He brushed a kiss against my hairline. “No. Now I want you in here every day.”
I haven’t seen you in, like, a million years. Christopher’s message popped up on my phone.
Sounds like you miss me.
Nope. Never said such a thing.
Then why are you texting me?
Geez, just wanted to see if you wanted to get dinner.
I sat in the back seat of the car with a smile on my face. So you do miss me. I knew it.
Hell no. So, are we doing this or not?
I chuckled because Christopher wasn’t nearly as sly as he made himself out to be. Sure. I can meet you in fifteen minutes.
I’ll swing by the house and pick you up.
Christopher never offered anything like that, and I knew it was because he was still worried about me. Hank hadn’t made a single appearance in weeks. I was pretty certain he was no longer a problem. But I didn’t tell Christopher otherwise because Calloway would just bring me there anyway if Christopher didn’t escort me. I had to pick one or the other. Okay.
Calloway looked out the window and didn’t ask who I was texting. He was the jealous type, but he never went through my things or questioned what I was doing. I appreciated that respect, and I gave the respect back to him. “Christopher is going to be at the house in fifteen minutes. Wants to take me to dinner.”
“Did he mean to text someone else?” he teased.
I rolled my eyes. “He misses me. I can tell.”
“Or he just wants something.”
“I doubt it. Christopher isn’t really the type of person to ask for anything.”
“Wow. Then maybe he actually does like you. Fooled me.”
I smacked his forearm playfully. “Shut up.”
He chuckled then grabbed my thigh, his knuckles pronounced and muscular. He gave me a sexy squeeze, implying what he could with his hands if I stayed in for the night. “How long will you be gone?”
“I don’t know. Depends on Christopher’s tolerance.”
He laughed. “Then you’ll be home in an hour, tops.”
I smacked his arm again.
“Long time, no see.” He looked me up and down. “But you’re still hideous, so I guess some things never change.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re paying for dinner now.”
“Fine with me. I was gonna treat you anyway.” He turned to Calloway and shook his head. “You doing okay with this monster living in your house?”
“She pays her way by cooking, so she’s fine,” Calloway answered.
And fucking. But I wasn’t dumb enough to say that to my brother. “We’ll be back later. See ya.” I immediately turned toward the door.
Calloway grabbed me by the elbow and yanked me back into his chest, obviously not caring if my brother had an opinion about it. He crushed his mouth to mine and laid a kiss on me, the kind that said he’d be waiting to finish it until I came home. He smacked my ass and turned away. “Good luck, Christopher.”
“You’re acting like this is my first rodeo.” Christopher walked out with me, and we headed up the road side by side. The weather had improved since winter passed. Now springtime filled the air, blossoms blooming on tree branches. Christopher wore a light jacket on his slender frame. “You want to go to that Italian place you like?”
“You remember what places I like?”
“Come on, it’s not like we’re never met.”
“But you never listen to anything I say.”
He shrugged. “Maybe I listen more than you realize.”
We arrived at the restaurant and took a seat together at one of the tables. We ordered a bottle of wine to share then looked at the menu.
“What’s new with you and that caveman?” Christopher asked as he kept his eyes on the selections.
“Nothing really.”
“Are you going to be moving back in with me anytime soon?”
“Why? You want me to?”
He made a disgusted look. “No. I have chicks over all the time. You just cramp my style.”
I’d known Christopher long enough to know when he was lying. He hardly did it, so that was how I could figure it out. Christopher and I used to see each other all the time, but after I met Calloway and moved in with him, Christopher and I didn’t talk nearly as much as we used to. And we hardly saw each other. “Well, Calloway asked me to move in with him—permanently.”
“Really?” He finally set down his menu. “Like, you’re staying there indefinitely?”
“Hopefully, forever.”
“Oh damn. I guess he’s pretty serious, then.”
“I think we both are.” Sometimes I had my doubts if we could make it work since Calloway preferred me in chains, but I was so head over heels for him that I couldn’t think clearly. I’d much rather struggle in a relationship with that man than be with anyone else.
“So, the apartment is totally mine, then?”
“Yep. So you can keep entertaining your lady friends.”
“You aren’t staying with him just because of Hank?”
When I searched for an apartment to move to, Calloway wasn’t pleased with the idea. The situation with Hank didn’t seem to have anything to do with our living situation. “No. I don’t think Hank will be a problem anymore.”
“Did Calloway kill him?” he asked with a straight face.
“Of course not.”
“Then you never really know. The guy is a creeper. He’ll leave you alone for three months, and then he’s in your face again. I wouldn’t just assume he’s no longer a problem.”
“You didn’t see how scared he was.” I grabbed a piece of bread from the basket and smeared butter across the surface with my knife. “He took one look at Calloway and tucked his tail between his legs. He turned into the biggest pussy I’ve ever seen.”
“For now,” Christopher said. “What about when he grows some balls again?”
