Page 59 of Tone Deaf
“No. I have to get back to Bear?—”
“Callum was attacked again. So everyone is coming here.”
“Callum was attacked? Is he hurt?”
“Someone smashed him in the back of his skull.”
Shock and rage rips through me. My insides are shredded. I wasn’t there to protect Callum. Even with Pen and the rest of the security team surrounding Callum, he still got hurt.
“There’s something else,” Tobias’s tone snaps me out of my head. I’m paying full attention.
“What is it?”
“Pen thinks Jordan might be part of this.”
“How? Dean wouldn’t have sent someone to us if they were?—”
“That’s the crook. Dean didn’t send him.”
I don’t know what to say to that admission.
“I want this finished, Dom. Got me?” He barks out the two words, which has my back going ramrod stiff.
“You and me both,” I say, evenly through my teeth. I’m not mad at Tobias, only the situation we are in.
“We will see you in about seven hours.” Then he hangs up. Jesus, I can’t stand when he does that. But I hate this situation even more.
Instead of waiting, I dial Pen’s number. I need the details on why Pen thinks Jordan is involved. And where the fuck was he, when all this shit took place.
I let the call go until Pen’s voicemail announces that there’s no more room. Since he didn’t pick up, I call Callum.
“Dom, where the fuck are you?” His urgent tone is near volatile.
“Are you okay?” I ask calmly. Getting riled won’t do either of us any good.
“Am I okay?” Callum huffs. “Yes, I’m okay. Pen’s helping me with my anxieties.”
“Tobias told me what happened. Where were you when you got attacked?” Silence. “Callum?”
“I was looking for Pen. After he found out you left without letting us know anything, he got pissed and needed time. He went for a run in the woods. Since I didn’t want him to be alone, I went looking for him with Jordan as my security. Then Jordan disappeared and I heard my name called. At first, I thought it was Pen. But when my name was called again, I knew it was my attacker.”
“And that whole time, you were alone… In the woods,” I growl. “Pen?—”
“This isn’t Pen’s fault. It’s yours,” he says straight up.
As I open my mouth to refute his accusation, I realize Callum might be correct. I left right after I got the message from Joust. Right after I’d been balls deep into Pen. I just left without a word. I had promised Pen that I’d keep him in the loop but I broke my pact with him by not waking him up and telling him what was happening.
“You’re right,” I finally say, filled with guilt. I broke Pen’s trust and for that, he might break what we have. “How is he?”
“I don’t know. He’s in fucking hulk protection mode. He won’t talk to me and I blame this all on you.” The hurt behind his words is equally sharp and it is digging deep into my heart.
“I’m sorry. I’ll fix it between us.”
“You’ve said that before, and I don’t believe you, Dom. And neither does Pen. That’s why he didn’t answer his phone.”
“I guessed that. Listen, I’m on a plane getting ready to take off to San Fran. I’ll fix this between Pen and I. Then we three need to talk, after we track down the bastard behind this,” I say, not wanting to explain further.
Callum remains silent, and I can hear what he’s not saying. He, too, is giving up on us, and I can’t have that.