by Levine, Nina
“So when do I see some action in association with that crush? Your man’s starving here.” It’s been a long week without her around much. Our damn schedules just haven’t aligned this week. She slept over Wednesday and Thursday night, but I didn’t get home from work until around four each morning. Waking her up so I could have her wouldn’t have been fair when she had to go to work that day.
She tilts her face to look at me. “Poor baby, are you not coping well without me?”
“I’m just hoping like hell that your work quietens down from here on out.”
“I’ve got all weekend free, Luke. I’ve missed you, too.”
“Daddy! Come and play,” Sean yells out from across the park. Paris gives me an apologetic look. She was trying to give me some alone time with Callie.
“Come on, let’s go play ball,” Callie says as she slides her legs so she can stand. She extends her hand and pulls me up.
I grab her around the waist. “Paris is going to take Sean out for lunch after this and I’m going to take you home.”
Heat flares in her eyes. “Sounds good to me.”
“Daddy!” Sean yells again.
Callie drags me to where my son is waiting. He’s missed her this week, too.
“Fuck,” I groan as Callie runs her tongue along my dick. When her eyes look up at mine, I reach for her hair. “Your mouth… I fucking missed this.”
She sucks me in deep, towards her throat.
Jesus.
The woman is talented.
I steady my other hand on her head while I listen to the sounds her mouth makes.
Fuck, I’m about to blow.
I grip her hair hard.
My ass tenses and I groan again as I come. She swallows every last drop before rising from the floor. Trailing her fingers up my body and pressing kisses as she goes, she finally stands and our eyes meet.
Licking her lips, she says, “I’ve missed your cock this week.”
I pull her to me, our eyes meeting. “Are you any closer to finalising your lease?”
She bites her lip and her eyes shift away from mine. All classic Callie signs that what’s about to come out of her mouth may be censored. Not that she lies, but she’s been known to fudge the truth a little. “They still haven’t given me a date.”
I tighten my grip on her. “Bullshit.”
Her eyes find mine again and I take in the flare of surprise there. “I’m not lying to you, Luke. They’re being dicks about it.”
I shake my head. “No, there’s something more here, Callie. You’ve been acting weird all week and I want to know what’s going on.”
Her eyes dart away again.
Fuck.
She looks back at me. “Honestly, the landlord doesn’t want me to break my lease. He was okay at first but he’s turned assholey and is slowing down the communication between him and the real estate. We had someone interested but he had some questions for the landlord who took two days to get back to him. By that stage, he’d found somewhere else. It’s pissing me off.”
“Why’s he being such a dick?”
“Something about not wanting to let a good tenant go or some shit. He offered me a rent reduction to stay.” She loops her arms around me and presses hard against my body. “I just wanna get out of there and be here all the time. Promise.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “I believe you, but I also know there’s something else going on with you. And I want you to tell me now what it is. We’re not moving until you do.”
Her eyes widen a little. And then she pushes her hands against my chest. “Now you’re being dramatic. There’s nothing else besides a little work stress.”
She tries to move out of my embrace but I fight against her. “I’m not being dramatic and we both know it.” Her reaction is only reinforcing my thoughts that she’s been avoiding me this week or keeping something from me. She hasn’t seemed quite as eager to see me or quite as quick to return my calls. I need to know what’s going on.
“Yes, you are. Let me go.” When I still refuse, she raises her voice. “Luke!”
I finally let her go and rake my fingers through my hair. She bends to retrieve her T-shirt and slips it over her head. I frown. “What are you doing?”
Without looking at me, she continues retrieving her clothes and dressing. “I’m getting dressed.”
“Jesus, Callie, I can see that, but why?”
Straightening to pull her shorts up, anger flashes back at me. “You’re clearly not going to fuck me, so I may as well put my clothes back on.” Once she does her shorts up, she says, “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want something?”
“So that’s it? You’re not going to discuss this with me?”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” she snaps before stalking out of the bedroom.
I pull my shorts on and follow her. “There is something to discuss. Because you’re losing your damn mind over it.”
She doesn’t stop, just keeps stalking away from me. When we finally make it to the kitchen, I reach for her hand and halt her. She turns in an angry huff and stares at me.
“Where the hell did this anger come from and how the fuck did we get from a blow job to this in the space of a few minutes?” I demand.
She takes a few deep breaths. “I hate how you push the point sometimes. I told you there’s nothing, but you just kept going.”
“Because I can tell there’s something there. Why won’t you tell me what it is?”
Her phone vibrates on the table and starts ringing.
Her attention diverts to it, but I snap, “Leave it. We need to sort this out.”
It stops ringing but starts almost straight away.
She takes a step towards it.
I pull her back to me.
“Callie,” I demand. “Start talking.”
She stops and stares at me. Her eyes are heavy with conflict and I suck in a breath at what I see there.
Fuck.
Fuck!
Her phone stops ringing.
“Luke… I can’t tell yo—”
The fucking phone rings again.
