41. Over and Done
Chapter 41
Over and Done
CALLIE
“ Y ou sure about this, little steak?”
I wasn’t.
Not.
At.
All.
While everything had been going down at Abraham’s secret house the day before, a raid was also being executed at Eternal Sun. I didn’t know the details. No one did at that point. But the entire place was being shuttered. Everyone who lived on the property was left homeless.
And those were the lucky ones.
Because a dozen or so people within Abraham’s inner circle and the higher levels had been arrested.
Including Thomas, who’d been working with Agent Nash to start the ascension—something Abraham had promised would bring peace and brightness to all who were worthy. The lap dog had been Nash’s eyes at Moonlight, making sure my men were there.
And that I was alone so Nash could grab me as a gift for their leader.
My parents were amongst those tossed onto the street. Usually, that wouldn’t be a big deal since they could easily afford to go wherever, but their financials would remain frozen during the investigation.
That was also a them problem. If it were up to me, I would make them deal with it on their own. Let that struggle be a new path. But it wasn’t just up to me. I didn’t want my lack of empathy to set off alarm bells. Especially since any smoke the detectives followed could lead to the metaphorical fire set by my men. If it weren’t for that risk, I would’ve never agreed to meet with them when they’d reached out through the detectives.
I wouldn’t meet at our house, though. I didn’t want anything related to my parents to be tied to my happy place. Instead, we waited outside of Moonlight, down near the fountain.
Sitting on Freddy’s lap at the edge of the fountain, I answered his question. “Yup.”
His narrowed blue eyes said he didn’t believe me.
Neither did Cole, who snagged my attention by lifting my chin. “Say the word, and we’ll go inside.” He jerked his head toward where Marco was standing guard as he scanned our surroundings. “Let him handle it.”
I should’ve said yes. Should’ve learned my lesson after the last messy goodbye. But that was before I had three badasses at my back, so I told him the truth. “I’m good.”
Even if I wanted to change my mind, it was too late. My mom and dad strolled up with their arms around each other and their wide-eyed stares aimed over my head at the expansive building. They probably hadn’t seen much of the insanity Vegas had to offer. Like me, Abraham hadn’t let them leave ES often. When he had, it was usually with him or one of his people to explore nature.
Couldn’t let the golden geese get poached.
My mom’s gaze dropped to the statue. “Artemis. That was almost your name, sweetheart.”
And I thought Calliope was bad.
When Dad’s focus lowered, it was to scan me. Then the three men surrounding me. “You good, kiddo?”
“Perfect,” I said honestly. “This is Marco, Cole, and Freddy. My fiancés.”
Mom’s face lit up. “ Three ! How romantic.”
Dad was a little slower to come around—and not just because he was high. He regarded me slowly, but then he grinned, too. “You’re happy.”
It wasn’t a question. He also didn’t deserve any reassurances. I gave it anyway. “Yeah, Dad, I’m happy.”
“Good.”
Mom’s wistful smile fell. “We wanted to say sorry, Calliope babe. You tried to warn us about Abraham, but we didn’t listen. I can’t believe how he played with our souls. My aura has never felt darker.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her hippie BS and her apology. Instead, I got to the reason I’d agreed to meet. “Do you guys need money to tide you over until your account is unfrozen?”
Dad waved the offer away. “A bunch of us are traveling to Colorado. The universe will provide.”
I’d figured that was the case. And unlike the other times they’d left me, I wasn’t bummed. I didn’t feel abandoned.
I was relieved.
We spoke for a few minutes longer while I peppered them with subtle questions, trying to see if there were any rumors about Abraham’s death. There weren’t. As far as they knew, it was exactly as it seemed.
A murder-suicide.
Our goodbye was brief.
And shockingly tidy.
“You good, baby girl?” Marco asked as I watched them walk away.
For the first time in maybe my whole life, I didn’t fault my parents. They were who they were.
They also should’ve never been parents to begin with.
There was a finality in our goodbye—at least from my end. I knew that as long as their lives remained anarchic, their new paths would never intersect with mine.
I needed stability.
And I had it without them.
It was the clean break I’d always wanted. Which was why my answer was again nothing but the truth.
“Perfect.”
Freddy
“Do they still buy it?”
At the softly spoken question, Marco, Cole, and I turned to look at where Callie stood behind the couch. She looked exhausted. Stressed.
Still fucking gorgeous.
“What’re you doing awake, mon ciel étoilé ?”
At the same time, Cole asked, “Can’t sleep?”
She shook her head. “The bed is too big when it’s empty.”
“Come here,” Marco ordered.
She didn’t have to be told twice. Rounding the sectional, she took his outstretched arm. Not so he could help her onto his lap like he’d intended. She tugged it, dragging the big guy toward where Cole and I were sitting side by side.
