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A woman like Callista deserves a better father, a better future, and a better life than one stuck in this place of death and destruction.
The car ascends the mountain, picked up on each camera as it climbs closer and closer to the house. My body tenses more and more as the minutes tick by, waiting for his arrival.
I could go down, intervene, stop him from making it all the way up and cut off the inevitable confrontation that will ensue before it happens and Callista has to get dragged into it. But I almost want her to see it, need her to know who he is and that coming here was done for a man who doesn’t merit that kind of love and loyalty.
There was once a time when I was like her, blind to the real nature of people who were supposed to love and protect me, when I followed orders without asking questions any normal person might have. I wish someone had shed light on the hypocrisy and sinister intentions of others then so I wouldn’t have been caught up in the fallout.
Callista will see the truth before it’s too late.
I’ll make sure of it.
I grab my axe and make my way toward the front of the house, pausing at the base of the stairs to listen for signs of where Callista might be, but she’s likely still in her room.
Though she seemed better this morning on her way to breakfast, when I snuck a peek at her descending the stairs from my perch on the third-floor landing, she still seems to be in some pain, opting to spend her time in bed with the books she requested rather than risk injuring herself further by wandering the house as I permitted.
But once she realizes what’s going on outside and sees who’s here, that’s going to change.
She’ll make an appearance soon enough, and it will cause my heart to jackrabbit just like it has every time my eyes have landed on her.
There’s just something about that woman…
It goes far beyond her physical beauty, but no matter how many hours I’ve spent obsessing over the question of what it is about Callista Fox that gets under my skin, I have yet to find a firm answer.
Maybe it’s that even though she’s clearly afraid of me, she has no problem standing her ground and making demands.
Fucking unheard of.
You don’t make demands of the Barkers; the Barkers make demands of you.
Yet, the blond librarian from Helena seems not to give a shit. She stands her ground mentally, only retreating when I use my strength and size to my advantage in the physical arena. And for some reason, that’s as intoxicating as it is dangerous for both of us.
Because this will end; I’ll find a way to end it.
When it does and I can go back to having this space be quiet and peaceful, save for the ghosts of my past, I don’t want to think about Callista Fox ever again.
I tug open the front door and walk out onto the porch, then lean against one of the railing beams to wait for the car. The afternoon sun peeks through incoming clouds that threaten to drop chilly rain, and another twenty minutes pass before I hear the telltale crunch of gravel under tires.
Here we go.
Harold Fox has arrived.
To beg and plead for his daughter…
Or for himself?
It’s too late in my book for him to redeem himself. Beyond fucking with Rosewood, that he’s allowed this to happen to his own daughter is enough to seal his fate where I’m concerned.
His car pulls to a stop in the U-shaped drive near his daughter’s, and he shuts off the engine, staring at me with wide eyes from the driver’s seat. Even from here, I can see his Adam’s apple bob as he gulps before he swings open the door and climbs out.
He adjusts his suit, smoothing the jacket and re-buttoning it before running a hand through his salt and pepper hair with a trembling hand. At least a decade older than me, the man can’t blame youth or naivety on his actions. Anything that comes out of his mouth will be nothing more than bullshit tumbling from the mouth of a panicked, desperate man already neck-deep in quicksand.
“Mr. Barker…”
I scowl at him, keeping my casual lean though annoyance and anger pulsate through me. “What the hell are you doing here?”
I’ve never had a conversation with this man before.
Never met him.
