Page 37

37

Calista

G etting out of bed has become the bane of my existence.

For the past several weeks, we’ve found our routine together. Alongside my day job, I’ve got the cabin back to being completely livable. All the designs within the home are done, that includes our bedroom. Ronan told me to convert the guest room to my office as though he owned the place.

Throughout his time here, he worked with the contractors to learn some hard skills. Watching him get his hands dirty has been the sexiest thing ever. He was convinced he would likely become a drug dealer, but I’m pleased he is a natural handyman. The risk of going back to prison in this career is slim to none, and that’s my goal.

No prison. Only freedom… with me.

I roll over in bed, not feeling him beside me. This is the only way either of us can get up, is if he finds the strength to get out before me.

Groaning, I throw off the blanket and peel myself out of the room. Not before grabbing one of his shirts, of course. It’s about the only thing I enjoy wearing when I can be lazy.

The hallway didn’t need much maintenance, but it got a labor of love in paint and a few artistic pictures. Alright, they are posters of my favorite movies. Ronan doesn’t have any favorites, besides one: Jaws . It hangs as the first one you see as you come down toward the bedrooms.

Along with the posters, I put up a piece I made for him, one I’m proud of and I swore almost made him cry when I presented it to him.

The living room is completely open to the kitchen and dining room, with the small loft that was being used for storage now empty for us to do with as we please. I kept the exposed wooden beams up on the high, vaulted ceilings. Although I darkened the natural wooden tones with dusky brown and black, when the sun comes through the dozen windows and doors, it doesn’t feel dark. A large black sectional sofa and a low-profile coffee table is the focal point of the space. The rug under it, Ronan picked out. Black, with swirls of green and brown.

The fireplace now has a television mounted over it, because the best thing ever is being curled up on the couch beside him, watching an old classic horror movie.

The kitchen is wall-to-wall matching browns as the living space, with dark hardware and stainless-steel appliances. I’ve enjoyed cooking, which hasn’t been something I’ve historically liked. I think it’s me getting off on hearing Ronan groan over the food and then fucking me on the island as a ‘thank you’.

Speaking of, he’s sitting on the six-seater elongated dining table at the furthest point of the open area. His eyes are trained down at his phone, likely responding to Ken who has been taking up a lot of his attention the last couple of days.

My feet patter against the floor, loud enough that it pulls his gaze up to me. He immediately puts his phone down and stands.

“Good morning,” I say, picking up my pace.

He rounds the table toward me, and I raise my hands. “Morning, baby girl.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, he drags me into a long, drawn-out kiss. His hand snakes around my back, and as he does every morning, drags my hair from my bun to run his fingers through it.

“When is Ken coming by?” I ask, my own fingers running through his freshly trimmed hair. “And the boys?”

“This Saturday, if that’s alright. Mia really wants to swim before it gets too cold.” The prospect of them coming has my stomach fluttering with butterflies. I haven’t seen them since that incident with my car, and while Ken has stopped by from time to time, it isn’t for long periods. Ronan says he hasn’t gone because he’s still worried about my safety, even if I’ve been adamant I’m fine. Plus, he has access to the security cameras.

I nod. “We should go to the local farmers market first thing in the morning, get some fresh fruit and—”

My phone blares from the bedroom.

His fingers draw my shirt up to grab my bare ass. “Go, but yes, the farmers market is fine.” He quickly presses a kiss to my cheek, and I giggle. “I’ll finish up with Ken.”

As he releases me and I turn, he gives me a spank. “Hey!”

I rush back into the bedroom and jump across the king size bed to grab my phone still on the charger. The name that flashes, is none other than my mother. I’ve not spoken with her since Eamon showed up here several weeks ago.

I should’ve left my heart back with Ronan. It may actually fly right out of my throat. Did my stepdad finally tell her?

Before it can go to voicemail, I hit the green button. “Hey, Mom.” I don’t sound thrilled to hear from her, but I quickly clear my throat, as though trying to portray the sound more as me being sleepy.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Alright, that’s a good sign. She sounds pleased that I answered, not angry in the slightest. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing much, just waking up. What about you?”

A soft sigh comes through the phone. “Nothing. I wanted to see if you could come over tonight. I was hoping to have a girl-to-girl chat…”

Oh no… My hand begins to shake. “It’s a weekday, and since that issue with my car, I’ve not been coming into the city. Just in case.”

I did text her when I got home that day, said I was getting my car looked at. It was a good excuse if she wanted to try and have me come see her. I’ve told her the construction site—aka the cabin—was too dangerous and she had to stay away.

