Page 16

Joey

By the time Callum came to pick me up from our parent’s place that night, I was climbing the fucking walls.

There was no doubt in my mind that I needed to let him know what had transpired between me and the fuckwit in the parking lot. If I could somehow talk to him as soon as he arrived, I felt positive that we could sort something out before I was supposed to meet that idiot again tomorrow.

The countdown was on.

The very moment Callum walked through the front door, I was pulling him up the stairs to my room. I paid no heed to Erin and Dad, who were laughing at my eagerness to get Callum alone. If they wanted to think I was dragging him away because I couldn’t keep my hands off him, then I’d rather they think that over the truth.

Even Callum seemed bemused by my antics. I knew he’d lose that feeling as soon as I told him what happened, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care. My thoughts were on making sure our family was okay, and that alone.

Earlier, I had found a pad of paper in Dad’s study, and he’d been fine with me taking it once I’d told him I wanted to make some notes about my studies. I hadn’t yet explained to him about my eagerness to change courses, but I knew Erin would talk to him. What with the shitstorm that had occurred at the parking lot, my mind was most definitely elsewhere. I’d laid out two pens next to the pad and had written on the top page: Approached by stranger today. He threatened our parents. Knew too much. Possibly bugged? Definitely followed.

I still had his hand in mine when we cleared my bedroom door, but I stopped long enough to turn around and flick the lock.

“Mm, I missed you too, mo lus na gréine, ” Callum murmured as his hands drifted to my hips, drawing me closer and pressing his lips to my nape.

I could feel his lengthening hardness press into my ass, and God damn what I wouldn’t give to throw caution to the wind and see where the night took us. Unfortunately, we had more important things to worry about.

Groaning, I turned around in his arms and before he got too carried away, I leaned back enough from him that a wounded look crossed his face. I longed to kiss him and get rid of the sudden hurt and doubt from his face, but needs must.

He opened his mouth to say something, but I immediately pressed my finger against his lips and shook my head. His eyes widened in curiosity, and he nodded, closing his mouth to follow my lead. Holding my finger up to show one second , I moved away from the door and darted over to my desk, dragging him along behind me before pointing at the pad of paper for him to read.

He scanned the words once, then with eyes widening, he stepped forward, grabbed the pad off the desk and read it again more slowly. Frowning, he dropped the pad to his side and tapped it against his thigh for a moment while he thought. Finally, nodding to himself, he grabbed a pen from my desk, dropped the pad to the desk once more and scribbled a note under what I’d already written, then pointed at it so I could read it: Where’s your phone?

I looked pointedly at my bedside table, where I’d dumped my phone as soon as I’d come home.

He nodded once, wandered over to pick it up, then swiveled in place only to head for the TV sitting on my dresser, looking like he was messing with my phone as he moved. He placed my phone as close to the speaker as he could get it, then grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, quickly searching for a music channel. Turning the sound up as high as he could without deafening us, he motioned for me to get on the bed.

Wondering what on earth he was doing, I followed his instructions while he looked around the room. I sat on the edge of the bed watching him, chewing my bottom lip with worry, but so goddamned thankful that he was taking me seriously.

Once he was satisfied with whatever he was looking for, he stood before me between my knees and leaned down to kiss me lightly on the lips.

My hands rose automatically to glide up his thighs before resting on his hips. I leaned into his kiss, but before it got too heated, he gently pushed me back, so I was lying on the bed properly.

Nuzzling into my neck, he settled above me, leaning to one side enough that he was still half on top of me but without resting his full weight on me. My hands softly drifted up his back as I closed my eyes and let myself feel for the first time that day. I knew it wouldn’t last, but I’d take whatever I could get when it was so freely offered.

“Did he touch you at all? When you were talking to him, I mean,” Callum asked quietly in my ear, his nose still burrowing into my hair. He thrust against me gently, not enough to get our blood flowing, but enough to make it look like we were having some fun if anyone was watching. I didn’t know if I was bugged or if my room was, but I was glad that neither of us were taking any chances.

I shook my head, bumping his a little as I did. My hands slowly made their way back to his ass, gripping them enough so I could help sell our performance. “But it was Black Friday, so I was definitely knocked into the crowd a fair few times before we spoke. He might have planted something on me then.”

“Okay,” he murmured, still gently undulating on top of me. He pressed his lips to my neck before he leaned into my ear again. “Have you changed since you got home?”

