Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Pen
After Dean’s men thoroughly check all the vehicles for trackers, we get on the road. Dom, Callum, Lyric and I are in the Suburban Tobias rented for us. Jordan, Fig and Joel hop into the vehicle I took earlier, and the rest of Dean’s men are in the Explorer they had brought.
Not fifteen minutes from the house Dom begins to explain to Callum and Lyric that we aren’t heading to San Francisco. Instead, we’ll be driving to Tobias’s lake house in Bear Lake, California.
“I don’t understand why you didn’t say that back at the house?” Lyric asks, confusion across his face.
“We didn’t want to tell you the truth in case there were more bugs in that place than what security had found,” I explain.
“Lyric,” Callum says sullenly, his eyes dropping to his lap, “we’re not going to San Francisco because they are separating me from the rest of the band, so that whoever is after me, doesn’t hurt my friends.”
Lyric gasps. “Is that true?” he questions, his eyes sliding to the back of Dom’s head and then back to me. “Is it?”
“Yes,” Dom says as he gets on I-70, heading west.
Lyric leans forward between the front seats.
“Then why didn’t I get a choice about coming?
I shouldn’t be forced to be involved in this, especially if my life is in danger.
I want out!” He turns and looks at me. “Callum, I’m sorry, but I can’t go with you.
” Lyric’s frantic pleading pulls at my heart.
I don’t blame him for wanting to get away from us. I wouldn’t go either.
“You’re right,” Callum says somberly. He faces Dom and me. “I don’t want him involved. Is there a way we can drop him off somewhere safe?”
“Are you sure?” I ask Lyric, hoping the nurse will change his mind on Callum’s behalf.
“I’m positive.” He straightens in the back seat, pulling his shoulder purse over his head. “There,” he points to a Starbucks logo on a highway sign. “Drop me off there and I can get a ride back.”
“Get on the radio and let the rest know we’re stopping to drop off Lyric,” Dom says to me.
I notify the rest of the caravan of what we’re doing, and we agree that everyone else will continue on. It’s a long drive—we’ll catch up to them eventually.
Dom exits the highway near the town of Northern Evergreen and pulls into the Starbucks lot.
“Please call me, Callum, when you arrive safe,” Lyric says as he gets out and then closes the door.
“Why in the hell does he want a call when he wants no part of what’s happening?” Dom scoffs, then adds, “Anyone want coffee while we’re here?”
We go through the drive-through and then get back onto the highway. I call Dante, letting them know of Lyric’s decision to not go with us. The air in the SUV becomes heavy as the band manager swears up and down, then hangs up.
“I never heard Dante swear before.” There’s a note of humor in Callum’s voice.
“I’m sure this won’t be the last time,” Dom says.
Callum yawns and I notice his eyes are glazed over.
“Why don’t you lean back and get some sleep,” I suggest over my shoulder.
I can see he wants to protest, but Dom jumps in, agreeing with me.
“Fine,” Callum says, as he hits the button on the side of his captain’s chair, reclines the seat back, and gets comfortable.
Dom and I don’t bring up the argument we had on the driveway, which I’m glad for, since I don’t want Callum involved.
It’s the next morning before our little caravan finally arrives at the entrance to Tobias’s place in Bear Lake.
Dom stops and enters the code for the gate—after everything Danny went through with his stalker, Tobias fortified the grounds, including perimeter fencing and coded entry gate.
Once through, we drive a quarter mile until we pull up to the cabin where the security team will be staying.
The trip took nearly twenty hours. Aside from a few pitstops for bathroom breaks, and to get gas and food, we drove through the night, straight to the property.
Everyone stretches and groans as we get out of the cars and Dom gives assignments to Fig, Jordan, Joel and to the rest of Dean’s men. Once that’s settled, Dom drives Callum and me a little bit farther down the road until we pull up next to a quaint house with a lake behind it.
As Dom and I haul our bags from the trunk of the SUV, Callum ambles his way around to the back of the house.
Dom gives me a simple head tilt to tail Callum. I follow him until we are standing on the deck, looking out toward the water. With a cool breeze sweeping in, he shivers. I take off my thin jacket and wrap it around Callum.
“Better?” I ask, hoping for a little smile out of the man. He’s been quiet nearly the entire ride here.
“Thanks, yes.” He glances at me and I get my wish. Then he turns back to gaze at the lake and takes a deep inhale. “I truly love this place. It’s peaceful and I think I can definitely write some great songs while I’m here.”