Now that it’s done, I’m looking for an excuse if she offers to come down to see me.

“I’ll come pick you up,” she says and the tone she has tells me something is wrong. “We can get drunk, and you can stay the night. It’s just one evening with me. Please?”

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

I hear some shuffling, and she’s silent for a moment. Truly, I don’t want to hate my mom. She was an addict, and yes it caused me the worst pain, but she is doing better. Although she was a straight cunt to Ronan, she’s still my mom. I don’t want to abandon her…

“It’s Eamon. I’m pretty sure he is cheating on me.”

An involuntary gasp escapes my lips.

“Oh, Mom… I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be, can you come tonight?”

I hear Ronan in the other room say something, but I can’t make it out. I’m trying to give my mom the attention she needs so I focus back on the phone call.

“Sure… I don’t know if I can stay the night, I have work and you know how much I hate getting up early.”

“Can’t play hooky?”

I could, honestly. My boss would be more than alright with me even taking the day or even just coming in late. It isn’t that, I just don’t want to spend a night without Ronan. I know that probably sounds pathetic but fuck it , that’s how I feel.

“I’ll come over for a few hours, I’ll leave shortly.”

It’s then I hear several voices coming from the living room, that my stomach churns.

“Thanks, Calista, I love you.” Damn, I don’t think I’ve heard my mom use my government name in forever.

“Love you, Mom, I’ll see you later.”

I hang up the phone and rush out of the room, down the hall, and into the living room—only to find two police officers, with one of them standing right in Ronan’s face.

Ronan

KEN

Chocolate or vanilla, and please pick vanilla cause I don’t want to go to the store

Vanilla is fine, I think she’ll like it better anyway

I see the notification that something was caught on the camera, but ignore it. Deer like to run across at this time of the morning.

KEN

With or without strawberries

With

KEN

Alright, Mia is going to help so don’t expect professionalism or anything

It’s cake. We are going to fucking eat it, who cares

A knock at the door pulls my attention away from my phone. I slide off the solid wood dining table, make my way over, and peer through the peephole to see two police officers standing on our porch.

Interesting.

Tucking my phone into the pocket of my sweats, I open the door.

I step into the doorway and lean against the frame. The two of them look at one another, before turning their attention back to me. “Good morning. Is this the home of…” The officer on my left speaks, then looks down at a device that’s not quite a tablet but bigger than a phone. “Calista Sanderson?”

“Yes.”

“And you are?” the other officer asks.

The one that was speaking before clears his throat.

“Her boyfriend. What is this about?” I cross my arms over my chest.

“Is Ms. Sanderson home?”

“She is.”

“May we come in?” I look down at their badges for the first time. The talkative one is Ramirez, the one that has been looking me up and down like he is trying to figure out where he recognizes me from, is Anders.

“No, I can go get her and she can speak with you here at the door.” Even though there’s only one gun in the house, I can't risk them snooping around and finding the safe. Technically, Cal is allowed to have it, and I could argue that I don’t live here—but I’m not trying to end up in cuffs because they suspect anything of me.

“You look familiar.” I knew that would come from Officer Anders. “Were you locked up—”

“Yes.” I cut him off. “Can I ask what you want with Ms. Sanderson?”

“I don’t believe that is any concern of yours.”

Anything and everything revolving around my girl is my concern, my problem, and my fucking business .

My smile is unfriendly. “But it is.”

“Is your name Ronan?” Anders asks.

I release a heavy, drawn-out sigh. “Yup.”

“Listen,” the other officer says with a mocking chuckle. “We would like to talk with Ms. Sanderson. This isn’t your place of residence, and you’ll move so we can—”

“I listened long enough.” I love that his eyes sharpen out of anger from me cutting him off yet again. “I’ll go grab her to talk with you here at the door.”

“Are you impeding with an investigation?”

Investigation?

My nostrils flare and I come to stand, no longer slouching.

“I think he is,” Anders says and takes an aggressive step toward me. His hand pushes against my shoulder, and if it weren’t for not wanting to spend a night in a cell, I may have broken his jaw.

He pushes me back and both of them step into the house.

“I don’t even need to ask if you have a fucking warrant to just barge in here.”

“Don’t give us that bullshit. I’ve heard about you, King . You may have been tough behind those bars but out here, you aren’t shit.”

I look down at Ramirez’s hand, he has it hovering over his gun clipped to his belt, and I take a deep breath. Popping my head to the side, I square my shoulders.

