16. Blake
Blake
I say goodbye to my grandmother, noticing that Brenda’s Mercedes is gone. I jog back over to Callie’s place, hoping she isn’t too mad at me for leaving her with her mother. But when she returned unexpectedly, I was at a loss over what to do. They have unresolved issues to work out, but I learned my lesson about getting involved in what wasn’t my business.
I knock on the door, but when she doesn’t answer, I turn the handle, finding it unlocked. I frown, making a note to remind her to lock the door behind her in the future. We might be in a small town, but shit can happen when you least expect it to.
“Callie?” I call out, freezing, when I hear a sniffle coming from the sitting room. A quick look inside shows no Callie, so I turn to make my way to the kitchen when I hear it again. This time, I move farther into the room and finally spot her huddled on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest, and her head bowed as she sobs quietly.
“Jesus Christ.” I’m by her side in three steps and on my knees in the next second, pulling her shaking frame against mine protectively.
“What happened?”
She doesn’t answer. She burrows into the crook of my neck and grips me tightly. Jesus Christ, who do I need to kill?
“Talk to me, sweetheart, you’re scaring the shit out of me,” I implore as her tears soak through my T-shirt to my skin.
She sniffs and takes a deep, stuttering breath, which hitches painfully in her chest, making her voice catch in her throat. “I have to go,” she tells me, pulling back to look up at me with those beautiful eyes of hers.
“Go where? I’ll take you anywhere, but you have to tell me what’s going on,” I say gently, swiping the tears from her cheeks with the pads of my thumbs.
“No, I mean I have to leave Tempest. It’s not safe for me here anymore. It’s not safe for any of you if I stay.”
My body freezes, every emotion shutting down to make way for cold, clinical rage. I fucking knew she was in danger. God-fucking-damn-it.
“Explain,” I order, my voice rough as I try to keep my fury in check, but it’s hard when I know my girl’s in trouble.
“Just let me go, Blake. I’m not worth it, trust me.” She shakes her head, trying to climb to her feet, but I grip both her arms with my hands and halt her movements.
“Not gonna happen, baby. Now tell me what has you so spooked.” I soften my voice as much as I can, but my tone lets her know this is non-negotiable.
She sighs and slumps against me. “I came here to start over. I packed up my stuff and left, thinking he’d get bored and find a new object to obsess over if I put some distance between us. It’s not like I’m anything special,” she mumbles. But that’s just it. She has no idea how special she is. It radiates from her like a fucking beacon, and any predator circling would be able to see and want it for themselves.
“Callie, slow down. Take a deep breath, and start over. Why isn’t it safe for you here?” That seems to be the most pressing issue at the moment.
“Because Christian Baylor wants me for a wife and, apparently, whatever Christian wants, Christian gets,” she answers somberly.
“Wife?” I spit out. “Hold on—Christian Baylor—as in shady as fuck drug kingpin that’s always in the news?” That can’t be true.
She nods solemnly. “He saw me at a charity event and decided he wanted me despite me making it very clear I wasn’t interested.”
I grit my teeth, loosening my grip on her arms before I hurt her. “What did he do?” I bark.
“Wouldn’t take no for an answer. He started turning up everywhere I was, sending elaborate gifts to my place and calling me constantly. I went to the police, but they said there wasn’t anything they could do until he actually committed a crime, which he hadn’t yet done.”
“So, you packed up and left?” I urge her to continue, wanting to hear it all, knowing there’s more.
I cup her chin when she looks away, but I need her eyes on me.
“No,” she answers in a whisper. “Did you know I used to be engaged?”
I tense at her words, but she pushes on. “I met Danny when I was sixteen. He had bounced around foster care after his mom died. His dad had died overseas when he was just a baby. We met in a therapist’s office, and for the first time in my life, there was someone out there that got me––that believed me. I lived for those stolen moments every Tuesday and Thursday until we both turned eighteen and decided to pool our resources and move in together.”
I swallow, suddenly feeling like I’m the runner-up prize, which is ridiculous. This Danny guy isn’t here. I am.
