Chapter Twelve

Madison

T here was something off about the look Callum gave me when he came walking in the door and saw me lounging on the couch with a book in hand.

“What?” I asked, setting the text down and sitting up. “Was I not supposed to go through your book collection or sit on your sofa?”

“That’s perfectly fine,” he said in a far too gentle tone, ignoring my barbs. “I’m glad you found something to do when I left so abruptly.”

I watched him closer. What was with the Mr. Nice Guy act?

Then it hit me. The smile that stretched across my face threatened to split skin it was so broad, and I didn’t bother trying to stop it.

“I was right, wasn’t I?”

He waved it off. “I notice you’re still here.”

Letting it drop for the moment but vowing that we were going to revisit the topic, I responded to his comment. “I did explore some of the palace. Got lost. Got found. Lost myself again. Discovered that we’re on an island that no human seems to know about. Not sure how I’m going to escape from that, so I came back here. Had an apple and a glass of juice from the fridge. Took a nap. Then got bored, found this book about dragon history, and now, we’re all caught up. Your turn.”

“Sounds like a very fun-filled afternoon. Thanks for not causing any trouble.”

“Why? Would it have come back on you?”

“If they didn’t kill you outright, probably.” Callum said it so casually that I had to do a double-take when I realized he wasn’t joking.

“You said I could explore, that the door was open,” I said. “Are you telling me I could have been killed for doing so?”

“If you caused trouble or gave your angry attitude to the wrong person, yeah,” he said, looking through his fridge. “Tell me, what kind of food do you like?”

I stared at him, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. The casual reference to me being killed and then wanting to know what I liked to eat? It threw me off balance.

“Well? I need to know what to make for dinner,” he explained.

“You’re going to make me dinner?” I was flabbergasted.

He leaned on the fridge, sighing mightily. “For the last time, I’m not your jailor, Maddie. You were entrusted to my care by the sovereign. I take that seriously.”

If he said anything more after that, I didn’t hear it. Everything was spinning out of control after hearing him call me by the common nickname. The way it just spilled from his tongue, so confident and easy, was a complete surprise.

Beyond that was the realization I liked hearing him say my name. It hit hard, the shivers racing down my spine as I replayed it in my head.

Get a grip. You’re just trying to make the best of the situation. But you can’t give in. No giving up.

“So, food?” Callum prompted.

“I don’t know,” I said, managing not to stammer as I worked to recover my senses. “There’s a few things I don’t like. Some fish, maybe? Gots to be a lot of that on the island.”

“We can do fish.”

We. Together.

“So, what did your mom say?” I asked, changing the subject back in a desperate attempt to put him off guard.

Callum was quiet.

“Well?”

If jaws could creak from being clenched, the apartment would be full of sound.

“She purposefully didn’t tell you, didn’t she?”

“No,” he said. “She didn’t.”

“See? Dysfunctional.”

He snorted. “She didn’t tell me because she was trying to help me. Because she cared and thought she could save me some pain. She was trying to do the right thing.”

“So were my parents,” I pointed out. “But it wasn’t the right thing.”

“And when I confronted my mom about that fact, she apologized and said she was sorry. That she knew better now. That she should have told me from the start.” He shrugged. “That’s what families do. They talk . Again, not dysfunctional.”

I fell silent.

“What, no retort? Nothing angry to say for once?”

I laughed, a sharp, biting thing that contained no humor. “Sorry, I’m running a bit dry on that, I guess. After being kidnapped, ‘chosen’ to be your whatever, then getting all tangled up in the case of your ex, one who you have a ton of emotional baggage about, I might add, I think I’m allowed a moment or two.”

Callum’s face scrunched up. “I do not have ‘emotional baggage’,” he snarled.

Staring directly at him, I blinked slowly, hoping he would understand he’d just proven my point.

He stared back blankly.

“You’ve just proven everything right,” I said dryly. “Guess I’ve got you all figured out. Simple man.”

“Ha!” Callum threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, really? Is that so?”

“Yes, it is.”

“That’s pretty rich, coming from the single, never-married woman who has no idea the depths of true love and has probably never had a serious relationship. Someone who was lied to by her own people to get rid of her, probably because she was a screwup of monumental proportions that they’re glad to be rid of. You think you’ve got it all figured out, but really, you’re fishing in a cave with a lighter, and you can’t see anything beyond what’s right in your face. So tell me, how am I doing so far?”

I leaped to my feet, bristling. “I don’t need to listen to that from someone I’ve only met today!”

Callum looked away but not in time. Not before I saw the tightening around his eyes. He’d tried to hide it, but he was a fraction of a second too slow.

“Have we met before?” I asked, thinking back frantically.

Clearing his throat, he swung his head back. “We may have had a prior encounter,” he admitted.

My eyebrows rose. “I doubt it. I would have remembered that .”

The comment was far more sexually charged than I had intended. Trying to cover it up, I coughed and looked away, hoping he wouldn’t say more.

“You might remember it better if …” he sighed and headed for the door. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

Trailing slowly behind him, I followed Callum out of the room, all the while trying to puzzle out just what the hell was going on.

There was no way I’d met him and forgotten. Was there?