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I walked across the Persian throw rug into the adjoining bathroom. I saw my bag on the floor and unzipped it. I took out the toiletries, a pair of panties, and my onesie. I quickly peed and washed my face and teeth and got dressed.
When I walked out of the bathroom, I gasped, staggering back into the doorframe.
“Mr. James,” I said.
Callum James casually sat in the leather chair, one leg crooked over the other, his elbows resting on the chair arms, while the tips of his fingers touched in pyramid fashion.
“Callum,” he corrected. “I think we can drop the formalities. You are, after all, sleeping in my house.”
His house? This wasn’t a hotel? Ethan brought me to Callum’s farm?
I frowned. “Why are we here?”
“A courtesy to your brother.” He gestured to the bed. “Sit. You don’t look well.”
Yeah, because I’d chugged back a shitload of scotch, and felt like I’d been run over by a truck. And that was after I had the man I love tear my heart out and stomp all over it.
My breath hitched. Love. I loved him. I loved Vic. That didn’t just end like a love song. It played over and over again until the chords were worn and tattered, then finally snapped.
“He’s gone,” Callum said. “Darius reported seeing his truck leave town an hour ago.”
I swallowed back tears. He was gone. Vic was gone.
He might never come back. I should be glad he was gone. But the thought was crushing. Destroying.
Vic’s words repeated over and over in my head. “If there is breath in me, I promise to come back to you. You’ve always been mine….” Always. I’d been his since when? Since we’d been kids. Since he’d been that angry little boy.
Callum rose. “You are welcome to stay for as long as you need. I will be heading back to the city today, but I will leave a couple men to assist with anything you may require. And there is also Carlos, who lives in an apartment in the stables and cares for the horses.”
“Jackson—”
“Will be picked up and brought here as soon as the storm clears, if you choose to stay.”
He strode to the door and opened it. “The offer is still open for you to move into the guesthouse. But stay in the main house as long as you need.”
“Thanks,” I said, noticing Ethan in the hallway.
They spoke for a second, but I couldn’t hear what they were talking about. Didn’t care to try. All I wanted to do was sleep. Forget.
I crawled back into bed, pulling the covers up to my chin, my fingernails digging into the material. I didn’t close my eyes. I couldn’t because all I saw was him.
His face.
His eyes.
Dark gray eyes that stared at me when I stood at the top of the stairs. How they slid to the Yoda doll, then crashed with mine again.
The devastation. The pain. Then the sudden coldness as he shut everything out.
I choked on a sob.
Ethan walked around the bed and crouched in front of me. “Do you need anything?”
I closed my eyes to block him out. To block everything out.
I shook my head. “Jackson?”
“He’s fine.”
