Page 52 of Shadow Dance

Chapter 14

Maeve

Confused, I pat my pockets and search my wallet one more time. My driver’s license, which is always in the exact same pocket of my wallet, is missing. Maybe it fell out and dropped into my bag?

I give the waiting cashier an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I must’ve misplaced it. You can just take the wine and the beer out?—”

“I got it,” Jaime says, flashing his driver’s license.

Nodding, the cashier finishes ringing me up. “Have a nice day.” She gives me a perfunctory smile before turning to the next person in line.

“That’s so weird,” I tell Jaime as we grab the grocery bags and leave the store. “I hope I didn’t lose it. Going to the DMV for a new one is such a pain in the ass.”

“When was the last time you used it?” he asks, using his key fob to pop the Audi’s trunk.

“It must’ve been the last time I bought wine,” I muse, racking my brain for when that was. Yelena does most of the big shopping, always making sure to keep the liquor cabinet stocked, but I buy stuff occasionally.

I search my ballet bag as Jaime pulls out of the parking lot, eventually dumping it out onto the floor between my feet, but my license isn’t there. I’ll have to check my purse at home.

When we get to the house, Mac’s car is parked in the driveway which means Callum’s back, too. I breathe through the sinking feeling in my stomach and follow Jaime inside. Guilt and anxiety twine around my heart like poisonous vines, threatening to choke out how beautiful our moment in the woods was.

But to my relief, Mac’s alone when we walk into the house, messing with his phone on the couch. Jaime leaves the grocery bags on the island in the kitchen, nodding at him. “How’d it go?”

“Good, I guess.” Mac gets up and comes over, frowning as he leans against the counter.

“Everything went according to plan, but I don’t know, man. Something feels off.”

I stiffen, surprised he’d say this in front of me.

“Why, what’s up?” asks Jaime.

“Mato and Zeke were there. They never come around, not unless someone needs a little … extra encouragement. You know.” Mac trails off, his eyes flickering briefly my way.

Mato and Zeke are two of Uncle Dario’s right-hand men. They usually stick close to Dario’s family in Marin, serving as muscle.

Jaime reaches into the fridge, taking out a couple of beers. “Did they say anything?”

“Nah, and Callum said it was just business as usual. Extra backup, just in case.” Mac accepts one of the beers. “You get feelings, though, right?” They wander into the living room, continuing the conversation in low tones I can’t hear.

A shiver runs up my spine. Mac’s no angel, so it’s saying something if he was weirded out by Mato and Zeke’s presence on the job they just did. Who knows, maybe they were keeping an eye on Callum. Maybe Dario’s been second-guessing his decision to give his nephew so much leeway, after all.

I don’t know much about how the De Leon family runs things, but I know what I saw growing up. My father kept Saoirse separate from family life. We had social gatherings with the other four families, and my parents’ inner circle was often around, but there were never strangers in our home. Lucky operates the same way.

But Callum brings people over all the time like it’s no big deal. A lot of them are just here to party, but still, how well does he know them?How much can he trust them? Can’t be much if he always locks his office door. Sometimes he even locks our bedroom.

Even worse is when he does business from the house. Home is supposed to be a safe haven, but there are no boundaries here—he literally shot at someone the other day, for God’s sake. It feels sloppy, all of it. Maybe Uncle Dario’s doing a little quality control.

Of course, this is all speculation. I’m just the clueless girlfriend, after all, counting the days until I can leave.

In an effort todistract myself from guilty thoughts of making out with Jaime, I pour myself a generous glass of cabernet, grab my neglected recipe binder, and throw myself into making shepherd’s pie. Callum’s favorite. Our relationship might be in shambles, but I’ve never been a cheater and I can’t help but feel a way.

Although I can’t say the same for him. I don’t know when he started being unfaithful, but I know it happens. Add in the constant absences, the lies and lack of communication, the ragey tantrums and the threats, and it’s obvious that our relationship has deteriorated beyond the point of saving. Obvious to me, anyway. Callum might be deluding himself that I’ll stick around like always, but I’ve had one foot out the door for a while now.

I know I’d have left him regardless, with or without Jaime. But meeting Jaime has changed things. He’s become my closest friend here, my ally. What started as a shallow crush, one I tried to resist, has deepened into something undeniably real. When he kissed me today, it stirred something I haven’t felt in years—and it wasn’t just the excitement of something new. It was him.

I’m sliding the second dish of shepherd’s pie into the oven when Callum comes home with Griff. My stomach tightens, guilt and nerves tying it into knots, and I take a long sip of wine. I remind myself, when Callum breezes into the kitchen with cheek kisses and ass squeezes, that if we were still in love, no amount of physical attraction to someone else would be enough to make me stray.

“Smells great,” he says, grinning as he glances at the oven. His eyes are red, and he smells like blunts, but I prefer that to the harder stuff.

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