“You loved him?” Stupid fucking question. She was going to marry the guy. Of course, she loved him.
“I loved him,” she nods, wiping her face. “And he loved me. But we were never in love. We didn’t think that was in the cards for either of us. We were like roommates in the beginning. We dated other people, but nothing ever clicked. We were both just too emotionally unavailable with anyone but each other so we decided to give each other the things we both so desperately wanted. A family. A home. A safe place to just be.”
“So what happened?”
“Christian happened. He broke in with a couple of goons one night. He pinned me down and forced me to watch as they beat Danny to within an inch of his life.”
She starts shaking, so I tug her into my lap and wrap my arms around her.
“He didn’t remember much about the attack, but I do. I remember the sound of fists hitting his flesh, the scream of my voice echoing in my ears over Danny begging them to let me go. You ever hear a bone snap? It’s not something I’ll ever forget. But the worst part was afterward. The absolute silence after they left and slammed the door. I honestly thought he was dead,” she chokes out. I rub my hand up and down her back as she shudders.
“They broke his back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Danny couldn’t accept that he likely would never walk again, and he didn’t have any strength left to fight. He told me he loved me, but he was just tired of living a life that was slowly killing him. I tried so hard to hold on to him, but he somehow managed to get his hands on a scalpel and slashed his arms open from elbow to wrist. He was dead before the nurses found him.”
“Fuck, baby. I’m sorry,” I slide my hand around the back of her neck and hold her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“He’s dead because of Christian, but the police refused to listen to me.”
“I don’t get it. You were an eye-fucking-witness.”
“Someone alibied Christian, and I didn’t have any idea who the other two men were.” Her voice comes out muffled, so she pulls back and looks up at me. “I tried to carry on, but our apartment felt haunted. Christian upped his stalking campaign, and the police were just useless. I felt like I was living on borrowed time. Walking on eggshells and looking over my shoulder while I waited for him to make his next move.”
“And did he?”
She nods rapidly. “It was four months after I buried Danny. I’d thrown myself into my volunteering, anything that would keep me away from home. I was on my way back one evening, barely a block from the shelter, when Christian grabbed me and dragged me down an alleyway. He slammed my face into a wall before I could scream and told me he was tired of waiting before shoving his hands down my pants.”
I suck in a sharp breath, biting my tongue so hard I taste blood, but I keep myself in check so she doesn’t stop talking.
“A couple of homeless guys who recognized me from the shelter heard me scream once I got my bearings and held him off long enough for me to run.”
Tears spill over her cheeks again as she looks at me in defeat. “I’m so fucking stupid. I underestimated his obsession with me once before, and Danny paid the price for it. I can’t do that again. I won’t. I have to leave before he hurts you or one of the guys or?—”
I cut her off with a soft kiss, holding her tighter when I feel her trembling in my arms. “First of all, nobody will lay a fucking hand on you or anyone else. Secondly, you aren’t going anywhere?—”
“Blake,” she cries out, interrupting me, but I carry on.
“Trust me with this, Callie. This is what my team and I do. You can run, but when will it stop? How far do you have to go? That’s no life to live.”
“He will hurt you,” she whimpers.
“He can fucking try,” I scoff. “Stay with me. Let me help you, please.”
She dissolves into sobs, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. Her tears seem endless, running down my neck, soaking my skin and breaking my heart.
“Okay,” she finally whispers, her voice hitching at the end.
I take my first deep breath since finding her. Thank Christ. “Good fucking girl. Now I want you to lie down on the sofa here for a moment while I call the guys over so we can brief them. I want you to tell us everything you can, no matter how small or insignificant you think it might be.”
She nods, her hair tickling the side of my face as she pulls back to look at me with her pretty copper eyes shining with unshed tears.
“I wasn’t looking for love. It’s been a long time since I had stars in my eyes. Love was too terrifying to even contemplate. I just needed to feel safe. That’s how I ended up here. Once upon a time, a little girl told me her hero lived here, and I really needed a hero. So I took a chance and moved here. And there you were, waving a pink cock in my face, making me want to take more chances. You unraveled the parts of me I’d bound so tightly I could hardly breathe. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love you, Blake Price. I didn’t want to, but it turns out you’re impossible not to love, serial killer tendencies notwithstanding.”