I took a bite then set the rest of the piece on the plate. “I don’t know, Christopher. But I’m not going to live my life in fear all the time. If I do, then he wins.”
“I get that, but I don’t think we should just assume he’s gone either. That’s all I’m saying.” He snatched the other half of my bread and popped it into his mouth.
“Hey,” I said in mock offense.
“You already buttered it and everything. It was just easier.”
“But I already took a bite out of it.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll take my chances.”
We ordered our food then handed the menus over. Once that was taken care of, we talked about work while we drank our wine. Everything was going well until Christopher said something totally out of the blue.
“Okay, fine. I guess I do miss you a little…”
“I knew it.” I smiled in triumph.
“I don’t really miss living with you,” he said. “But we haven’t really talked in, like, a month. Gets weird after a while. I’m not saying you don’t annoy me, but I guess I kinda need you to annoy me… I know that doesn’t make much sense.”
“You annoy me too, Christopher. I think siblings need each other in that way.”
“Maybe,” he said. “And I’ve been worried about you.”
I scoffed because his concern was ridiculous. “Trust me, you don’t need to worry about me when Calloway is around.”
“But he’s not around you every second of the day.”
“Actually, he is.”
“Is he sitting in your office all day?” he asked incredulously.
“No, but he’s down the hall.”
“I don’t know…” He shook his head. “Hank broke in to our apartment and assaulted you right when everyone got off work. He could have been seen, but he didn’t care. I’m sure he was scared of Calloway at the time, but I’m sure he’s over it by now.”
Maybe he was right, but I chose not to believe it. Calloway would always keep me safe. He was overbearing and obsessive most of the time, but those things came in handy
when it came to a stalker ex-boyfriend. Calloway wouldn’t let anything slip past his watch. “I think we need to move on with our lives and be more positive.”
“Alright, I can take the hint.” He looked out the window, consternation etched into his brow. “Other than that, things have been good?”
I didn’t mention Calloway’s mother because I knew that was private. So I talked about work. “All my colleagues hated me, so Calloway threatened to fire them all if they didn’t straighten out.”
Christopher chuckled. “Man, I need to start screwing my boss.”
“That’s the whole reason why they started to hate me. Believe me, they all used to like me at one point.”
“I doubt it,” he teased.
“I know they’re only being nice to me because they have to, but it’s still better than the cold shoulder all the time.”
“I can imagine. Well, everyone likes me, so I can’t totally imagine it, but I get what you mean.” He swirled his wine before he took a drink. “Will there be wedding bells and shit in the future?”
“I don’t know about that…” For now, we were both living in the moment. We were both trying to make an ordinary relationship work. That was too far into the future for both of us.
“If he asked you to live with him permanently, I’d say he’s not opposed to it.”
I wasn’t really sure. “Sounds like you like him again?”
He shrugged before he drank his wine again. “I thought it was shitty of him to lie to you for so long, but I can tell he really cares about you. He looks after you far better than I ever could. When I see him with you, I can tell he’s pussy-whipped. He’s done a lot of good to make up for the bad, so yeah, I do like him. Besides, he’s rich as fuck.”
My body immediately tightened in anger. “That doesn’t matter, Christopher.”
“Hell yeah, it does. Don’t act like a wealthy man is the same as a poor one.”
“They are the same. I don’t care that Calloway is wealthy.”
He rolled his eyes. “All women say that, but they’re full of it. Maybe you don’t care about the money per se, but the fact that he’s ambitious, driven, and smart enough to build his own empire is sexy. Shit, even I think it’s sexy. So yes, him being rich does make him more desirable. You’re a hard-working woman, Rome. You would be with a man who didn’t bust his ass every day just like you have?”
When he put it that way, I saw his point. “I am attracted to his motivation. But not his bank account.”
“That’s fair. And I know he’ll always be able to take care of you.”
Christopher meant well, but that statement rubbed me the wrong way. “I will always be able to take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a long time.”
Christopher masked his reaction by drinking his wine. He looked out the window then abruptly changed the subject, like he was hiding something from me. “I got promoted at work.”
The anger immediately disappeared. “Really? Wow, congratulations! Now I have to buy dinner.”
“Nah.” He brushed it off with a wave of his hand. “I insulted you a lot today. You know, having to get everything out since it’d been so long since I had the opportunity. Besides…” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. “I should spend that raise on something good.”
“Making me full?” I asked with a smile.
“Yep.”
I raised my glass and clinked it against his. “Congratulations, Christopher. You earned it.”
“Thanks.” He smiled before he took a long drink of his wine. Even though he’d just told me incredible news, he suddenly seemed somber, like something was nagging at him from deep inside.
When I thought about everything that happened today, I realized Christopher’s behavior was out of the ordinary. Now I wondered if there was something bad going on in his life and he was just taking a long time to come clean about it. “What’s wrong?” I asked him point-blank because our relationship was strong enough to do that.
