Page 74 of Shadows Within

“I don’t have brothers. You were too busy fucking around to produce another heir.”

“Watch it, Callum.”

“Watch what? The lies? Watch you drag this family through hell with you instead of protecting us, like a real man? Watch you turn into everything you always hated.” His face turns cold. I can’t stop. “And yes, I know. About how you were raised, about how you resent it. Yet, you’ve become just like him.”

He slams his glass down on the table and stands. His height matches mine and our noses barely touch as he grabs the collar of my shirt.

“You think you know? You have everything! I gave you everything!” He spits through his teeth. “And in return, all you have to do is what you’re fucking told.”

I push my chest up against his, unafraid. He’s created this beast within me.

“I’m so close to having it all. So fucking close. And I never will. You did that.Youdid that!”

He lets go of my shirt but doesn’t back away.

“You aren’t protecting her, Callum. You’re putting a target on her back.Youdid this.”

A part of me shatters because I know he’s right. I step back, my teeth firmly pressed against each other.Have I made things worse by trying to help her?Would The Society have left her alone after that night?No.This is what he wants.

“No one touches her. You make that known. Because I can protect her. Iwillprotect her. From them—fromyou.”

My breath picks up as my nostrils flare.

“Keep down this path and see where that gets you. See where that getsher, Callum. There was a Society before you, and there will be one after you. Just know that the future you’ve worked toward will be gone. What will you have to show for all of this?”

He isn't just referring to my career, he means her. Fists form at my sides.

“Don’t mistake your obsession for love.” He smiles.

I picture wrapping my hands around his neck and squeezing the life out of his body.I need to get out of here before I kill him.I grab the file and leave.

As I walk away, I shake the manila envelope toward him. “Next time, at least get someone else to do your paperwork. Your calligraphy is too obvious.”

I shove the door open and rush to my room. I don’t bother turning the light on as I enter. I’m glad I didn’t pass my mother on the way. She’s probably already drunk in bed or at another event for one of her charities.

The room’s darkness feels like home. I throw the file in the top drawer of my desk, then walk over to the punching bag in the corner of the room and shove it away from me.

“Fuck!”

I need to be sure that she’s safe, but that means I can lose everything. All of my work for The Society will become nothing. It’s eating me alive. I hit the bag to stop my skin from crawling.

I should stay away from her. And if she stays away from me, they’ll leave her alone.Lies.They’ll never leave her alone. Not after this, not afterme.

I hit the bag until my knuckles bleed. For the first time in a long time, I’m severely torn. I can’t keep her safe if she’s not with me, but I can’t protect her if she is. I’ve done this—I sealed her fate, and I need to make it right.

I pull my phone out of my pocket. The tracker I put on her car tells me she’s at home.

I lock the top drawer to my desk, change my shirt, and head out toward my Jag.

As I pull onto her street, the sky rumbles and fills with lightning, almost cinematic. I spot her car in the driveway, and the lights are on in the kitchen. Heavy rain hits my windows—I can’t tell if her dad is in there.

I sit in stillness. My breathing syncs with the droplets of rain against the hood. She didn’t ask for this. She wanted me to leave her alone, but my obsession couldn’t keep me away. I smirk at the irony.

Is that what this is, obsession. I can’t let him be right—

The passenger door opens.

Scarlett pulls her hood down, revealing her wet hair and faint smile. She slides into the seat.