I laugh at her, not realizing I even had that in me at the moment, before sliding my hands up and cupping her face. I kiss her gently, tasting the salt of her tears on her lips, trying to show her how I feel with actions, not words. I don’t know if it’s love or if that’s even something I’m still capable of anymore. Whatever it is, it’s strong and all-consuming. And I’m selfish enough to take everything she’s willing to give me.
After losing everyone who mattered to me, I closed myself off to the idea of love. I have my grandmother, and for the longest time, it’s been enough. Now I’m not so sure.
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you comfortable.” I lift her into my arms and carry her to the couch closest to us, laying her down and covering her up with the throw from the back of it.
“I’ll grab you some water and call the boys. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”
She nods and burrows down under the fleecy material. I place one last kiss on her forehead and head to the kitchen, pulling out my phone and sending out a mass text to everyone but Aiden, knowing they will be here as soon as they can be.
Next, I dial Wade. The phone rings four times before he answers with a gruff voice.
“If she kicked your ass out, you likely deserved it. Now I’m in bed with my wife. What do you want?” It seems like Callie managed to charm Wade, as well as his wife.
“There’s a situation with Callie. What do you know about Christian Baylor?” I hear him hiss before movement and some murmuring. I hear a door close and assume he’s moved somewhere he can talk.
“Christian Baylor is as dirty as they come, and yet nothing ever sticks because he’s a slippery fucker with friends in all the right places. Is Callie mixed up with him?” he asks, his voice alert now.
“He spotted her at a charity event and decided he wanted her. And I’m not talking for a quick fuck, either. I’m talking marriage, the whole shebang. He wasn’t bothered in the least that Callie wasn’t interested. He attacked her fiancé, Wade. He left the man so broken he killed himself, and the police did fucking nothing. He stalked her, had her jumping at shadows before he attacked her too.”
Wade curses as I take a deep breath. Running my free hand through my hair, I glance at the doorway before continuing with my voice a touch lower.
“He dragged her down an alleyway, smashed her face into a brick wall, and shoved his hand down her pants. She was fucking lucky to get away. If it wasn’t for a couple of homeless guys that stepped in, this could have all ended very differently.”
I pace across the small space, trying to burn off some of my anger because that’s not what she needs from me right now.
“She ran to escape him and ended up here in Tempest. But I don’t think she realized how far his reach is or the level of his obsession with her.”
“Fuck,” Wade spits out. “It’s likely not even about making Callie his wife anymore. That would have just given him a misconceived sense of ownership over her. Now he’ll want to make her pay for defying him. ‘No’ is not a word he’s familiar with, and he won’t accept it from a slip of a girl like Callie. I’ll do some digging and see what I can find out. I assume you and the boys will do around-the-clock protection. Do you have enough hands spare with your caseload? If not, I might be able to get the captain to swing for a couple of drive-bys.”
“I couldn’t care less how many cases we have. When your woman is in trouble, your schedule becomes surprisingly clear, but I appreciate the offer. I’ve gotta go. I don’t want to leave her alone while she’s so spooked. I’ll call you when I’ve got more to go on.”
Hanging up without saying goodbye, I shove my phone in my pocket before snagging a bottle of water from the refrigerator and heading back to Callie. I stand in the doorway for a moment, watching her. She looks so small lying there with her knees pulled up tight as she hugs herself for comfort. I want to smash something, but she needs me to fix shit, not break it.
I make my way over to her, then sit on the floor near her head and tuck the loose tendril of hair that has fallen over her cheek behind her ear. “Boys will be here soon,” I tell her gently.
“I’m scared, Blake,” she admits.
I stand and lift her onto my lap once more, blanket and all, and hold her tightly. “I’ll protect you, Callie.” And I will with my last breath if necessary.
“I know you will, but who will protect you?”