Callum Read online

  She’d hoped that Callum hadn’t brought the stone with him, but he removed the cloth and the brilliance of the stone was easy to see.

  “Toss the diamond over here.”

  “You expect me to throw a priceless diamond over to you?” Callum asked.

  “Just do it,” McWalton screeched as the barrel of the gun pressed harder against her temple.

  “Don’t do it, Callum. He’ll kill me and run with the diamond.”

  For the first time since getting there, Callum looked at her. It was dark and the lighting was bad, but there was no mistaking the fury in his eyes.

  “I think you should stay out of this.”

  Anger and fear twisted in her gut. This man was going to get himself killed over her. She just couldn’t live with that.

  “Well, isn’t that just like you to tell me to stay out of it,” she said.

  “Yes, it is.” Then he switched his attention to McWalton. “You want the diamond? Go get it.”

  And with that he threw it over their heads. It landed among the tombstones that littered the area. McWalton screamed and shoved her aside as he turned to run toward the diamond. Phoebe fell to the ground and tried to brace herself, but it was hard with her hands tied together.

  Callum rushed to her side and pulled her up. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded as he tried to untie the knot. He looked up at her face, and his expression hardened. “He hit you.”

  “A few times. But, Callum go get the diamond. You have to find it.”

  He shook his head. “It was more important to save you.”

  There was so much she wanted to say, but shots started ringing out over their heads. “You bastard, get over here and find the fucking diamond.”

  “I have to take care of him. Get behind that rock.”

  “Don’t kill him.”

  He paused. “Why not?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’ll go to jail, you moron.”

  “Okay, but I am going to hurt him. A little. Now, do as I said and hide behind that rock.”

  “I am not going to stay here tied up—“

  He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Shut up.”

  Then he left her sitting there in the dark.

  * * * *

  Callum felt another surge of anger when he saw McWalton. He’d had enough of him and of his family to last him the rest of eternity. Fucking with the McLennans, blaming them for his grandfather’s mistakes. He was sick of it. And worse. He had tried to harm the woman that Callum loved. That was a life sentence in Callum’s opinion.

  But, he couldn’t kill him. Phoebe was right. The man was a nuisance, the entire family idiotic. Killing him would bring more attention on them, and if people started really looking into their backgrounds, they would be screwed.

  “Stop right there, McLennan.”

  “I notice you’ve decided to use my real name.”

  McWalton snorted. “What the hell is it about you, about the entire lot of you, that draws people to you? You should be in a dungeon somewhere.”

  “I have been.”

  “Hard to tell. You live the high life.”

  Of course he saw it that way. While Callum and his family wanted nothing more than to live normal lives, the McWaltons didn’t see it that way. They would always try to ruin what others had instead of trying to build a life for themselves.

  “You shouldn’t have taken Phoebe.”

  “Lost without your whore, McLennan?”

  He curled his fingers into his palms. He had a gun tucked in the waistband of his pants, but he wanted to use it as a last resort. Especially when he saw McWalton hold up the diamond. “You thought I wouldn’t find it. I should have destroyed it years ago, but there is a stipulation in my father’s will. I told him it was insane, but he would not listen. He insisted that the jewels not be damaged in any way. Just as his father and his father’s father. Stupid. Of course, now it’s just you and me.”

  Callum gauged the distance between them and realized that he could easily take him down. Knowing this might be the only chance he got, he lunged at McWalton, who was still spouting off about what a horrible father he had. And in that moment, Callum didn’t care. He didn’t give a damn about the curse, about what Phoebe had done, about anything but saving Phoebe. The only thing that mattered was that he would have Phoebe by his side.

  “Damn you, McLennan,” McWalton screamed as both the diamond and the gun fell from his hands.

  Callum straddled the bastard and started hitting him with his fists. He would have beaten him to death if Phoebe hadn’t come up from behind him and tugged on his arm.

  “That’s enough, Callum. You’re going to kill him.”

  He finally stopped. He looked at her then at the men behind her. Guards surrounded the area.

  “We’ll take it from here, sir,” one of them said.

  He stood and pulled Phoebe into his arms. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. How could you leave with him?”

  “Leave with him? I didn’t leave with him. He knocked me out. Isn’t it just like you to blame me for this?”

  “How do you think I felt watching him hold a gun to your head?” he yelled, unable to keep the anguish out of his voice.

  She studied him for a moment then lifted her hands to cup his face. “I love you too, Callum.”

  He pulled her into his arms as he kissed her. “I love you.”

  “Isn’t that precious?” McWalton asked as he stood. “I cannot believe a smart woman like her would be that stupid.”

  He wanted to ignore McWalton, but Callum knew better. He watched as the guards surrounded McWalton.

  “I’m Laird McWalton. That man is a criminal. His name is McLennan. His whole family is filled with criminals.”

