22. Eli
twenty-two
Eli
A blood-curdling scream cuts through the darkness, and I wake with a jerk.
I run my hands down my face, wiping away the sheen of sweat covering my forehead as the impressions from my dream linger in the forefront of my mind.
Thank fuck, it was just a dream.
From under the covers of an unfamiliar bed, I glance around the quiet room. After a second, I remember I’m at Cam’s place in Pine Hills. With Callie.
Callie . My hand searches for her, but the sheets beside me are cool to the touch.
What the fuck. She’s gone ?
My heart rate speeds up and dread coils in my stomach. My insides twist and knot as a slew of scenarios run through my head. Did someone take her? Is she hurt? Fuck .
Panic has me springing from the bed, ready to search for her, when the toilet flushes and the water runs in the ensuite bathroom. It’s only then that I notice the sliver of light under the door.
I sit on the edge of the bed, calming my racing pulse, and wait for her return. Every fiber in my body relaxes as the light turns off and Callie opens the door. She tiptoes towards the bed, unaware I’m awake.
Her movements are slow and controlled. I’m relieved to see she’s already regained some of her balance and strength floods my body like a warm blanket.
“No need to sneak around, princess.”
Callie yelps, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of my booming voice. “Shit.”
I flick on the bedside lamp, finding her standing in the middle of the room with her hand on her throat as she pants.
“Fuck, Eli. You scared the hell out of me. What is wrong with you?”
“Sorry.” I chuckle at her angry outburst. She’s a fighter when she’s scared, and seeing it now, after everything she’s been through, is reassuring. And honestly, it also turns me on. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I wasn’t scared. I was surprised,” she huffs. She carefully walks around the bed and climbs back under the covers. When she turns her eyes on me, my heart pinches in my chest. “I’m sorry for waking you. Was I too loud?”
“No.” You weren’t in bed .
Images of a life with Callie wrapped around me every night fill me with a sense of peace, a contentment I’ve never experienced with a woman before. I don’t make it a habit of staying the night with the women I sleep with. A big bed to myself has always been my preferred method of sleeping.
Until now.
Callie pulls the thick, puffy comforter to her chin, which makes her look small beneath a cloud of fluff. With her white-blonde hair spread across her pillow, she looks angelic.
With a soft smile, she looks my way, and I picture her in the middle of my bed wearing nothing as I worship her body with my mouth before slipping between her thighs, transforming her smile into moans of ecstasy. My dick thickens as the desire to make Callie mine becomes harder to ignore.
I want her so fucking bad.
“What time is it?” she asks, snapping me back into reality.
Ripping my gaze away and hiding my growing hard-on, I reach for my pants on the floor and search for my phone in the pocket, pulling it out. “Almost five in the morning. You should try going back to sleep.”
“Okay, but I make no guarantees. I’m up at five every morning,” she answers, taking me by surprise. We have being early risers in common. Callie pats the bed beside her. “Will you lie with me again?”
Like there’s anywhere else I’d rather be .
I take a deep breath and turn my body away so Callie can’t see how much my dick likes the idea of snuggling her back to sleep. “Sure.”
I turn off the light and slip under the covers. The bed shifts as Callie gets comfortable, and I hesitate on whether I should pull her close like I did before. I go with what feels right and slide behind her, spooning her in the middle of the bed, with my arm draped across her waist.
This time, her body doesn’t hesitate to melt into mine as I pull her close to my body and absorb her warmth. Callie wiggles her butt into my crotch, getting comfortable. I fight the growl building in my chest as her butt cheeks brush my cock. I scoot my hips away from her ass, giving my now rock-hard cock space.
There’s no way I want the fucker between my legs to get the wrong idea right now. This is about taking care of Callie, not mauling her like some animal in heat.
She wiggles, chasing my dick with her butt as she nudges against it again. I’m no longer sporting a half-chub; my dick is a full-on steel pipe in my boxers.
Fuck . If she keeps it up, I’m going to lose control.
“You have got to stop doing that, princess,” I growl. With gentle hands, I grip her hip with my hand and force her to lie still.
Callie’s hips freeze a little too close to home as the realization of what she’s doing sinks in. I know she can feel my erection poking her in the ass.
The room goes silent, but the buzz of electricity in the air is tangible.
I don’t dare move as I wait for Callie to make the next move. Unfortunately for me, she relaxes and sinks back onto my dick without a care in the world. Since I’m a needy asshole who wants to fuck her ten ways to Sunday, I let her feel every ridge of my rock-hard cock as it rests between the globes of her ass.
“Why, hello there, mister.” She snorts at her own joke, and my cock twitches.
