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“I asked you to be sure. You were sure. Fuck.” Miles sounds as pissed as I am.
“All I saw was Annalise and those awful articles. You remember those? The ones about how I was bad in bed and how she thought my body was disgusting.”
His face softens with sympathy. “Yeah. I remember.” Miles sits next to me, and I let my head drop into my hands. “I get it. I saw how devastated you were. But Callie didn’t. Did you see the look on her face just now? You betrayed her.” He releases a heavy breath. “I don’t know if you can get her back.”
“I can’t accept that.” The thought of losing Callie forever makes my chest pinch.
“Then you need a plan. A really good fucking plan. I’ll call Lane. I suggest you talk to your sister.”
Miles claps me on the shoulder, affection evident in the way his hand lingers.
All I know is that I definitely don’t deserve it.
56
Callie
The first days after the meeting, I’m numb. I don’t leave my room, I don’t eat, I just sleep. I sleep and I worry about our future. I can start another paper, I can sell photos to the Post, but we need to pay rent, and Jonah was easily my best subject. My brain veers away from the topic of Jonah every time I think his name.
My dad and I need a plan.
I finally tell my dad the news on Wednesday morning. We’re having coffee in the kitchen, regular for me, decaf for him.
“Dad.” I blow out a breath. I need to rip this off like a Band-Aid. “The paper is gone. Jonah closed it. And it’s all my fault.”
“What did you say?” His brow wrinkles in confusion.
“I got, um, involved with Jonah. But it didn’t work out. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Oh, Callie.”
“No, Dad, let me finish.” I take a deep breath. “I finally figured out what happened. Jonah sent me some photos. I uploaded them to the cloud automatically, so they were available for the site. You know I do that with the photos I take on my phone.”
My dad nods and a pit yawns in my stomach at the words I’m about to say. “Jonah’s business rival hacked the site. I called the domain provider.” I can’t even look at my dad. “He published the photos and Jonah thought I did it.” My chest aches with the weight of my regret. I shouldn’t have fallen in love with Jonah. I shouldn’t have uploaded the photos. As much as I want to hate Jonah for this, I understand. He was cruel, but the evidence was damning. The thought of being so exposed makes my skin crawl.
“He retaliated by shutting down the paper.” Now that I’ve had a few days, I’ve realized the extent of Jonah’s destruction. “Our website is gone, the printing contract is canceled, and the press passes were pulled.” That hurt most of all. I’d fought hard to be recognized as a legitimate paper for years. The press pass was a culmination of those efforts. Gone with a stroke of Jonah’s pen.
“Oh, Cal.” My dad puts a hand on my shoulder, and I squeeze my eyes shut. “It’s not your fault. I knew letting Jonah invest in the paper was a risk. He could have sold it or closed it whenever he wanted. I don’t blame you.”
“I blame myself,” I whisper. “You loved that paper. I’m sorry.”
He sighs. “I’m more worried about you. I’ve barely seen you. How serious were you and Jonah?” His sharp blue eyes assess me and I look away.
“I loved him,” I admit, my voice cracking. “I fell in love with him, and he fell in love with me, and it ended horribly. And the worst part is, I still love him.”
My dad winces but loops an arm over my shoulders. “Love doesn’t just go away, Cal.”
That’s exactly what I feared.
* * *
The next morning, after I’ve stuffed my hair under a beanie and slogged out the door to take photos, I see a sleek black car idling at the curb. My stomach sinks. I know that car. Just like I know its occupant. Why is he here? I tuck my chin into my jacket. Maybe he won’t recognize me.
“Callie.”
I turn, against my better judgment, and take Jonah in. My heart clenches at this sight of him. He’s in a suit, but there are blue circles under his eyes. His hair is standing in every direction, like he spent all night running his fingers through it. His eyes are shadowed with regret. Too fucking bad.
“Come to torment me again, Jonah? Haven’t I suffered enough?”
