Hard Up(14)

Callum hustled her down the hallway that led to the identical bedrooms. He pointed to the guest bedroom door and followed her inside; the furniture was a little dusty, since no one ever stayed with him, but it had a big comfortable bed and those same beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Huh,” Viola said as she dumped her bag on the bed.

“Bathroom’s in the hall, between the bedrooms,” he said, pointing at the adjoining door. “And a walk-in closet. Not that you need to get too settled in or anything.”

Viola frowned. “Okay.”

“Stay put,” he ordered, turning and closing the door behind him.

He stilled for a second, exhaling a pent-up breath. Having her in his house was… strange.

He moved to his bedroom and quickly changed out of his clothes, dumping them in his laundry hamper. He was still moving slow, but the pain in his shoulder was almost gone. The pain in his hip was… bearable.

Callum headed back down the hall, finding Cormac and Declan waiting for him on the balcony. Or verandah, as Savannah locals might say.

Callum had lived in the South for months now, taking care of the Cúram’s holdings in Savannah. He still didn’t quite get the Southern accent or slang, being Boston born and bred.

He stepped out onto the balcony, frowning when Declan and Cormac went silent at his approach. He didn’t like being talked about, it was one of his pet peeves.

“Go ahead,” he said to them.

“Fucking A,” Cormac said, shaking his head and looking away. “What the hell have you got us into this time, Cal?”

Callum didn’t react. Of course they were going to be mad that he’d brought a stranger into their midst. If he was in their shoes, he’d be pissed, too.

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” he said slowly.

Declan grunted. “Look, she’s a perfectly nice girl. Bad bartender, nice tits, all that. None of it explains why she’s here, compromising our whole fucking operation.”

“I told you, she saved my damned life,” Callum said, leaning against the balcony’s wrought-iron railing and crossing his arms.

“So why not just give her some money to get out of town?” Cormac asked.

Callum squinted at him. “She shot one of the Valetti hitters, right as he stood over me with a gun leveled at my chest. Ordinary bystander, getting involved in Valetti family doings? They’d hunt her down and make an example out of her.”

“Yeah, well. It’s not exactly the first time you’ve gotten involved with a female civilian, is it?” Cormac said.

Callum flinched. “That’s unfair. What happened with Azara, that couldn’t have been guessed at.”

“Well, maybe if you weren’t off making eyes at her, the whole day would’ve gone down differently and our unit would still be alive,” Cormac said, jabbing an accusing finger at Callum.

“Fuck off with that,” Callum growled.

“Hey, hey,” Declan said, ever the peacemaker. “Cormac, you fucking know that’s not true. We were set up from the beginning. None of that has anything to do with Callum’s… flirtation.”

Cormac muttered a curse and looked away again, this time with a tic in his jaw.

“Chill the fuck out,” Declan warned them both. “We made a pact, coming into this. We promised not to bring up the past, said that we would only look forward from here out. Savannah is a fresh start for all of us.”

He gave Cormac a meaningful look; Cormac’s own taboo romance had blown up in his face in Boston, and that was one of the main reasons they’d ended up stationed so far away from the rest of the Cúram.

“You know what? Do whatever you want. Tell her everything, blow our cover, get us all fucking killed,” Cormac said, storming off into the house. “I’ll be in the fucking car.”

Callum pinched the bridge of his nose. Declan sighed and shook his head.

“He’s never going to forgive me,” Callum said.

The same taboo love affair that had sent the Black Saints running from Boston had ended with the death of Cormac’s girlfriend. The girl was killed while she was with Callum, running a routine money drop between safe houses.

Cormac was never the warmest soul, but the death of his girl had turned his heart to ice. Sometimes Callum actually, genuinely worried for his friend’s soul.

“He’s still hurting. In time, he’ll come around,” Declan sighed.

He cocked his head, prompting Callum to turn around. Viola had apparently not taken his command to stay put very seriously, because she was wandering around the kitchen with a curious expression.

“She’s going to be a handful,” Callum sighed.