“Don’t talk to him,” I groan, digging my fingertips a little harder into her hip.
She squirms again, and I can’t stop my hips from pushing forward. I bask in the heat radiating from her core.
“Oh.” Callie gasps, and I can just picture the little O of her mouth.
“Behave.” She moans at my warning. My brain involuntarily conjures images of her legs spread wide with my mouth on her pussy as she groans my name.
I’m so fucked .
I breathe in two deep breaths. There’s absolutely no damned way I’m falling back to sleep, so I change the subject, hoping it helps my cock to deflate. “Want to know a secret?”
“From you?” she whispers. “Always.”
She wants to know me as much as I want to know her, and fuck if that doesn’t make me harder.
Ignoring my dick, I press on and admit, “I also like to wake up early.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Sometimes I go to work early, but mostly to exercise.” Today, the reason I won’t be going back to sleep is to make sure my dick doesn’t think for himself and try breaching Callie’s clothes for entry. “I used to go surfing with my older brother, Jace, before he moved here. Now, I work out in my home gym.”
“I run,” she says. I smile to myself, loving the way she’s sharing another slice of herself with me.
“I hate running.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re hot girl fit.” Callie lowers her voice like a dude in a mocking tone. “‘I don’t do cardio. I only lift weights, and I eat nothing but protein.’”
I can’t wait to smack her butt when she sasses me. “You know I eat like a normal person, you smartass.”
She giggles. “I know. I’m just teasing. Since you don’t surf anymore, what do you do now for exercise?”
“Lift weights. Yoga. Row.”
Our conversation has Callie settling against me and a sense of contentedness washing over me as I hold her close.
“Rowing? Like, a boat?” she asks, confused, sounding cute as fuck.
“No, it’s a machine.” I explain how it works as she listens intently.
“Oh, that makes more sense. Do you miss surfing with your brother?” Her innocent question stirs a deep longing I’ve felt inside.
While I’m close with all my brothers, Jace and I were thick as thieves growing up. I didn’t think Jace’s absence would affect me as much as it has, but it does. Sometimes. Then, I remember how happy he is, and how we have Rhys and baby Sariah in our lives, and the mournful feelings pass.
“I do, but he’s much happier here, and that makes me happy.” My brother has everything he’s ever dreamed of, and as I get older, the more I share Jace’s sentiments. I want a beautiful woman to come home to and share my life with. A family of my own.
And I want it with Callie.
Sliding my hand up the mattress, I seek her hand to curl my fingers through hers and tug her tighter to my body, closing the small gaps of space between us. Callie’s body relaxes further as she sighs in what I hope is comfort. I take pleasure in knowing I’m the one bringing her solace.
“I’m ready,” she whispers into the darkness, breaking the silence.
“For?” I ask, confused.
“To tell you the truth.”
My body stiffens like a corpse as an icy dread settles in my gut. “The truth about what, Callie?”
“My family.”
My body relaxes, fear receding back into the recesses of my mind. “What about your family?”
“Do you remember how I told you my dad died in a robbery gone wrong?”
Like I’d forget the unmistakable sadness and grief that tarnished her beautiful features as she told me the short version of her story.
“I do.” I wait for her to continue.
“I was there too,” she sobs.
“Fuck, Callie. I’m so sorry you had to see that.” Her confession makes my heart collapse into itself. No words can heal the part of her soul that’s broken from witnessing and losing a loved one from such a heinous crime.
I pull her closer and press my body heat into hers. I hope my warmth and comfort heal just one splinter in her heart. Callie cries in my arms, and I hold her through it until she’s ready to continue.
“Me too.” Her voice cracks with emotion. “I called 911 as soon as the thief ran off, but my dad was in terrible shape. He was bleeding badly. Me and Mom tried covering the wounds with our hands to stop it, but nothing was helping. She held onto him, screaming and crying, begging for him not to leave her. He tried, but I could see the hopelessness in his eyes. He just kept repeating how much he loved us. His last words to me were, ‘take care of your mom’. We lost him before the ambulance arrived.” Callie sniffles.
I pull her closer, careful not to hurt her, and slide my hand under her pillow. Words of condolence will never be enough, but I give them to her anyway. “I’m so sorry, princess.”
She shrugs, having accepted her fate long ago. “Not as sorry as I am. I didn’t just lose my dad; I lost my mom too.”
“What do you mean?” I didn’t visit Callie’s mom during our trip to Malibu before we left. When we pulled up to the retreat, I had an inkling that someone important to her was there, and when I asked who was inside, she confessed it was her mom. I gave Callie the space she deserved to visit her mom alone, and I knew she’d tell me about it when she was ready.