I stride to the table, pick it up and snap, “What?”
Silence.
And then—“Ummm, is Callie there?”
Ice runs up my spine.
I stiffen.
I’d know this voice any-fucking-where. What I don’t know is why the fuck I’m hearing it on Callie’s phone.
I grip the phone hard as my eyes bore into Callie’s. “Why are you calling this phone, Jolene?”
Silence.
“Luke?” Her voice is a strangled mess of confusion and hesitation.
“Yes. Answer me. Why are you calling Callie?” I barely contain my anger and bewilderment.
Callie’s eyes widen in horror and she freezes. Her hand covers her mouth as she sucks in a breath.
“How do you know her?” Jolene asks.
“Answer me!” I roar into the phone.
“She’s a newspaper reporter who’s been helping me with my case.”
“What fucking case?”
“Luke…” Callie finally moves and reaches out as if she wants the phone. Her hand lands on my arm and I flinch away from her touch.
With one shake of my head, I send her a warning and she shrinks back.
“She’s helping me prove my innocence.” Jolene’s voice has also shrunk. I can hear the confusion there too. “Why is she with you? Did she come and see you to try and convince you?”
“No, she didn’t come and see me. I had no idea she was even doing this,” I snap.
Silence.
“I don’t understand. Why is she there?” Realisation hits her and she gasps. “You know her?”
I force out a harsh breath. “Yes, I fucking know her. I’ve been dating her for months.”
Silence.
All I can hear are Jolene’s heavy breaths and then she ends the call.
I don’t loosen my grip on Callie’s phone as I move it from my ear. Holdin
g it by my side, I take a moment to gather my thoughts. Problem with that is they’re in a mess of epic proportions and I don’t know where to start.
“Luke, I can explain—”
I hold up my hand. “There is no fucking way you can even begin to explain this, Callie.” With that, I smash her phone down onto the table and stalk out of the room.
My legs are like heavy slabs of concrete as I stride out to the deck and down the back stairs. My fists clench by my side, ready to punch the first thing I find. Unfortunately for me, that happens to be a tree. However, I don’t feel the pain as it ricochets through my hand and up my arm. All I feel is the suffocating anger that has lodged itself in my chest.
I was moving away from the anger and resentment I’d been bottling up for years. Now it’s all rushing back at me. Hearing her voice cracked my wound wide open again and I don’t know what to do with this torment.
I can’t breathe.
I fight against it because I know it will destroy me if I don’t. But fuck, it’s too much. The anger keeps punching through me. My skin feels like it’s about to split open.
Just like my heart.
“Luke!” Callie’s voice floats down the stairs and I turn to find her running down them towards me.
I shake my head, swallowing like fuck.
I can’t breathe.
“Luke, you need to let me explain.” She crosses the grass and just keeps coming at me.
I can’t do this.
Not now.
I can’t fucking breathe.
She gasps as her gaze drops to my hands. “Shit, did you punch something?”
My chest rises and falls in heavy motions. “Yes.”
Because I don’t know what else to do with this anger.
“One of the reporters at work had a file and it fell open one day. It was Jolene’s case. The reporter told me she didn’t believe Jolene was guilty. I spent days going over the file, trying to tell myself to leave it, but the further I got into it, the more I started to believe in her innocence.” She gets her words out in a rush as if time is against her. “Luke, you have to believe me. I didn’t want to get involved—”
“Well, why the fuck did you? I told you about all the evidence we found, and that the lawyers and investigators we hired couldn’t prove her innocence. What made you think there was something we missed?”
“I went and spoke with Jolene.” Her eyes plead with me to hear her. “I think I believe her.”
My mind explodes with red.
No.
I clench my fists by my side.
The woman I love has been poisoned by the woman who stole everything from me.
Now she’s trying to steal Callie from me.
I grip Callie’s arms. “She’s guilty.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t think so, Luke. Will you just let me show you what I’ve found?”
I let her go. “Fuck, Callie! Will you just listen to yourself? Jolene has sucked you in, just like she sucked me in for years.”
Her face contorts with a flash of anger. “Will you listen to yourself? All I’m asking for is your time and for you to clear your mind for a moment so you can see for yourself.”
I stare at her for a long beat. “You think things are so black and white, Callie. They’re not. That woman broke me—she fucking decimated me—and I won’t give her the ability to do that again.” I jab my finger in the air at her. “You need to drop this now.”
She squares her shoulders. “And if I don’t?”
Our eyes are locked and our bodies are both tense with determination. “I won’t allow that shit in my life. It’s your choice.”
She watches me for what feels like hours, but it’s only moments. Her breathing is erratic and her stubbornness has settled over her like a blanket.
Time passes by in slow motion as she blinks. She moves out of my reach when she takes a step back. And her love packs up and goes home when she nods and says, “I can’t let an innocent woman rot in prison.”
The thing I’ll remember most is her back as she walks away from me. The vision sends chills through my bones because she has wrapped me with love for months and all I feel now is cold emptiness as she takes that love away.