  The guards glanced at Callum, and he shrugged. “I’ve no idea what he’s talking about.”

  “Liar,” McWalton screamed.

  “You’re the liar,” Phoebe said, stepping in front of Callum to confront McWalton. Callum’s fingers itched to stop her, but he knew better. “This man kidnapped me. Mr. Lennon saved me.”

  “Whatever happened, we’ll sort it all out at the office,” one of the guards said. He moved to grab him, but McWalton fell to the ground and seized the gun he’d dropped earlier before the guards could do anything. Callum shoved Phoebe behind him and pulled his own weapon from his pocket. McWalton already had the gun and got off a shot that went wide, but Callum wasn’t taking any chances. He shot him in his heart.

  * * * *

  As they walked up the steps to the house, Phoebe sighed. “I still think we should have looked for the diamond.”

  “Then we would have had to explain to the guards about it. I’ll send Fletcher and Logan down tomorrow morning. They will be there when they open up. I know approximately where it is. And the weather is supposed to be atrocious, so no one will be out there early on.”

  She knew he was right. Explaining to the guards what they were looking for would have been difficult. But she didn’t like the idea of leaving the jewel there. They had contemplated sneaking back in, but even a cursory look over the area told both of them that they wouldn’t find it at night. And the guards were not about to let them look around. After taking their statements, they had asked them to leave.

  She opened the door and heard Anice yell, “They’re back.”

  The four cousins came running down the hall along with several servants. “Where the bloody hell have you been?” Angus yelled. “You just leave and don’t tell us what the hell is going on?”

  Angus pulled her out of Callum’s arms and gave her a look over and then hugged her.

  “That’s enough of that,” Callum said and tugged her back to his side. “McWalton stole her away. I needed to act fast.”

  “Where is the wanker right now? I would like to get a piece of him,” Fletcher said. From the look on his face, Phoebe was pretty sure he was telling the truth.

  “He’s dead,” Callum said.

  “He trie
d to shoot us, so Callum shot him.”

  “Forget about that. Come see,” Anice said, grabbing Phoebe’s hand and dragging her down the hall. Phoebe wanted a shower, wanted to get out of her clothes and burn them. She was so damned tired, she just wanted to collapse. But Anice just kept dragging her down the hall.

  She didn’t stop until they were in Callum’s office. She dropped Phoebe’s hand and picked up the sword. “Look!”

  In the middle of the handle, someone had set a perfect diamond.

  Phoebe shook her head. “Replacing the jewel with another is just not going to work, Anice.”

  Anice rolled her eyes, and Logan stepped up. “No, we didn’t do it. We were going through everything here trying to find something to tell us where you were and then all of the sudden, it appeared. Just like that.”

  Phoebe glanced at Callum, her heart turning over in her chest. “We lost it there. Callum was going to send you back to search for it.”

  “Well, he doesn’t have to now,” Logan said.

  Then she remembered the passage that she had translated earlier. She ran to her desk and pulled it out.

  “Here, read it.”

  Callum took it from her and frowned. “To gain the diamond, the McLennan will give up the future to gain his future.”

  He looked up at her, stunned.

  “It didn’t make any sense when I translated it, so I thought I was punch-drunk. But it does now. You gave up the chance at the diamond to save my life.”

  He set the book down and pulled her into his arms. “And thank God I did.”

  “Bloody hell. Does that mean we all have to give up something?” Fletcher asked.

  She laughed. “I’m not sure, but I have a feeling that each of you will have to go on some kind of quest.”

  “I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Fletcher said.

  “I don’t think we have a choice, cuz,” Angus said.

  “No, you don’t, but I’ll be sure to help you along the way,” Phoebe said.

  Callum pulled her into his arms. “As long as they both understand you are only there for translation purposes and nothing else.”

  She was laughing when he bent his head and kissed her.

  Epilogue

  Phoebe slipped into bed beside Callum and sighed as she snuggled against him. It felt so good to have her by his side, in his bed, with no lies or secrets between them.

  “I am truly sorry for not being truthful.”

  He brushed his lips on the top of her head. “We both made some mistakes.”

  She leaned up and looked down at him. Her earnest expression gave him pause. “I want you to know that I will never tell another living soul about you or your cousins.”

  “No one would believe you if you did.”

  She shook her head. “I’m being serious. I would never betray your trust.”

  “I know that, love.” He cupped her face and leaned up to kiss her. “I know that our secrets are safe with you. I love you, Phoebe.”

  Her eyes misted.

  “No, don’t cry.”

  “I can’t help it. No one has ever said that to me before.”

  “Well, how about I prove it to you,” he said, rolling them across the bed. With the soft light of morning peeking through the curtains, he did just that.

