Chapter 87
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
SAKURA
Long after everyone cleared out of the stadium, Callan and I still sat on the bleachers. The police had taped off the field so nobody could enter it and then removed our principal’s head from the grass.
“Was it Poison on the intercom?” I asked.
“Yep.”
I turned in his embrace and straddled his waist with my arms around his shoulders. “Did you know that they had decapitated him?” I whispered. “Is that why you brought me here to watch tonight? To show me that he got his payback?”
“Did I know?” He chuckled, large hands gripping my waist. “I did it.”
My eyes widened. “You what?”
He peered over at me, his dark eyes glimmering underneath the bright lights. “I chopped off that motherfucker’s head,” he said with no ounce of remorse, no pity, and absolutely no guilt about any of it.
Callan had promised me that he was done with the needless criminal activity, especially associated with the mob, which meant that he would only do something like this if … he was doing it for me.
“Gunther told me that Vaughn asked you to come into his office during school one day last week. That he touched you.” Callan tightened his grip on me even though I wasn’t going anywhere. “That he followed you to the Overlook.”
My mouth dried, and I didn’t say anything.
So much shit had been going on lately that I’d completely pushed Vaughn to the back of my mind. Everything he had done to me felt like it had happened a century ago even though it was just last week.
“Is that true?” Callan asked.
“Yes, it is,” I whispered, then gazed down at my thighs. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
And while I would’ve flipped out on him if this had happened a month ago, I felt relieved that Vaughn was gone for good tonight. I hugged Callan tightly and buried my face into the crook of his neck, breathing in his cologne.
“I love you,” I mumbled into his hair.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and hummed softly, “I love you too, Sakura.”
After a few moments, I pulled away. “What’s going to happen with your connections to the mob?”
“After the show Poison put on tonight,” Callan said, “they’ll have their hands tied.” He dropped his hands to my thighs, picked me up, and stood. “Let’s grab milkshakes. I have something for you.”
When he set me down, I snatched his hand and followed him down the bleachers and back to his car. “Something for me?” I asked, butterflies fluttering inside my stomach. Maybe he had found his original present in Vaughn’s possession.
Once we drove and ordered milkshakes from Redwood Milkshake Co. down by the beach, I leaned against the front of his car and stared out into the ocean. The view wasn’t as beautiful as the Overlook, but the water seemed to stretch to the ends of the earth, the waves endless.
He had set two gift bags on the hood of the car, but hadn’t said anything about them yet.
So, after finishing, I placed the cup on the car and faced him. I wasn’t sure how to say this to him, but I needed to come out with it already. It had been on my mind since Sunday night, when I claimed Callan as mine in front of his wife.
“Can we … stay a secret?” I whispered, intertwining my fingers with his and standing on my tiptoes. My lips were inches from his, his eyes glimmering underneath the moonlight. “At least from my father until I graduate.”
With his hands on my hips, he brushed his thumbs across my belly and let out a low, defeated sigh. Since Wednesday, he had been more and more open around school with showing me a little … favoritism.
Like asking me to stay behind after class. Brushing his fingers across mine.
Other students would catch on soon, but with all the other shit going on in Redwood now, I doubted they would care until something major happened. Like the valedictorian showing up at graduation with a round pregnant belly.
Still, I didn’t want Dad pressuring me throughout the year.
“I’ll keep our dirty little secret until … we can’t anymore.”
I arched a brow, wondering what the heck he meant about that, and watched his gaze fall to my stomach.
“That’s not going to happen,” I teased.
Though … I wasn’t too sure. We might’ve had sex without protection a couple more times since Wednesday. And every now and then, in passing conversation, he kept mentioning how he wanted me pregnant.
At first, I’d thought it was a sex kink, but it seemed like a bit more than that.
“Here,” he said with a smirk painted on his lips. He handed me the larger gift bag. “This was my original gift for you. I found it in Vaughn’s desk. It wasn’t anything special.” He glanced down, almost blushing. “But I thought you would enjoy it.”
Once I reached into the bag, I felt around and found books. I whipped them out and grinned. It was the entire collection of Kayleigh Stone’s spicy romance books! Heart racing, I flipped through one of them and snapped the book open to the title page.
They were all … signed.
“Callan,” I whispered, unable to hold back a grin. I gazed up at him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, excitement rushing through my veins. “Callan, you didn’t have to do this. It’s too much.”
“You deserve it,” he murmured into my ear. And when he finally let me go, he handed me the second bag. “And this is … something I found just lying around back home.”
I reached into the bag and pulled out a small rectangular box. I opened it up.
A single severed finger with a wedding ring.
“You killed Georgina,” I whispered breathlessly, eyes wide.
“She fell into the pool,” he said, staring out at the Atlantic Ocean, finally at peace.
While I wasn’t a fan of decapitation, severed fingers, or any sort of death, I wasn’t complaining that she was out of our lives for good. From now on, it would just be us, together and happy.
“By the way, I almost forgot to give this to you,” he said, pulling out a pink slip of paper from his pocket and handing it to me.
I unfolded it to see DETENTION written in large red capital letters across the top along with a list of reasons, including my not telling him about Vaughn or about Gunther staying with me and—my favorite—because I can. A giggle escaped my lips, and I playfully pushed him.
“You have detention after school on Monday,” Callan hummed, wrapping his hand around my neck from behind and gently craning my head back so I stared up at him. He placed his mouth on mine. “Don’t be late, Miss Sato, or I’ll be forced to punish you.”
To read the epilogue, click here.