LOGIN“What have you got?”Vin slowly disentangled himself from where he was wrapped around a sleeping Callie. He kept his voice low, unwilling to wake his songbird. She needed her rest.It’s been two days since the bombing. Two days since Callie was safely in his arms again, but Vin couldn’t rest. Not until he was certain Reich was six feet under.“Nothing yet,” came Soren’s reply. He’d volunteered to start Reich’s interrogation. Vin knew Soren didn’t trust anybody else right now, and the crime lord was thankful for Soren’s initiative, for he didn’t want to leave Callie’s side sooner than necessary. “But I’ve barely begun. He’ll be singing soon.”Vin scoffed. “Gotta give him credit. I thought he’d break before you got started.” Soren replied with an empty chuckle, which didn’t escape Vin’s notice. His second was tired of this shi,t too. All of them were. “I’m on my way.”Vin was showered and dressed in dark clothing and was at The Tomb in record time. With everything going on, his group ha
Callie wrinkled her nose at the ticklish feeling of hair brushing across her face. The smell struck her before anything else. The scent of soap and freshly brewed coffee filtered into her nostrils as she opened her eyes.She stretched and winced as she realized her neck was stiff from her sleeping position.Huh?She was in a bed, a firm one with soft blankets. Didn’t she fall asleep on the couch with Vin inside the panic room?“Finally awake, I see,” came Vin’s familiar voice. “I carried you to the bed if that’s what you were wondering.”“Vin!” She finally turned toward his voice, basking in the warmth coming in from the drawn curtains. She must have slept through the entire night and most of the morning.Carrying a steaming mug of coffee, Vin strode toward and sat on the bed. It dipped with his weight, and he handed the mug to Callie.“How are you feeling?” he asked, noticing that Callie had been staring at him like she couldn’t believe he was real. “Are you alright, Callie?”The fra
Another explosion rocked the building. Lights flickered off, and suddenly their forms were bathed in the bright white of the emergency lights. Outside, windows shattered, and everything was in chaos.Callie didn’t even realize that Vin had covered her body with his, shielding her, holding her steady as explosion after explosion pummeled the house.“Hold that thought, sweetheart,” he whispered against her ear, smirking. “There’s something I need to take care of first. Hold onto me.”Before Callie could respond, Vin had her comfortably settled in his arms as he carried her out of the room.By the sound of the explosions, they came from the opposite side of the building—the least protected, but at least it was the farthest away from his safe room.Only members of his security teams and his circle knew of this weakness, but he chose to file that information away to dissect later. He needed to get Callie to safety first. These attacks would not stop until he had Reich six feet under.His m
The last thing Callie remembered was the smell of Vin clinging to her nostrils, chasing away the smell of rot and blood that seemed to seep from her pores.Vaguely, she recalled the car ride back home and how Vin carried her from the car up to the penthouse. She seemed to remember the penthouse being crawling with armed men, the first time Callie had ever seen that many soldiers around Vin’s home.But that wasn’t important right now.The smell of antiseptic filled her nostrils now, and beneath her, she felt the softness of the bed that she was all too familiar with.Callie’s tears threatened to fall at the memory of her and Vin tangled in these very same sheets. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
With a hand over her mouth, she tried not to make a sound; she willed her heart to stop pounding so damn hard.Voices drew closer; her pursuers were almost upon her.All that was left for her to do was pray. She prayed for the pain to subside. She prayed Cullen’s men would be dumb enough to follow her fake trail. She prayed that Vin would find her.Callie allowed a small smile to form on her lips. Despite the circumstances, it was still the thought of Vin that brought her comfort. But she couldn’t count on him now. She only had herself to rely on, and it would have to be enough, because no help was coming.With trash covering even her face, Callie could only see through a small gap. The voices were now just outside
Shit. No, this can’t be happening.The shouting came after the alarms, which still rang in the air like the soundtrack to Callie’s capture. The pickup truck started to slow down, along with Callie’s hopes.This was it. She’s going to get caught again, and she’ll be punished. Brutally.Callie’s hands shook with a mix of fear and determination. This couldn’t be the end. After everything she’d survived, she was not throwing the towel in now.Without another thought, Callie threw the blanket off and leaped from the side of the truck. Ignoring the pain in her knees and ankles, she took off into a wild sprint, headed for the quickly closing metal gates.
Soren stared at Vin, worried about his friend. He had suspected that the letter would contain some kind of message from Jimmy, but he didn’t want to break the news to Vin. There was no way to make this easy for him.Vin could lie to himself all he wanted, but anyone with eyes could see that he was in
The air in Vin’s office seemed to thin by the minute. It had not been a day, and yet Callie’s absence weighed on him like they had been apart for years.There was only so much he could do to distract himself from the fact, but Sienna, Callie’s best friend was not making it easy for him.“How could you
I love you.I love you.I love you.Those three words kept replaying in Vin’s head since Callie uttered them.Those three words kept Vin awake.Did she not realize what she said?Did she mean it?It was too soon.It’s not safe yet.So, Vin lay there with his eyes closed, but never really found the chance to
It was tricky to drive with one hand clasped in another’s but Vin made it work. Callie showed no signs of letting his hand go and who was he to deny her the comfort this little gesture brought her?Callie stared at the hand she held in hers.There was no doubt about it. The warmth she felt as she held







