Chapter 9 #2
My brother guides his wife back inside, Aracely following her boss, probably because she doesn’t care to talk to me. Liv whispers something to Clay, and in a moment, her fiancée gets up and disappears somewhere into the house.
Macon’s right. This won’t stop us, but fuck, I’d love to have some proper fun so I can put him in his rightful place. Unfortunately, we’re no longer at that age anymore, where a beatdown solves your problems. In the end, Callum knows what power he has at his disposal.
“You know…” Liv speaks up when it’s just us left. “When he and his friends attacked me in high school…”
I dart my eyes to her, my fist squeezing around the bottle.
“I was angry,” she explains, “furious, and vengeful, but I don’t know how scared I was.”
They dragged her out of a limo she was in with Clay and took her to Fox Hill. Tried to coerce her into…
I clench my teeth, getting hot all over again. What the hell is she saying?
“When he looked at me that night,” she goes on, “I don’t even think he saw me. I think he saw you.”
I don’t give a shit. And I don’t care that it never would’ve happened if I hadn’t fucked with him. It wasn’t my fault.
Liv jumps down from the window, and I watch my sister, who has our mother’s long black hair and her brown eyes but no dark circles or frailness. Olivia’s only gotten more beautiful.
“I think you should have a conversation with him,” she tells me in a low voice, continuing before I can tell her to bite me. “I think you should offer to accompany him into the Wolfe Room and help him with women in exchange for him turning a blind eye toward our family.”
I laugh, and I can’t seem to stop as I think about her ridiculous proposal. I don’t care if he makes his father proud, and I have no doubt he can get his dick to work if he’s creative.
But…
As I let her idea roll around in my head, I wonder if he’d agree.
He might relish another opportunity to fuck with me on his turf.
Liv closes the distance between us. “We’ve made ourselves liked, wanted, and valuable to this community. We’ve created a need where there wasn’t one.” She whispers, “Make yourself invaluable to him now.”
I stare at her. It’s not the best idea, but it’s an idea.
But…
No. I shake my head. “No. Fuck, no.”
I spin around and move away from her, inhaling a deep breath. I can’t play nice with him. Let him put me in a fucking suit. Let him get me into a club. Let him have me picked up and driven home like I fucking work for him?
And what if I’m into it and want to have some fun? Is he going to watch?
No.
“What would your teachers say, Dallas?” Liv hasn’t moved from where she was standing. “Would Epictetus and Socrates run away from the one thing they knew would save them?”
I throw her a scowl. She’s barking up the wrong tree with me. If I have to lose my self-respect to get fed, I’d rather starve.
But she smiles, approaching me again. “And when you have the leverage you need, you can fuck him up again for hurting me.”
I expel a weak laugh. Well, that would be a perk.
My mouth is so dry. “I don’t want him close to me.” I’m surprised at how timid my voice sounds. “I can’t keep a straight face when that piece of shit is trying to destroy my home.”
Liv takes the bottle, setting it down on a table. “He doesn’t want the Bay gone, Dallas.” She frowns. “He just wants to own everything in it.”
—
I can’t go to Callum and strike a deal. Fuck begging for his mercy.
But I have my ways. It’s not a bad idea, no matter how much I laughed at Liv. Once I let it crystallize, I understood we weren’t going to be able to fight him and his friends the old way. Whoever was smarter this time would win it all.
And going into the Wolfe Room would be a fantastic opportunity to collect information, make friends more important than him, and maybe place a camera, although I can imagine that place is swept often.
Still, though, it’s a chance.
If I can control my temper.
Gazing out one of my classroom windows, I watch him park, the high winds nearly blowing him and Anna-Katherine away as he pulls her along and she shields her face.
I’ll admit, he looks good. He got taller, bulked up, and he fits a suit nicely. I’ll enjoy making him watch me fuck.
The things I do for my family.
Students start drifting in, laughing and talking, but I don’t look at them as I write their first question on the board.
I’m teaching Introduction to Philosophy and Principles of Ethics, only about eight to ten students in each class.
