Callum Parker lounged on a battered sofa with his boots propped up on the coffee table, cigarette smoke curling in lazy tendrils toward the ceiling. His fingers scrolled through his phone absentmindedly until something caught his attention. It was a post on Instagram.
His lips curled into a smirk, and he scratched at his stubbly cheek. There she was. Evie motherfucking Andrew.
Draped in luxury, her hand resting delicately on Tommy Mackenzie's arm, and on her finger… a diamond the size of a d*mn marble."
D*mn, my girl," Callum murmured, sitting up sharply. He whistled as he zoomed even further into the picture. "You've landed a goddamn whale."
His smirk widened as he tapped his phone, scrolling through his contacts. He stopped when he found her name, his thumb hovering over the call button.
"F*ck yeah," he muttered and took a slow drag of his cigarette. "I'll be seeing you soon, princess."
His eyes scanned the messy space he had been calling home for a couple of months, and his mouth curled in disgust. He was better than this. He looked at Evie's contact on his phone and hit dial.
Say what you would about Callum Parker. Call him a drunk or a slob but he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
And this? This was the fattest gift horse he had ever seen in his f*ck*ng life.
***
Tommy's penthouse was bathed in the soft glow of the afternoon sun, casting golden rays across the sprawling bedroom. He and Evie lay tangled in the sheets, the warmth of their bodies cocooned in the luxurious silence.
Tommy's phone buzzed. He smiled as he read the comments on his latest post—his engagement announcement.Evie's phone, however, began vibrating relentlessly. The constant pinging disrupted the peaceful air.
She sat up with a frown, reaching for it on the bedside table.
"What the hell?" she muttered. "Why is my phone blowing up?"
Tommy chuckled, feeling pleased with himself. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "I just announced our engagement on social media.
"Evie stiffened and turned to him. The warmth in her eyes flickered into something else—something sharp and unsettled.
"You did what?" she whispered.
Tommy's brow furrowed. "I thought you'd be pleased. You've been obsessing over my mum's reaction to you."
Evie swung her legs off the bed, standing abruptly. "Yes! But that didn't mean you had to announce it to the whole world without talking to me first!"
Tommy sat up, irritation creeping into his voice. "Whoa! There's no need to yell. It's just a harmless post."
"It isn't harmless at all!" Evie snapped, pacing. She was about ready to wear a hole into the floor with her frustrated steps.
Tommy got out of bed and stood opposite Evie. He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling.
"It was going to get out regardless, Evie! Or did you expect us to just pop up as a married couple? It doesn't work like that!"
"You're saying it doesn't work like that as if there's a particular set of rules that we need to abide by!" Evie flung her hands up in the air with aggravation."
"Babe, why are you being so f*ck*ng weird? Ever since you met with my Mum the other day..." Tommy trailed off, giving Evie a confused look.
She shrugged in response and looked everywhere but at him."What? Just because I didn't want to give a word-for-word play doesn't mean anything's off."
"That's exactly my point! You were so excited to meet up with her and then you came back all somber..." Tommy's voice started to rise. "...as if your dog had died or some sh*t!"
Before Evie could respond, her phone rang in her hands. The sound was startling and she frowned down at the device like she was irritated by its interruption.
It rang just once and then it stopped abruptly, as if the caller had changed their mind.
"That's weird," Evie mused. The caller was an unknown number.
"Who is it, Evie?" Tommy asked with curiosity. Evie shrugged in response and dropped the phone back on the nightstand.
Tommy opened his mouth to ask another question when the phone rang again. He sighed and snatched it from the nightstand before Evie could reach for it.
"Hello?" he answered, his tone sharp. "Who is this?"
There was no response from the other end. Just weird silence.
"I asked who this is," Tommy repeated, enunciating every word. There was still no response from the caller. Then, the call cut off abruptly again.
Tommy pulled the phone back from his ear and stared at the screen, his jaw tightening.
"No response?" Evie's asked in a light tone. Tommy shook his head in response.
"That's strange but it's probably just a spam call. Nothing to worry about, I'm sure!" Her breezy words didn't match the look on her face.
Or the way her stomach twisted at the thought of it being anyone else.
Tommy concurred, "Yeah, it was probably something silly."