“My mom couldn’t deal with dad’s death. She sank into a depression so deep I couldn’t help her. I tried, Eli. So hard. I fed her, bathed her, and held her while she fell apart. I didn’t tell a single soul she wasn’t taking care of me. I didn’t want to be taken away. Then who would help her? I was all she had, but I was also fourteen. Someone reported her to Child Protective Services.”
“What happened next?”
“CPS put Mom in a mental hospital because they were worried she might attempt to hurt herself or me. She would never.” She shakes her head, trembling in my arms from the pain her memories bring. “Mom was just so sad. She had to watch my father—the man she loved more than life itself—die in her arms. They were so in love and happy. We all were. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was all gone. My mom had nothing.”
“She had you. She should have been strong enough for you,” I mumble, angry with her mother for giving up.
I have you now.
Callie rolls over to face me and cups my cheek. “Please don’t be mad at her. My mom, she’s broken, Eli. It’s not anyone’s fault, and it’s not hers. I don’t blame her for any of this. I could never be angry at her for loving my dad the way she did. She loved him with her whole heart. She still does. When he died, it was like he took half her soul with him. It was awful to witness but also so beautiful. To love someone so completely… Promise me you won’t hold this against her. Please?”
My throat swells with emotion as Callie’s nearly black eyes beg me to understand. I think of my mom and dad, and how much they love each other. Would my mom be able to survive something like hers did? The honest answer is I don’t know. No one does unless they experience it for themselves.
“I swear I won’t.” I seal my promise with a kiss to her wrist.
“Thank you.” She runs her thumb over my scruffy cheek.
“Is there more?” I offer Callie an out, but she presses forward.
“So much.”
“What happened after CPS? Did you go into foster care?”
“I wish.” Something tells me it’s worse than that as she hiccups from tears I can’t see in the dark. “I was placed with my only living relative. My half-sister.”
I recall our conversation over roast beef sandwiches, where she said she didn’t have any siblings. Callie keeps talking before I can question her about the lie.
“I’m sorry I lied. But my sister is not my family. Family doesn’t hurt you or threaten you. My sister, she’s … evil.”
My stomach bottoms out at the description, and the faint ringing of bells goes off in the back of my head. “Who’s your sister, Callie?”
“Silla.”
What in the actual fuck ?
Silla Treymonde, her manager, is Callie’s sister. The despicable woman who thrives on Botox and treats the sweet, talented, gorgeous woman in my arms like shit is her sister.
It’s impossible to compare the two in my mind. “How?”
Callie shrugs again, probably wondering the same thing. How are they related?
“Wait.” I can’t take not being able to see her beautiful face. I need to see every emotion play out in her big brown eyes as she reveals more about herself, her life… Everything. I want to know it all. Reaching over, I flick on the bedside lamp and quickly return to my side to face Callie.
Her cheeks glisten with tears tracks in the soft glow of the light. I swipe them away, wishing it was that easy to swipe away her heartache. “Much better.”
Her pink lips twitch, too sad to fully smile. Unable to stop myself, I swipe my thumb across her bottom lip. It’s so soft and plump, perfect for kissing.
Instead, I press my lips to her forehead. “You don’t have to tell me anything else if you don’t want to.”
She shakes her head, undeterred by my offer. “No, I’m ready to tell you. I’ve been keeping all of this a secret for so long, Eli. I’m tired, and I don’t want to do it anymore.”
“Then don’t. I’m right here.” I clasp our hands together and send her the strength she needs to tell me everything.
“My dad is Andrew Cartwright.” Callie pauses, arching her brow at me. The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. “He was an agent, like you.”
Holy shit . The name clicks. Andrew Cartwright was a very well-known agent in the music industry.
“You know who he was, don’t you?”
I nod, dumbfounded at this new piece of information. Details about Andrew Cartwright’s career surface. He was a legend. People still talk about him, and his uncanny ability to find hidden gems and turn them into superstars. His death was a tragedy and was in the papers for weeks. The police found only one working security camera, but the footage was too grainy to identify the assailant and he was never caught.
Callie proceeds to tell me how her mother, Diana, had run away from home to be a singer in LA at nineteen and her parents disowned her. Diana met Andrew a few years later, when she was singing at an open-mic night. He was thirty-five and was going through a divorce from Silla’s mother.
“My dad said it was love at first sight. When he saw Mom on the stage, singing, he knew he was going to marry her. She told him no and that he was too old for her. Apparently, my dad told her they could be friends instead, but it was all a ruse. She ended up falling for him anyway. She used to say he was too irresistible.”
