Chapter 36
Callie
S ebastian is a stubborn asshole. I knew what I was doing, and at some point, he needs to trust that I'm not some kind of meek woman who needs people to protect her all the time. I can hold my own, just like the three of them. Did I need their help to get out of Rogue? Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of leading things.
"You don't have to keep looking at me like that." I glare at him. Kyler left us in the room with the filing cabinets a few minutes ago so he could go check in with Barrett. That’s what he said, at least. I know he didn’t want to be here with Mr. Grumpy and me.
"Here's the problem, trouble. You don't know when to stop. You take these uncalculated risks, and you don't think about how it affects other people," he tries.
"No. You're not going to try and say that again. I did what I thought would be right, and I did it that way because I knew you wouldn’t go with it. We didn't have time to sit around and talk. I know what I'm doing, Seb, and I would never do anything that would intentionally hurt one of you. You have to know that by now."
"You should have let us discuss it first in the car before you got out and barged down the front door."
"Would you have let me take the lead?" I raise a brow at him, wondering if I did make a mistake by not talking to them about it first.
"No. It was too risky."
"My point exactly. You have got to start letting other people help you with things. You can't just be there to do it all and expect us to file in behind you. I can't do that, and you know damn well that I've been controlled by men my entire life. I want a say in what we do, and I won’t accept anything less than being an equal part of the equation."
"I let you come with us, did I not?"
"Do you even hear yourself? You let me."
He pauses for a moment, allowing my words to sink in. I don't think he's ever had to take a moment to sit back and actually consider letting someone else take the lead. Kyler isn't the type to want to be upfront and control the narrative, and Barrett is usually busy behind the scenes making sure everything is running without a hitch.
"What I did came with risk, but I knew what I was doing. I need you to trust me sometimes, even if it means we don't discuss how that's going to look first."
He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair before grabbing a fistful. "Fuck. I'm trying, Callie. This is how I keep my life in check. The control that you're trying so hard to take is my security. When I pull back, bad things happen. "
"Bad things still happen even when you feel like you have control."
He clenches his jaw and strides across the room, closing the space between the two of us. I glance up at him and see the moment something snaps. He reaches his hand out and grips my throat, pushing me back into the filing cabinet. When I make contact, my mouth parts, and I groan.
"I'll make you a deal, trouble." He leans in to whisper in my ear. "I'll let you take the lead more often as long as you agree to pay for it."
I lean into him, not able to stop my body from heating up. "Oh yeah? And how exactly will I be doing that?"
"By being the perfect little fuck toy and letting me use you however I want," he says while nipping at my ear.
Chills spread through me, and I can't deny how much the idea of that sets me ablaze. "Do it," I taunt, and his fingers squeeze my throat tighter.
His other hand trails down my body, groping my breast and twisting my nipple before moving further south. He is just about to slide it into the waistband of my pants when my phone rings. He freezes.
There aren’t very many people who have this number, so my phone doesn’t ring often. I reach into my back pocket to see that it's Avery calling. Now probably isn't the best time to answer, but I haven't talked to her in a few days, and I need to make sure she's okay before I tell her I'll call her back later.
I push Seb off of me and press the answer button. "Hello?"
"Well, there she is. My lovely wife."
When I hear the voice on the other end, my entire body goes rigid. What the hell is going on? "Don't fucking call me that." My jaw clenches, and Sebastian focuses intently on me. He furrows his brow and tilts his head, but I ignore him. I push my way out of the room to find Barrett and Kyler, hoping Seb will follow me as Damien continues on.
"I've got a question for you. How much do you care for Avery? Would you like her back in one piece, or would you prefer if I send her in bits at a time?" I almost drop the phone from my hand as I enter the kitchen.
My men look up at me with concern on their faces just as I place the phone on speaker and pull out one of the four chairs to sit in.
"I swear if you touch her, I'll kill you," I finally grit out.
"Now, now. That's not any way for a wife to speak to her husband. It certainly doesn't encourage me to play nice, either. You should be nice, Callie. Your best friend’s life depends on it."
