“Willow,” I said, with a frown. She never called at this time.
She hadn’t yet said a word, but I didn’t miss the harshness of her breathing. It seemed like she was trying to put herself together before she spoke to me.
My hand tightened around the phone. “Willow, are you alright?”
She took a deep breath. “I know you’re having a hard time right now with the market and everything, but I didn’t know who else to call. And I definitely can’t call my parents.”
I rose to my feet. “What’s going on?”
“The shop, Caleb,” she said and I could hear the pain in her voice. “It’s been broken into. Someone came in last night and destroyed the entire place.”
My heart slammed against my chest. “Are you at the shop now?” I asked as I grabbed my keys.
“Right in front of the store.”
“Go to your van, and lock the door. Don’t get out till I get there. I’m on my way.”
“Caleb I—”
“Willow! Please listen to me. Go to your vehicle now and keep your head low. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
She finally caught the urgency in my tone. “Alright,” she said, and ended the call.
I’d never driven so fast in my life, and in no time, I was at her shop. Even from outside I could see that the entire place was in shambles.
Parking at the opposite side of the street, I got out of my car and instantly spotted her van just a bit further down. She had done as I had said. I hurried towards her, my eyes darting around to catch any unusual movements or people. The moment I knocked on her window, she jumped and I saw the terror in her eyes. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn’t even seen me approach. Relief washed over her face, and she rushed to get out of the car. She immediately jumped into my arms and I held her tightly to my body.
“I’m sorry,” I said to her. “I’m so sorry.”
She thought I was consoling her for the incident at the store, but she didn’t know I was apologizing because it was my fault. If not for me this wouldn’t have happened to her little florist shop. I could tell that she was trying her very best to hold her tears back, but when she couldn’t any longer, I felt the slight tremble of her body as she broke into quiet sobs against my chest. I stroked her back gently and spoke to her calmly.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. We’ll build it all back. Everything will be back to exactly what it was. That much I promise you.”
A few minutes later she pulled away and wiped her eyes. Then she forced an incredibly sad smile to her lips, and my heart twisted at the pain that she couldn’t hide in those eyes.
“Can you tell me what happened as far as you know?” I asked, holding on to her hand.
She sniffed. “I thought it was a burglary, but why would anyone even try to rob such a small flower shop? I looked around and just as I had suspected there is nothing missing. The till is smashed, but all the money is still on the floor. I don’t think it was a burglary at all. I think that the person or people that did this wanted to send a message. But what I can’t understand is why they would do this. What sort of message does someone want to send to me, or my parents, that would make them resort to destroying our little shop?”
I had a very good idea of what the message was, and who had sent it, but I couldn’t tell her. “Look, I’ll help you to rebuild your shop and we’ll install surveillance cameras so this never happens again.”
She nodded and we headed back to the shop to properly assess the damage.
42
Willow
The police had come and gone, and now it was just us three, Caleb, Sandra and I, left trying to see what we could salvage in the store.
“Maybe it was a burglary,” Sandra said. “Maybe whoever it was thought they’d be able to find some cash lying around. But then when they broke in and found nothing, they got pissed and took out their anger on the entire store.”
I couldn’t respond.
All I could do was step over destroyed plants and flowers, shattered vases, and overturned shelves. They had attacked almost everything they could, and the entire floor was covered in soil and rubble. Even my little office had been destroyed, my desktop shattered, the folders torn open, and my carefully filed receipts strewn all over the floor.
Two years of my blood and sweat, and it had been turned into nothing overnight. And I had taken my parents’ money to start this shop. I was waiting for the moment my heart would give out. I could already hardly breathe, each breath felt like I was sending shards of glass through my system. How was I going to tell them? What was I going to do?
“Willow,” Sandra called.
“Yeah,” I responded gruffly.
“We have a few online orders to fulfil this morning. Should we wait to handle this mess first and then deal with those later?”
I cleared my throat before I spoke again. “‘No, let’s try to fulfil the orders we have. This mess can’t be handled that easily.”
“Alright,” she replied. The last thing in this world I wanted to do right now was to work, but I couldn’t disappoint the customers who had already placed their orders for the day.
“I’ll call Bradley to quickly deliver what we need again.”
I nodded and then turned towards Caleb. He was standing in the corner, and although it seemed like he was just watching what was going on, I could tell, like me he was racking his brain to decide on what the next course of action would be.
I knew he was having a tough time and the last thing I wanted was to trouble him any further. I walked over and he shifted his gaze from the carnage on the floor to me. He pulled his hands out of the pockets.
“You should go home,” I said. “You have your own troubles.”
“I’ve evaluated most of the damage, and I think we can get things somewhat back to normal at the latest in a week. A few days earlier if we’re faster.”
I frowned. “Babe, we can’t handle this mess that quickly. These things cost money. I estimate it will take us a few weeks to recover. I think we’ll just start with the windows and doors and then slowly work our—”
“No, I’ll pay for it,” he said, pulling my hands into his. “Don’t worry about the cost. I’ll pay for the entire renovation so that you can be up and running by the end of the week.”
