Horrified, we all watch as Mr. Hargrove and his associate are led away. Mom isn’t done with her meltdown. “Callie, how could you do this? How could you bring these men here and ruin your sister’s wedding?”
CHAPTER 56
CALLIE
Somehow, I make it back to my room, but I have no recollection of the path I took to get there.
Once inside, I dash for the bathroom, as everything I ate at the reception demands an immediate exit. When that’s done, I’m still shaking, my chest heaving, my mind racing with no place to settle.
I slept with them. And they’re strangers.
What have I done?
I throw my belongings into my suitcase, trying to ignore the presence of everything in the room that belongs to Max and Miles, because it all makes me feel sick again.
I’m about to rush out, when I realize I don’t have a way to get home. Max drove me here. If Max is even his real name.
I swipe across my phone in search of the rarely-used ride app, and when I find it, my fingers are shaking as I try to make arrangements.
There’s a knock at the door, and I freeze. If it were my mom, she’d pound on the door, but it’s a soft knock; maybe it’s Sadie. I don’t answer it. I have no idea what to say. What can I say? I was such a fool.
The knock persists, a little louder this time, and then the door slowly opens.
Fuck! I should have gotten out of here quicker. “Stay out!”
“Callie …” He’s entering slowly, and I can’t tell which of the twins it is, because the voice is different from how I’ve ever heard them. It sounds tortured, pained … or at least that’s how he’s acting.
“I said stay out. This is my room.”
“Callie, I’m sorry.” It’s Max, and there’s concern and hurt in his eyes to match his voice, but it’s meaningless to me.
“Sorry?” Never has a word been so inadequate.
“Callie, please let me explain.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” I really don’t, though there’s so much that doesn’t make sense.
“John Hargrove doesn’t just own a shipping company. He’s a drug trafficker, and we caught him in the act tonight.”