I’m glad to hear Emilia laugh, even as sad as I am. Her family has all but driven her insane. They are trying to talk her into backstabbing Niko and help them get rid of him. They are always pulling this crap when her father isn’t around. As much as she’s not crazy about the idea of marrying Niko, she isn’t conniving like the rest of her family. Usually, Niko has them scattering like money hungry cockroaches, but he hasn’t talked to her in almost a week, which is unheard of.
Emilia insisted that we don’t use anything but cash for food and the room because we could be traced here. I agreed because I didn’t want Niko to find us by following Emilia’s credit card receipts. I don’t know if Callan would try to find me at this point, but after his silence, I don’t want him too.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to relax in the room with takeout,” I suggest, trying to ignore the loneliness I feel from being separated from Callan.
“That sounds good to me, even if it will be pizza,” she says, picking up her things.
We aren’t huge fans of pizza but it’s cheap and cheap is the key word for our week here. It takes a while for us to walk the stretch of the beach, up the sidewalk, then cross the road to the parking lot of our crappy motel. Not using credit cards and hiding means not staying in the kind of place Emilia normally would. I’m fine with it. Oddly enough, she doesn’t seem to care, either. It’s a chain hotel where the rooms are accessible from outside the building. The white plaster of the building is dirty. Niko would probably kill me if he knew Emilia was staying here. We chose to be on the ground level so we wouldn’t be bothered to walk up and down the stairs to get to the beach.
We get to the faded, grey door of our room. We’re discussing our plans for tomorrow and talking about what we would like to do. I don’t really notice Callan standing there until Emilia stops walking. I turn to see him looking angrier than I’ve ever seen him. There’s a harsh power emanating from him that seems as if it makes the air hard to breathe. He moves away from the building and stalks toward us. I resist the urge to turn and run, but it was a near thing. The fury Callan is displaying is palpable.
“Callan?” I ask. My mind is racing with things to say, but that’s all I can manage to get out. His eyes cut into me, his appearance is haggard in a way that I’ve never seen or expected to see from him. There are bags under his eyes like he hasn’t slept in days, his hair is mussed and his usually short, trimmed beard looks rough around the edges. He’s wearing slacks, but they’re wrinkled as is his dress shirt.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he barks at me.
I step back. I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t to be attacked by him. “I could say the same thing to you,” I tell him, letting all the hurt I’ve been feeling burn into anger.
“Shut it, Zoe. You’ll listen and not speak. I’m not in the mood.”
I gasp as I place my hands on my hips. “Well, I’m not in the mood either and you can just go fuck yourself. Emilia and I are going into our room to have supper. We have plans for later.”
Callan motions in front of him silently. Emilia and I look back to see two men in dark suits get out of a large SUV and start walking toward us.
“Take Zoe and get her belongings out of this damn room. Take her back to my house. Do not let her out of your sight.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” I screech. “I’m not going back to your place.
Suddenly, Callan is in front of me with his hand on my neck. He literally manhandles me, moving me until my back hits the door so quickly it takes my breath. I hear Emilia gasp just as I cry out in shock. Fear rolls through me. I don’t think Callan would hurt me, but I also didn’t peg him to be the type to have a list of bedroom demands with a harem of women waiting to fulfill them.
“Zoe, I haven’t slept in a week. My world has exploded around me, and I have way too much on my fucking plate for you to tempt me right now. You need to hold your fucking tongue because although I like the way you challenge me, now is not the time,” Callan warns. “You walked out on me, disappeared just when I needed you the most and I’ve had it!”
“I don’t give a damn. No one plays me for a fool and—”
Before I can get the rest out, he crushes his lips to mine. I stubbornly keep my lips sealed shut, denying him entry into my mouth. His hand reaches up, twisting my nipple painfully. My half gasp half moan gives him entry as he kisses me hard, fiercely. It’s so rough and harsh that I know my lips are bruised.
“Do as I ordered,” Callan barks out as he pulls back, not taking his eyes off me.
“But Emilia—”
“Niko needs Emilia and trust me, Zoe, she’s a lot safer with him than you are with me right now.”
He turns to Emilia and takes her hand, “Let’s go.”
“Callan, what’s wrong?”
“We will talk in the car,” Callan tells Emilia, his voice gentler. “I have some things to talk over with you.”
I watch them walk off without sparing me a glance, leaving me with the two men I don’t know. They grab mine and Emilia’s things from our room, before marching me to the SUV. They don’t say one word to me, and I don’t speak to them either. I think I’m still in shock.
I had hoped to talk to Callan again.But not like this…
Chapter23
Zoe
I’ve been isolatedfor the past two days in Callan’s home, with not one but two guards who don’t speak—at least to me. I have no idea what’s going on. They sure aren’t going to tell me. They can’t even answer a simple question about what their names are. I’ve nicknamed them Mutt and Jeff. They hate it, which brings me some small sense of satisfaction in my alternating world of panic, confusion, and fear that I’ve lived in since Callan found me.
I’ve demanded to go home, but my captors ignored me. I’m not even allowed to call my dad. I’ve tried to devise a way to escape, but they watch me like a hawk, going so far as to take shifts so that one of them is always watching me, making it impossible for me to leave.