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I pull back and take a good look at my dad. He’s wearing old, worn jeans and a red flannel. His eyes crinkle around the edges when he smiles. My dad and Cal are almost identical. Same brown hair and dark brown eyes. Same build. Cal is just the younger and more excitable version.
“I didn’t want to worry you,” I tell him honestly. I love my dad, but he worries more than Cal does. The two of them are like mother hens when they’re together.
Dad frowns but doesn’t say anything. Instead, he takes my hand and leads me to the couch to sit with him.
“Tell me everything. Callahan will fill in the blanks if you try to leave something out,” he says sternly. I glance at my brother to see him shrug. There’s really no arguing with Dad.
So I spend the next hour with my dad’s hand in mine, telling him my story. From the moment I left Brad, right up until I hugged him, he now knows everything. I watch hisfacial expressions vary from anger to surprise back to anger but kept going. I knew if I stopped, Cal would have to finish for me. My life has been dramatic enough without him adding his flair to it.
“I thought you were becoming more and more distant from us. I thought it was the actual miles between us, not…” I watch my dad swallow hard, knowing what I told him is hurting him.
“Dad —”
“I should have been here for you, Bellamy. I should have seen what was happening and pulled you out of that situation. I’m so sorry,” my dad says. His grip on my hand tightens, and his eyes are pleading with me to either forgive him or scream at him. I’m not sure which.
“Cal said something similar, but neither of you would’ve been able to do anything. You know how stubborn I am,” I remind him.
“I almost shit my pants when she asked for my help,” Cal adds, causing me to snort and my dad to laugh. Cal is always good at lightening the mood. Except I think this time he was serious. I’ve always valued my independence and asking for help felt weak. It’s taken a lot of work with my current therapist to realize that line of thinking will get me nowhere.
“Where’s your lawyer on this?” Dad asks Cal.
My brother rubs the back of his neck, and his face turns red.
Shit.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask calmly, even though I want to throw things at Cal right about now.
“Brad is. . . missing,” he admits sheepishly.
“I’m sorry. What?” I ask, dumbfounded. I look at my dad, who looks just as confused as I do. Though, to be fair to him, he’s getting a lot of information in a short amount of time and seems to be handling it pretty well.
“Frank had some people monitoring him while we were overseas. They lost him after we landed,” Cal says, staring at his feet instead of me.
“And you didn’t think this was important information to share with me?” I ask angrily. I can’t even tell if I’m more angry or hurt right now. I stand up and start pacing.
“I hired a whole team to track him down. I thought they would’ve found him by now and you wouldn’t have to worry.”
“What? Are we employing every private investigator on the East Coast now?” I’m still pacing. I can feel both my dad’s and Cal’s eyes on me, but I don’t look at either of them. I can understand Cal’s reasoning. I was a mess when I showed up on his doorstep months ago because of Brad. His brotherly instinct is to protect me.
But I’m far from that girl. I don’t think I realized it until this moment, but I’m not scared anymore. Just angry.
“Actually, they’re technically bounty hunters,” Cal says. I look up to see my dad looking between us, his face showing every ounce of confusion he’s feeling.
“And they haven’t come up with a lead?” Dad asks, clinging to the one bit of information he understands.
“They think he’s in the area. He’s been smart and hasn’t used his credit cards or anything they can easily track him with. Even his phone is off.”
“Does Kai know about this?” I ask, suddenly wondering how many people in my life have been keeping this from me.
Cal shakes his head. “Only me.”
I stare at my brother, looking for any sign of a lie in his face, but I don’t see one. I sigh, glad I don’t have to confront Kai later. I’m not sure I can handle him lying to me.
I thought everyone was overreacting and just being overprotective this whole time. Which isn’t out of the ordinary, especially where Cal is concerned. I should’ve known it was more than that.
“Don’t,” my dad says, grabbing my hand and pulling me down next to him again.
“Don’t what?” I ask, my voice suddenly sounding defeated.
