Page 74 of His Red Carnation

“Don’t worry, baby. You don’t ever have to be worried or scared with me. I’ll fuckin’ protect you with my life,” I said with a smile, wrapping her in my arms.

She only nodded, offering me a small smile. Just as I leaned in for a kiss, my phone started vibrating in my pocket.

“Go ahead and check it. It could be important,” Sloane urged.

I groaned and fished my phone out of my pocket. I was pissed the moment I realized an unknown number was calling. “Spam,” I said as I held up my phone for Sloane to see.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Answer it—what if it’s them?”

I eyed her with concern, though I did my best to keep it hidden. I answered and slowly put the phone up to my ear. “Callan Holt.”

“She’s really pretty, Cal. But soyoung. And Jake’s daughter? Guess you’re not afraid to stoop low.Reallow.”

Fuck. “Sarah, how the fuck did you get my number?”

I glanced down at Sloane and her eyes were filled with confusion. Sarah just laughed, and I had never been so fucking annoyed in my life.

“You act like you’re fucking royalty or something. I used Google, moron. It was a lot harder to get Sloane’s number, though. But I managed. I have my ways,” she said with a chuckle.

Sloane was whispering to me, but I couldn’t make out a word—my vision blurred with anger, and my face burned with fiery fucking heat. “Yousent that text?Youfucking threatened Sloane?”

Sloane gasped and took a step back. My free hand clenched into a fist, and I had to fight the urge to punch the wall beside me.

“It’s not all about her, Callan. Have you asked your best friend what he’s been up to? Hasn’t he told you yet?”

I started pacing. “What the fuck do you mean?” I demanded through gritted teeth.

Sarah’s laughter echoed, sending a chill through me and making every hair on my body stand on edge.

Her tone turned ominous. “Just ask him. And tell him he’s got forty-eight hours to tell Ana, or I’ll tell the whole world.” The line went dead.

I was down the hall before I even had the chance to think.If Jake has something to do with this shit, I don’t fucking care—I’ll punch the fucking president.

“Callan, what’s going on? What did she say?” Sloane asked as she trailed behind me as I paced down the stairs to head to Jake’s office.

“She sent the text to you,” I spit out, my vision still blurred with anger. “I think Jake has something to do with this.”

“Callan!” Sloane’s voice cracked as she cried out, stopping me in my tracks. I turned around to find her standing there, wide-eyed, tears streaming down her face.

“Baby.” I closed the distance between us, pulling her into my arms. She buried her face in my chest, her sobs echoing through the hall. The bodyguards watched, their gazes lingering longerthan I liked. “What the fuck are you lookin’ at?” I growled at one, and he quickly shifted his eyes to the far side of the room.

“I don’t know what’s going on, baby,” I whispered in her ear. “Sarah made it sound like, I don’t know, she has some shit on your dad. I just want to go talk to him and figure out if he knows anything,” I explained softly.

She looked up at me with tear-soaked eyes. “Tell me exactly what she said,” she demanded sharply, the firmness in her tone a striking contrast to her fragile expression.

I hadn’t even finished explaining when Sloane spun around and stormed down the hall toward the west wing. My anger still simmered, but I couldn’t help the way my eyes followed her, the sway of her hips and the jiggle of her ass impossible to ignore as she stomped toward the Oval Office. I needed to be inside her pussy soon or I’d fucking implode.

“Is he in there?” Sloane asked Leo who stood next to the oval office door.

“Yes,” he responded, not even looking her in the eye.

“What the fuck is your problem, Leo?” I snarled, itching for a fight, my anger looking for any outlet. Leo barely had time to react before Sloane swung the door open with force. She quickly walked in and I spotted Jake sitting on the couch, surrounded by stacks of documents, oblivious to the storm brewing in the hallway.

“Sloane,” he said with surprise, then glanced at me as I closed the door.

“Why is Sarah telling Callan that you have forty-eight hours to confess something to Mom, or else she’ll tell the whole world?” Sloane’s voice cracked, the anger obvious in her words as she stood with her hands on her hips.

I inched closer, my jaw clenching tight as we waited for his answer. His eyes darted between the two of us but he shook his head, hesitation clear on his face. “I don’t know, Sloane. Sarahhas a tendency to lie about things—you know that,” he said calmly, then turned to me. “What exactly did she say?” he asked.

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