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“That’s your choice to make. But that’s not the only issue.” When I press my lips together, Harper squeezes my shoulders in a show of comfort. “If that man gives you everything, he’s going to want everything in return. And I meaneverything.”
“I know.”
She releases me to greet a customer while I stand there in a daze. What if I’m not scared of being in Hayden’s life but frightened at the idea of him invading every part of mine? I don’t have anything to hide. However, that doesn’t mean I want to relinquish my control completely in order to be with him.
That’s what he wants.
It might be what he’s always wanted.
The door to the Sugar Cube opens, and I swing my gaze to find a delivery man striding inside. The blonde nods at me, but when he catches sight of Harper, he smiles, showing his teeth. “I have a delivery for a Calista Green,” he says.
I catch Sebastian shifting in his seat at the announcement, and I shake my head at him. “That’s me,” I tell the newcomer.
“Ooh, a package.” Harper sidles up to me with an espresso in hand. She offers it to the delivery guy with a playful pout. “It’s not a big package. How disappointing.”
He sets the box on the counter and leans forward to take the coffee from her. “This isn’t the only package I can deliver.”
“Why didn’t you say so, handsome?”
I slide the plain brown box closer, interrupting them before Sebastian decides to come over here. “Do you have a pen I can borrow?”
“That should’ve been my line,” Harper mutters.
“Sign here please,” the delivery man says, handing me an electronic pad.
I take the device from him and scribble my name. “Thank you.”
“Have a good day, handsome.” Harper waves. “I hope you have a package for me next time.”
The man winks at her and Harper’s cheeks turn as red as her hair. “I definitely will, beautiful.”
I drop my gaze to the box that’s no more than six inches in length. It’s just my name printed on the front, without a return address, and it weighs next to nothing.
“What did Mr. Tall-dark-and-dangerous-dick-size Bennett get you?” Harper asks once we’re alone. She swipes the box from my hands. “Is it a gift or an apology?”
“I doubt it. Hayden doesn’t think he’s wrong in the first place.”
“That doesn’t mean you won’t like what’s inside. Mind if I open it?”
I wave a hand. “It’s fine. I doubt there’s anything that’ll get me to change my mind.”
Harper tears into the paper, stripping it away like a T-Rex, her arms a flurry of movement. She peels back the pink tissue paper inside with her lips forming an ‘O.’
“These are sexy,” she says, holding up black underwear. “Why isn’t there a matching bra? I’m disappointed. You’d think the attorney would know how to present a case.”
I stare at the panties—mypanties—the ones that went missing the night I was assaulted in the children’s shelter.
The coffee shop fades from view as my entire focus centers on the scrap of lace in Harper’s fingers. My thoughts spiral, one following the other in rapid succession until my temples throb and my breathing thins.
Who sent this?
It has to be the person who took them.
“Oh, look,” Harper says, her voice fuzzy to my ears. “There’s a note inside. It says, ‘Will wett ink ken?’ Huh, that’s weird. Not to mention the most un-sexy thing I’ve ever read. I can’t believe…”
Her voice fades amidst the pounding in my head. Is that my heart struggling to beat? Or has it stopped due to the horror streaming through me, invading every inch of skin and every drop of blood?
“Calista, are you okay?”
