Chapter 72
Grease
I was sitting at a diner a few miles from Callie’s place, waiting for her phone call. I’d been imagining scenarios where she’d call and apologize and beg me to come back, and we could act like the past few hours had never happened.
I couldn’t believe she’d kicked me out—and I wasn’t sure how I should’ve reacted.
I went over it a thousand times in my head—different scenarios that may have worked to change her mind. If I’d fought harder, maybe she would have relented. Maybe she needed me to fight, needed that release that she used to look for when we hadn’t seen each other for months.
I’d pussed out, leaving instead, because it had been so goddamn long that I couldn’t read her like I’d been able to before. I hadn’t been able to tell if she was serious, or just pushing like she’d done a million times before.
Christ.
My phone vibrated next to my coffee on the table in front of me, flashing Rose’s number, and I snatched it up before the first ring was over.
“Callie?” I answered, hope and dread pooling in my gut.
“It’s Farrah,” came a monotone voice from the other end. “You need to get over here… and call your boys for a pick-up. We’re gonna need a cleaner.”
The phone went silent before I could ask any questions, and I stared at it for a moment in horror before I jumped up and dropped a five dollar bill on the table.
I was on my phone before I’d reached my bike, barking out orders to Dragon as I climbed on and fired it up.
I made it to Callie’s in minutes and almost dropped my bike as I went to climb off. Once I remembered I hadn’t let down the kickstand, I quickly set it, hopped off, and went running up the stairs.
Her door was wide open.
I took in the mess in the kitchen, my brother—
What the f*ck?
I turned to Farrah as she came down the hallway, and I panicked at the look on her face. Even during the hardest times with her, I’d never seen her face the way it was then.
She looked defeated.
“Callie’s in her room. Gram’s on the bed,” she told me dully. “Be careful when you walk in, and do it slowly.”
My heart thumped loudly in my ears as I made my way to her room, and my eyes went blurry as I stumbled into the doorway and saw her.
I must have made some noise, because her head snapped to the doorway and she lifted her arm, pointing a huge-ass .45 at my chest.
She was covered in f*cking blood, her face was so swollen it looked like it was going to burst, and there in her lap was my son.
“Don’t come any closer,” she ordered, sounding slurred.
There were used baby wipes all over the floor around her, and it looked like she’d tried to clean the blood off her and Will, but had only managed to smear it around.
I lost feeling in my legs and dropped to my motherf*cking knees.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I assured her calmly, making her flinch.
“Don’t call me that,” she muttered as Will turned over, facing me with his head in her lap. He didn’t look hurt or scared, but he also didn’t get up.
“Okay, Callie,” I murmured, sitting back on my heels and raising my arms out in front of me.
“Your brother’s dead,” she smiled nastily.
“I saw that.”
“Killed him,” she mumbled, glancing at Will and then up to where her Gram was watching her quietly, tears running down her face. “Killed him and he just kept coming, so I had to do it again.”
I wasn’t sure what the f*ck she was talking about, but she was making me nervous.
“What happened?” I questioned softly, flinching when her eyes moved back to me.
“Said he came here looking for you,” she told me sadly, her arm wobbling until she slid the gun back up on the dresser. I sighed deeply in relief, but it was short lived.
“Told him you were on your way home,” she shrugged one shoulder, bringing attention to the arm I hadn’t realized she wasn’t moving. Her hand went to the top of Will’s head as her eyes went glassy.
“He knew. He knew. He knew you weren’t coming. Said he was coming for—” she didn’t say his name, but tilted her head down to look at Will who was still staring at me. “Said you asked him to come.”
Tears started rolling out of her good eye as it came back to mine.
“I’d never do that, Sugar. I’d never take him. You know that.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But it didn’t matter.”
I moved slowly to my knees when she was quiet, and started to scoot into the room, but stopped instantly when her hand rose off Will’s head to the top of the dresser.