I was surprised. “Why? Why would you want to pay for it? You’re not the one who destroyed the shop.”
I pulled my hand away from his, and took a step backwards.
I saw a slight panic flash through his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair, as he briefly looked away in contemplation. Although he still appeared fairly calm, as was his usual demeanor, I could tell he was also quite worried about something else.
“Babe, please go home.” I stepped forward and lightly held onto his shirt. “I don’t want to feel guilty for keeping you here. I already feel guilty enough for all of this damage.”
His voice turned cold, and so were his eyes as they bored into mine. “Why would you feel guilty for this? You’re not the one that destroyed the place either.”
I tried to alleviate the concerns that I knew he felt for me. “It happened under my management,” I replied. “My Dad told me to set up an alarm system, but I didn’t think it was necessary. I figured no one would be interested in a tiny florist and I preferred to keep the cash just in case I ran into trouble. I can’t help feeling inept.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said. “It’s mine.”
The conviction in his tone took me aback. “What do you mean? How is this your fault?”
“Willow.” He sighed deeply. “I need to tell you something.”
I stilled, my eyes on his. In all the time I had known him, I had never seen him this serious before. There was nothing casual about his stance or gaze, and most definitely not his tone.
“Let’s go out to the back,” I said, and I went with him.
43
Caleb
We didn’t need to sit down. I
went over what I wanted to say in my head, and wished with all my heart that I didn’t have to say a word, but things had changed and were potentially about to get worse. I couldn’t keep her in the dark anymore.
I was the one whom had exposed her by coming into her life, and since I had no intention of leaving I was going to make damn sure that she was protected.
I tried my best to make my words as concise and as clear as possible. “Willow, I think the attack on your store has something to do with those people who want me to make their Ponzi scheme for them.”
She blinked, hard. “What?”
“They know that you’re in my life, so they must have done this to get some sort of response out of me to fix it.”
Right now, there was nothing I hated more than the look on her face. It was of fear and worry. The fact that I was the one to cause it made me sick to my stomach. To my surprise however, she suddenly smiled, and taking a step forward, placed a hand on my chest. The warmth that began to spread into every cell of my body at the simple contact, stunned me.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked. “Or are you just saying this so that I’ll let you take on the responsibility of these renovations?”
“Willow, I wouldn’t say this to you if I didn’t have to. Trust me, the last thing I ever want is for you to worry or to make you unhappy. But, as I told you, the men I am dealing with ... are not the very best of people, and a huge sum of money is at stake here. They will not stop at anything to bring me to heel. I guess this is one way they’re trying to light a fire under my ass.”
“Why now?”
I sighed again.
“It’s a long story and I don’t want to get you involved. The less you know the better it is for you, but basically, my losses yesterday made them nervous. They are lashing out at me.”
“Oh, my God! What will you do?”
I grinned. “Are you worrying about me?”
“Of course.”
“I’m a master of the numbers. I’ll survive.”
She frowned. “Caleb, you didn’t lose that money deliberately, did you? Just so you won’t have to make their Ponzi scheme.”
I put my finger to my lips and my eyes widened. Then I said, “Of course not. That would be illegal.”
She moved her hand to my cheek to comfort me, and I felt even more guilty and undeserving of her.
“I’ll fix this, Willow. I promise, I’ll fix all the damage. Just give me a few days and you won’t even know there was any damage. Let me take care of all the renovations for you. I’ll bring you the labor and materials that you need right now, and they’ll begin immediately. Just tell them whatever you want done, and include as many upgrades as you would like.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
“Secondly, I’m going to put a security team on you.”
Her lips parted to refuse me, but I put my finger against her lips. “Please. For my peace of mind. You won’t even see them, I promise you that, but I need their eyes on you just in the meantime.”
She sighed, and leaned her forehead against my chest, “Fine. I understand, but only temporarily, right?”
“Absolutely.”
She lifted her head to gaze into my eyes. “I’m worried,” she said. “About you. If they can do this to frighten me it means they can do the same or worse to you.”
“If they wanted to hurt me they would have done it already; they’re just doing this to force me to speed things up. Don’t worry about it at all.”
“Alright,” she said and even though she was scowling, lifted to the tips of her toes to press a kiss to my cheeks.
After our agreement, it felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. We walked back into the store, and saw that one more person was now present. It was the idiot who had purposely dropped a plant on my feet during my previous visit, the one who was secretly in love with her. I had checked him out to confirm he was sane, his jealous attitude was the only loose screw he was dealing with, and he was all clear. I ignored him and turned to Willow. I put a hand on her arm.
“I’m leaving now,” I said. “Keep me in the loop and send me updates as often as you can.”
