Page 70 of His Red Carnation

“Hey, Mom. Yeah, I’m okay. Well, actually…” Sloane glanced up at me, as if she needed guidance on how to start explaining.

“Sloane got a weird text, Ana. They were threatening your family,” I chimed in.

“I’m screenshotting and sending it to you, Mom. I think you should show Dad,” Sloane continued.

“What?!” Ana’s voice was deep and laced with anger. “¡Qué coño?! What do they mean Daddy has secrets?”

I stood up and began to pace. “We were hoping you could find out,” I offered. “And maybe call what’s his face, the securityadvisor. And homeland security. Get their fucking tech people on it.” I realized there was panic in my voice and I stopped pacing, looking over at Sloane. She was watching me intently, and I think it started to sink in how serious this was.

“Jacob!” Ana yelled after a moment, a door slamming in the background. “Someone is threatening Sloane. They’re saying you have dirty little secrets. Do you know what the fuck they would be talking about?”

Sloane and I glanced at each other worriedly. There was muffled chatter before the call ended.

“We should go back to the house. You’ll be the safest there. We can figure out what to do from there,” I said as I picked up Sloane’s purse, reaching for her hand.

She sat still on the bed, her worried eyes staring into mine. “I’m not going unless you’re there too,” she said quietly, and tears started to fill her eyes.

Fuck, my heart. I had no idea if Jake would let me be there or not, but I wasn’t going to just drop Sloane off and say, “Alright, see ya!” But if me not being there meant Sloane was safe, I’d have to leave. Although, there was no doubt in my mind that Sloane wouldn’t let that happen—she always got what she wanted, after all.

31

Sloane

An hour after we called my mom, we were pulling up to the house. My mom stood at the gate, making sure we got in without a problem.Already a bad sign. Callan parked in his usual spot and my mom greeted each of us with a tight hug.

“Did you get anything yet?” Callan asked before my mom could get a word in.

“No.” She shook her head with a frown. “Jake has been on it, though. We need your phone, baby,” she said as she turned to me.

Shit. My worst nightmare was my dad going through my phone.All the texts, pictures…

“Uh, alright,” I started, pulling my phone out. “Let me just…” I began deleting my text threads and “hiding” any risqué pictures.

“Don’t worry, baby,” my mom said as she put her hand on my arm. “I’m not gonna let anyone snoop.”

I sighed as I handed it over. “Where’s Dad?”

She returned a sigh. I could tell by the look on her face that she was upset. “Somewhere around here. I’ll go find him. You two go upstairs; there’s extra detail at every entrance, and I’m re-hiring you, Callan. Don’t leave Sloane’s side.” The firmness and confidence in her voice made me feel even safer in her presence.

”You couldn’t fuckin’ pay me to leave Sloane’s side,” Callan responded, taking my hand, and then guided us toward the door.

We headed up the stairs to the living quarters and down the hall to my room. It felt so strange to hold Callan’s hand out in the open like this—strange, but freeing.

My room was still in the condition I left it in when I packed in a hurry. Callan shut the door behind us and locked it, then pulled me in for a deep, passionate kiss. Tension melted from my body as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and I could feel him relax as his hands slid down my back to my ass. His erection pressed against my stomach as he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around him, desperate for more. He carried me to the desk and set me down, his lips lingering on mine before he began to lift my shirt, his eyes filled with desperate need. Just then, a knock at the door made us both freeze.

“Sloane,” my dad called out.

“Fuck,” Callan muttered as he pulled me off the desk and straightened out my shirt.

“Sloane,” Dad repeated with more frantic knocking on the door.

“One second, Dad!” I called out, irritated and anxious.

Callan took my hand and kissed the top of my knuckles. “We got this, baby,” he assured me.

I took a deep breath and smiled at him. He released my hand and leaned against the desk, crossing his arms as I made my way to the door. I cleared my throat as I unlocked it and slowly pulledit open, finding my Dad standing there with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face.

“Where’s Callan?” he asked angrily.

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