This time, I nodded. He rose enough for me to indicate with my chin the pile of clothes sitting on my chair next to the dresser. I’d combed through them when I got home, but I wasn’t taking any chances. It’d be a miracle for anyone to hear anything if there actually was a bug in them, given how close the bundle of clothes was sitting next to the blaring TV.

“Good,” he said breathlessly, still half in his act. “So good.” He thrust against me again before lying down in his original position, nuzzling once more close to my ear. “Are the TV and your phone the only electronics in your room?”

Reaching one hand up to grip his hair whilst leaving the other firmly planted on his ass, I turned my head enough to mutter in his ear, “Laptop on the desk. Closed lid. That’s all.”

He nodded once and moaned rather convincingly before he raised himself onto his elbows, pressing his groin hard against mine and looked around the room just like he was reveling in his lust. Once he’d set his eyes on my laptop, ensuring that the lid was indeed shut, he sighed and his body relaxed, looking down at me with concerned, but impressed, eyes. He shifted to his side, rolling me with him so we could speak easier. Running his hand through my hair, he murmured, “We should be okay for audio, but let’s make it look like we’re still making out if anyone is getting visual through the TV.”

It was only then that I noticed that he’d turned us in such a way that my back was to the TV so I could talk quietly to him without anyone seeing what I was saying, if indeed they were watching us through the TV. He was close enough to me that whatever he said in response would be hidden by my head. A few soft touches here and there, and no-one would be any the wiser.

I let out a long sigh as tension I hadn’t even realized I’d been carrying was released. Everything I’d done was borne out of a wild state of paranoia, and all the precautions I’d made before bringing him to my room to talk had been taken from movies I’d watched. I had no idea if any of what I’d actually done would work.

But Callum would. He’d know what to do. I could trust him to get us all out of this fucked up situation.

He leaned forward and gave me the softest kiss imaginable. The feet of a butterfly would have made more impact than the fleeting kiss he’d left on my lips. Pulling back barely enough to lean his forehead against mine, he murmured, “Tell me what happened, mo lus na gréine .”

So, I did. I told him everything I could remember of my interaction with the guy in the parking lot. Every so often, Callum would shift slightly, hooking one leg over mine at one point, running his hands up and down my back or through my hair. Every move that he made was calculated to make it look like we were making out without us actually doing anything other than talking.

When I was done, he asked me what the guy looked like. As I explained, his face paled, and he rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

“What? Callum, what am I missing?” I asked quietly, but I could feel myself getting tense again.

“This changes everything,” he murmured thoughtfully, before a scowl settled on his face. “That fucker. How fucking dare he come after you and our folks.”

“What?” Before I knew what I was doing, I pulled back from him sharply to stare at him. “What do you mean? Do you know who this guy is?!”

Callum’s eyes widened, and he quickly tucked me back into his hold. “Shh, mo lus na gréine , it’s okay.” He wrapped his arms around me and held me, whispering into my ear, “It’s okay.” His hands caressed and soothed my back before one worked its way up to my hair, working through the strands in a massage, easing my rising anxiety.

“What’s going on, Callum?” I asked nervously, my head tucking into his neck as he continued to massage my scalp. I clung to his back like a limpet, as the feel of him beneath my fingertips was the only thing keeping me grounded in my panic.

He took a deep breath and let it out super slowly, taking the time to gather his thoughts. “You know how I told Mam that I came back because work transferred me? How they had an opening?”

I nodded.

“That wasn’t exactly the truth.”

Narrowing my eyes, I pulled my head back enough to look him in the eyes. “What is the truth?”

He paused, sucking his teeth as he processed things, resuming my head massage only when he muttered, “I left New York essentially because I was being stalked.”

I stilled. Stalked? “And that’s who I talked to today?”

He gave a stilted nod. “Almost positive. Your description is how I remember him.”

A shiver ran down my spine. “You’ve met him? When?”

Callum grimaced. “Yeah, this is the part you’re not going to like.”

I brought my hand around and lightly pinched his nipple, making him squeak. “I don’t like any of this so far, Callum.”

He chuckled, grabbing my hand before he rubbed at his chest. “No. Really? I would never have guessed.”

I moved to pinch him again, only to get stopped by him twisting away from me with a laugh. Even with the situation as dire as it was, I grinned up at him cheekily. Hell, if he could find the humor in this fucked up position we found ourselves in, there wasn’t a reason I couldn’t either.