Apparently, the kids like to get the easy credits out of the way in the summer. We’ll see about that.
I breathe long and deep, trying to calm my heart down. If Callum is here, no time like the present.
Anna-Katherine skips up to my side, and I know it’s her because she smells like her mother’s perfume. I glance down and wink at her, making her smile. Grabbing a stack of lined paper off my desk, I hand it to her and turn around.
“Anna-Katherine is our helper this summer.” I gesture to Callum’s stepsister. “She’s passing you out a piece of paper. Using both sides, define ‘freedom.’ ”
And I point to the board where I just wrote the exact same thing.
Anna-Katherine starts circulating, smiling at everyone. Today, she wears jean overalls with a red T-shirt and her hair in a ponytail tied with a red ribbon.
A girl takes the paper, looking confused. “We should handwrite it?” she asks, as if it’s so archaic.
I cock an eyebrow. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
Rolling up my sleeves, I head for the door.
“What do we call you?” someone gripes.
“Please don’t,” I reply.
I escape, heading downstairs and checking the main offices first. If he didn’t just drop her off, then he’s either in a meeting with other boosters or in the administrative offices.
With only a handful of summer classes taking place, the hallways are quiet and clean. But before I get to the north end of the school, a thud echoes to my right. I head down the corridor, smelling the palms and flowers in the courtyard, the wind cooling my already damp skin under my shirt.
The door to the gym is open, and I step in, immediately seeing Callum standing at the edge of the basketball court. With his back to me, he looks up, and I follow his gaze.
One of the new coaches hangs from a rope, clutching it with his legs and one arm as he reaches over, trying to hang another thick rope onto a hook. His shirtless torso gleams in the sunlight streaming through the high windows as his muscular thighs flex.
I slide my hands in my pockets, straightening my spine and darting my eyes back to Callum.
He doesn’t move. It doesn’t even look like he’s breathing as he watches the man, about his age—fresh out of college—tighten every muscle in his abs and arms.
“Do you want to try it?” he calls down without looking.
Callum jerks his chin, and I can see the smile from the side of his face. “Another time.”
I try to inhale, but I can’t get much air in.
Walking up, I stop next to him, gawking at the pretty boy on the ropes, too.
“Come to plead your case?” Callum asks.
“No,” I tell him. “I’ve come to make your game more fun.”
I meet his eyes, seeing his brows raise, his interest piqued.
I cock my head, taunting, “I think I can be in St. Carmen at midnight Friday night and make it home without being caught.”
He blinks, looking amused, but he doesn’t believe me.
I lower my voice, inching closer. “I think I can be right under everyone’s nose, in fact, and be in absolutely no rush.”
He chuckles to himself and lifts his eyes, scaling them down the man’s body.
My cock twitches. “Stop looking at him,” I bite out.
He lowers his eyes, but he can’t hide his excitement. His chest fills with air he doesn’t let out.
“I have the guts,” I point out. “I’m just not sure you do.”
Standing tall, he faces me, looking me dead in the eye. “Go on.”
He’s biting. Good.
“I’ll be in the Wolfe Room,” I inform him. “I know someone who will welcome me in.”
“And you think she’ll keep you safe?” he asks.
“Don’t you want to see?”
He’s not scared, is he? He can handle me.
He nods. “Yeah, I do want to see.”
Walking toward me, he forces me back a step.
“But I’ve got a better idea.” He lifts his eyes again, the tip of his nose sitting just below mine. “How about I take you in myself?”
I almost laugh. It’s exactly what we wanted you to do.
“That way I’ll know exactly where you are all night,” he tells me.
Liv is going to be so happy her idea worked.
And I didn’t even have to pretend I liked him. Once we’re in there, the intimidation will soften him up, and I’ll get him to back off.
“I dare you,” he says.
I quirk a smile. “Send a car at ten.”
“I will.”
I walk back toward the door, shouting over my shoulder, “Should give me plenty of time for some fun before I bolt.”