She nodded and folded her arms as if she was cold. Usually, she kissed and embraced me before my departure. She was either distracted and disturbed by the break in, or it was out of consideration for the idiot who was still watching us with a sullen, hostile expression.
“Willow,” Sandra called.
Willow gave me one last look filled with concern, and moved from my side towards Sandra, who was trying to salvage some plants from the floor.
I started to head towards the door, but the idiot approached me. He stopped right in front of my face and I carefully reined in my temper. Willow didn’t need me to add to her misery. As long as she considered him her friend, I would remain polite if it fucking killed me.
He stared me in the eye, then leaned in and said, “You murdered someone, didn’t you?”
His voice was a mere whisper, but it struck like a sucker punch to the gut.
I didn’t respond and his smile became smug.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” he said. “Your eyes are a dead giveaway, mean and dangerous. Henry was right. You’re the same Caleb Wolfe. Does Willow know? That the man she’s chosen as her boyfriend is a killer?”
It took everything inside of me to hold back my temper, but I did. Oh, I did.
“Bradley, is everything alright?” Sandra called out.
“Yup, everything is peachy.” Then he addressed me. “I’m going to give you a week to come clean to Willow, and break up with her quietly. Otherwise I’m going to tell her everything I know about her lover boy convict.”
I lost it. I’d never taken well to threats and this one had come at the worst time possible. All I wanted was to mind my own business and make a life with Willow and I couldn’t because of all these privileged shits standing in my way, trying to spoil it for me all over again. He was the last fucking straw. I grabbed a fistful of the limp coward’s shirt and dragged him with me towards the bathroom. I was so pumped on adrenaline he was as heavy as a blow-up doll.
“Hey!” he shouted, his feet trailing along behind him and panic edging his voice. ‘Hey!”
‘Caleb!” I heard Willow yell outside the red fog in my head, but I couldn’t change my direction. Not now. Someone had to pay for my pain. I threw him into the bathroom, kicked the door shut behind me, and locked it.
Then I turned to him, and the useless turd began to crawl backwards. His eyes glittered like a terrified rat. I grabbed him once more, and slammed him hard against the tiled wall.
I couldn’t speak, my heart was burning with that much frustration and anger.
“What are you going to do?” he cried out, his shaky voice betraying just how much terror he felt.
I heard Willow’s voice outside. As if from far away.
I shut my eyes and forced him to the ground. I tried to rein in my temper. I really tried. It didn’t work.
“A-Are you going to kill me too?”
I lifted my gaze to his. Veins were bulging down his temple, and his entire face had turned dark red. He was just a few inches shorter than me, so no doubt the seemingly effortless way I’d handled him must have come as quite a shock.
“If you are so sure I’ve killed someone,” I said through gritted teeth. “Then why do you keep pissing me off? Do you want to be next?”
“I do it because of Willow!” he spurted with trembling lips.
I smiled at him. “You act like you know everything, but you know absolutely nothing.”
“I’m not scared of you,” he told me, his eyes bulging with fear. “I’m going to tell her what you’ve done. Exactly who you are.”
He truly never learned. I gave him a dead-eyed stare. “After you’re done, make sure you a dig a hole to bury yourself in. What’s more Willow will still be mine and you’ll be gone. Forever.”
“Are you threatening me?” he blubbered th
rough trembling lips.
“Nope,” I said and took a step towards him. Immediately he froze with fear. I picked him up and he began to squeal. It was going to ruin the tiles, but I was paying for the renovation anyway so I swung him like a bat into the adjacent wall and let him go. He began to melt to the floor. At that point, I had to let it go. A) I had made my point and B) Willow was pounding on the door hard enough to break it.
“Caleb! Caleb!” she shouted desperately.
I felt even more furious at what this bastard had made me do in front of Willow. I kicked him once and turned around to leave, but again the shit stopped me with his words. “You don’t deserve her,” he mumbled. “How could an animal like you even think of being with a girl like Willow?”
Those words nearly pushed me over the edge. Again. But I clenched my fists and crouched down next to him. His body was twisted and lying in a strange angle, no doubt he was in too much pain to rise.
“And you think you do?”
He didn’t have the guts to respond.
I stared into his eyes. “I might not be worthy of her but I deserve her, more than anyone else in this entire universe. I gave up everything for her, and I’ll continue to do it over and over and over again. What about you? Can you do the same? Will you do the same?”
“Yes, I can and I will,” he said.
His answer maddened me. He was a liar. I knew without a doubt he wouldn’t go to prison for years and years for her, let alone what I was about to do for her. I drew my fist out, and when it landed brutally on the side of his face, blood and spit spurted out of his mouth and stained my knuckles. His scream of pain reverberated around us and beyond. Then he passed out.
“Caleb!” I heard Willow scream, and I rose to my feet.
When I pulled the door open, both girls retreated from me. Their gazes went to the blood on my fist. I waited for the split second it took for Willow’s gaze to return to mine.
She was shocked.
Saint & Sinner: A Second Chance Romance Page 18
