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She nods. "Yeah, what about it?"
"I think they know I'm here." I pull the note from my pocket and hand it to her, and her eyes widen when she reads it. "I found this on my car after we left Maria's. What if they know I told you, Avery? God, how could I be so fucking stupid? I should’ve never gotten you into this mess."
"You don't know this is from them." She shakes her head and touches my arm to reassure me.
I shake her off of me and begin to pace around the room. "Who the hell else would it be from? Why would anyone else have a desire to tell me they’re watching me?"
"You said if they found you, they would make you go back, right?
I nod and give her a few minutes to explain her train of thought.
"If this was them, wouldn't they have just come and grabbed you instead of leaving you weird notes saying they were watching?"
She has a point, but I’m not fully convinced yet. "Maybe my father just wants to play mind games with me before he does. You don't know how cruel he’s capable of being."
Avery throws her hands up in the air, clearly frustrated with how I’m acting at the moment. "I won't let them take you, Cal. You really need to talk to Julian, though, because if this is them and they’re watching, who's to say what they would do to him. You said your father killed your boyfriend and mother, right?"
"Oh my god! He’s been so weird all day. What if they got to him? What if they know he proposed last night, and my father hauled him away somewhere and is sending me messages from his phone to keep me thinking everything is okay before they come and take me back?"
"Give me your phone," she says, and I hand it over to her. She scrolls through the contact list until she finds Julian and hits thecall button, placing it on speaker. He picks up on the fourth ring. Instantly, I feel myself calm down, at least a little bit.
"Hey, sweet girl. I can't really talk right now. I had some work stuff come up today after the gym and am about to go into a meeting. I'm so sorry. I promise I’ll be home as soon as I can. Is everything okay?"
"Julian, this is Avery. I just wanted to let you know I stopped over to hang with our girl for a little longer, and I plan on having her completely inebriated by the time you get home so I can celebrate the big news with her. Congratulations, by the way."
"Oh, hi Avery, um yeah, that's fine. You could have just texted me, though. I thought something was wrong. Just make sure she drinks water while you have her drinking whatever else. I really have to hop off here if there's nothing else. My meeting is about to start."
“Actually, yeah. Callie’s car is still at Maria’s.”
“No worries. I’ll have a co-worker drop it off after our meeting. I really have to go though.”
"Sure thing. Bye," she says as she clicks the end button on the phone before looking at me. "See, he's fine. You’re overreacting."
"I don't think I am reacting enough in this situation. There are too many unknowns right now, and my first instinct is to run from all of this so that if they’re watching me, I can get away in time."
"Callie, look at me. You’re done running. You built something for yourself here, and I have your back. Go sit your ass on the couch. I'll make us something to drink so we can talkthrough all this shit calmly and figure out the next steps. I know I've already said this, but if you really think this is your father, you have to tell Julian. He should be involved in whatever decision you make going forward."
"I know." I sigh, flopping down on the couch.
Avery wanders over to my kitchen to mix us up a classic gin and tonic. Gin isn't a go-to liquor choice for most people, but it's my absolute favorite. It tastes like pine trees and happiness, which is exactly what I need right now to drown my thoughts. She saunters to the couch, sits beside me, and hands me my glass.
"Okay. Let's think about this. Is there anyone else that would leave you something like that?" she mumbles while sipping her drink.
"I honestly have no idea. Outside of my father and the society, I never let anyone in until I came here and met you and Julian."
"You said he's going through some business acquisition, right? Maybe he pissed someone off?" She places her glass down on the coffee table.
"It's possible, but again, the most obvious scenario here is that my father has finally tracked me down." My father has to be involved somehow.
"I just don't think it's your father, Cal. My gut is telling me there’s something we are missing."
We talk for another two hours, exhausting every possibility, but I’m still convinced this is my father's doing. I'm several drinks in now and tired of talking about it, so I ask her if she wants to catch up on our favorite TV show. It's based on a book serieswhere the lead female travels back in time and is forced to marry a hot Scotsman. What an inconvenience for her. We’ve been bingeing through the last few seasons, trying to get our fix. The hot Scotsman is my favorite, but Avery is obsessed with his godfather.
I glance at my phone and don't see any new messages from Julian, so I text him to make sure he’s still ok. This entire situation has me on edge. It's a little after midnight now. He should be home. I see the three little bubbles pop up, and a few seconds later, he replies that he is finishing up and heading home soon. I'm not sure what he considers soon because we watch two more episodes of our show before I doze off on the couch.
I’m woken up by the smell of black licorice and tobacco- Julian. I snuggle into his arms as he lifts me up to carry me to our bed and tucks me under the covers. He's gone for a few minutes and then comes back and slides into bed with me, wrapping his arm around me possessively. As I drift back to sleep, I hear him whisper something about me being his. I couldn't quite make it out because my dreams pulled me back under, but it seemed a little odd.
The next morning, I wake up to the smell of coffee, throw on a pair of leggings and an oversized tee, and make my way to the kitchen. I barely remember Julian bringing me to bed last night, and I have no idea what time it was. Avery is awake and sitting at our breakfast bar, sipping on a cup of coffee, and having a casual conversation with Julian when I walk into the room.
