“Get out of what?” I demanded. “What the hell is going on, Isabella?”
“What did I just say?” She stepped closer to the desk, bringing the gun even closer to my head.
“You gave that cunt my ring.” Now the gun began to shake, not out of fear but heartbreak. “It was mine! I wore it for a year, and you just handed it off to someone else. It’s like I never meant anything to you.”
Normally, I would insult her, but she had a gun pointed at my head. I was stubborn but not stupid. “Isabella, let’s just calm down for a second…”
“No! How could you prefer her over me? What does she have that I don’t?”
“Nothing.” I wasn’t inflating her ego. That answer was true. “She doesn’t have anything over you, Isabella. My heart chose her. I can’t explain it better than that. It doesn’t mean you weren’t good enough.”
“Sure seems that way.”
I raised my hands gently. “Isabella, let’s put the gun down and talk like adults, alright?”
“No.” Her finger tightened over the trigger.
I glanced at the phone beside me. There was no way I could call 9-1-1 before she popped five bullets into me. I wasn’t sure if she would really kill me, but her hand hadn’t shaken the whole time. And if she was crazy enough to come into my office and point a gun at me, who knew what else she was capable of. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“You don’t need to worry about it.”
Isabella didn’t need money, so I doubted this was some kind of robbery. She was obviously trying to keep me in the office and away from the rest of the staff. She was cornering me away from the rest of the herd, but she didn’t want to kill me. So what did she want?
And then it hit me.
“Rome.” I jumped to my feet. “What the fuck are doing to her?” I moved around the desk, knowing Isabella was just a distraction. Someone else was getting to Rome while I sat on my ass at my desk. She was in far more danger than I was, even with a gun pointed at me.
Isabella maneuvered into my way and pointed the gun right at my heart. “Don’t call my bluff, Calloway. I don’t want to hurt you, but I certainly will.” She shoved the gun into my chest, letting the metal strike me right in the muscle. “Now shut the hell up and sit down.”
I eyed the door, trying to think of a way I could escape.
Isabella shook her head. “You’re probably already too late, Calloway. No use being killed over it.”
18
Rome
I had a packed schedule for the afternoon. I needed to head downtown to the mayor’s office to discuss opening a new homeless shelter at the edge of Fifth and Broadway, and then I needed to go down to City Hall for approval. In addition to that, I still had a report to write, finish up a project with Chad, and I hadn’t even touched my inbox.
Even though it was exhausting, I loved being busy.
I loved feeling like I was doing something.
My ass didn’t hurt anymore because the inflammation had gone down, and the color returned to its normal fair tone. There was no evidence that Calloway had whipped me at all. Around the house, Calloway was a lot more affectionate than he usually was. The beast didn’t come by for another visit. It was only the man.
I should compare him to Hank, but I never did. The situations were completely different. When Calloway understood he was really hurting me, pushing me to a boundary where I received no enjoyment, he didn’t want to keep going. He didn’t want to keep hurting me.
He wasn’t a monster.
I grabbed my purse from under my desk and prepared to leave when a hand closed over my mouth. The palm pushed hard into my face while another arm wrapped around my chest and kept me still.
I screamed into his palm, but nothing came out but muffled noises.
I didn’t need to see the man’s face to know exactly who it was. He might be bigger and stronger, but I wasn’t going to give up. I threw my arm back without having any idea where I was aiming and hit him right on the ear.
“Bitch.” He contracted his hold and pinned my arms down.
I raised my legs and kicked against the desk, sending my chair flying back and directly into him.
He smacked into the other wall and momentarily released me.
I flew out of the chair and dashed to the phone, needing to call the police. I let out a scream at the same time, wanting my colleagues to hear me. There were a lot of men in the office, men strong enough to get Hank off me.
Hank punched me in the back of the head and sent me to the floor. “Plenty more where that came from.” He dragged me to my feet and hooked his arm around my waist. “Make a commotion and see what happens.” A barrel was pointed into the side of my stomach, an uncomfortable pinch from where the gun edged into my side. “Understand?”