“I’m sure you can. Dom and I won’t bother you, promise.” I lean in and kiss his temple and then step back, so he can have more breathing room.
With his back to me, I admire Callum’s tight muscular body. He’s bent slightly, leaning on the railing as he looks out at the water, and it accentuates his rounded butt.
Memories from our night together crash down on me and I ache to show him how much I care.
Yes, the sex was some of the best I’ve had—his sweet, tight hole sliding up and down my cock, his salacious moans as he choked on Dom’s dick.
But that’s nothing compared to how this man’s dry humor and earnest demeanor make me smile. There’s so much more to us than sex.
“Pen,” Dom calls to me, and I quickly clear my mind.
“Need anything?” I ask Callum, but he shakes his head without looking my way. I walk back around to the front of the house, and see Dom scanning the ground like he’s dropped something. “What are you looking for?”
“A fake rock. Tobias didn’t give me the key to this house,” he says, his eyes trained to the brown mulch around the yew bushes.
“What does it look like?” I ask, joining his search.
“Brown and black. That’s all Danny said.” He looks at me and rolls his eyes.
“Is that it?” I point to a medium-size rock that is brown and black with white speckles.
Dom lifts the rock up and, sure enough, it’s fake. He turns it over and there’s a black rectangular box inside. With a gentle push of the lid, it slides open, exposing a silver key.
“Grab the bags,” Dom says. I get what I can as he opens the front door. He comes back and grabs the rest of the luggage.
After we look at the two rooms, I agree with Dom that we should give Callum the master bedroom, with a separate bathroom attached to it. The master will give him privacy to compose his music without anyone intruding.
Reluctantly, I also agree that Dom and I will share the smaller room and its queen-size bed. I hesitate not because of the bed size, but because of what is still festering between us.
I go out to the deck to let Callum know his bags are in his room, and he follows me back in and starts unpacking. I head into the room I’ll be sharing with Dom to do the same. Dom’s just finishing, but instead of leaving the room, he sits on the bed.
“What’s wrong?” Dom says quietly, probably so Callum doesn’t hear us.
“Why are you asking?” So what if I sound petulant.
“From the time we got on the road, you’ve been cold and not really talking to me.” Is Dom hurt by my lack of communication? Oh well.
“I’m not in a talkative mood.” Fuck it. I can’t unpack with Dom in the room, watching me. I need to think—maybe do a thorough walk about the lake while my emotions settle. I’m turning toward the bedroom door, when Dom clasps my forearm and turns me toward him.
“Where are you going? We need to talk.” The demand in his tone is sparking my irritation.
I pull out of his hold and step back. “I’m going for a walk. Want to check out the lake,” I admit and turn around to leave, but Dom gets in my path.
“I want to talk—we need to hash this out now.”
“It’s always on your terms, isn’t it Dom? Well, not this time.”
“What the hell is wrong with you. You wanted me to talk before and here I am, and now you want to walk away with a stick up your ass. I wish you would stop playing games.”
His words land like a hard punch to my solar plexus—sudden, sharp, and breath-stealing.
“You think I’m playing games?”
Dom’s chin drops to his chest and he gives a noisy exhale, before he lifts his head and meets my eyes. “No.”
“Then what do you mean? It’s not like I took off without letting you know where I was headed, not saying a word to you for twenty-four hours.
And what’s with these people coming out of the woodwork—old friends and coworkers I have no clue about because you don’t talk about your past. What about the secret calls and text messages? ”
“That’s not fair,” he hisses. “You took off without—”
“You were standing right there when I asked Tobias for some time. So don’t go shoving that in my face.” My voice rises into a near shout.
“What the hell is going on here? Why are you two fighting?” Callum asks, striding into the room, and standing between us. I didn’t realize that I’d moved to stand chest to chest with Dom.
“It’s only a disagreement. Don’t worry about it, Callum,” Dom says before stalking out of the house.
“What am I missing?” he asks, looking to me for an answer.
What do I say to this man I want in my life? This man who I had wanted to be with Dom and me—back when I thought there would continue to be a Dom and me? Do I tell him that Dom’s keeping secrets? That he won’t let anyone—especially me, in?
“Like he said, it’s only a disagreement,” I say, and leave before Callum questions me again. I leave the house, heading toward the lake for a walk that I hope to God will clear my head before my frustration and anger have me doing something I will truly regret.