Once he calmed, he sighed. “I first saw him right after our folks got married. At the hotel we were all staying.” He shifted beside me to get into a more comfortable position. “I didn’t think much of it at the time, other than it was weird how he was being really careful not to touch me.”

I ran through my interaction with Mr. Douchebag and realized he’d done the same with me. “He knows how your powers work.”

Callum nodded in agreement. “That was my guess, too. I played a bit of a cat-and-mouse game with him that night, and I didn’t see him again. Not until a couple of days ago.”

A couple of days ago? I frowned. The wedding was six months ago, which meant it had been that long since Callum had last seen this guy. “A couple of days ago? But you said you were being stalked. Two crossed paths in six months doesn’t mean you’re being stalked, right?”

“No, it doesn’t,” he scoffed wearily. “But it does when you wake up one morning to find a polaroid on your coffee table of yourself sleeping.”

It took every bit of self-control I had not to jerk away from him. “What. And I mean this most sincerely, Callum. The fuck?!”

He lifted his hand to rub at his eyes in resignation and exhaled deeply. “We can’t figure out why. It doesn’t make a lick of sense taking the picture and leaving it for me. I can’t read it, and George can’t seem to do anything with it either. Whoever this guy is, he seems to know how to get around our skills with seemingly no effort at all.” He dropped his hand down to his chest again to rest on top of mine, his fingers toying with mine. “I was on a plane back here two days later with George. That was six weeks ago.”

I frowned. Something was niggling away at the edge of my mind, but every time I reached for it, it would dart away. “George was at the wedding too, wasn’t he? You said that’s when he offered you the job, right?” I asked tentatively.

Callum hummed in agreement, his fingers still playing gently with mine.

“And you said you didn’t see this guy again until a couple of days ago…” My mind went back to what happened two days prior, and my heart double-thumped in fright. “Callum… Where did you see him this last time?”

He swallowed loudly. “At The Majestic just before our date.” He shifted in place again, lifting my leg over his and gliding his palm up and down my thigh. “It was why I wasn’t sitting at the table when you arrived. I was making a call to George to let him know.”

My index and middle finger tapped absently against his chest, both calming my racing heart and letting my mind wander. “Was he there the whole time?”

Callum shook his head. “I don’t know. I lost track of him once our date began, and I didn’t see him when Matthew went down. He could’ve been there.” He shrugged and looked at me with soft eyes. “My focus was on other things.”

“Understandable.” I leaned over and gave him a soft peck on the lips, rubbing my thigh against his crotch, making him hum again.

“It’s funny, you know,” he mumbled. “George only started focusing on you after shit went sideways in New York with the polaroid. That’s why he encouraged me to come back. Said that our paths would cross soon, and I’d need to be ready.”

“Which led to our date at The Majestic…” I said, trailing off as all the loose ends started coming together in one weird as fuck tapestry. “Callum… Are you sure this guy is after you?”

He turned his head to peer at me. “Pretty sure. Why else would he take and leave the polaroid?”

Thinking hard, I tapped my fingers on his chest again in a random staccato beat. “To see what you and George would do…”

Callum stilled, every part of him freezing as he thought about what I was saying.

“Think about it. At the wedding, both you and George were at the hotel. You spotted him, but what if he was originally there for George? Then he comes across you and either accidentally or on purpose ends up trailing you until you lose him.”

Tentatively, Callum’s palm started moving up and down my leg again, his forehead furrowing as he thought about what I was saying.

“Then a few months later, you wake up to find the photograph on your coffee table. Who do you turn to? George. And two days later, you both leave New York and come here.”

“You think this guy is after George?”

“I think there’s a strong possibility he is. But you were the weaker target and linked to him, so he started trailing you instead.” I tapped my fingers on his chest more decisively. “And then it takes him a while to find you again once you’re over here. Until The Majestic, where he not only finds you, but me as well. I’d imagine it wouldn’t take long to put two and two together, considering we were both at our parent’s wedding.”

Callum hummed his tentative agreement.

“And out of the three of us—you, me, and George—who’s the weakest link? Me.” My fingers finally stilled against his chest. “He wanted to use you to get to George but found an easier mark—me. He wants to use me to get closer to you, and then use you to get closer to George.” Staring at Callum, I nodded at my hypothesis. “It’s not us he wants…”

“It’s George…” Callum murmured in dawning realization.

“He just wants us to do all the hard work for him.”

“Holy fuck, I think you’re onto something.” He scrambled up to kiss me soundly. “I need to call George.”