Page 43 of Bound By Secrets

“Yeah, I get that, but what do we do with the video? He’s confessed, so that’s evidence, but we’ve also assaulted him and held him hostage too. That’ll go against us.”

“I can get Henry to edit it, and then I’ll take it to Colin, we can then decide what to do with him after that,” Johnny says, sighing in frustration. “Let’s get back in there, try to get some information out of him about the locations of Derek’s warehouses or something.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Callie

Nate, Callum, and Connor walk back into the kitchen and sit down at the table with us again. It’s been at least ten minutes since I’d finished talking about our home life and everything to do with Fraser. We’re all sitting in a comfortable silence, individually thinking about every revelation that I spoke about.

“Our parents are probably going to be home within the next hour or so,” Nate says, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, we’ll head out soon anyway,” Callum tells him, earning a nod of agreement from Connor.

“You got any paper?” Every set of eyes moves in Connor’s direction. He looks between us all and rolls his eyes. “I’d like to write a letter before I leave so that it’s here for when your dad gets home,” he adds.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Let me go get you some!”

As Kat leaves the room, Nate walks over to the counter and reaches for a couple pens before handing them over to Callum and Connor. When he holds the last one out for me, I shake my head.

“I’ll write mine another time and give it to Colin before he leaves. I don’t want to do it now.” He nods and takes the pen back.

“Does anybody want a drink or something to eat?” he asks softly, padding over to the fridge. We all decline his offer, and he sighs, closing the fridge and coming to sit back down. He starts to tap his fingers rhythmically against the wood of the table until Brad nudges his arm and tells him to stop.

“I’m sorry, I’m just feeling a little awkward now. I don’t know what to do or what to say.”

“There’s nothing for you to say or do, Nate,” I tell him. “If you want us to leave, then that’s fine, and we completely understand.”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that!” He rushes out, his eyes wide as he looks at me and then the twins. “I want you to stay. I just don’t think I can handle talking about anything else bad again."

“Why don’t we go watch a movie? That way, these guys can have some privacy while they write their letters as well,” Brad suggests. Nate jumps up from the table and nods his head vigorously.

“Yes! Great idea. I’ll choose one.” He speeds out of the kitchen, bypassing Kat as she walks in with a bunch of blank paper in her hands. Her eyes follow her brother, and then she turns to us with a look of confusion.

“He’s such a nerd,” Connor grumbles. We all glance at each other and chuckle at his statement.

“We’re gonna watch a movie, Kat. Come help me get some blankets,” Brad says. Kat nods and places the paper on the table before following Brad out of the room.

Connor reaches across the table and grabs the pack of paper. He takes two sheets and places them in front of himself, then hands the rest of the paper to Callum. I stand from the table andwalk over to them both, standing between their chairs. I rest a hand on each of their shoulders and wait for them both to turn their steely-grey eyes my way.

“Are you both okay in here doing this?” I ask. Callum smiles and places his hand atop mine.

“We’re all good, Little C. Go watch a movie with your friends. We’ll come get you when we’re finished, and we can go home.”

For some reason, Nate has chosen to watch Top Gun: Maverick. So we’re all currently sprawled across the sofas in the living room as the opening credits play. Kat is over on the loveseat snuggled underneath a fluffy pink blanket. She’s comfortably stretched herself out so that her small frame takes up the whole seat.

Meanwhile, I’m on the left side of the couch under a dark blue blanket with Brad beside me and Nate on his other side. My knees are uncomfortably digging into my chest and Brad’s muscular thigh is squashing my foot. I’m not complaining though because the warmth radiating off of him is keeping me nice and toasty warm.

“Hey, Callie,” Kat whispers, looking at me from over her shoulder. “How do you tell the twins apart? Apart from the obvious different moods that they both have.” I giggle at her and subtly shift my body to try and find a more comfortable position.

“Well, I can easily tell them apart, but that’s because I know them and have grown up with them. Connor’s voice is a little deeper than Callum’s and he’s also probably an inch taller than him too.”

“Okay, so how can we tell them apart easily?”

“Well, Callum has a missing finger for one. Oh, and Connor has a very faint scar that runs down the left side of his face frommy father’s ring,” I tell her, pausing to think of any other features they don’t share. “Apart from that, they’re identical. Unless you see them topless, which I doubt you ever will, but Connor has a large birthmark on his back.”

“So, when they were born and before the finger and scar incidents, did your mum have to look at their backs to tell which one was which?” Nate asks. I can’t contain the laughter that pours out of me at his question.

“I’m not sure, but-” Kat shushes me as I begin to talk.

---