His 24-Hour Wife (The Hawke Brothers 2) Page 14

  He loved her.

  And if he was honest, he’d probably known for a while. Known it when she’d asked for a future with him, but couldn’t admit it because it scared him more than anything in his life. His love for Callie made him feel vulnerable, stripped all his defenses away. How could he keep the world a safe place for his family, for himself, for the woman he loved, when he felt so out of control? He’d learned early that bad things happened when he let down his guard. People had gotten hurt. It wasn’t something he could risk, so when he’d felt it slipping with Callie, he locked his heart down even more tightly than ever before.

  He’d been stupid. So determined not to let down his guard, not to fall into the same trap as his grandfather and make himself vulnerable to a woman, or to anyone besides his parents and brothers. But it had happened nonetheless. He’d give her the sun, the moon and every star in the sky if she asked.

  The thing about Callie, though, was that she wasn’t wired to be able to ask him for something that would hurt him. He knew with as much confidence as he knew anything that Callie would give that sun, moon and stars right back to him if he asked it of her.

  His grandfather’s feelings had never been the problem. It was the person he’d chosen to give his heart to. And by choosing Callie, Adam hadn’t even come close to making the same mistake as his grandfather.

  Of course, now that he’d realized this, it was too late. Callie was gone, leaving a huge gaping hole in his life. He’d tried everything he could think of and, true to her word, she’d disappeared.

  Liam cleared his throat. “Are we interrupting?”

  Resigned, he glanced over at his brothers. “What can I do for you two?”

  Liam stepped forward into the room. “We’re here to offer you some advice.”

  Adam sighed and tapped his pen on his desk. This was new. And unwelcome. “If you’re worried about the trust—”

  Frowning, Liam shook his head. “We’ve already told you that we have faith that when Callie says she’ll create a new campaign, she’ll pull it off. She’s good. The trust will be fine.”

  Adam called on his last shred of patience. “Then advice about what?”

  “Callie,” Dylan said. “Between us, we have some expertise in the matter of being left by the women we love.”

  “Lord help me,” Adam mumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You need to leave. Now.”

  Instead of leaving, his brothers both took a seat across from him. Adam pressed the security button under his desk. He had no time for this—he had to find Callie. Then he went back to his web search.

  “You can ignore us,” Liam said, “but you need to hear this.”

  Adam scowled at his screen. “No, I really don’t. And you should go.”

  The sound of running footsteps came from the corridor, getting louder, until his six-foot-four head of security appeared in the doorway, ready for action. Jonah liked to rotate through all the positions in his team to keep his hand in and stay abreast of the situations, so tonight must have been his turn as a night guard.

  Liam looked from the guard back to him. “Seriously? You called security on us?”

  “I’m busy. I asked you to leave and you declined.” He turned to his guard. “Jonah, will you please see my brothers out?”

  “Certainly, Mr. Hawke.” The guard took a step into the room, and Liam and Dylan both held up their hands in surrender.

  Adam had met Jonah back when they’d opened their first store and Jonah had been a homeless teen sleeping on the front door stoop. After Adam offered him a job and supported his career, Jonah’s loyalty to him was beyond question.

  “Adam,” Liam growled, and Adam felt like smiling for the first time in days. Maybe his brothers’ arrival had been good for him after all—seeing them thrown out of the building should help his mood considerably.

  “Hang on,” Dylan said. “Jonah, you work for Hawke’s Blooms, and the three of us are joint owners. That means all three of us are your boss. Any two of us can overrule a decision made by the third.” He turned to Liam. “Motion to overrule the cranky one behind the desk?”

  “Seconded,” Liam said. “Motion is passed. You can stand down, Jonah.”

  Jonah swung around to Adam, his raised eyebrow asking how he should proceed. Adam swore again. It wasn’t fair to put an employee between them in a family fight.

  “You can return to your desk, Jonah.” He offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry to involve you.”

  The guard looked unconvinced. “Are you sure, Mr. Hawke? I can stay in the corner here and keep an eye on things if you’d like.”

  Adam sighed, resigned to his fate. “No, I’ll be fine.”

  With one last look at Liam and Dylan, Jonah left.

  “You know,” Dylan said, frowning, “after that stunt, I don’t think we should offer our help.”

  “Good. That’s settled.” Adam turned back to his computer. “I’ll see you later.”

  Liam’s chair creaked as he sat forward. “No, he’s annoying, but he helped both of us when we were in the same situation. We owe him.”

  “No, you don’t,” Adam said in exasperation. “You can go.”

  Ignoring him, Dylan crossed an ankle over his knee. “Do you know what time it is?”

  “Late,” he said dismissively.

  “It’s two o’clock in the morning.”

  Adam shrugged. Even if he’d been at home, he wouldn’t be able to sleep. His bed reminded him of Callie, and when he lay in it, he could almost feel her body pressed to his, hear her soft breathing, smell her floral shampoo on his pillow. He gave himself ten minutes a day to lie there, holding her pillow, missing her, but to get any sleep he used the sofa.

