Page 73 of Empire of Lust
“I’m still coming home. I’ll have Dad arrange for the jet, and I’ll let you know, so you’re not, you know, humping each other when I get there.”
“And I’m the one who has a way with words?” It’s so nice to laugh with her for the first time in weeks. I feel a weight lifting off my heart.
A soft knock at the door gets my attention a moment before Callum appears. His brows draw together, but I shake my head with a smile to ease his mind.
“I better let you go so you can rest,” she says. “I’ll see you soon. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” And once the call is over, I rest my head against the mountain of pillows at my back and release a deep breath. With it goes all the guilt and worries that have weighed me down for weeks.
“Everything all right? I figured she would call you right away once I told her.” Callum sits beside me on the bed and takes the hand resting at my side. I love the way his calloused fingers feel against my skin.
“You didn’t tell me she knew about us.”
He looks almost sheepish, which I didn’t know was possible. Not for him. “It slipped my mind. I had other things to worry about, like your health. How are you feeling?”
“Better, now that I know I didn’t lose my best friend.”
“You have no idea how glad that makes me.”
But he doesn’t sound so glad. In fact, his voice is heavy, almost like he’s in pain.
“What’s wrong?” I turn my hand over so I can wind my fingers through his. He looks worried, with deep lines etched across his forehead and over the bridge of his nose.
The corners of his mouth tug downward. “You should get some rest. We’ll talk about it later.”
His dismissal only makes me sit up. “Here’s one thing you need to know about me. There is no chance of me getting any rest after hearing you say that. Besides, I’ve been resting for days.”
It was supposed to be a joke to make him laugh, or at least smile. But all he does is grimace, and his worry lines deepen. “I’ve been wrestling with myself, deciding whether to tell you.”
“Tell me what? Did something terrible happen? I already know Tatum’s okay because I talked to her.” I can’t imagine what else it might be.
“I’m telling you this because I know the way you think, and I know you would hate to find out after the fact.”
Is it my imagination, or is it suddenly colder in here? That must be where the goosebumps are coming from. “Find out what?” And why am I so full of dread now? You don’t start off a story the way he just did unless there’s something ugly coming.
“It has to do with the accident.”
Yup, there it is. The pit in my stomach right on schedule. Now I wish I had never asked if there was something wrong.
But I’m not a child. And I can’t run away from what happened.
“I can handle it. Whatever it is.”
He doesn’t look convinced. His frown only deepens before he heaves a sigh. “I had Romero reach out to the businesses on that block in case any of them had security cameras pointed toward the street. A few of them do, and they let him look at the footage. He was able to get a clear look at the plate on one of the cameras.”
“Did he… see the accident?” I don’t know why the thought makes my heart pound. It’s unnerving knowing there is footage of me coming close to being killed, but a twisted part of me wants to see it. Because I survived.
“No,” he murmurs, but the way he averts his eyes makes me wonder if he’s telling the truth. “That’s not the point, anyway. We found the name the vehicle is registered under.”
He stares down at our clasped hands, and something in my head clicks into place. “It wasn’t an accident, was it?”
Right away, his head snaps up, his eyes widening. “What makes you say that?”
“Because the way you’re making it sound. It’s a name you recognized, or one I would recognize. Right? And if it’s somebody I know, that means it wasn’t an accident. They deliberately hit me. It’s okay,” I insist when he grimaces. “I can handle it. Because you’re here with me. And I’m safe.”
With his free hand, he reaches out and cups my cheek. I lean into his touch. It’s my salvation. I couldn’t handle any of this without him. “You’re right. It was someone you know.”
Which tells me it could only have been one person. The only person from my life, besides his daughter, whose name he’s familiar with. Even though I want to turn away from the idea, it makes too much sense.