Chapter 7
Straightened his cuffs.
Then stepped away.
“Enjoy the auction.”
He turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Callum remained still until the adrenaline settled.
Then he faced Sadie.
Her fingers were white around the cane.
The confidence had begun cracking.
She looked close to collapse.
Callum wrapped 1 arm around her waist and took part of her weight.
“I told you not to speak.”
His voice was rough.
“He was insulting your asset.”
Sadie leaned against him as her breathing shook.
“I was protecting my work.”
Callum looked down at her.
For the first time, a genuine, dark smile appeared.
“You didn’t just protect your work.”
His thumb moved over the silk at her waist.
“You declared war.”
The Maybach ride back was quiet.
Sadie rested her head against the cool window.
Pain moved steadily through her injured leg as the adrenaline faded.
Callum watched from across the vehicle.
In the garage, Gabe opened the door.
Callum stepped out and lifted Sadie before she could reach for her cane.
This time she did not object.
She rested her head against his shoulder and breathed in his cologne mixed with the faint cigar smoke of the auction.
The elevator carried them approximately 50 floors upward.
Away from the ordinary city.
Callum lowered her onto the charcoal sofa.
He placed her cane on the glass table.
Then he went to the bar.
2 fingers of Lagavulin.
He swallowed the drink in 1 motion.
Then poured another.
He returned, set it on the table, and stood over her with both hands in his pockets.
“Do you understand what you did?”
The words were quiet.
Sadie looked up.
“I authenticated a painting.”
“You humiliated a man who kills people over parking spaces.”
Callum’s jaw tightened.
“Declan was provoking me.”
“He wanted me to hit him in front of the alderman and half the major donors in Chicago.”
He continued.
“I had it under control.”
“Then you decided to become a soldier.”
“I wasn’t playing soldier.”
Sadie’s anger returned.
“He looked at me like I was broken.”
“Like my leg was funny.”
She gripped the emerald fabric.
“I’m tired of being the joke.”
Then:
“I’m tired of being afraid of men like him.”
“You should be afraid.”
Callum’s control finally broke.
He leaned over the sofa, arms braced around her, trapping her beneath the weight of his presence.
“They aren’t curators.”
“They don’t care that you’re intelligent.”
His voice sharpened.
“They care about what breaks easiest.”
Then:
“You put a target on yourself to defend my pride.”
“It wasn’t your pride.”
Sadie shouted back.
“It was mine.”
Her eyes flashed.
“I’m the one who was dragged into an alley.”
“I’m the one who bled on the concrete.”
Then:
“You don’t own my anger.”
“It belongs to me.”
Callum froze.
The space between them became almost nonexistent.
He looked into her face.
At the fury.
At the color returning to her cheeks.
At the rigid determination inside someone he once considered a quiet civilian.
His world had not crushed her.
It had sharpened her.
“You little fool.”
The anger drained from his voice.
Something darker replaced it.
Callum reached into the hair at the back of her neck and pulled her toward him.
Then he kissed her.
There was no hesitation.
No careful introduction.
It was anger, relief, and possession colliding at once.
Sadie gasped against his mouth.
Her hands caught the lapels of his tuxedo.
Then she kissed him back with the same urgency.
Her fingers moved into his hair.
Callum made a low sound in his throat.
His hands dropped toward her waist.
He lifted her against his body while protecting the injured leg.
The kiss erased the professional distance between them.
Employer.
Contractor.
Asset.
None of it survived.
Then a cell phone began vibrating.
Callum broke away.
His breathing was rough.
He pressed his forehead against hers.
The phone vibrated again.
He pulled back.
Sadie’s lips were swollen.
Her eyes remained wide.
“Callum…”
He removed the phone.
Looked at the screen.
The warmth vanished.
The Roman returned.
“Speak.”
He listened.
His jaw tightened.
“How many?”
A pause.
Then:
“Lock down the southern ports.”
“I’m coming.”
He ended the call.
“Declan hit my warehouse in Pilsen.”
Callum’s voice was flat.
“He couldn’t absorb what happened tonight.”
“He panicked.”
Then:
“2 crews.”
“Automatic weapons.”
His eyes hardened.
“3 of my men are dead.”
Sadie’s blood went cold.
“Because of what I said?”
“No.”
Callum took her face in both hands.
“He was already dead.”
“He just didn’t know when to lie down.”
Then:
“This was coming.”
“You only accelerated it.”
Callum crossed toward a lockbox near the foyer.
He opened it and removed a heavy black Glock.
The weapon disappeared into a holster at his lower back.
He did not replace his jacket.
“Callum.”
Sadie’s fear finally broke through.
He stopped with his hand on the door.
“Don’t go.”
“I have to.”
“Lock the door.”
His gaze stayed on hers.
“Open it for nobody except me.”
“What if you don’t come back?”
A small, grim smile touched his mouth.
“I always come back.”
The door closed.
May you like
The deadbolt slid into place.
Sadie remained alone in the dark.
