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As Thorpe passed Lance, he pocketed his phone and frowned "Watch over the girl for lance "I’ll watch over your girl Admit that’s what she is"
He rubbed at his forehead where a bitch of a headache was for rid of the Scottish stallion If we e that, I’ll think about it"
When hell froze over
"If you won’t make Callie yours, why not let her be happy with soht not like Sean Kirkpatrick, but he’s in love with that little vixen"
"You don’t understand" Thorpe chafed, but the less he told the others about Callie and her secrets, the better
"That you won’t claim her, but don’t want anyone else to have her? Sure, I do It’s a da alone and unhappy to pairing up"
Why did the other Do up the point that pinpricked Thorpe with the h he didn’t hate the idea of Callie being alone if he couldn’t have her And yes, he knew that was selfish as hell "But she deserves the best"
Lance shrugged "Not arguing that Just not sure he’s any worse than you encouraging her adoration when you have no intention of clai her" Thorpe opened his er in his face "Melissa, the ex-bitch, walked out on you, and it’s not an exercise you want to repeat Got it But use your fucking brain If Callie stayed even after all the ti to run out on you"
Lance couldn’t be ht be surprised"
"Her heart is yours," Lance insisted, scoffing
"Not exclusively"
And that bitter pill h of this conversation Forcing himself away, he tore into his office and tried to bury hi held his attention Half-answered e-ht now, Callie would be pressed up against aher to strip She er with sinisterCallie occupy the asshole to flush hi his nerves awfully fucking thin, as was Lance’s confrontation
He stared at the clock, watching every drag of its hands Thirty minutes took three days Finally, his cell phone chi the device from his pocket, he saw Axel’s number on the display and stabbed the button to answer "Talk to ht I had to turn the place upside down to find anything, but" Axel paused "You better be sitting I’ve got bad news, boss Really fucking bad"
CALLIE trelad you cah Thorpe all but su to say no, lovely Any opportunity to see you is one I’ll take"
She lifted the corners of her lips and hoped it looked like a s these were the last moments she’d have with Sean, that she’d already laid eyes on Thorpe for the final time, that tomorrow she’d be in another city and never see Dallas or the people who’d becoainCallie sniffled She couldn’t afford these tears and her ht?" Sean asked, curling a solicitous hand around her elbow
"I’hter, but it didn’t see The concern in Sean’s frown deepened
If he looked at her too hard, he would see that so troubled her She didn’t want her last er or rebuke as he futilely tried to pry the reasons for her mood fro was ready, including the spare key to her car since Thorpe had never given back the ones he’d swiped froo with all those years ago, along with a few other things to aid her disguise, was stowed in the trunk of her car The ether over the years was inside as well She’d take nothing else with her, not even her phone, filled with pictures of everything and everyone she loved As much as she wanted to, there was no way she could risk carrying around the lar bars installed over the club’s s, she’d loosened thehin case she ever needed to leave Earlier today, she’d tested theh, but just barely So even if she could take her memories with her, they would simply have to stay behind
Besides, a clean break was always better She’d been through this enough to know
Callie turned to the glasses of wine she’d procured earlier from Dominion’s bar and handed him the one she’d doctored in advance with two Ambien They wouldn’t hurt hiive her time to slip away She should be at least an hour or one
Ditching her little sedan and buying another would be her first priority It sucked that tomorroas Sunday Most car dealerships in Texas were closed She’d have to find a used lot somewhere and hope for the best But that was later She wanted to enjoy her lastchasm of all her empty tomorrows stretched out in front of her, and she’d have to face it soon enough
Handing his glass of wine to hirabbed her own
He raised his "A toast, lovely To new beginnings"
She tried not to cry at that irony "To new beginnings"
Hers would simply be far, far away
Sean caressed her with er lay in his saze for a few precious seconds If she’d been a norive her heart to this rateful to have hi city she wasn’t familiar with Whoever found her body would never know that she was Callindra Howe They’d never really know the woiven a pauper’s burial No one would come to her funeral because no one would care
Gawd, she’d gotten good at depressing herself None of that mattered Pick up Move on Don’t cry
"Bottoether and took a sip, watching as Sean sed some of the red wine
"That’s a mite dry, just how I like it"
Great news Hers was super sweet, but the drugs had a bitter aftertaste, and she’d known that crushing two pills into the liquid would alter the vino’s flavor
"I want to toast new beginnings because on my way in, Thorpe and I reached a bit of a truce," he explained
"That’s great!"