He went easily because there wasn’t much we wouldn’t give her.
Once he was close enough, she sprawled out with her body draped across me and Cole, but her head on Marco’s chest.
“Is it really done?” she asked since her first question had gone unanswered.
It was done a few days before when the two men on either side of me had finished that job.
At first, I’d been fucking pissed to be cut out. Violence wasn’t part of my job description, but it wasn’t like I’d never spilled blood. It was something I would happily do to protect Callie or Cole. Or even Marco. But they hadn’t needed my help inside. I’d gotten to handle the most important thing.
Keeping Callie safe, physically and emotionally.
Our girl had been panicking while we’d waited in the car. Not because of what’d happened to her, but because she wanted to protect Marco and Cole. She’d been terrified that Nash would attack them the second they stepped foot through the doorway.
That Abraham would rise from the damn dead.
That they would leave behind a single hair follicle that could lead a SWAT team to our door.
But life wasn’t a TV show. No one was finding an infinitesimal clue. More importantly, the men hadn’t lied when they’d said they were careful. Nothing was out of place. Nothing was suspicious.
The fact that the agent had an interesting MO helped.
The reason the murders and Callie’s attack were easily linked was thanks to the fact he hadn’t cleaned the knife.
It was a chef’s nightmare and a detective’s dream.
Traces of multiple victims’ blood were still on the weapon. When the police had come forward with the detail that they’d been keeping to themselves, Callie said it made sense.
Eternal Sun members were taught to show the sun everything. Nash believed he was doing what was right for the universe. He’d wanted to show his progress.
It was hippie bullshit, but it made connecting the murders to him easy.
Including Boden’s.
The detective had been digging into Eternal Sun’s financials and their ties to forced marriages. His hard work implicated the organization and a dozen of their more prominent political and celebrity members.
After all of that began coming to light, no one questioned the murder-suicide in a secret mansion. Callie had gotten that confirmation when we met with her parents a couple of days before.
She got it again when Marco pressed his mouth to her forehead and gave her the truth like always. “Yeah, baby girl, it’s over.”
At his words, she instantly relaxed.
Cole grabbed the remote and changed it from the news to her medical show.
She shook her head. “I’m over this one. The cooking competition, please.”
“Told you I’m her favorite,” I said since anything to do with food could only be about me.
Cole pushed my head before immediately tugging it back to kiss me.
After half an episode, I thought she was asleep until she randomly said, “So about the wedding…”
We perked up, hoping that meant she’d made some decisions about what she wanted.
“Yes, little steak?” I prompted.
She sat and looked between us. “Do we have to have it?”
“You want to rethink that question?”
“We sure as fuck do.”
“Yes. Wait. Fuck yes.”
At our immediate responses, she rolled her eyes.
Marco grabbed her neck and tilted her head back to look at him. “It’s a good thing we like your attitude, or you’d end up with a red ass.”
“A lot,” Cole added. “Which would still be nothing compared to what’s going to happen if you don’t tell us why you don’t want to marry us.”
“I do, it’s just… I don’t really have any family.” She paused like she was waiting for us to argue that point.
If that was the case, she would be waiting a long ass time. Her parents didn’t get their slate wiped clean just because they’d gotten caught up in a predatory cult.
A shit-ton of pain could’ve been avoided if they’d chosen their daughter somewhere along the way.
They hadn’t.
Even after all the shit that’d gone down, they’d ventured off rather than mending the bridge that was slowly burning away between them and their only daughter. They forfeited their right to be her family.
When she continued, it was to look to our side. “You two don’t really, either. Except Freddy’s aunt.”
I lifted my chin, still not getting where she was going with it.
For her sake, she better hope she’s not trying to use our shit families as a reason not to get married, or I’ll be the one to spank her ass.
“Would your family come?” she asked Marco.
He gave a quick headshake. “Miami is a long distance, and I’m not waiting till their travel schedule opens up.”
It was more than that. He’d already told Cole and me that his parents didn’t get our relationship. Since he was thirty-six years old, he didn’t want or need their approval. But it was information he wasn’t sharing with Callie because she would care.
A lot.
“If we wouldn’t be inviting anyone other than the same friends we see all the time, why have a ceremony?” Marco opened his mouth to answer, but she pressed her fingers to his lips. “I don’t want a party. I only like attention from you three. And we can’t even be legally married. So why can’t we just be married right now?”
Since that sounded a fuck of a lot better than waiting any amount of time, we all agreed—though Marco’s words came out muffled against her fingers.
She sank back before bolting upright and shifting away. Her pretty brown eyes narrowed, and she moved them across the three of us.
Her voice was soft but lethal when she added, “But you will be getting wedding bands immediately. I need to mark what’s mine.”
Her two Daddies and her Freddy.
Her men.
Her husbands.
And our goddess.