“That was my first mistake.”
“Trust me, I know where you’re coming from. Things seem to be popping up from the past to bite both our asses at the moment.”
“I’m sorry, because what you’re going through is so much worse than what I’m going through.”
“Don’t say that. No one has naked pictures of me. Not that I know of, anyway.” I let out a short laugh.
“I feel so ridiculous. How did I let any of this happen?”
“Don’t go back there. You were a kid. You and Rory handled it far better than most people your age would have. You got him to go away. And you did it without breaking any laws when he broke several.”
“I feel like he planned this from the beginning, though,” she says. “And then he waited. Waited until the statute of limitations had run out so that he’d be spared, and now he’s back. Back to make our lives hell.”
“Remember, he was a kid as well. He likely didn’t think this through at the time.”
“He thought it through enough that he kept his evidence.”
“We don’t know that, Callie. Sure, you and Rory kept yours, and he stole it. You don’t know for sure that he still has those pictures.”
“Come on, Donny.”
“The two of you had him dead to rights. Neither of you broke a law. You weren’t going to prison, but he was. Sure, he could have screwed you over by posting naked pictures on the internet, and then he would have been arrested for child pornography. Something none of you thought about at the time.”
“You’re right. Still…”
“We can’t get inside his head. In fact, I’m not sure either of us really want to. Obviously, he’s a nutcase. But if he had anything to do with setting that fire, I promise you I will prove it.”
“And if he didn’t?”
“We’ll still get rid of him. If he has those pictures, it is illegal for him to possess them, and that we can easily prove.”
“And if he doesn’t have them?”
“Then why is he here?”
“To screw Rory and me over. He couldn’t do it ten years ago, and he’s back to do it now.”
I can’t fault her logic. She may well be right. Pat Lamone wouldn’t be the first person to hold a grudge for ten years, even though he was completely in the wrong. Makes me think of people in my own family. And it makes me think about others—others who have a grudge against the Steel family and who have waited God knows how long for their revenge.
“And that’s it?” I ask.
She bites her lip. “Maybe not. Maybe not at all. I was telling Rory that I think this may go deeper, but for the life of me, I don’t know why I think that. It’s a hunch.”
“Another hunch.” I smile. “You may well be right, but I’m not sure it has anything to do with the fire.”
In fact, I’m wondering if what Callie and I are both going through could all be intermingled somehow.
But that would be improbable at best.
Still…
My mind whirls with possibilities, none of which I can prove.
No. I need something else now. Something real and pure and alive.
I need to lose myself—lose myself in the beauty and passion that is Callie Pike.
I pull her up from the bed, drag her to me, my cock hard and ready, and crush my mouth to hers.