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“Don’t ignore me, you lying bastard. You can’t ignore the truth forever. You can’t hide the truth forever. Especially now that you’re dating a goddamn princess. She’ll eventually learn who you really are! That you’re a fucking murderer!”
After that, everything happens in slow motion.
There’s a gasp from the crowd, coupled with movement as a tall, lanky man fights his way through the hordes of people. The members of my protection team all rush toward us, but not before the man jumps the barricade and heads straight for Jameson, shoving a photo in front of his face.
“Look at her, you lying son of a bitch! Look at her face and tell me you didn’t kill her, you fucking bastard!”
One of the members of my protection team tackles him to the ground, but he doesn’t go quietly, resisting as he yanks his arms behind his back, securing zip-ties to his wrists.
“Her name was Callie Sloane. And Jameson Gates killed her!”
I stare in horror and pity at the photo of a beautiful young woman that had fallen to the ground. Then Jameson and I are rushed inside, reporters fighting to get a shot of not only us, but also the man who just accused Jameson Gates of murder.
I expect him to offer some sort of reassurance that these allegations are completely baseless. Those of a deranged lunatic.
Instead, he looks as if he just saw a ghost.
One he thought was dead and buried long ago.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Esme
“We need to have a chat,” Adam announces as he sits behind the desk in the museum office his team commandeered to head their security operations for the evening. “I trust Gianna’s been in touch?”
Considering Jameson still appears to be in a state of shock, I answer for him.
“She told us to use the fact we’re at a charity event to brush off any questions for the time being. If we’re pushed, to offer our condolences, but state that Jameson’s involvement with this charity, the main objective of which is to bring home missing girls, doesn’t mean he’s responsible for this woman going missing.” I swallow hard. “Or worse.”
Adam nods. “That about sums up what she told me would be the palace’s position until we know more about Callie Sloane and her connection to the man we detained, Hayes Barlow.”
I furrow my brow, the name having a familiar ring to it. I was so surprised by the commotion and accusations that I never stopped to look at his face.
“Isn’t Hayes Barlow…”
“A driver on the European racing circuit. Earlier this summer, he made headlines, not for anything he achieved in his career, but because he claimed a female member of his pit crew had gone missing and the police refused to open an investigation.”
Adam leans across the desk and glowers at Jameson.
“If I’m to keep you both safe, both alive, I need to know everything about Hayes Barlow and Callie Sloane. Including your connection to them. Something you should have brought up the second you saw him go on the national news, if for no other reason than to prevent something like this. I don’t like surprises. And this right here is a giant fucking surprise. If he was armed, things could have been much worse.” His jaw ticks, nostrils flaring. “So start talking, Gates.”
Jameson pinches his lips together, as if debating his response. Then he sighs, shoulders slumping in defeat as he shakes his head.
“Callie Sloane was the love of my life,” he chokes out.
If we were a normal couple, hearing Jameson say something like this would shatter me.
But we aren’t a normal couple.
And my heart can’t help but ache at the pain lacing Jameson’s voice, the wound obviously still raw.
I’m reminded of the conversation we had at the start of our relationship. How lightning rarely strikes the same place twice and he wasn’t holding out for another strike of lightning.
Was Callie his strike of lightning?
“How do you know her?” Adam asks, keeping his voice low.
Jameson wipes his palms on his crisp tuxedo pants as he draws in a steadying breath. I grab his hand in an attempt to offer him the same comfort he’s often provided me. I may not have any romantic feelings toward him, but I still consider him a friend. And right now, I sense he needs a friend more than anything.
