Page 228 of Callan

And as if he knows what goes through my mind.

A smile tilts his lips.

“I liked your bushy pussy and all…” he jokes, and a good feeling wraps around my hope.

But his smile dies out quickly.

“Sadly… Lifeisfun and games until someone gets hurt. And I don’t want that person to be you. I have enough on my conscience.”

A few moments tick away before he speaks again.

“I thought about sending you away. And it’s probably the best option for both of us.

“But…?”

He tilts his gaze to me.

“Sending you away is making your lonelier ten times over. Or a hundred times. You’d be like a fish in the water, at least in the beginning, since you’re used to it. And then you’ll have to live like a captive in that big ass empty world of yours until someone who knows nothing about you, and you’ll have to lie forever to, gives you a semblance of a normal life.”

The picture that he’s painted rattles my mind.

“What is the other option?” I ask quietly.

He sighs, and I gather it’s not a good one.

“The other option is to give up on everything. Your past, your world as you know it, your ambition for a career or a job. Whatever else you wanted to accomplish…”

The room turns darker as I try to understand what he’s saying to me.

“And?” I murmur.

“And stay with me,” he says.

Our eyes meet.

He slowly nods.

“You’ll be losing most of your life,” he says. “And you’ll risk everything you have for me.”

I feel like time itself wraps around my neck.

“What will that life look like?” I ask, shaking inside.

“I don’t know yet. We’ll have to figure it out. I’ll teach you some things so you’re prepared for the worst and to defend yourself. You might not be cut out for my world, and we might get back to option number one at some point.”

“And other than that?”

“You will live with me.”

“Like a mistress?”

“Mistress?” he smiles. “I’ve never heard this word in a while.”

“I’m serious, Callan.”

“Do you want to marry me? You couldn’t last two days in this house. Let’s see if you’ll make it alive first.”

“Do you want to marry me?” I ask.

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