Page 32 of Tone Deaf
“I know that’s what you said. But ever since we arrived here, you’re always checking your phone, texting someone?—”
“Are you watching me?” His low warning tone is enough to make my own hackles rise.
“Yeah, I am. Hell, Dom—I don’t know anything about your past. Any time I ask about what you did before Harper Security, you brush me off. You won’t talk to me about it. I’m supposed to be your partner, here at work and as your boyfriend. I should know something other than these last two years-worth of your life that we’ve spent together. Let me in,” I plead, as my heart begins to race.
“Jesus—”
“Dom! Pen!” Our names pierce the air. We both rush around to the front of the house and see Lyric frantically waving his hands as he talks to Tobias.
“What’s wrong?” Dom reaches them first.
“Callum’s mom called him, crying for help.”
I don’t wait for the rest of the explanation to react, and I barrel inside the house, toward Callum’s bedroom. The second I enter I hear crying. “Callum.”
“Mum, please.” He’s sitting by the window and reaches for me with his splinted arm. His face is pinched and tears are running down his cheeks. “We’re coming, Mum.”
I take the phone from Callum and put it on speaker. “Mrs. Fitz, this is Pen Gallagher, one of your son’s bodyguards. What happened?”
“Some guy broke into my house. He was looking for my husband,” she says tearfully. “The guy put a gun to my head, Pen, and told me to tell Brian to stay out of his business,” she chokes out, fear lacing her words.
Dom storms into the room, with Fig and Tobias behind him. “Mrs. Fitz, this is Dominic Rossetti. Is the guy still there?” he questions, taking the phone out of my hand.
I step back, aggravated at how he grabbed the phone from me and proceeds to take over the conversation. But I give Dom the space, and find myself standing next to Callum, who takes my hand. His grip is tighter than before, and that’s a good sign. At least, for his healing.
I glance at his tear-stained face and my heart aches for him. I gently wrap my arm around Callum’s shoulder while we listen to his panicking mother.
“No. He left, but I’m scared that he’ll come back. And I don’t know where Brian is—what if that guy wants to kill him? I don’t know what to do.”
“We can’t worry about Brian right now. Our priority is you.”Dom’s voice has a hard edge, but then he gentles it enough to soothe her as he makes his plan clear.“Here’s what I need you to do, Mrs. Fitz. Call the cops and let them know you had an intruder. Then go pack a bag. Someone from the Chicago Sentinel Agency will come pick you up. They’re friends of mine, so don’t be alarmed when they show up. If you’re not sure, call us, and we will verify them. They’ll keep you safe until we can get to you. Do you understand?”
“Okay,” she says, her sniffles echoing through the cell phone.
“Good. Here’s Callum.” Dom passes the cell to him and then he pulls out his own phone, taps the screen a few times and puts it to his ear. “Leo.” He then strides out of the room just as the rest of the band runs in and stations themselves around Callum—and me because he still has a stranglehold on my hand.
I’m damn curious who Leo is, and the Chicago Sentinel Agency too. Is Leo the former coworker he keeps texting? Was that agency his former employer? An ache forms in my throat, but I gulp it back. Do I really know the man that I’ve beensleeping with? That I thought I was in a relationship with? If this thing with Callum hadn’t come up, would Dom ever have told me about his past and the people he knows?
Jesus, why can’t everything just go back to the way things were? Then I’m brought up short as I realize that I’m partially to blame—I’d been so happy to finally connect with someone, someone who accepted me as I am, with my insecurities, that I never evenaskedabout his past before.
“I’m going to hang up, Mum. Call the cops like Dom said to do, then pack a bag. Call me when the security people pick you up, or before that if you get scared.”
“Alright, my boy. I love you,” she says and hangs up.
Callum clutches the phone to his chest. I try to release his hand, but his fingernails bite into my skin. “Please,” he whispers, I’m not exactly sure what he wants, but anxiety coats his plea. He glances down at our joined hands and gasps. “I’m sorry.
“You didn’t hurt me,” I admit, and bend slightly toward him. “Your mother will be safe. Dom’s on it. Okay?”
Callum calmly nods, but the desperation and tears in his eyes say otherwise. “Why is this happening to me, Pen?”
“I don’t know. But we’re doing our best to find out.” I call the singer over to me and transfer Callum’s hand from mine to Danny’s before I stride from the room to find Dom.
Who is nowhere in sight. Instead, I’m met with an odd scene. Tobias is on the phone, talking very quietly, while the rest of the guys are scattered about the living room. Everyone is silent and they seem to be on edge. Fig glances at me, then points to the front door. I give him a single nod and head out to find my partner on the other side of the door, texting.
“Who’s Leo?” I interrupt his texting.
This isn’t jealousy—not completely, anyway. But all of a sudden, people from his past are coming out of the woodworkand I don’t have a fucking clue who they are to Dom. Friends? An ex-lover? An old coworker?
I wait for a response, but Dom doesn’t answer, nor does he stop texting—which spurs my anger. With every second, the tension in my chest tightens and I’m getting a headache from how hard I’m grinding my teeth together.