Page 52 of Shades of Grey & Gold

Suddenly, I feel my thoughts start questioning me, then justifying the actions, as he rises from leaning and I stand.

What am I doing?I’m going with Cal.Did he just confirm he was in the mob?Maybe?Do they call it the mob?Or is it the mafia?Does he kill people?That’s like… not grey, right? That would be wholly in the black, right?Wait, do I have to watch him kill someone?Certainly not.

Does he have a gun on him right now?

I glance at his hip and don’t see a gun or a bulge, but his jacket is on.

Callan steps towards the door of the jet, taking a step down the stairs and I follow, hesitating at the top.

He turns to me, wind whipping around us.

“Rule number two. You have to stop calling me Reed… because my last name is Renzetti.”

His eyes hold mine for a beat, then he continues down the steps of the plane.

Renzetti?

I follow his large frame in a trance as he walks to a waiting black SUV. Two big guys in suits and sunglasses lean against the hood, standing up straighter as Callan approaches them. Callan clasps hands with one of them with a pat on the back, and glances back at me. They share a conversation, muffled by the winds and distance.

Are those guys in the mafia?

I grab the railing of the plane stairs as my steps falter at the bottom, the runway stretching out in front of me threatens to go sideways.

I think about every interaction I’ve experienced with Cal since this morning. The extra cell phone. Leaving Ellison without being questioned. The one pilot choking on his words, looking almost disgusted to shake Cal’s hand. Denise, the flight attendant, shuffling away when he told her to leave. Louis, the driver, averting his gaze after smiling at me when Callan caught his eyes in the rearview mirror. They all called him ‘sir.’

Callan’s words ring in my ears while my hair wildly dances around my head, obscuring my vision briefly.

His father raised him to take over the family business. He announced Cal would take over for him. Cal let his brother take over temporarily. Take over thefamily business.

The Renzettifamily business.

I step down onto the black runway and push my hair from my face. Cal turns to me, the black, glossy SUV door held open in front of him. He has handed off his backpack to one of the men, who puts it in the trunk. Cal’s hands are in his pockets, and his eyebrows are raised at me. His expression is questioning, as I stand still as a statue, between the plane (my only way out of this situation, should I take it) and him, with the car that will take us… where exactly? To thefamily business? That he took over?

If Cal took over for his father, that makes him…

I frown, taking Cal in from the toes of his shoes to the top of his dark, curly hair. Chills cover every inch of my body as I shiver.

He’s not ‘The Godfather’ mob boss material. He’s Cal. This is Callan Reed, YMCA-dancing, piggy-back-ride-giving Callan Reed.

But he’s not Callan Reed.

He’s a Renzetti.

Chapter Sixteen

Max

Islideintothebackseat of the SUV. It smells like leather and expensive cologne. My nose scrunches up and I fight a flinch as the door closes behind me.

I can feel Cal’s eyes on me from where he sits in the seat next to me, but I focus intently on buckling up, narrating each movement in my head, pretending the buckle is so very interesting; I must give it my full attention. Once buckled, the window and door are also very intriguing, soI must examine them.

Two more doors shut and the two burly men are now in the front. I feel a hand on top of mine. I look over and realize my knuckles are white from where my fingers grip the armrest.

I watch his fingers run gently across the tops of my knuckles. His hand dwarfs mine, reminding me what it felt like when he held me up under the thighs and carried me across campus.

Safe. It’s Cal.

His hand disappears and he clears his throat. “We can stop at the house, then we need to go to my place.”