“You didn’t tell me he killed my parents,” she accused, her eyelid closing halfway in defeat.
“What? Sugar, what did he say?”
“He killed them,” she mumbled. “Mom’s a hot piece of ass. Mad at Aces. Kill me to get you.”
I’d had no idea that Deke was a part of that. I’d known that the Jimenez brothers were pissed as hell when I’d killed their boys, but when Deke had called me, I’d assumed he’d had no part in it. He’d convinced me that there was nothing he could do to stop it, but he’d been in on it from the start. I felt rage like a massive headache hit the back of my eyes, but forced myself to refocus on what mattered. Callie and my boy.
“You got him, baby. It’s over. You got him,” I murmured as I moved further into the room.
The closer I got to her, the more clearly I saw that there was something seriously wrong with her arm.
“You protected our son, baby,” I told her softly, relieved when I stopped less than a foot from her and she still hadn’t grabbed the gun. “You did so good. Is Will okay?”
“He’s fine,” she whispered, glancing down at him. “He was in here.”
“I had to make sure no one got him,” her voice rose as she looked at me fiercely. “I made sure. I made sure.”
“Yeah, you did. I love you so much, Calliope,” I whispered, reaching out my hand to lay it softly on hers where it rested on Will’s head. “But you’re hurt, Sugar, and it smells like Will needs his diaper changed.”
She looked like she was going to agree, she’d even started to slowly nod, when we heard men coming through the front door.
Her hand moved faster than I could catch, and in seconds, the .45 was resting against my sternum, her finger on the trigger.
She didn’t look away as she called quietly to Will. “Go over to Gram, Will,” she said gently. “Run on over to Gram.”
He climbed up to his feet slowly, wobbling a little in a way that had my heart lurching in my chest, but he made it to Gram as she stood from the bed.
“Get him out of here. Lock yourself in your apartment,” Callie ordered, never looking away from my face. “Go, Gram!”
Rose shot out of the room, and the moment we heard her front door slam, Callie’s hand dropped to her lap.
“Get your brother and get the f*ck out of my house,” she mumbled tiredly as I heard someone small walk up behind me.
“We need to get you to a hospital, Callie,” I whispered, as I gently pulled the gun from her fingers.
“I’ll take her,” Farrah argued at my back.
“I love you so much, Sugar.” I ignored Farrah as I set the .45 back on the dresser and ran my finger up and down the top of Callie’s hand, the only place I was sure I wouldn’t hurt her. “Let me take care of you.”
She turned her head away from me, not saying a word as she pushed her forehead against the side of the dresser.
“Go, Grease,” Farrah ordered behind me. “Get your guys and get them out of our apartment. I’ll take care of Callie.”
“She’s mine,” I hissed, turning my head to Farrah. “Go make sure that Will’s okay.”
I started to turn from her when I noticed another gun, this time in her small hand.
“Will’s fine with Gram,” she told me seriously, her hand hanging relaxed at her thigh. “Now you need to get the f*ck out of here before you make her worse.”
“She needs me,” I argued, my hand tightening on Callie’s. “I’ll take care of her. I always take care of her.”
“Look at her, Grease,” Farrah snapped sharply. “She doesn’t f*cking need you.”
My head turned to Callie to see she was still facing the dresser, her swollen eye practically hiding the rest of her face from me.
“Callie?” I questioned gently, as her body started rocking in tiny movements.
“Please leave me alone,” she whimpered, never looking at me. “Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone.”
I heard Farrah’s revolver as she snapped it into place, and I turned my head to see her pointing it directly at my head.
“I’m not Callie,” she told me calmly. “I’ll pull the trigger.”
I didn’t think she would, but it didn’t matter.
I nodded in defeat, knowing that she was right. I wasn’t making anything better.
I couldn’t stop myself from leaning forward one last time and kissing Callie lightly on the side of her head. “I love you. I’m not going far,” I promised.
I made myself leave the room as Farrah kneeled down to help Callie to her feet.