Page 51 of The Twisted Beats

“It should be better to talk where I am now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m in the VIP area. There’s a lounge area away from the tents and bars I found. I’ll wait for Quinn over here and I'll leave my hat and shades on.”

Perfect. She’s being smart about her surroundings. She must not be as drunk as I thought.

I sigh a breath of relief. “It’s great to hear your voice.”

“You too. I miss you.”

I close my eyes to imagine feeling her in my arms and my chest grows warm. “Livianna, I miss you more than I can express.”

“How’s the business you’re tending to? Are you any closer to coming home?” The yearning in her tone screams.

My insides empty. “It’s worse than I initially thought.”

“Is that your way of saying it’s going to be longer than a month?” Her tone is much sharper than it was mere seconds ago.

“Livianna…”

This fucking sucks. I’ve never hated a situation more thanthis one. I get ready to apologize, but before I have the chance, something occurs that throws me for a loop.

A man with a deep voice and a slight Irish accent steals my train of thought. “Hey, vixen. It’s been a while. Too long, wouldn’t you say?”

The blood in my body drains. Wait. Why the hell is he calling hervixen?

My jaw tightens and I grip the phone tighter. I want to reach through the line and tell the guy to back the fuck away from the woman I love.

My stomach forms into a rock and I wait for her to take control of the situation. A bunch of people scream.

Some of them yell, “Oh, look, it’s Cash Mayze.”

“Callum… I mean, hi. It’s nice to see you.” Livianna’s voice can barely be heard.

“Lily, why don’t you end your call?” he asks. “Let’s go somewhere we can have some privacy.”

I expect her to tell him to fuck off like I want to personally do, but then it hits me.

Why did he call her Lily?

My intuition kicks me in the gut and I lose my breath. I’m missing something big here.

Livianna cuts in. “Um… Jaxon. I need to let you go.”

“Jaxon? Really?” My lungs collapse as if I just got sucker punched. Which I did. “Livianna?—”

“I’ve got to go. I’ll text you later.”

The connection drops, and along with it, so does my heart. I’ve lost control and I’m in a free fall. I need to hold on to the edge of the couch to keep myself stable.

She only calls me Jaxon when she’s covering up our relationship. Whomever this Callum guy is, she doesn’t want him to know we’re involved.

What the fuck was that about? Why did he call her Lily? Who is Callum? And better yet, why did she hang up on me to go somewhere with him so they can have someprivacy?

That call couldn’t have gone any worse. I can’t make sense of it, so I stew and fret.

By the time I get to breakfast to meet up with my senior associate and my right-hand man through this debacle of an investment, I’m a sweaty and tense wreck.