16. Chapter 16
Callahan
Rory sat curled into my side, her fingers playing with her ring as she stared at it in awe.
“It’s beautiful, Cal. Thank you so much.” She smiled up at me.
Even though this ring was nowhere near as extravagant as Fern’s had been, I knew that Rory wouldn’t have wanted something like the one I gave to Fern. She was reserved and classy in a way Fern could never be. She didn’t need to flaunt her status for clout. She didn’t even want clout. I’d almost been ready to settle for a solitaire diamond set in a plain silver band when I’d seen this ring. I’d been admiring it when the sales associate casually mentioned that there was a necklace with matching stones and my mind was made up.
“You’re welcome, solas. I’m sorry I didn’t propose at first like you would have liked. I wanted you to be comfortable around me first. I wanted you to see that you could speak your mind without recourse and know that you truly did have the option to decline my proposal.” She smiled at me, her head tipped back on my shoulder. I laid my palm against hers, our open fingers intertwined without clasping our hands fully together. “For the record, though? I’m really glad you said yes.”
She watched as I played with her fingers. “Did you mean all the things you said? Or were you just making a show of it for all the spectators?”
Tearing my gaze from her dainty hand, I looked down at her. She didn’t meet my gaze until I tipped her chin back again. I pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “I meant every word, solas. I have not lied to you, and I do not intend to start now.” Her cheeks colored and brought our joined hands up to brush my fingertips against the pretty pink. “You feel this too, right? This…connection?”
Her jaw tightened as she swallowed, her gaze bouncing back and forth between my eyes, as if she was trying to see the truth of the confession in my irises. Her lips rolled between her teeth and she nodded. It was just a small nod, but enough to make relief fill my chest.
“I feel it, too. I’m not…you don’t scare me, like most other men do. I’m not afraid to speak my mind around you. You make me feel safe, but also strong enough to stand on my own. When I saw you outside Thai Moon, I felt like my soul would actually rip in two if I looked away from you. Even when I thought Elio had sent you to kill me, I wasn’t scared of you.” She swallowed heavily and her body swayed into mine as Seamus turned a corner. I tightened my fingers around hers at the feel of her small body pressed against mine.
“I... I want this with you.” She looked back at our hands, where my fingers still fidgeted slowly with hers. “I want to be happy with you. I…I like you, Cal. But…my heart may be soft, but it’s bruised, too.” She met my eyes again and hers were shiny with unshed tears. “Please be careful with it.”
I laced our fingers together fully and pressed our hands to my chest before placing my free one over hers, feeling her heartbeat flutter under my fingertips. “I promise to be gentle with it, if you’ll be gentle with mine too, solas.”
She smiled and laid her head against my shoulder again, her eyes closing and her breathing steady. She was quiet for the rest of the drive, until we reached the nondescript building in the middle of a warehouse district. Most of the buildings around were abandoned but this one was lit with only a single light on the ground floor. As I helped her from the car and led her towards the door, I wrapped my arm around her back, my hand settling on her hip.
“You are safe here, solas, but it is important that you stay by my side. If for some reason I am drawn away, you are to stay with Connor and Carson. They will not leave your side.”
She glanced around nervously and tried to slow her steps. “Where are we, Cal? What’s going on?”
“This is where we hold some of our fights. We have a few buildings like this around New York. Tonight, it’s being held here, in the basement. There will be a lot of people here, but you are always safe with me, I promise.”
She looked between my eyes and seemed to settle, relaxing enough for me to pull her into my side, under my arm. I led her to the building and through the wide-open, empty space. At the back of the warehouse, two large men stood in front of a lone door, their arms crossed. When we approached, the man on the right, one of our new men, stepped forward.
“Invites?” he asked in a no-nonsense tone. The one on the left, Dario, who had worked these fights for years, stepped forward to correct him, but I stopped him with a glance. He shook his head ruefully, as if the new guy was done for.
I extracted myself from Rory, pulling my arm from around her shoulders and moving in front of her. I felt her presence like an electric current under my skin and it lessened as she moved further away from me. I glanced back to see that Connor and Carson had pulled her back and sandwiched her between them. She looked almost comically small smashed between her huge guards.
I met Connor’s eyes and he dipped his chin in a tiny, infinitesimal nod of acknowledgement that he wouldn’t let Rory see anything she shouldn’t. I turned back to the man in front of me, squinting my eyes at him. “What’s your name, sir?”
“Kallum,” he announced proudly.
I hummed as I pretended to consider him. “Who do you work for, Kallum?” I asked in the casual conversational tone I strived to use more often than not.
