“Mr. Ward.”
“Callahan,” Devlin countered.
“My daughter is too naïve to see you for what you are.”
Wow… straight to the point with Robert Callahan.
“And I’m sure you see me very clearly,” Devlin replied sarcastically.
“I know who you are. You’re some street scum, and I won’t let you drag her into your dangerous life. She’s too old for me to drag her out of this car without her running back to you, but I will end this. And soon.”
Devlin pushed his door open, practically tumbling my dad as he stepped out of the car to face him. “Make no mistake, Robert Allen Callahan, I also know who you are, and Juliana is the only reason I’m letting you speak to me this way. But come between us, and all bets are off. If you know me as you say you do, you won’t want to fuck with me.”
He folded himself back into his seat, slammed the door, started the car, and floored it so hard he literally left my dad in his dust. We drove back to his place without another word.
Devlin had a way of exuding a stifling sense of darkness with his restrained anger. The car was filled with that thick murkiness. I wanted to reach over and soothe him, but judging from the tightening of his jaw and the white-knuckled grip he had on the steering wheel, I knew my touch wasn’t what he needed at that point. I knew it’d taken a lot for Devlin to hold his temper with my dad. And I knew he did it for me. I prayed Dad wouldn’t cause trouble, because the last thing I needed was the two most important men in my life to go to war.
Chapter Nineteen
Devlin
You’re fucking up again.
Shut up.
You never were strong enough. Fucking pussy. What do you think you can have with this woman? Love? Look where that got me with your mother. She’ll destroy you, boy.
“Shut the fuck up!” I screamed as the voice faded away as if he’d never been there. It always took a while for me to convince myself it wasn’t real, because my mind refused to let me think otherwise. I wished I were one of those people who needed to be asleep to deal with ghosts, but that wasn’t the case. The man wasn’t even dead, and his ghost haunted me. I guess that made it worse. It made him hallucinations and not some evil spirit stalking me. I would’ve been fine admitting I saw a ghost instead of a realistic portrayal that tricked my mind into thinking Damien was here. Never knowing when he'd make an appearance and make me look insane in public.
I quickly swung my leg out from under the sheet and sat up on the edge of the bed with my head cradled in my palms, trying to contain the outrageous pain jolting through my skull.
“Are you okay?” I was startled as Juliana’s hand dropped onto my shoulder. “Devlin?”
I glanced over my shoulder, nodded—giving her false confirmation that I was fine, then stood up. Despite my nakedness, the room felt overly warm—stuffy. It always did when I saw Damien. Like he’d come back from the bowels of hell with the flames beating at his back, scorching the room.
I made my way to the bathroom, needing a moment to get my head together. A moment away from Juliana to come to grips with the fact that she made me feel the one thing I hadn’t felt since I was a little boy.
Fear.
It explained the voices of a man I’d banished years ago returning so frequently. There was nothing I feared more than becoming him, and for Juliana, that was dangerous.
A splash of cold water on my face sent a chill through my heated body. I ran a wet hand through my hair and glanced at myself in the mirror. My eyes met Juliana’s, and I braced my hands on the counter top, silently pleading with her not to push. Not to ask the question I knew she wanted answered. I’d given her everything already, but nothing at all. Until she really knew the darkness I was capable of, she’d always feel the pressure of the hand I kept outstretched between us. Because I wasn’t only afraid to let her see that side of me, I was afraid when she did, it would destroy us in more ways than one.
I couldn’t risk letting her in because once she knew who I was, she’d walk, and that was what I feared most. But it was unfair not to let her know how much she was risking and how truly dangerous this whole thing was.
She traced my spine with feather light touches. I was transfixed on her reflection in the mirror. From the messy knot she’d pulled her hair into, to the long lines of her neck, to the deep hollows of her collarbones, and to the rosy tips of her breasts, she was perfection. She never failed to bring me to life with her smile, her brilliance, and to draw the most intense reactions from me with the sexy curves of her body.
I hung my head as she ran her hands up my neck and curled her fingers into my hair. My cock hardened, my heart sped up, and my fingers dug into the edge of the sink as she pressed her naked form against my back.