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Confusion overtakes his expression. “What are you talking about? What does Delaney’s uncle have to do with anything?”
“Cal is Dominic fucking Callahan.” His jaw drops. “Yeah, I learned that when Laney introduced us at the gala on Saturday.”
“Holy shit.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t know. Haven’t you two been close since you were younger?”
He shakes his head. “We were for a few years, but our parents were never like that. And then I moved away for a while.” I watch as it all clicks into place for him and he sighs. “So that’s why you broke up with her.”
“I needed to get her out of harm’s way. Her being far away from me is the only way to do that.”
“You really think he would hurt his own niece, though?”
“He’s already threatened her life,” I explain. “I can’t risk that. I’d never be able to live with myself if something happened to her because of me.”
He leans against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Shit, man. I had no idea.”
Knowing his girlfriend is Delaney’s best friend, the urge to ask him a million questions is so strong it’s suffocating, but the answers won’t help any. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and chug half of it, knowing I need to sober up. Once I’m done, I allow myself to ask one.
“Is she okay?”
Gray looks at me and the look on his face already tells me she’s not. He shrugs. “She’s upset. I think it’s mainly because she doesn’t understand, but she’ll get there. I’d probably avoid Savannah at all costs, though, if I were you.”
I wince. “She’s ready to kill me, isn’t she?”
Chuckling, he nods. “That’s putting it nicely. I’m pretty sure what she has in mind is a little less humane.”
“Fucking great.”
“Don’t worry about it now.” He takes a step toward me and puts out his hand. “Come on. Let’s go get some food in your system. Soak up some of that alcohol.”
I MARCH UP THE stairs and straight into Cal’s office. After spending the afternoon with Grayson yesterday, I only became angrier. The rage inside of me has been building for the last twenty-four hours, and the fight tonight is the perfect place to let it out. But first…
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” I shout as soon as I walk through the door.
He smirks. “Well, it’s good to see you, too, boy.”
“You are one twisted prick. You’re that fucked up that you would threaten to hurt your own niece?”
The devious chuckle that comes out of him should intimidate me, but it doesn’t. “You stupid son of a bitch. I’d snuff out my own mother if it meant getting ahead. How do you think I got where I am today?”
He’s being sincere. This man spares no fucks for anyone else. A sick part of me can admire that level of self-preservation: no one can hurt you if you don’t allow yourself to care. However, I don’t think I’d ever stoop as low as threatening my own flesh and blood.
“Yeah, well, joke’s on you. I broke up with Delaney after the gala.”
His brows raise. “That doesn’t mean you don’t care for her.”
Closing myself off the best way I know how, I smirk. “I don’t have the capacity to care about anyone. She was fun for a bit, but nothing more than a good fuck.”
I watch as he tries to get a read on me. Finally, laughter bellows out of him. “There may just be hope for you, yet.” He takes out two cigars and lights one before handing the other and a lighter to me. “I was surprised to see you with Delaney in the first place. Tessa seems more your speed.”
“Tessa is a fucking psychopath.”
He grins. “I know. That’s why she’s my favorite. She’s got some spunk in her, that one. Not like Delaney. She’s a weak little shit—takes after her mother.”
Listening him talk about her that way makes me want to level him, but I need to play my cards right. No part of him can see that every second without that girl by my side is an agonizing one. It’s the only way to protect her from the one man who might have the ability to hurt her worse than me.
23