Callie looks up at me and bites her lip. I see the similarities. Only, I’ve been the one pushing her away. Telling myself she’s too young for me.
“You’re too young for me, Callie. But…” I pause on purpose, watching a plethora of emotions and thoughts flicker behind her expressive eyes. “You’re also too damn irresistible.”
The smile that spreads across her face steals my breath. The invisible rope that ties me to Callie tightens.
I close the gap between us and press my lips to hers in a chaste kiss.
Sparks ignite, bursting into flames around us, lighting my insides on fire. I’ve never experienced a kiss like this before, and it has me wanting more. I trap her bottom lip between mine and suck. She tastes salty from her tears and sweet as honey, like I knew she would.
This kiss is the best I’ve ever had, and I haven’t even explored Callie’s mouth with my tongue yet. That thought has me breaking our connection. If I continue kissing her, I’ll never stop, and right now, I need her to finish her story.
Eyes closed, I rest my forehead on hers, begging, “Keep going.”
“I need a minute.” Her voice is airy as her breath fans across my lips. Her fingers slide into my hair, and her nails scratch my scalp as she grips the strands for balance.
A grunt rumbles deep in me as her hard nipples scrape my chest. “Careful,” I warn her.
She loosens her grip, and I open my eyes to find her staring at me with curiosity and desire.
“You kissed me,” she whispers in awe, drawing a smirk from me.
“I did.”
“Do we, uh, do that now?”
“Do what?” I rub the tip of my nose along the bridge of hers.
“Kiss.”
“Do you want me to kiss you?”
She nods. “Yes.”
“Then finish telling me your story.” I run my thumb across her bottom lip, mesmerized by her mouth. Now that the dam has been broken, I want to kiss her again. And again. “Hurry.”
“Okay. Uh, where was I?”
I bite back a smile as Callie gathers her wits after our kiss.
“Oh, yeah. My parents got married quickly after Dad’s divorce, and nine months later, I was born. Silla was fourteen. Anyway, when CPS put Mom in the hospital, they called her. I had never met Silla before. Her relationship with my dad was strained, but I was hopeful when she showed up to take me home. Mistake number one because she took one look at me, and I knew she hated me on the spot. It sucks because when I look at her, I see Dad. She has Dad’s blue eyes. I have his brown hair and my mom’s dark eyes.”
I twirl her silky locks between my fingers. “Why do you color your hair?”
Callie looks at me, and tears fill her eyes, cutting me at the knees with an axe.
“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”
“Yes, I do. I need someone else to know.”
“Know what?”
“Silla makes me dye my hair.”
What the fuck ?
“Why?” Anger boils my blood, and I steel myself. Something in my gut tells me I’m not going to like what I have to hear next.
Callie shrugs. “I think to make me look less like her. I don’t know. I stopped questioning it a long time ago. It’s easier to just go along with what she wants.”
“What does Silla want?”
“Money.”
“I’m so confused right now. Please help me understand.”
Callie sighs. “I don’t understand everything myself. Silla is cryptic, but now and then, I catch onto something. You know my dad was very well off. Well, he had trust funds set up for both me and Silla, with enough money to help us live comfortably. But Silla has expensive tastes. Designer clothes and shoes, penthouse apartments, trips to Europe… My guess is she blew through her money.”
“How much money?”
“I don’t know. Millions.” Callie shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“Millions of dollars ? ” I ask, flabbergasted. That’s an insane amount of money.
“Yes. That’s not important. Focus, Eli. The only reason Silla came to take care of me is because, as my guardian, she received a significant monthly childcare stipend. That money would have gone to my mother, but with her in the hospital, Silla received it instead. She thought taking me in would be an easy payout.”
There is a slew of curse words I’d rather use to describe Silla. I settle for simple ones instead because this moment isn’t about her; it’s about Callie. “Greedy bitch.”
“That’s Silla. She wants money. That’s it. I’m pretty sure she sold my childhood home in Malibu too. Silla even went to court and filed a conservatorship for Mom, so that she can control the bank accounts.”
“Did it work?”
“Yes and no. Yes, because with the help of the court, Silla is in charge of my mom’s healthcare and treatment. No, because my dad’s will and policies are strict, but I don’t know much about them, just that they have stipulations in place preventing anyone from getting my money directly.”
“Okay, so why is she still around? Why is she your manager?”
“Don’t you know how conservatorships work? Remember that famous pop star who was trapped in hers for years and years?”
“Everyone knows about that.”
“Well, I’m her. Only Silla keeps me trapped by dangling my mom over my head, and I will do anything to protect my mom, Eli. Even be this.”
“Be what, exactly?”