“We,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards Dario, “work for the Boss. Callahan gives us direct orders. We don’t report to no one else.” His improper english and obnoxiously proud demeanor, the overly familiar way he used my first name to make himself seem more important, grated on my nerves. I stared him down, debating having him taken out or demoted to the most annoyingly menial tasks. I wonder which would bother him more.
“Do you think Mr. Byrne would appreciate you delaying his date?” Rory said softly from behind me. I glanced back and met her eyes. They were filled with a fire I was curious to decipher. There was a message there. I just didn’t know what it was. She raised an eyebrow at me, daring me to prove that I meant it when I said she was free to speak her mind. After a moment, her brow moved in a small gesture that said ‘trust me’.
“His date? Callahan is engaged, woman.” The idiot looked over my shoulder and arched his brow. “You his whore for the evenin’?” His eyes raked her body in a way that made me want to gouge them out and shove them up his nostrils. “Boss got good taste,” he said, licking his lips.
I almost launched myself at the man, but Rory stepped forward, wrapping her left hand around my arm. Her ring glinted in the moonlight shining through the high windows, drawing Kallum’s eye.
She smiled sweetly at him and blinked her big, brown eyes innocently. “Have you ever met Mr. Byrne, Kallum?” He made a face that clearly said no, but he ground his teeth, refusing to admit that he hadn’t ever met me. Rory sighed and her mouth sagged on one side in a mockery of sadness. “He’s a wonderful man,” she said wistfully, running her hand down my arm. “He’s kind and strong.” Her head tilted to the side, her expression turning somewhat predatory as she wiggled her fingers, making her ring glint again. “He’s also fiercely protective of his tiny blonde fiancée.”
Dario, who had remained stoic and quiet until now, snorted a small laugh and quickly stifled it behind clearing his throat. “I like her, sir. She has a backbone.”
Kallum’s eyes bounced around before landing on me, wide and full of something similar to fear. “Mr. Byrne?”
My brow arched high. “Oh, it’s Mr. Byrne now? But we’re so friendly. Please, call me Callahan.”
He looked to Rory next. “Ms. Marino, my apologies, ma’am.”
“I’m not a Marino,” Rory said sharply and Kallum’s shoulders sank in relief.
“Oh, thank God. Man,” he chuckled, “I really thought I’d put my foot in my mouth.” He ran a hand over his hair and then clapped me on the bicep, chuckling like we were good buddies. “You pick ‘em good, Boss. She’s hot.”
Rory’s hand tightened around my arm. “Callahan,” she said in a strong warning tone. “You are not allowed to kill him an hour after proposing to me. If you ruin my evening by getting blood on my seater I swear to God I will make you plan the wedding by yourself.” Dario quickly smothered another surprised laugh while Kallum paled, but the other three men with us laughed heartily.
I looked down at my little fiancée, pride swelling while I debated whether or not killing Kallum for his disrespect would be worth planning a wedding alone. Then I thought of flower arrangements and color palettes and seating arrangements and almost shuddered. Rory saw her victory and grinned angelically. I glanced back at Kallum. “Lucky for you, Kallum, I’m not in the habit of denying Aurora anything she wants.” I tapped my fingers against my thigh. “But,” I sighed, “there is the matter of your disrespect to address.”
He immediately started apologizing to Rory. She met my eyes and I read her desire to make him pay but her insecurities were there, too. She wanted to assert her power but didn’t know how to do so. Yet.
She would learn.
I raised a hand to cut off his rambling apologies and demanded in a hard voice, “Kiss her shoes.”
“Uh- kiss her…sir?” He fumbled for understanding.
“Kiss her shoes, Kallum. Show my fiancée how sorry you are that you insulted her.”
He swallowed and glanced between Rory and I before slowly lowering himself to his knees. He leaned over, eyeing me as if I was going to stop him and say, “Just kidding man, get up!”
Instead, I shot him a glare that said he wasn’t moving fast enough. He leaned down and quickly pecked a kiss to the toes of each of her shoes. Dario smirked down at the man on his knees and leaned over him, extending his hand to Rory.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Dario. I’m almost always working the doors on fight night, if you ever need anything. It can be pretty crazy down there, so if you ever get separated from Mr. Byrne, just find your way back to the door and we’ll get you settled.”
She blushed prettily, pulling her foot out from under Kallums bent head as she shook Dario’s hand. “Thank you, Dario. That’s very kind.” Her voice was gentle, but the glare she sent me out of the corner of her eye was anything but. I smirked, knowing she’d have fun once we got down to the ring.
Kallum made an inelegant noise at Dario’s pleasantries and Rory looked down at him. Her fingers gripped my arm and she swallowed heavily before she said, “You can get up now, Kallum.” He rose to his feet right in front of her, puffing out his chest and using his height to try to intimidate her. Her eyes met mine and there was a twinkle of mischief in them. Amusement swirled in my gut and I waited to see what she was going to do with an arched brow and heavy smirk.