  “You’re in bad shape.” Dylan tried to appear sad, but couldn’t quite hide an undercurrent of amusement at his brother’s misfortune. “As I was saying before we were interrupted by someone calling security on us, Liam and I have some expertise in being left. Though I should point out that the woman I love only went across state lines, whereas his woman left the country.”

  “Hey,” Liam said. “She comes from another country. She was going home.”

  Dylan waved a hand in the air. “Whatever. What we need to do now is make Adam realize he’s making a big mistake so that he goes after her.”

  Adam glanced at the ceiling and prayed for patience. “You two always were slow. I’ve been looking for her for a week. She’s not at her place and she’s not answering her cell. She’s disappeared without a trace.”

  Liam sat back, all comfort and ease. “You couldn’t have been looking too hard. Jenna and Faith had lunch with her yesterday.”

  Adam went still and then rounded on them. “Where is she?”

  Dylan shook his head. “They won’t tell us. Faith said something about the three of them needing to talk about how stupid the Hawke men can be. Which is crazy, because I—”

  Adam held up a hand. “Get Faith on the phone. Or Jenna.”

  Dylan shrugged. “Neither one of them will break. Those two are better than the CIA with secrets. You might have better luck with Callie’s sister.”

  Adam shook his head as he blew out a breath. “Summer said she didn’t know where Callie went.”

  Summer had been his first phone call as soon as he’d realized what a humungous mistake he’d made. She’d taken a message and promised to pass it on as soon as she heard from Callie, but had said she couldn’t make any promises about when that would be since Callie was incommunicado. Adam hadn’t been willing to wait, so he’d kept looking.

  A self-satisfied smile danced around Liam’s mouth. “She was at lunch with the others yesterday.”

  Adam swore again. “So they’ve closed ranks.”

  Part of him was pleased that Callie had people who supported her enough to crea
te a shield around her, but dammit, how was he supposed to find her if none of them would talk?

  “You look like you could use some advice after all.” Dylan was far too smug for Adam’s tenuous grasp on control. His brother was clearly unaware just how tightly Adam was currently gripping the armrests of his chair.

  “The only thing I need,” Adam said through a tight jaw, “is information about Callie’s whereabouts. You’ve both admitted you have no idea where she is, and are unable or unwilling to talk your fiancées into sharing the information.”

  “What have you tried?” Liam asked.

  “Everything. I’ve left about a billion messages on her cell, checked in with her sister, her parents, the friends I’ve met and her work, trawled through her social media pages, called random hotels at places where she likes to take vacations.”

  Liam frowned, suddenly serious. “Have you considered she doesn’t want to be found?”

  “Says the man who followed a woman to another country after she ran away from him.”

  “True,” Liam said, his eyes full of sympathy, “but Jenna’s family helped me speak to her. And she helped Dylan find Faith. If Jenna and Faith won’t help this time, and Callie’s family won’t help when they know where she is, perhaps it means you should let her go.”

  Let her go? Simply give up? The emptiness inside him screamed in rebellion. Besides, she might not want to be found now, but that was because he’d said crazy things to her, before he’d realized what she meant to him. That she meant everything to him.

  At the very least he owed her the truth. He just hoped with every fiber of his being that she let him give her a whole heap more than that.

  He straightened his spine and stared down his brother. “There’s something I need to say to her. If I say it, and she still wants to be left alone, I’ll do it.” His heart would break in two, but he’d honor her wishes.

  Dylan rubbed his stubbled jaw, apparently considering Adam’s words, and then nodded. “Well, if she won’t listen to you, perhaps it’s time you do something she can’t ignore.”

  Hysterical laughter bubbled in Adam’s chest before dying in his throat. “Like what?” Did they realize he’d tried everything he could think of already? Why else would he be in his office at two in the morning, chasing flimsy leads?

  Dylan turned to Liam. “Seriously, I can’t believe we voted to make him the boss of the company.” Then he faced Adam again. “I don’t know. You’re the ideas man, and you’re the one who knows Callie. But it had better be something she won’t expect, so she knows you’re serious, or it’s not worth doing at all.”

  Adam started to frown, but then an idea struck him, one so simple yet so perfect that his heart leaped to life again. He could do this. He’d explain everything and show her he was serious. He reached for the phone and started leafing through papers, looking for Callie’s friend Anna’s number.

  “You do remember it’s after two in the morning, right?” Liam said.

  Swearing, Adam dropped the phone and speared his fingers through his hair. Now that he had a plan, every second it was delayed was agony, but his brother was right. He’d have to wait a few more hours.

  He stood and reached for his suit jacket. “Time you two went home,” he said and herded them out his office door. “Actually, why are you here at this time of night, anyway, and not at home with those fiancées you worked so hard to win over?”

  His brothers shared a look before Liam said, “Jonah.”

  “The security guard who was going to throw you out was the one who called you?” Adam huffed out a laugh. “He’s always taken his job of looking out for the staff seriously. I’ll have to give him a bonus.”

