Chapter 11
Calhoun’s POV~
It was already dark when I stepped out of the shower. The steam clung to my skin as I dragged the towel over my hair, water dripping down my shoulders, leaving little trails on the floor.
A chime broke the silence. My phone lit up on the lampstand. I reached for it, but before my fingers touched the screen, a smaller hand slid in, blocking mine.
Carmela.
She gave me that sly smile of hers, the one that always carried something sharp behind it, then leaned in to press her lips against mine. “Let me take care of your messages,” she murmured. I narrowed my eyes at her, searching her expression. Was she testing me? Fishing to see if there was someone else who held my attention? She should’ve known, there was no one but her.
Without a word, I pulled back, towel still in hand, and walked toward the desk. My laptop waited, files stacked like bricks in my head, demanding attention. I didn’t bother unlocking the phone she held because she already had the access she wanted. She had it all.
But as I sat down, fingers brushing the keyboard, Elodie’s face came back to me. That broken expression I’d left her with. Eyes glassy, lips trembling, carrying a pain I couldn’t erase. The memory slammed into me without mercy, and my movements slowed.
A dull ache spread through my chest, twisting tight. I pressed a hand to it, as if I could rub the ache away, as if I could make myself forget. I wanted to call her. Just once. To hear her voice, to know she was still there. But Carmela was in the room, and I wasn’t about to risk her suspicion.
So I buried it. I buried her. I pulled her out of my mind and shoved myself into the work in front of me.
Minutes dragged by. The sound keyboard typing filled the room until I finally glanced up. Carmela was still there, her eyes narrowed, lips pressed into a frown as she scrolled through my phone, swiping through screen after screen like she was hunting for ghosts.
I ignored her and looked back at the screen. My back ached, so I pushed away from the chair and stretched, the crack of my bones echoing through the quiet. When I looked back, she was already smiling. Wide and sweet.
I walked to her, my steps slow. She rose slowly.