The moment I’m about to make a terrible mistake, Cal raises her voice. “What the fuck is going on? Get out of his face!”

Her blonde hair comes into view as she runs in front of me, pushing back Andres and stepping between us. It’s probably for the best, I definitely would have taken a bullet to beat these blue pigs.

“He didn’t do anything,” she continues, and both of the officers tear their gaze down to her. “Whatever it is, you’ve got the wrong person.”

God, she’s cute. Doesn’t matter that she has no idea why they are here. I needed this kind of support when I was younger. If I had just one person on my side, I know things would have been different for me.

Both of the men relax, Ramirez taking his hand away from his gun. “Ms. Sanderson, we are actually here to talk with you.”

I see her tense from the edge of my vision, but I keep my gaze locked on them.

“Oh?” She’s nervous, it’s easily readable in her tone.

“Yes, Ma’am. It’s in regard to the insurance claim on your residential fire in May.”

“Oh, yes. They’ve been taking their sweet time with that.” She takes a slight step back, which has her backside pressing against my torso. “Do they finally have everything they need?”

“Actually, Ma’am—” You know, this pisses me off. Fucking assholes to me, but completely turn into different people when it comes to Cal. Once a criminal, always a criminal in their eyes.

Okay yes, I exude that energy and have a gun in the house, but still, fuck these guys.

“We wanted to ask you a few questions about the incident.”

The moment those words come out of his mouth, I clear my throat. “You know how this works, gentleman.” I snake my arm around her neck and tilt my head to the side. “She should have some legal representation. Sounds like there is some negative implications going on here.”

“You would know, huh?” Anders mocks.

“Hey!” my girl shouts.

“It’s alright. You should call your mom, baby girl. Her mom’s a lawyer. From what I heard, a good one.” I grin. “I’m sure she’d love to hear how you unlawfully barged in on her daughter.”

“We just want to ask a few questions,” Ramirez grits through his teeth.

“With her lawyer present,” I demand.

“Calista, if we can step outside and speak to you alone.”

My arm tights around her, but I don’t think my silent command was necessary, because she says, “No. I’ll have my mom come down tomorrow. Ironically, I’m going to see her tonight. Hopefully I don’t slip up telling her how you’ve treated my rights and my boyfriend.”

It takes a few seconds of the two officers looking at one another before they back down and take a step back toward the door. “Please come down to the station by tomorrow, or we will come back with a warrant.”

“A warrant?! For—” I place my hand over her mouth.

“We will see you tomorrow,” I say.

They turn and leave, closing the door behind them. It’s then she basically shouts into my palm. I give her the moment, and once she’s depleted her air, I release her.

“Feel better?”

“Not particularly.” She turns to face me, her expression filled with that cute rage. I just know if she had to fight, she could, I’ve seen it. I don’t know much about zodiac signs, but she blames it on being a Cancer.

“Alright, well why were they here asking you about the fire?”

She diverts her eyes, and immediately , I know she’s about to lie to me. “I have no idea.”

Grabbing her chin, I bring her attention back to me. Her cheeks flush as I ask again. “Why were they here asking about the fire, Calista?” Gone is the playfulness from earlier, because she knows better. I don’t do this— we don’t do this. She tells me the truth, and I turn my life around for her.

That’s our deal.

Yet… she does it again.

“I’m serious, Ronan, I have no idea.” Even if this is more convincing than the last, I just feel she’s lying. No, I know she is, and a small pit forms right in the center of my chest.

“Why are you lying?”

She shakes her head because I release her and step back. “I—I’m not. I swear.”

I want to make her swear on her feelings for me. Swear on what we’ve built between us, but the unfamiliar feeling of fear keeps my mouth shut.

Her lips slightly part and her eyes widen as though she, too, is terrified.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes. Don’t lie to me…

“I have to see my mom this evening…” She of course moves onto another subject. “I’ll only be a few hours. I’m not going to stay the night, but I need to get ready and go now.”

Feeling her step to me, I don’t look at her, just feel her presence. The warmth of her hand nearing my cheek has me lifting mine and pressing it over hers to feel her palm against me.

Please, don’t lie to me.

“One last time, Cal…” I open my eyes to gaze into hers. “Why would they be asking about the fire after so long?”

Her bottom lip trembles, but she gives me a smile that tells me that pit is going to turn quickly into a black hole.

“Maybe they just need to finish up the final details… Baby, it’s nothing.”

Nothing… Fuck, I hate that response.

“It was an accident you said, right?”

She nods and quickly gets to her tiptoes to press her lips to mine.

Little liar… Damn it, Cal.