Page 75 of Callum

His face stays turned in Rosalind’s direction, but she doesn’t say anything. When I pull my attention from the all-out brawl happening across the room, I see she’s staring at the place where JJ’s eyes should be with an almost pleading expression. It’s like she’s begging him not to ask her that question.

“Rosalind?” She doesn’t move, her body tensing as if preparing for a fight. “Rosalind.”

“Grim.”

The word is so soft I’m not sure I’ve heard it at all, much less correctly. “What?”

“Grim,” she repeats, her eyes finally snapping to meet my gaze. “He needs to start with Grim.”

“The Grim Reaper?” JJ clarifies, and I see Grant freeze on the other side of Rosalind. He’d been watching the fight happening across the garage, but his attention is fully on our conversation now.

I see the moment Rosalind’s fingers twitch toward her knife, and I brace myself for her attack, but it doesn’t come. She visibly forces her shoulders to relax, rolling out her neck before steeling her spine. “Yes.”

“What, exactly,” my voice is far too menacing, but there isn’t much I can do about that. She has been keeping secrets from me. “Does the Grim Reaper have to do with our child?”

“You know I can’t—”

“No.” I move toward her, crowding her toward the wall and away from Grant and JJ. Her eyes are wide, but she doesn’t ask what I’m doing. She knows exactly what this is. “You don’t get to keep secrets from me anymore. Do you know where our daughter is?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why do they need to start with Grim?”

“I…fuck. Callum, please. I can’t tell you.”

“If you keep this secret for them,” my fingers press into the fresh bandage on the side of her neck, making her suck in a ragged breath. “I will drop you in the woods and let you fend for yourself. I am done protecting you from the people you choose.”

Her nails dig into my wrist, the sharp sting telling me she’s breaking skin, but I don’t break eye contact. I’m not doing this with her again. I’m not letting her pick the path of least resistance without immediate consequences.

“If anyone knows where our daughter is, it’s going to be Grim.”

“Why?” The quiet demand in the question is all I have patience for, and she seems to understand that.

“Because,” a soft tug on my forearm forces my hand away from her throat, but she doesn’t move away from me. She isn’t running from me this time. “The Grim Reaper started the GiGi’s.”

The sound of the steel prybar pinging off concrete rings through the deafening silence that follows Rosalind’s declaration.

“Son of a bitch.”

Twenty-One: Crime and Punishment

CALLUM

“I fucking knew it wasn’t Ginetta,” Grant’s smug smile turns vicious as he moves his attention to Rosalind. “Did Grim set you up in Chandler?”

I feel her lean toward me, but I step away. She chose to keep this secret even after I specifically asked if there was anything else we needed to know. She can deal with answering Grant’s questions her fucking self.

“I’m not sure,” she clears her throat, stepping forward until her shoulder bumps into my bicep. Fucking brat. “I wasn’t around back then.”

Grant clearly has more questions, but JJ cuts him off. “I’ll do my best, but you know how hard it is to track Grim down. It might take a while.”

“Your best is more than some of us deserve.”

A loud bang sounds before anyone can respond, and all eyes snap to the men on the opposite side of the garage. It’s like a Renaissance painting is taking place in front of us. Maddock is pinning one man between his back and the wall, with another in a headlock against his chest, while Merrick has the third man on the ground at his feet, prybar raised as if he’s about to deliver a fatal blow.

“Merrick!” JJ’s sharp tone brings all motion to a stop. Grant’s surprised gaze meets mine over Rosalind’s head, the same question written on both our faces: why is he yelling at Merrick? “Put. It. Down.”

The prybar clatters to the ground at Merrick’s feet as he takes two steps away from the man whose life he nearly ended. We all watch as he cracks his neck before settling his eyes on JJ. It’s like he’s willing JJ to come closer so he can strangle the man with his bare hands.

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