“Kallum,” she started sweetly, “I’m a little cold in this drafty old warehouse. Could I maybe borrow your jacket?” Kallum’s teeth ground together and his nostrils flared but he restrained his glare while he removed his suit jacket. The idea of her wearing another man’s jacket made my skin crawl but I wanted to see what she was up to so I kept my mouth shut. She took the jacket and laid it around her shoulders without putting her arms through it. Her little nose wrinkled the smallest amount before she purposefully schooled her face.
“Hmm,” she hummed. “You’re quite attractive, Kallum.” I growled and she dug her nails into my arm, her gaze meeting mine.
Let me do this. Please.
I inhaled and nodded to her, sending her a small grin to let her know I was okay. She turned her head back to Kallum, holding my gaze until her eyes could no longer meet mine.
She tilted her head to the side. “Will you take your clothes off for me, Kallum?” The angelic sweetness in her voice was enough to make my teeth ache, but I suddenly realized where this was going. Feet shifted behind me and I knew my men were getting antsy to get down to the ring, but I refused to take this from Rory. This was the first time she had embraced the power I told her she now possessed and I wanted to see how far she would assert it.
Kallum looked to me, as if asking me if he had to do what she asked, but I kept my face blank, only an expectant brow barely raised and a very small smirk curving the left side of my lips. Kallum’s jaw tensed again and I thought if he clenched any harder, his teeth would fall out. He began jerkily removing his clothes. After each article, he’d stop and look at her as if waiting for her to tell him the joke was over.
When he was down to his boxers and socks, she tilted her head to the other side, making a show of examining him. Then she removed the jacket and let it drop unceremoniously to the floor. “On second thought, I’d prefer my own coat.” She met Kallum’s glare head on with one of her own “Your’s smells, kind of like microwaved Red Lobster leftovers. Would you mind running to town and getting mine from Cal’s residence?”
He swallowed, clearly fighting to keep his mouth shut, and bent to pick up his pants. One of the little boots she wore planted right on top of the pile of fabric. “What are you doing?” she asked.
He growled but quickly corrected himself, clearing his throat. “Putting my clothes on so I can go get your coat from Mr. Byrne’s house.” Mr. Byrne again, huh?
She tsked and refused to lift her foot. “Why would you put your clothes back on? Seems a shame to hide a body like that from all the potential whores you might see on the way.” Ice filled her voice and I felt the power she had wrapped around herself like a cloak. It radiated from her in waves that made my blood rush south and my pants grow tight. Her cheeks flushed as she let her anger unfold. “Off you go.” She jerked her head towards the front of the warehouse. “My coat, if you please.”
“My keys, if you please,” he mocked.
She forced a frown. “Why would you need those?” she asked in a false, ditzy and confused tone.
Kallum’s face grew so red and a vein in his forehead pulsed so strongly, I thought his head might explode. “To go to town and get your jacket,” he ground out between his clenched teeth like she was dumb.
“No,” she drawled. “I asked you to run to town, if you recall.” Kallum’s face shaded towards purple as she turned to me. “So, a fight night? Show me! I’ve never been to one before!” she said excitedly, effectively dismissing the annoying man in front of us.
As we made our way through the door to the basement, I murmured to Dario, “Make sure he stays fecking naked or she’ll have all our balls.” He crossed his hands in front of his crotch but raised his chin in acknowledgment.
As soon as we began to descend the staircase she pulled me to a stop, Connor, Carson and Finn a few stairs above us. She glanced at them as if she was nervous and they all immediately turned their backs to us.
“Are you alright, solas? I’m so proud of you. You were quite something back there.” I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Have to say, watching you put a man twice your size in his place is really fecking hot.” She shivered but then did something that surprised me so much, I froze for a second.
She began to rub her whole body against me, rolling her head against my chest. When she stood back and smoothed her hair, I looked at her questioningly, wondering why she’d just wallowed me like a dog. Her skin turned bright red from the collar of her shirt all the way up to her hairline.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “He really did smell like Red Lobster. I didn’t like smelling him on me. I wanted to smell like you instead.”
A feeling so strong, something like pride or satisfaction or lust, lit like a match to gasoline behind my sternum, banding around my chest so tightly my heart took off at a gallop. I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her, trying to bathe her in all that was me.
I buried my nose in her hair and breathed in her shampoo that smelled herbal instead of floral. She shivered as my exhale ghosted across her face and then smiled up at me. “Let’s go watch a beatdown!”
“We already did,” Finn said from behind us.