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PROLOGUE
CALLIE
“What the fuck were you thinking, Cal? There is a young girl out there who could be scared and alone. Put yourself in her shoes. For once in your life think of someone other than yourself. You were always a spoiled brat when we were growing up; now’s the time to prove you’ve grown up.” My brother’s voice has a bite to it.
Carter’s words hit at my heart, causing an ache deep inside. I’ve known for a long time that most of my family thinks Daddy dotes on me. But this right here, my brother’s anger, is proof they have disdain for me. That they only deal with me because I’m family.
“Carter, I swear if I knew where Piper was, I’d tell you. I didn’t want her to run off. It hurts—”
“No, Callie. No! You don’t get to make this about you. Enough is enough.” He grabs my arm as I turn toward the kitchen in the cottage he and I share.
I love living in Scotland. Well, I did until yesterday when everything I’ve been planning backfired in my face. I thoughtheliked me like I liked him, but I was so wrong.
“I’ve had enough of you. I’m done.” Carter throws up his hands.
I shake my head as I try to wrap my mind around the words coming from my twin brother’s lips. I can’t focus on what happened today because all I keep going over is what happened last night.
“Are you even listening to me, Callie?”
Carter’s voice intrudes on my heartbreak. Although we are fraternal twins, my mother is always comparing us. So did most of the town where we grew up. He was the football star and war hero, and I was always lacking.
“You know, you aren’t the prom and homecoming queen anymore. Jeez, girl, it’s been over thirteen years since you were a wide-eyed, dumb eighteen-year-old. Don’t you think it’s time to grow up. Time to move on. You couldn’t even decide when you wanted to get married, so your fiancé left you.” His words hit me like a ton of bricks knocking the air from my lungs. But he doesn’t relent. “You know he loved you. Just like college and everything else in your life, you can’t be an adult.”
“It wasn’t like—”
“Don’t give me any more of your excuses. Maybe Dad believes them, but even he’s disappointed you couldn’t settle down for Kyle.”
“I swear to God, Carter, you need to stop right now. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
For once I stand up to my family about Kyle. They have no clue what really happened. I’ve kept the secret because when my mother assumed it was my fault to begin with, I realized what my family truly thought of me. Oh, they love me. They’d take a bullet for me. But to them I’m the misfit. The flake. The Peter Pan girl. They think I don’t want to grow up, but that’s all I’ve wanted to do. Grow up and get away from them.
“I don’t know whatI’mtalking about? For fuck’s sake, Callie, a girl is in danger because you had to mess with a younger guy. You had to get involved with someone we work with. If something happens to Piper, it will be your fault.”
“How is her taking off my fault?” Again, I defend myself. “I swear it’s not what you think at all, Carter. It was a misunderstanding. Luca is a friend, and that’s all. Why does everyone assume it’s more?”
“You’re friends? That’s what you call fuck buddies? Everyone knows how you two spend time together all the time. He’s only twenty-five and you’re thirty-one. For God’s sake, Callie, what were you thinking?”
“If I were into Luca, that would be none of your business. And our age gap isn’t bad at all. Look at Demi and Ashton.”
“Like they are examples to live by.” I hear the sarcasm in his voice. Plus, the angrier he gets, the thicker his accent. “They’redivorced,Callie,” he says slowly, like I’m stupid or something. I know they’re divorced now, but until he cheated, they were good. Right? I don’t know what broke them up. I’m just grasping at straws to get my brother to leave me alone. “You need to figure out what to do with your life. I’m tired of helping you out. You can’t live your life with your greatest accomplishment being you were the high school queen bee and cheerleader.”
That really hurts because I’ve tried to do things with my life. I can’t help what happened in college with Kyle. I can’t change that my heart was broken and I quit instead of failing. None of my family knows what I sacrificed. None of them care to hear my side of the story.
Carter offered to help me move here. It was meant to be a fresh start. Somewhere nobody knew about me or my past. But I was wrong because my brother was here. Every chance he got, he reminded me of my failures. Or what they all think happened.
Luca and I became friends because we both had a secret. We had to hide our true feelings, so we decided to hang out together instead of wallowing in self-pity. I learned a lot about him. He helped me sign up for the college courses I’ve been taking via long-distance learning to work on my degree. But my brother doesn’t know that. I’ve even kept it from our bosses, though I’m sure Bekah has an idea. She’s the woman I replaced as the receptionist for Securities International. She’s a computer genius and helped teach me some things. I’m working toward a degree in business administration. I’m hoping it will show Maya and Joshua I’m serious about working for them.
I’ve made mistakes in the past, including here when I accidentally transferred a call I shouldn’t have. It resulted in Vivian running away from Timothy. I’ve lost numerous jobs over the years because I didn’t always understand what I was doing, but now I do. I’ve implemented new organization and processes for S.I. But now I doubt they’ll even care because of what happened with Piper today. I tried to stop Luca only to tell him something, but everyone assumed I was stopping him because he and I are into each other.
In the beginning we wanted everyone to think we were together so it would take focus off the fact we actually liked other people. I’ve been into Declan since the first moment he stepped into the office with Paige. But now I know he’s not into me.
“I have to go help find Piper. Maybe you should just lie low for a bit. It’s time for you to grow up, Callie. Dad and I can’t keep bailing you out. This time it’s serious; someone else’s life is in jeopardy.”
CHAPTERONE
THIRTEEN MONTHS LATER
CALLIE