Kyler walks around the table, ready to come to my defense, but I hold my hand up. I need to handle this on my own. The guys getting involved could only make things worse. I suck up my pride and decide to do what he says, no matter how hard it is.
A message comes through the phone. It's a picture of Avery in what looks like the same cell my father kept me in before the wedding. Seeing her down there, alone and dirty, breaks my heart. I don't want anyone else I love to have to hurt because of me.
"Please don't hurt her, Damien."
A sadistic chuckle leaves him. "That's a little better. You see, I'm a generous man. I'm willing to make you an offer."
"What do you want?" I ask, but I already know the answer. He wants me.
"It's simple, you will come back to Rogue so you can be placed on trial for your father's murder. The council has called for it, and you will be present."
"A trial?" I gasp.
There hasn't been a need for a trial in a long time. To my knowledge, there was only one other one held in the entirety of Rogue's existence. It was the excuse they needed to feel good about their decision to kill a council member. This can't be good for me. If I go to trial, the outcome will likely be my ordered death. I didn't come this far to die, but I can't let Avery get hurt, either.
"You have no proof," I say with a dangerous sense of arrogance.
"That's true, but I have no intention of convincing them to find you guilty. I'm hoping for the opposite, actually. I'm not done using you for my own personal needs. We never did get to finish our wedding night, wife."
"If I come back, you're not going to touch me," I huff as Sebastian steps behind me to grip the back of my neck. It's a comforting pain but also warning me to tread lightly.
He laughs again. " You belong to me."
"I don't belong to anyone, least of all you," I grit, my jaw clenching so tightly I'm afraid I could break a tooth. Seb grips my neck tighter. I can tell it's taking everything in him to not interject. He's trying to give me control like I asked him to.
"Careful, Callie. You seem to forget Avery is currently taking up residence in my home. Get your ass back to the compound, or I will send her back to you piece by piece. I won’t let you come between what I want."
Thoughts race through my mind as I try to find a loophole. It's going to be a bit difficult to convince the men in this room to let me go back there.
"Come back to stand trial, or your friend dies. Make your choice."
"That's it? There are no other options?” I ask. He knows the choice I'm going to make. Everyone in this room knows what my choice will be.
"Don't try and play games with me. You should be thankful I'm willing to let her live until you get here. Maybe I’ll let you say one last goodbye."
“Don’t touch her, Damien,” I warn.
"You have three days to be back here to face the council. If you aren't here by then, I'll slit Avery's throat."
"I'll be there," I say.
"You will not!" Barrett and Kyler both yell out, making Damien laugh on his side of the phone.
"I'll be there," I confirm again before he hangs up.
I glance around the room and see pretty much the same emotion written all over each one of their faces. Barrett left his place behind his computers to stand in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes narrowed. They're not going to like what I have planned, but I don't care. If they can't get on board, I'll find a way to distract them long enough to sneak off and go back to the compound by myself.
"Before you all start flipping your shit, hear me out," I plea. "We planned on taking down Rogue. This is how we do it. I have a plan."
"And what sort of plan is that?" Sebastian says from his position behind me. I can tell he wants to take out his irritation on me, but he's holding back.
"We are going to need some files from the other room and whatever’s on that flash drive," I tell them, already knowing whose files I plan to grab. "If they want a trial, I'll put them all on trial."
A sly smile crosses Barrett's face. He knows exactly what I have up my sleeve, and I can tell he's already calculating how he's going to help me pull it off.
"I found a video you might benefit from, too," he says as I go on to tell them what I have in mind.
Reluctantly, Sebastian agrees to go along with my plan. We just need to grab the few items I have in mind from the cabin and then go back home before we go to the compound. It seems counterproductive to go all the way back to Braxton Falls, but there are things Barrett needs to grab in order to make sure this all goes off without a hitch. I'm beyond excited. Once this plan's executed, Rogue will no longer be a problem for any of us.