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“And you better not find out,” he said through gritted teeth. “Thank fucking god you’re living with me. I’m not letting you move out unless it’s with Calloway.”
The thing I loved most about Christopher was his innate calmness. He was always carefree and easygoing. He was never overprotective of me, especially after we became adults. He encouraged me to go out and live my life. But the second I was threatened, disrespected, or in danger, he flipped out. “Please don’t tell him, Christopher. It’s important to me.”
“Why would you not tell him? He’s your boyfriend, right?”
“Yes.” He was more than just my boyfriend. My heart was twisted so hard around his fingers that I could never get free. “But Calloway is…” He was difficult to put into words. “I really think he might kill Hank.”
Christopher smiled, but it was in a ruthless, terrifying kind of way. “Good. Then I should definitely tell him.”
“I don’t want Calloway to ruin his reputation and his company over this. I really believe Hank will leave me alone. I’m not afraid of him. If he lays a hand on me, trust me, I’ll kick his ass.”
“But not before he breaks your arm again.”
Sorrow washed over me with the memory. Christopher had sat beside me at the hospital, so angry he cried. I didn’t want to relive that moment, to see Christopher feeling so bad for me that he felt bad too. “Everything will be okay. There’s no need to get so worked up.”
He shook his head.
“We need to keep this between us.”
“I think you’re being really unfair to Calloway. He should know what he’s dealing with. It’s wrong to keep him in the dark like this.”
“I’ll tell him.” My feelings for Calloway were undeniably clear. The second I gave myself to him, I knew how I felt. He was the man I’d been waiting all my life to meet. He was the male version of myself. I wanted to share everything about my soul with him—but not all at once. “I just don’t want to drop this on him right now. We’re still getting to know one another.”
“You’ve been dating for three months,” Christopher hissed. “You should know everything about each other by now.”
“Not us. We’re taking it slow.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’ll say…”
“So, please keep this to yourself. I’ll tell him when I’m ready. I know there’s stuff he’s keeping from me too. It’s not like this is a one-way street.”
Christopher finally picked up his sandwich and took a bite. “Fine. Whatever.”
That was the most I was going to get out of him. “Thank you.”
“But we need to figure something out with Hank,” he said. “Maybe you should move your office.”
“Like I can afford to just move my business.”
He finished half his sandwich in a few bites, obviously starving since we spent most of our lunch hour yelling. “No offense, but your business isn’t really a business. You don’t make shit, and the company is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Maybe you should just walk away from it.”
“And do what?” I asked. “That place is my life.”
“I’d bet my right hand Calloway would give you a job in a heartbeat.”
He would. There was no doubt about it.
“You can do what you love and actually make a living while doing it.”
I shook my head. “I could never ask him for a handout.”
“Why not? He wouldn’t mind.”
“I’m not with Calloway because he’s rich and wealthy. I like him for him—nothing else.”
Christopher rolled his eyes. “That’s not what this is about. And he knows that.”
“He offers me a lot of things, but I never take them because I respect him too much. If I asked him for something, it would seem like I’m using him. And if I really want a job, I can apply for one all on my own.”
“His company rejected you twice,” Christopher reminded me. “Still not sure how a Harvard graduate gets ignored, but whatever.”
“Education isn’t important to Calloway. He never went to college.”
“He didn’t?” he asked, intrigued. “That’s so cool. He built that company all on his own?”
I nodded.
“Badass,” he said. “I wish I could be like him.”
“You are like him,” I reminded him.
“Not really,” he said. “I work for a boss. I get a commission. I have business hours. Not Calloway. That guy can do whatever the hell he wants, when he wants.”
“One day, you’ll get there. Building an empire takes time.”
“Anyway,” Christopher said, picking up the other half of his sandwich. “You should ask him. If you aren’t going to tell him the truth about Hank, you should at least do this. He may not realize it, but he’ll be grateful when you work in a huge building around other people so Hank can’t just waltz in there whenever he feels like. You’re totally vulnerable in that tiny little office.”