  About Melissa Schroeder

  Born to an Air Force family at an Army hospital Melissa has always been a little bit screwy. She was further warped by her years of watching Monty Python and her strange family. Her love of romance novels developed after accidentally picking up a Linda Howard book. After becoming hooked, she read close to 300 novels in one year, deciding that romance was her true calling instead of the literary short stories and suspenses she had been writing. Since her first release in 2004, Melissa has had over 30 short stories, novellas and novels released with multiple publishers in a variety of genres and time periods. Those releases include the Harmless series, a best-selling erotic romance series set in Hawaii. A Little Harmless Sex, book 1, was one of the top 100 bestselling Nook Books of 2010.

  Since she was a military brat, she vowed never to marry military. Alas, fate always has her way with mortals. Her husband is an Air Force major, and together they have their own military brats, two girls, and two adopted dog daughters, and they live wherever the military sticks them. Which she is sure, will always involve heat and bugs only seen on the Animal Discovery Channel. In her spare time, she reads, complains about bugs, travels, cooks, reads some more, watches her DVD collections of Arrested Development and Seinfeld, and tries to convince her family that she truly is a delicate genius. She has yet to achieve her last goal.

  You can connect with Mel all over the web:

  WEBSITE

  TWITTER

  FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

  HARMLESS ADDICTS

  Or email her at: [email protected]

  Other Books by Melissa Schroeder

  Harmless

  A Little Harmless Sex

  A Little Harmless Pleasure

  A Little Harmless Obsession

  A Little Harmless Lie

  A Little Harmless Addiction

  A Little Harmless Submission

  A Little Harmless Military Romance

  Infatuation

  The Harmless Shorts

  A Little Harmless Fling—Free on Website

  A Little Harmless Kalikimaka—Free on Website

  A Little Harmless Surprise

  A Little Harmless Gift

  The Cursed Clan

  Callum

  Once Upon An Accident

  The Accidental Countess

  Lessons in Seduction

  The Spy Who Loved Me

  Leather and Lace

  The Seduction of Widow McEwan

  Leather and Lace—Print anthology

  Texas Temptations

  Conquering India

  Delilah’s Downfall

  Hawaiian Holidays

  Mele Kalikimaka, Baby

  Sex on the Beach

  Getting Lei’d

  Bounty Hunters, Inc

  For Love or Honor

  Sinner’s Delight

  The Sweet Shoppe

  Tempting Prudence—free on website

  Her Wicked Warrior

  Connected Books

  Seducing the Saint

  Hunting Mila

  Saints and Sinners—print of both books

  The Hired Hand

  Hands on Training

  Cancer Anthology

  Water—print

  Stand Alone Books

  Grace Under Pressure

  The Last Detail

  Her Mother’s Killer

  A Calculated Seduction

  Telepathic Cravings

  Coming Soon

  A Little Harmless Fascination

  Possession: A Little Harmless Military Romance

  By Blood: Desire

  Falling in Love Again

  A Little Harmless Fantasy

  Surrender: A Little Harmless Military Romance

  A Lethal Woman

  Going for Eight

  Next in the Cursed Clan series:

  ANGUS

  The quiet bookworm of the bunch, Angus has always thought everything out before acting. So, it’s understandable that the clan asks him to approach Irishwoman Maggie O’Conner to help them retrieve the next jewel. His well-organized life is completely turned upside down when he contacts the streetwise woman, who is even more cynical than his cousin Fletcher. But he senses a soft center in the hard woman, and is helpless to resist seducing her.

  Maggie didn’t ever want to go back to her former life. Not many people know she was The Cat, a jewel thief known for her rooftop escapes. She worked to turn her life around, but her past has come back to haunt her and she needs money--fast. When Angus Lennon appears, it seems like a miracle of fate. An easy heist, in and out, no big deal. But things go wrong from the start. The thugs from her past are hot on her tail, almost ruining her job. Stil
l, even gun-toting goons don’t scare her as much as Angus Lennon. Her attraction to him threatens to consume her and ruin the plans she has for the future.

  But danger comes not only from the authorities and her dangerous past, but the from the present McWalton laird who will do anything to stop the Lennons from succeeding.

  Coming in July:

  Melissa Schroeder invites you into the world of By Blood. Among the glittering Victorian ton lives a world of vampires, filled with borns and mades, and a man bent on destroying their world as they know it.

  A man with a secret.

  Nicodemus Blackburn has seen the best and worst of mankind. Five hundred years of dealing with them teaches the vampire to be very wary of the creatures. Unfortunately, alarming events leave him no choice but to enter the world of the ton to hunt a villain. He must find a rogue vampire, one who is making his own army of bloodthirsty vampires. Searching for the villain is not the worst of his troubles. That can be laid at the feet of bluestocking Lady Cordelia Collingsworth.

  A woman on a mission.