Page 76 of Hell's Claim

“But I thought evidence was found leading to him?” I was frightened. Someone at Hellfire had attacked me. I hoped Clio and Thalia were safe. Actually, they probably were. It was Sunny that this traitor wanted dead.

“Yeah, seems the fucker has an alibi, which Lio checked out and confirmed. What a fuckin’ surprise,” Sunny bit out.

“I’m scared,” I admitted, and Sunny’s face twisted.

“You didn’t sign up for this shit, Callie. If you want, I can drop you at Chance and Clio’s, and I’ll walk away until this is over,” Sunny offered.

Anger welled up inside me. “That isn’t what love or a relationship is about! We’re in this together!”

Sunny sent me a worried look. “Kitten, someone tried to seriously harm you. It is not acceptable. It’s hard enough living with what happened to you, and you’ve got relatively minor injuries. If you got hurt badly, I couldn’t handle that.”

“Learn. Because I feel the same way about you. Sunny, you’re the only person who actually gets me and wants me for myself. You don’t want to change anything about me or hide me away. Or even worse, poke fun at me to make yourself feel better. Nobody cared to search for me, how do you think that makes me feel? You and the team are my family. And one day, I hope your mom and Liv will also encompass part of that as well.”

Sunny reached out and squeezed my leg hard. “I am fuckin’ proud to be on your arm. You wanna call me Mr Callie Dixon, go right ahead.”

That forced a reluctant laugh out of me. “I’m quite happy with you being Sunny Barlow. I know you’re distracting me from what happened to me and your mom. Start talking,” I demanded.

Sunny sighed and sent me a sideways glance. “They took a brother into custody yesterday after finding an item of his on you. It had slipped down your tee…”

“A cross, a tacky-looking thing,” I murmured, interrupting. “It hit me in the face.” I touched my cheek and winced at a bruise there.

“You remember?” Sunny asked, stiffening.

“That, yes. But I can’t see a face. I don’t know who it was.” My head hurt as I tried to see past the fog and who it was.

“Do not force yourself, kitten. Stop thinking about it. It will come to you eventually,” Sunny said, squeezing my leg again.

“I need to know.”

“Tiny, he was the one who identified the cross as his and was asked to speak to Lio at the station. But Lios says he has a solid alibi, even though I doubt it. Tiny claims he lost the cross years ago.”

“I thought you couldn’t tell me,” I said dryly.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have, but I could not handle that look of fear on your face,” Sunny replied.

“What else happened?”

“I believe that the rat approached you on the trail, and you fought back. You have defensive wounds on your hands, Callie. I reckon he pushed you over, and you ripped the cross from his neck. When you weren’t home by five, I began to get worried. Sailor and I looked for you when nobody else seemed bothered. Finally, a park ranger sounded the alarm.”

I made a mental note to send Ranger Gary an expensive bottle of alcohol. At least he had taken my disappearance seriously.

“You came for me?” I asked, and Sunny remembered her saying that once before.

“I will always come for you. Not even the devil could stop me.”

“That is a promise I’ll expect you to keep,” I said.

“Not a hardship that Callie,” Sunny promised.

“Why didn’t my sisters send someone out looking for me?” I murmured. That was one of the burning questions.

“They just believed you were out hiking.” Sunny’s jaw clenched.

“That’s not the full story.”

Sunny sighed. “They did not appear that worried. They thought I was overreacting.” The words were dragged from him reluctantly.

The pain I expected to surface didn’t. I searched my feelings, and while I loved my siblings, I accepted they had major faults. Where Sunny had accepted me completely, their lack of consideration and courtesy concerning me didn’t bother me now. Sunny had filled all my empty spots alongside my team. A smile crossed my lips despite my situation, and I honestly felt loved.

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