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The door clicked shut, and she moved from her place at the window to meet him in the hallway. “Now that we’re alone, can you tell me what the hell was in the parcel?”
“I need a drink. Do you want one?”
Astrid took a deep breath, closed her eyes and let it out at the same time she opened her eyes, her gaze connecting directly with Callum’s. There was concern, worry, and guilt on display in his brown eyes. The fine lines around his mouth had deepened with stress and tiredness.
“After today, yes, please.”
Without waiting for a response, she brushed past him and headed for the kitchen. Going to the small wine fridge under the counter, she pulled out a bottle of her favorite rosé. Behind her, she heard Callum getting some wine glasses down. She didn’t know if he liked this type of wine, but she hoped so. She needed a little comfort wine right now.
Once the drinks were poured, they both sat on stools at the island bench. Astrid hadn’t wanted to sit at the small table, like they normally did.
Callum’s finger trailed up and down the stem of the wineglass, as though he was contemplating how to begin.
“If you’re having trouble working out where to start, how about with what was in the box,” she suggested when the silence stretched thin between them.
“That’s the thing, I want to tell you, but I also want to protect you from knowing, which is an asshole thing to do. You have every right to know, as it happened to you.” He looked at her, his eyes pleading with her to understand why he just hadn’t told her when they were outside. It could’ve saved a lot of time and pain. “When I tell you what was in the box, it’s not something you’re going to easily forget. Waiting to tell you has made it worse for you, but I wanted it to just be us. I wanted to be able to hold you when I explained it.”
While watching Ox and Callum talk, all she’d wanted to know was what was in the box. Now, though, she couldn’t help but imagine awful things, particularly with what Callum had just said. After all, whoever was after her was part of a drug cartel. If how they were portrayed in movies and in television shows was true, they didn’t play. They got their point across in whatever manner was necessary.
Whatever was in the box, she would deal with it. Callum would help her do that.
“I understand why you did what you did. I may not be happy about it, but I get it.” Astrid reached over and took his hand, squeezing it. “Please just tell me.”
“Do you remember the prank of giving a gift in a large box but there was always other boxes in it, going down in size until there was just a small one left?”
Astrid nodded. She recalled one of her friends from culinary school telling her, her now husband, had proposed that way. Making her open like ten boxes before getting to the ring one. Somehow, she suspected that there wasn’t going to be the same happy ending to this story. “I do.”
“Well, that’s what was left on your doorstep. A package like that.”
“And the final box?” she asked, butting in because she was impatient.
“There was a severed ear,” Callum said baldly, without any emotion in his voice at all.
“An ear?” Astrid’s hand went to her ear. Who on earth sent an ear and why? “Oh my God!”
It all made sense to her, and yet it didn’t at the same time.
Immediately, Callum stood in front of her, arms wide, before she could finish speaking. “What?” he looked around the room as if he expected to find an assassin in the house with them.
“The ear. I think I know why it was sent to me.”
Callum relaxed, lowered his arms, and sat back on the stool. Instead of reaching for his wine, he took her hand. She welcomed his warmth as the reality of the message sunk further and further into her.
“Why?” he asked softly, his thumb brushing across the top of her hand.
“It’s a message saying they know everything. They know I heard the gunshots. I heard the argument. I heard them running away. I may have only seen one man, but I could probably recognize the voices if I heard them again.”
Shivers started to shimmer to life. First her legs, then her arms, then her whole body.
“I won’t let them get to you,” Callum vowed as he pulled her into his embrace.
Astrid rested her head against his chest, the steady thump soothing her frazzled nerves. As much as she wanted to believe him, today’s episode showed that they could.
“They got here, even with a guardhouse at the front of my estate.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “How did that even happen? How did whoever delivered the parcel get past them?”
“That’s something we’re going to find out. I know the police said they were going to speak to guards. Ox also mentioned he would as well. He’ll let me know if he finds anything out.”
Beneath her hands, she noticed the tension tighten every muscle in his body. A moment ago, he’d been soft against her now, not so much.