“Her singing puppet. She’s the reason I’m a performer. She heard me sing to my mom one day, and the next I was auditioning for singing competitions. Winning cash prizes for her to spend. Those checks weren’t big enough, so she started taking me to audition for movie roles. That’s when I landed the role as Cindy on Ella in High School. ”
“Don’t you have an acting trust account?”
“Yes. It was required by the movie studio I worked with. It went untouched until I was eighteen, then I let Silla have access to it, along with her managerial fee.”
“How much is that?”
“All of it. Aside from the twenty-five percent I pay out to Blaze.”
I want to jump out of the bed and fucking scream. How could Callie let this happen to her? It takes everything in me to hold it together. “Why the fuck would you do that, Callie?”
I’m so fucking angry. I could kill Silla for the way she treats her sister. Silla is supposed to protect Callie, not use her and rob her blind.
“Because it’s the only way I can keep myself and my mom from getting hurt. I’d give Silla everything to keep my mom safe. I will not let her ship my mom off to a hospital where I can’t visit her at or that overmedicates her instead of helping her.”
“But Silla has hurt you, hasn’t she?” I roll my thumb over the now gone scratch on her cheek. “This was her, wasn’t it?”
She looks away in shame. “Yes.”
“Why did she hit you?”
She shakes her head, refusing to look me in the eye and speak the truth.
“Tell me, please.”
“Because of you.”
“Me?” I rear back in shock and my stomach roils with bile at the thought of Callie getting hurt because of me. “What the hell did I do?”
“It’s not what you did. It’s what I did.”
“What did you do?”
“I spent time with you. Silla wants you, but mostly, she doesn’t want anyone in my life to interfere with her plans. She warned me that there would be consequences if I was with you. When she slapped me, it was because she accused me of being a whore like my mother and sleeping with you. That’s why I went to the club. I was ready to throw my good-girl persona down the drain to punish her. If she knew I was here with you—”
“She doesn’t. And she doesn’t get a say in who I spend time with,” I snap as white-hot rage runs through me.
Callie places her hand on my chest, taking the edge off some of my anger with her touch. “No, she doesn’t, but she thinks she has a say in who I spend my time with.”
Not anymore . I’m going to fucking bury Silla, even if it’s the last thing I do. Callie might not know it, but getting rid of her manager is a vow I plan to keep.
“I need you to relax.”
“I’m relaxed,” I grumble.
“Eli, before you and Hudson, Silla would turn everyone against me. She loves to use people and makes it seem like it’s me. She watches my every move, and if she’s not, someone else is.”
I hate the way Callie shivers in fear, like she can feel the creeps out there watching her as we speak, which has me worried and about ten seconds away from calling Mason to look into Silla.
Wrapping my arms around Callie’s waist, I roll onto my back and rest her head on my chest. “This isn’t right, Callie. Let me help you get rid of her.”
“It’s fine. I just have to make it to my twenty-fifth birthday, and that’s only four months away.”
“What happens when you’re twenty-five?”
“It all ends: my contract with you, all my work obligations, the conservatorship with Silla. I also get access to my trust fund, and Silla will have no control over me or my mom. I’ll be free.”
How the fuck did I not know her contract with Blaze ends in four months? I need to check with Dez. And Hudson. Does he know?
My brain is a bomb ready to go off with all the new information I’ve just learned.
Callie yawns as she buries her face into my chest.
“Can I ask you one last question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you like singing?”
“Yes, I enjoy singing. I love music.” She hesitates, and I know she’s holding back. But she’s a puzzle I want to solve.
“But?”
“I don’t love performing, and I don’t want to do concerts. In the spotlight is the last place I want to be. I’d much rather be behind the scenes, producing music and writing songs. Maybe singing a little but nothing big. I’d like to sit in a small hall with my guitar or piano and just sing. This celebrity lifestyle? I do it for Silla. To survive. I want to be Calliope Cartwright. I want what my parents had: love, happiness, a beautiful home, a family.”
Her words hit me like an arrow in the heart, piercing the tender flesh with hope. And affection that borders on something that feels a lot like love. Callie’s description of the life she wants matches the future I envision for myself.
We lie silently side by side until she drifts off. Sleep eludes me as I replay our conversation. The beautiful woman lying beside me, the one I’m falling fast and hard for, has sacrificed so much of herself to protect her mom. Callie deserves the life she wants. Hell, she deserves the entire world.
Determination to make Callie’s dreams come true has me slipping out from under her. I would do anything to make her happy, and unfortunately, that means I need to put a pin in us and head back to California to get some answers and stop whomever keeps trying to hurt her.