He met my look with a guilty one, not surprised that I’d figured it out just from talking with him. “I just—”
The waiter brought our entrees and set them in front of us. He asked us if we needed anything else before he finally walked away.
The moment was just as tense as it had been when the waiter arrived, and I hadn’t dropped my look from his face. “Christopher. Honestly, I’m a little worried…”
“It’s nothing bad,” he said quickly. “I just…I got promoted a few weeks ago, and I realized I had no one to tell.”
I didn’t have a clue what he meant by that, but I didn’t think it was the best time to ask.
“I posted it on social media, but that’s not a real person, you know?”
I nodded even though I didn’t know what I was agreeing to.
“I wanted to tell you, obviously. But then I remembered you lived with Calloway and you have your own life.”
“It doesn’t matter if I’m married or have kids. I always want to know what’s going on with you, Christopher. You know that.”
“Of course I do,” he said quickly. “I just meant, outside of you, I don’t really have anyone. I don’t have a clue who my parents were. I might have sibling somewhere out there. Who knows? But…I don’t have a foundation, a family.”
A realization slowly dawned upon me. I knew exactly what he was saying because it was something that bothered me my entire life. Christopher was the only thing I had that resembled a family—even if it was based off of poor circumstances.
“Now that you’re serious with Calloway, I see how close you guys are. You’re more than just two people who are seeing each other. I can tell he loves you just by looking at him. It’s obvious you feel the same way.”
I knew Calloway loved me even though he refused to say it. It was obvious in every kiss, in every touch. He wouldn’t ask me to live with him and spend every waking hour with me if he felt otherwise. And he certainly wouldn’t have sacrificed his way of life either. “I understand what you’re saying…but I don’t see where you’re going with this.”
“I guess…I guess I want a family.”
“A family?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I guess I want a wife. I never thought I wanted one before, but it would be nice to have someone who loved me, you know? Who wanted to join her life with mine so we could make a family. And then we would have kids…and then I would have someone who actually shares my DNA. I know I sound like a pussy right now—”
“You don’t sound anything like a pussy, Christopher.” It was incredibly sweet, unbelievably vulnerable. “That’s a normal feeling we all have. I want that with Calloway. I want to have a son who looks just like him. I want to be part of someone in a beautiful way. Believe me, I get it.”
“It goes against everything I said before…”
“Christopher, men grow out of that phase. Maybe you’ve grown out of yours.”
“I guess…” His glass was empty, so he poured another. “I’ve never been in a relationship, so I don’t know where to start. I’ve been out with a lot of unbelievable women, but I was an asshole to them, so I blew that.”
“There are other fish in the sea.”
“Yeah, but even if I found them, I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“Remember what you said to me?”
He scrunched his eyebrows. “I say a lot of wise things to you, Rome…”
“You told me a man will change when he meets the right woman.” He told me not to worry about Calloway’s commitment issues because all of that would disappear once he realized he couldn’t live without me. “So, when you meet the right woman, you’ll know how to be in a relationship.”
“I suppose.”
“So don’t worry about it. Just don’t sleep with them right off the bat.”
“You’re one to talk,” he jabbed.
“Excuse me?” I countered. “Calloway and I waited a long time before we took it to that level.”
“Like a day?” he asked
incredulously. “That guy is a sexy beast. No way any woman could keep her legs closed.”
I was about to express my offense at his comment, but then I realized the more disturbing part of that sentence. “Whoa…did you just check out my boyfriend?”
“No,” he said with disgust. “I just know he’s a good-looking guy that gets a lot of pussy.”
I cringed at the last word of the sentence, disturbed by the idea that Calloway had been with other women before me—a lot of women. “Anyway…Calloway and I waited a month. I didn’t want something quick and easy. I fell for him right from the beginning and wanted to make sure it would last.”
“A month?” he asked in shock. “I couldn’t wait a month with a gun pointed to my head. Maybe a week, but that’s still an exaggeration.”
“It was just some advice. Take it how you will.”
The food finally arrived, and we both ate slowly, saying nothing for a long time. Just sitting with Christopher and being with him was nice. We used to watch TV on the couch together when he didn’t have a date for the evening. Silent camaraderie was always the best kind. It was the definition of true compatibility.
“Anything else new with you?” Christopher asked after he finished chewing his food.
“Not really. My life is pretty boring.”
“I knew that,” he said with a laugh.
I didn’t unleash an insult back because I knew I missed it when he teased me. Now that he’d confessed he was lonely in this enormous city, I understood just how much our relationship meant to him. It reminded me that I needed to spend more time with him, to make an effort to remain as close as we’d always been. After everything we’d endured, we couldn’t drift apart.
We’d been through too much together.
8
Calloway
The moment she was back in the house and in my line of sight, I felt better. Hank probably wouldn’t make another appearance because he was a coward. He’d targeted Rome because she was a petite woman, but now that a man like me came with the package, he was powerless to do anything.
Black Promise (Obsidian Book 3) Page 9