Page 106 of Fallen Hero

Chapter Twenty-Four

I was still out of breath from my jog around the corner. Of course, my timing was shit, and I’d lost sight of the taxi Calli was in before another had shown up. I had no choice but to get back to the penthouse and my team.

I have nothing to say to you, Mason. You took something from me I wasn’t offering, and in doing so, you might’ve taken away my only opportunity to find the peace I desperately need.

Calista’s words echoed in my head, ricocheted around, and sliced me to shreds. I’d taken a lot from the woman in the last twenty-four hours. Raw pain took a tour around my bleeding insides, leaving its own damage.

I held my phone up to my ear, getting Calista’s voicemail for the third time.

“Mase?” Not even Pete calling my name could fully pull me out of the last vision I had of her getting into the taxi, looking devastated. Her last words to me had been angry, but her face was a mask of suffering.

After I get Tom what he needs, I have one more thing to do, then I’m out.

I hadn’t asked her what that one last thing was. I’d been too caught up in the feel of her. Too busy fighting an internal battle to comprehend what she’d said.

“Mason!” Pete snapped.

“I need a minute.”

I dialed Calli again.

Jason Anderson had to be that one thing.

“We don’t have a minute,” Pete said.

Goddamn voicemail. I stabbed at the screen of my phone and asked, “Who’s Jason Anderson?”

“Shep’s working on it. Now, what’s going on?”

Nothing. Everything. If Jason was her endgame, I hadn’t taken that from her. Not only because there was no way in hell Shep would’ve left a digital footprint when he got the security footage, but even if he had, seeing Calista in person would’ve tipped Jason off.

You’re not entitled to everyone’s thoughts. You don’t have the right to demand truths someone doesn’t want to give.

Fuck, but the woman was right. I’d become the one thing I hated only a little less than a liar—an entitled prick. I needed to explain why I’d overstepped. I didn’t think she understood the way she’d trembled, the fear that had rolled off of her, the way she’d flinched at the sight of him.

I might not have been entitled to her every thought or secrets, but when it came to her safety, while she was a part of the team, I would do what I had to do to keep her safe. I’d blow through every boundary, step over lines, and be the dick she loved to call me. I’d take whatever hate she wanted to throw my way as long as she was safe.

“Are you okay, brother?” Gavin inquired.

“Not even a little bit.”

“You care to explain that?” Pete pushed.

Fuck. I scrubbed my hands over my face and blew out a frustrated breath that did nothing to extinguish the burn of her verbal blows. The woman served up one hell of a tongue-lashing. She knew exactly the right buttons to push.

“I think I . . .” No, that wasn’t how I wanted to start. “I was going to . . .” That wasn’t right either.

I needed to recalibrate my brain and get my shit straight. We needed a plan and answers from Shep about this Jason character. But before we did that, I had to convince my best friend and teammate I hadn’t gone completely around the bend, which wouldn’t be easy to do, because I was fairly certain I had.

“I changed my mind. I’m actually fine.”

“You have the emotional intelligence of a toddler.” Pete thrust his hand through his hair. A clear sign I’d pushed him well past his patience.

Gavin, Aiden, and Catarina all looked like they agreed. Fallon was straight up looking at me like I was an idiot, and Jack looked like he felt sorry for me.

My best friend didn’t lose control, not even of his own hand, giving away his frustration. Before our plane had touched down in Dubai, I’d had that same detached cool. Seeing Calista in her black dress had frayed whatever control I’d thought I had. But it wasn’t the dress or the sexy shoes, or the long legs that I now knew felt better than I’d imagined wrapped around my hips.

It was that split second of wide-eyed shock when she opened the door and saw me. It was that zap of electricity. It was the energy surrounding us that I wanted to deny but couldn’t.