Page 64 of Darkness Falls

"Ms. Monroe put me in therapy, and while I still couldn't admit what I did to my mother and Stan to anyone, it did help. The pain that I was so consumed with slowly eased and allowed me a chance to get to know myself for the first time in years."

I stand up and walk over to Callie before crouching down in front of her chair and looking up to bare every piece of my soul to her. "You are the first person to see the full me. You see who I really am to my core, and you love me for it anyway." I shake my head. "Ms. Monroe… she saw a lot, but I still had walls. She knew that, and she was okay with it. You, Callie, you changed everything, andI just want you to know I would do anything for you."

"What about Seb and Ky?" she asks.

"They know a lot about me, but they were also a part of the healing process. It's different with them because we all grew up together. With you, you saw the good, bad, and the ugly but still chose to stay. You are the first person in my life to choose me after knowing everything, and I'm not sure you fully understand the gravity of that."

Her hand reaches out to caress my cheek, and I lean into it. "Thank you for giving me the pieces to love."

I stand up and lean down to give her a kiss. Having her here and always being supportive instead of judgmental is something I never knew I really craved. She is the last piece I think I've needed to truly heal from my damaged past. Even if I've been struggling, when I look into the eyes of this woman, somehow, none of it matters. She is the entire axis around which my world revolves.

"Come on, princess. We better get back up to the house so we can finish packing everything in the car. Grumpy pants wants to get on the road tonight so we can get settled into the motel by morning."

"Do we really all have to share the same room? You guys have plenty of money. Why can't we all just have our own rooms?"

I grab her hand, interlocking her fingers in mine, and lead her out of the pool house. "It's too risky. We always stay together when we go on jobs."

"Yeah, but that was beforethere was a female added to the mix, remember?"

"The alternative is you staying with your mom while we're gone."

She turns to look at me with her cute, annoyed face. "You can sleep with Seb then. I'll snuggle with Ky since you like watching so much."

"Who said we were getting a room with two beds?" I tease and pull her into the house.

"Seriously, Barrett, I am not sharing a bed with all three of you. The four of us in one room is going to be more than enough."

I'm still laughing when we walk into the lounge room where Kyler and Seb are standing, talking to each other.

"What's so funny?" Seb asks.

"We were just talking about how grumpy you are. Really, Seb, you're going to start getting frown lines if you keep making all those faces," Callie says, and it sends me into a laughing fit. The way he glares at her only makes it better.

"I'm glad the two of you are having all kinds of fun while Kyler and I prep for things." Seb scowls, clearly frustrated.

Callie just rolls her eyes and walks over to Kyler to wrap her arm around him while glancing back at Sebastian. "Back off, grumpy. We came to help."

He lets out another huff and points over to the pile in the corner of the room. "That should be the last of the thingswe need to bring along. Unless you can think of anything you might have missed?" He turns to look at me.

"Nope, all my computers and any device I may need are already packed up. I'm covered." I smile.

"Great. Let's get this in the car and get on the road. If we leave now, we have some time to stop and grab some food before we have to check into the motel," Seb mutters as he walks over to grab the first bag off the floor.

"Ooooh, we're getting Chinese food!" Callie calls out.

"You have an unhealthy obsession. You realize that, right?" he tells her, not bothering to fight her on it because, at this point, we all know if Callie wants Chinese food for dinner, we're getting it.

It only takes us a few minutes to pack the rest of the things in our vehicle. Callie slips into the front seat so she can control the radio, and Kyler and I sink into the back. She likes to control the radio, and while Seb pretends to be annoyed, he secretly loves every second of it. Time to get this show on the road.

Chapter 29

Callie

It was super early in the morning when we finally made it to the motel. This one was the closest one we could find to the coordinates in the notebook. I step out of the car to stretch my legs and watch as the neon lights flicker on the sign. I grimace, already knowing what the inside of this room is going to look like.

I look over my shoulder to make eye contact with Seb, who is cautiously watching me. "Couldn't we have sprung for something a little nicer?"

"Sorry, there's no Hilton out here, trouble. A shitty motel is part of the process."

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