to inform Callan of my refusal. Not on the outside, though. I highly doubted the lips of that evil crone had ever tilted at the corners.
It wasn’t surprising when the voices approached my door. Within seconds, the lock clicked, the door pushed open and I lowered my chin down to my chest, allowing my hair to fall forward to hide my face. I had every intention of ignoring their presence, but found it was difficult.
Something dark forced my eyes to lift even with my head still angled down. I hated myself for it, but then understood that it would be impossible for anybody to ignore Callan’s presence. He was a predator in every sense of the word, an energy that seeped beneath the skin, whispering warnings that any intelligent person wouldn’t ignore.
His voice was every bit as dark as his whiskey colored gaze...and every bit as dangerous. A stern tone with deep resonance, it crawled up my spine with tempting fingers, wrapping around my neck until I could barely breathe.
I glared at the man who spoke so easily to Gretchen, the same man who never spoke to me.
“She hasn’t moved from that spot all day?”
Gretchen’s heels clicked over the floors, stopping just feet from where I sat against the wall.
“No, Mr. Rose. She’s been given plenty of warnings, but insisted we should drag her by the hair if we wanted her to lift a finger.”
They grew quiet for a moment, and it wasn’t lost on me how they spoke like I wasn’t sitting there listening. Like I was some object.
My skin felt a little too sticky with sweat when Callan turned his head my direction, the curve of his mouth promising unimaginable things. But then he spoke again, and those fingers around my neck squeezed, my breath trapped inside my lungs as ice poured through my veins.
I clasped my fingers tighter around the only weapon I had. Not that a pair of tweezers would stop a man like Callan, but that couldn’t matter. I would fight regardless, even if I knew I’d lose.
“Is that what she said?”
“Yes, Mr. Rose. Her footprints are still all over the hallway. I didn’t feel it was fair for another maid to have to clean up after her.”
The curve of his lips sharpened, the full brunt of his amber stare locked on me where I pushed my back against the wall tighter, my arms wrapping my bent legs with more strength. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t make myself smaller.
His steps shook the floor beneath me, a slow beat as he moved to tower over me before crouching down.
Despite the curtain of hair hanging in my face, I couldn’t hide from him. His dark stare caught my gaze in a steely trap, the sides snapping in place with such speed that I flinched at the power of his eye contact.
How was this the same boy I’d hurt so many times?
I almost didn’t believe it.
Callan opened his mouth, and for a split second I thought he would finally speak to me, but his words were directed to Gretchen while his eyes remained on mine.
“Have someone pour some water over the stains. We’ll see how well Lisbeth cleans them up.”
“Yes, Mr. Rose.”
Gretchen walked off, and for the first time, I wished she wouldn’t. I wanted to call out and promise her I’d do anything she asked if she didn’t leave me alone with the man crouched in front of me.
The sharp point of the tweezers dug into my palm, but they didn’t make me feel any safer.
There was only silence between us, a lingering stretch of possibility. I could fill it with begging and a few tears, but I doubted it would do anything to soften the harsh lines of his face.
If anything, it would excite him.
Still, I took that moment to openly study Callan, my heart thumping like a trapped rabbit, my skin growing far too warm.
He wasn’t just beautiful in the traditional sense, he was exquisite. As if a sculptor had spent months chiseling marble to create the perfect masculine form, but then a painter came in to sweep deep shadows across him.
I opened my mouth with the intent to tell him I would behave, but only rebellion poured out.
“I won’t clean anything,” I promised on a bare whisper of sound.
His eyes widened just enough to let me know he’d heard me, but that was all.
Callan didn’t answer me or toss out threats. He simply kept me pinned in place, his body far too