32
Callie
“He was so angry… and so cold.” I wipe the tears from my eyes as I relay the fight to Avery. I’ve been sitting on her couch crying on and off for the last hour.
She hugs me. “Oh, baby, I’m sure he’ll calm down and come looking for you.”
I stay in her arms for a long time while I let the tears fall. When I finally pull away, I shake my head. “I don’t think so, A. I’ve never seen him so angry. And then at the end, so detached. It was like he’d already switched off his emotions. Oh, God…” Another rush of tears slide down my cheeks. My whole body is in agony, but it’s nowhere near as painful as the break in my heart.
She passes me more tissues. “I think you should stay here tonight. I don’t want you going through this alone.”
I nod because I’m not sure I could drive home in my state. “The thing is, I just don’t understand why he wouldn’t at least listen to what I had to say. All I wanted was for him to look at it all. It would have been so easy if he’d just done that.”
“Nothing’s that easy in life, babe. If things were that clear cut, world peace would exist. My guess is that the only way Luke has been able to get through this whole situation has been to shut himself off to Jolene. You brought her back into his life in a big and really unexpected way. I truly think he’ll calm down and come around. I mean, look back at what he was like before you two got together—you guys used to go at each other a lot, but you always moved past it.”
“I hope you’re right.” I can’t help but think she isn’t. I really think Luke meant what he said. And as much as I want to choose him, I could never live with myself if Jolene spent years in prison when she should have been free. My decision affects Sean, too.
“So, where are you with the investigation? Maybe if you can speed that along, you can get back to being happy with Luke.”
I slump against the couch. “I’m stuck. There’s something dodgy about the motel. When you check in there, you have to sign in. I’ve gone over and over the photocopies I have of the sign-in sheets from the book and I realised the staff member who was on shift the day of the murder used a slightly different signature throughout that day.”
“What do you mean?”
“So the staff have to sign next to where each guest signs. I went back through all the pages Marion had photocopied out of the book and I worked out there’s a discrepancy. Louise was the staff member on that day, but if I match all her signatures up to the rest of hers throughout that book, they don’t quite match. It’s barely recognisable, but there’s a definite difference if you look close enough.”
She frowns. “How do you think this helps?”
“I spoke to Louise and she was cagey. Really didn’t want anything to do with helping me, which is odd. Don’t you think? And then I met her husband and he was just plain scary. She’s scared of him. So, because she wasn’t giving me anything, I spent time tracking down some of the other guests who signed in that day and asked them if it was Louise they spoke to. I showed them her photo on the staff page of the motel’s website. Not one of them said it was her.”
“Yes, but I still don’t get where you’re going with this. So what? I mean, you don’t think Louise or the staff have something to do with the murder, do you?”
“I don’t know, but what I’m thinking is if I can get Louise to tell me the truth about who was working that day, I could speak to them and see if they might be able to shed any new light on who checked in. The police interviewed Louise, but if she didn’t work that day, anything she told them is useless.”
Avery’s eyes light up. “Ah, okay, I see where you’re going with this. Good thinking. Have you spoken to Louise again?”
“Not yet, but I’ll get on that tomorrow.” Sadness
hits me. “I mean, it’s not like I’ve got somewhere to be tomorrow night after work, is it?”
“You can’t just give up on him, Callie. If he’s who you want to be with. You have to fight.”
“I know, but I think I might give him a day or so to calm down before I go to battle.”
“Probably not a bad idea knowing Luke. He’s not working nights again until Thursday, just in case you didn’t know, so he’ll be at home a bit next week.”
“Thanks for that info. I hadn’t checked his shifts yet.”
She stands. “Right, I think we need some tea. You want one?”
I smile. “I love you, Avery. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d be fucked,” she says with a wink. But she’s right. I totally would be.
Monday passes by in a blur of sadness and defeat. I don’t hear from Luke and I stick to my plan of giving him some time to calm down. I’m so disappointed not to hear from him, but at the same time, I didn’t expect to. Being a dreamer, though, I tend to always have this buried hope when I desperately want something to happen, regardless of the fact I’ve worked hard to convince myself it won’t happen. It’s a fucked-up way of dealing with life, but it’s how I’ve always coped.
I visit the motel on my way home from work. Louise isn’t working today, though. The woman who’s on informs me Louise is away for a few days, which just puts me further into the funk I’m already in.
I end up spending the night in front of the TV, half watching and half writing. I’ve been working on a new book for the last few months and it’s been coming together really well, but tonight my words have all dried up.
Just after ten, I decide I’ve had enough of myself. I drag my sorry ass to bed and cry myself to sleep. I’ve never experienced extreme sadness like this before. Not even in my one long-term relationship. If Luke decides he doesn’t want me in his life anymore, I might just die of a broken heart.
33
Luke
“I can stay home tonight if you need me to,” Paris says over a late dinner on Tuesday. Sean had his earlier.
