Page 91 of Bitten By Desire
“Tormented.”
That was exactly how I’d put it. I nodded.
“That’s how I felt too. For ten years. And I’m so close. I just…needed a few more days. You showed back up too soon. But I feel like I’ve been dying without you.”
I swallowed hard. He was saying all the right things. But I was still so confused. “A few more days for what?”
“To take care of the Bennett situation.”
“What situation? I told you we aren’t dating…”
“No, it’s more complicated than that. He told you about the golden pen. Did he show you any other artifacts?”
“You mean the pocket watch?”
Callum nodded. “I wasn’t…myselfwhen we met that night ten years ago. I’d already been planning on skipping town. It was my last night in that old house. I’d been miserable for a long time. A really long time.” He sighed.
I reached out under the blanket and grabbed his hand. Had he lost someone? Had something terrible happened? I wanted to know all of it.
“I wasn’t a good man, Emma.”
I knew that. He’d walked away from me like I’d meant nothing. He was cold. And cruel. And God was he beautiful. Beautifully tormented.
He cleared his throat. “I used to use that watch that Bennett stole. To mess with people’s minds.”
To get them alone. To bite their necks.I shook away the thought. Callum had said he wasn’t a vampire. And I was pretty sure we both knew that he didn’t need a supposedly magical watch to woo me.
“But when I was with you, I didn’t feel like I wanted to control your mind.”
“Controlling my body with your words was enough?” I smiled again, trying to lighten the mood.
“I think partially, yeah. You made me realize I didn’t need it. I didn’t want it anymore. But when I realized the watch was stolen? And by who? It wasn’t about the horrible things I had done with it. It was about the horrors Bennett would do with it.”
“Bennett? What could he possibly do with it?”
“Emma.” His face looked pained. “He used it on you.”
“What?” I shook my head. “No he didn’t. He only just showed it to me tonight in the vault.”
“Did you see him pick it up out of a drawer or off a hook on the wall?”
I tried to remember. “No.” My heart started racing. “I was looking at something else and I turned around and he was holding it.”
“Did you see him put it back?”
I felt like I was going to be sick. “I was distracted. No…I…I didn’t see him put it back.”
“He has it with him all the time. He’s been using you, Emma.”
I shook my head. “No. That can’t be.” Bennett was a good guy. I’d felt it in my gut.
“He tried to make you terrified of me. But did he really say nothing about himself? I’m not the monster, Emma. He is. He and his friends.”
“What do you mean?”
“Did they promise to grow your savings beyond your wildest dreams?”
“They said they’d…take care of it.” But I’d had a bad feeling. I’d immediately regretted signing on the line.
