Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
There's no one in the house.
I unlock the back door and step outside. My balls immediately threaten to crawl back into my body to hide. The temperature plunged in the last few hours. Silvery storm clouds roil overhead. Wind whips through the treetops, sending a chill wind whistling across the property. It's chilly as fuck outside.
I grit my teeth and carefully walk around the house anyway, scanning for intruders or any tracks. There are boot prints in the mud a few yards from the back door, but they end abruptly after a few feet. Whoever threw the rock did it and ran. I don't think they were trying to get in. They were trying to scare her.
Well, it fucking worked. She's scared. And I'm pissed.
"Callum?"
I spin around to find Hope standing at the door with a gun in her hands, her robe tied tightly around her waist. Her hair is wild, her eyes wide in her pale face.
"Did you find anything?"
"You were supposed to wait for me, Firefly."
"I was worried about you," she whispers.
How can I be mad when she's so fucking sweet?
"I didn't find anyone." I move toward her, my gun aimed at the ground. "I still need to check the shop though. Can you please wait inside while I do that?"
"They didn't get in the shop."
"How do you know that?"
"There's an alarm."
I back her into the kitchen before gently taking her handgun from her and placing it on the counter. I set mine beside hers before turning back to her, my heart pounding against my ribcage as my blood pressure rises. "You have an alarm on the shop, but not on the house," I state, staring at her levelly. "Is that what you're telling me?"
"Y-yes?" She gulps.
"Silas Wembley has the alarm code?"
"Yes."
"Where's your phone?"
She pulls it from her pocket.
"Change it, Firefly. Now."
"What? Callum, I don't think–"
"You want to trust him because that's who you are," I growl, cutting her off. "But I know what's standing in front of me right now. I know what I'd risk to keep you to myself. And I saw the way he looked at you today, Firefly. He wants you, and I don't know how far he's willing to go to get you. Until I know the answer to that question, he doesn't get access to your shop, the house, or you. Period."
"W-what would you risk, Callum?"
"Everything," I snarl, dragging her into my arms. "I'd risk fucking everything to keep you to myself, Hope." My mouth closes over hers, my kiss hot and insistent. I don't give her a chance to say anything else. I consume her, worried as fuck that he has access to her shop. Maybe I'm just a jealous asshole. I don't fucking know. But she's mine. I'll do whatever I have to do to make sure she's safe, even if it means ensuring no one else ever gets close.
By the time Grizz and Dillon roll up in the driveway ten minutes later, Hope has changed the alarm code, and we've both thrown clothes on. I meet them on the front porch, leaving Hope inside with Kieve, who is riled up.
"What happened?" Dillon demands, jogging up the sidewalk toward me. Grizz is hot on his heels, his expression dark.
"Someone threw a rock through the kitchen door." I scrub a hand through my hair, cursing up at the sky. Rain already falls in fat, cold drops, a precursor to what's to come. It's supposed to rain all week. "They were gone before I got downstairs. Left boot prints out back."
"Son of a bitch," Dillon growls. "You see anything?"
"Nothing. Neither did Hope. I still need to check the shop. Figured one of you could help me clear it."
Dillon's brows furrow. "She didn't have the alarm set?"
"Oh, she had it set. But she isn't the only one with the alarm code." I shoot a dirty look at him. "You failed to tell me that her goddamn neighbor is basically stalking her."
"Stalking her?" Dillon's eyebrows climb toward his hairline. "You mean Silas?"
"The fucker was standing on her front porch when we got home today. Apparently, he finds a reason to stop by most days." I'm still pissed about it. "Didn't seem thrilled when he found out that she has a man."
Dillon's lips curve into a grin. He shakes his head, chuckling. "Silas is harmless, Callum. He's lived next door her whole life. Aithne Walsh asked him to keep an eye on Hope before she died. That's all he's doing."
"If you believe that bullshit, I've got oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you," I mutter. He's keeping an eye on her all right. But it's not because her grandma asked him to do it. The old bastard wants in her pants. If I'm too old for her—and I refuse to think about the fact that she's only twenty-four to my thirty-nine—then he's way too fucking old for her. Doesn't change the fact that he wants her.