  “Right after you find Callie, right?” Dylan said from beside him.

  “Oh, yeah.” Adam closed his office door behind him, feeling a sliver of optimism starting to glow in his chest. “Nothing’s happening before I do that.”

  Twelve

  When her cell rang, Callie was reading a book in a deck chair on the veranda overlooking the beach. She checked the caller ID, an action that had become second nature in the past week.

  Since the announcement of her split from Adam had gone public, her phone, email and social media had gone crazy. The only calls she’d been taking were from her parents, Summer, Jenna and Faith. She’d had a few from random friends, but unable to face the world just yet—or the world’s questions—she’d decided to return the calls when her impromptu vacation was over.

  Although there was one person she’d made herself call on the first day—John Evans, her boss. She’d explained the hiccup with the Hawke Brothers Trust account, and promised that she was working on a new campaign. He hadn’t been impressed, but was prepared to give her a chance. She had a meeting scheduled with him next week to look over her new ideas, which meant she needed to start having those ideas soon...

  This time the call was Anna Wilson, and Callie debated whether to answer or not. Anna was a friend, but she was also a journalist, and she was probably hoping for a scoop on the breakup. Admittedly, Anna hadn’t been part of the flurry of online stories and gossip pieces that had broken out since she’d left Adam. Many of those articles had claimed a secret source who had all sorts of completely untrue morsels of information, and who was likely Terence Gibson. Anna had stayed silent so far, but perhaps she now wanted to wade into the water.

  Callie sighed. Her vacation was coming to an end and she was going to have to start facing the real world soon, and Anna was probably a good place to start, so she thumbed the answer button.

  “Hi, Anna,” she said as brightly as she could manage. “How are you?”

  “Hey, Callie. I’m good, thanks.” There was a short pause on the line. “I was just wondering... Have you seen my column today?”

  Yesterday, when she’d seen the headline, “Anon Source Claims Hawke Wedding a Scam,” she’d sworn off the web. There was nothing she could do about Terence having a field day at her expense, but she didn’t have to put herself through reading it. “Sorry,” she said, tucking her legs up underneath her. “I haven’t had a chance.”

  “You should have a look.”

  “I’m actually in the middle of something. I’ll grab a few minutes later this afternoon.” Or perhaps tomorrow. Or even the next day.

  “Now, Callie. It’s Adam.”

  A chill raced down her spine. “What do you mean, it’s Adam? Is something wrong?”

  “He has a message for you and it’s running in my column today.”

  Callie leaned back in her chair, the sudden rigidity in her muscles dissipating. There was no way Adam would have done something so public about something that was private. He must have given an interview about the trust, or about the company, and mentioned her name when questioned. His words might even have been written for him by Jenna, to keep it on the track they’d decided to take.

  Callie ran her free hand through her hair. “Okay, thanks. I’ll check it out.”

  “Really, Callie. You need to see this.” Anna’s voice was insistent, which was strange. “Promise me.”

  Her stomach clenched. It was clear that there was more to this. “I promise. I’ll look at it now.”

  They ended the call, and Callie retrieved her laptop from her suitcase where she’d put it yesterday after the sham headline. In the time it took her to boot up her computer, her cell practically exploded with messages. She checked a few and they were all saying the same thing. Adam had left her a video online. Adrenaline spiked through her system. He couldn’t have actually addressed something to her, could he...?

  When the laptop displayed its welcome screen, she
opened her browser and found Anna’s column. Before she’d braced herself, Adam’s face appeared on her screen, as dear and beautiful as she’d remembered. A harsh pressure pushed against her chest, making it hard to draw breath.

  And yet, it was Adam like she’d never seen him before. She’d seen him disheveled from lovemaking. She’d seen him after he’d had too much to drink in Vegas. She’d seen him windswept on the beach. But this? This Adam had eyes that were wild and untamed. He seemed to be exerting no control over himself to keep his guard up. He wasn’t trying to keep part of himself hidden.

  And he was doing it in front of the world.

  His words finally registered—she’d been too busy looking at him, desperate for his face, that she’d paid no attention to what he was saying. Clicking on the play button, she dragged it back to the beginning and listened.

  “Callie, I’ve tried every method to find you that I can think of, and a few more. I was stupid, I know that, and I’m begging you to overlook that fact. Hoping and praying that I haven’t destroyed your feelings for me. If that’s happened, I understand, and all I can say is I’m sorry. For everything.”

  Hot tears built until the image on the screen blurred and she blinked them away, unwilling to miss a second of Adam’s message. She still couldn’t believe this was public, that he was saying these things, knowing that anyone could see.

  “If there’s a chance you could ever feel the same for me again, then all I want to say is, I love you.” He paused and swallowed. “I love you so much I’ve been going crazy without you. Not knowing where you are.”

  A stab of guilt pierced her chest at causing him pain. When she’d left, she’d only been thinking of her own emotional survival, and had no expectation that her leaving would cause him this much sadness.

  “I’m sorry, Adam,” she whispered at the screen, but his recorded message continued on regardless.