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“I don’t know that I want to hear the details,” Callum snarls.
“But you need to because you asked me what we’re dealing with. I know you can probably imagine a lot of it because I know you watched your mother live it. I’m just going to tell you the worst of it.” Callum watches me warily. “After we’d been married almost three years, Joshua wanted to have a baby.” Callum turns his head and stares out the window. “I agreed. I thought it might fix things. At any rate, I was only a little over two months pregnant when Joshua knocked me down the stairs in a fit of rage. He was mad because I’d burned dinner that night.”
“Motherfucker,” Callum says as he bursts up out of his chair, hands clenched in rage. “How bad were you hurt?”
“A broken arm. And I lost the baby.” The pain wells up in my chest when I think back on those days.
Callum drops before me, his hands resting lightly on my knees. “If I had known, Juni… I would have rescued you then.”
The alcohol makes my head swim and I want to smooth the worry lines from his face with my fingertips. But I don’t touch him. It’s not my place.
I clear my throat and push up from the chair, causing Callum to rise and move back from me. I pick up my drink and take another sip.
Callum wants more of the truth though. “Did you try to get pregnant again?”
I want to tell him it’s none of his business but really… he’s heard the worst. I shake my head. “I secretly got an IUD. Joshua never knew. Of course, he blamed my inability to get pregnant on me and I paid for that decision in other ways.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Callum says, his tone flat… almost robotic.
It’s his lack of emotion that scares me. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not worth it.”
Callum’s expression is unyielding, but he leaves the thought of murder alone. “My mom’s right. You’re right. He’s not going to just give you up.”
“Agreed. I’m going to have to grow eyes in the back of my head so I can always see him coming. I’ll rent an apartment or something affordable, and I know how to shoot a gun. I’ll get a restraining order if—”
“You’re coming to Pittsburgh with me,” Callum says.
My jaw drops. “Excuse me?”
“You’re coming to Pittsburgh. It’s the safest place for you and I’m betting Joshua will have an easier time letting you go if you’re not around.”
“But I can’t… my dad… my job.”
“I’ve got your dad already pre-admitted into an excellent facility near my house. Better than where he’s at right now. And you can get any number of jobs doing exactly what you’re doing here. I’ve already talked to Brienne and she’s got contacts.”
“Whoa… wait a minute. You discussed me with your boss? You made arrangements for my dad without asking me?”
“Juni… we don’t have time—”
“Don’t you Juni me, Callum Derringer. You’re making decisions and controlling me exactly the way Joshua did.”
Callum’s hands shoot out and cup my face. I’m so startled, my drink sloshes over the rim, but his face looming in front of mine makes me ignore the spill. “Never the way Joshua did. I would never force you to do anything you didn’t want to. I would never hurt you. Never demean you. Don’t you ever compare me to him, do you hear me?”
His tone is angry but his hands are featherlight on my face. I can only nod.
“Let me rephrase what I said. Will you please consider coming to Pittsburgh with me? The only thing holding you here would be your job and maybe they can let you work remotely, you can take a sabbatical, or I can help you find a new job in Pittsburgh. Let me help you and your dad the way I wasn’t able to all those years ago.”
“Callum,” I whisper, overwhelmed by his passionate plea. His generosity. “You don’t need to do this.”
“I want to do this,” he says quietly. “Please let me help you, okay?”
I’m lost in his eyes. The earnest honesty shining back at me. His deep desire to make things right.
There’s no way I can say no.
CHAPTER 9
Callum
