His Hollow Heart (Fallen Kingdom Book 1)

Callum

I’m pacing The Grotto floor, watching my app where I have the live footage pulled up, so I can see Bella’s bedroom door. So far, she’s obeying me and staying put.

I’m tired as hell. Haven’t slept in two days, and it’s not looking good for tonight either. Now I’ve got to watch her ass and his to make sure no funny business is pulled. I want to trust Bella, I really do, but the way I’ve been duped by her in the past has me wondering if her sincerity lately is a ploy to try and leave. Unfortunately, if she does try that, I’d have to be the bad guy and carry out my threat to destroy her parents’ lives.

A call comes through, interrupting the live stream.

Byron. It’s about damn time. 

“Where the hell are you?” I huff into the speaker of the phone.

“Had to go take care of something. I’ll be back later tonight. Where are you?”

My lack of patience gets the best of me. “The same damn place I’ve been for the last two months. Now get your ass back here. We need to talk.”

“I’ll be there around ten. Meet me downstairs. And you’re right. We do need to talk.”

He ends the call. His ass really just hung up on me again. I’m getting real tired of this shit he’s been pulling lately. I know he’s trying to turn Bella against me. He wants her gone, and he’s making it known.

I get to the dining room just as the cook is setting the table for dinner. Nothing like a nice dinner with my future wife and her boyfriend to end this day on a good note.

“Good evening, Mr. Ellis,” Peter says as he enters the room with his hands behind his back. “Ms. Jenkins has informed me that Mr. Beckham refuses to join you for dinner tonight.”

My fists ball at my sides as I try to remain calm. There is no one I hate more than Trent Beckham, and nothing I hate more than an ungrateful guest. “Then you can relay to Mr. Beckham,” I growl his name, “that he can go hungry tonight.”

Peter tips his head. “Very well.”

I walk so fast out of the dining hall that my body can barely keep up with my feet. Bypassing Peter, I head straight for the elevator and jump on, not even holding the door for him. He’s much more untiring than most men his age, but he still moves slowly and right now, I’m in a hurry.

Instead of stopping at the sixth floor to confront Trent, I go to Bella.

My knuckles pound against her door repeatedly until she finally pulls it open. Brushing past her, I enter her room. “It seems your…” I stop, completely caught off guard when I see Trent sitting on her bed. “When did he get here?”

I watched the cameras and didn’t see him come up. Dammit! It must have been when I was on the phone with Byron. Two whole goddamn minutes and he found a way to weasel his way into her room.

Trent stands up, his shoulders drawn back like he’s challenging me. “Is there a problem, Callum? I am Bella’s soon-to-be fiancé, and guest, and to be honest, I’m not too happy with the way you’ve been talking to her. Seems a little unprofessional, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask you, but thanks for your input, Trent.” His name alone makes me want to break things.

It’s ironic that the boy I’ve hated since I was eleven is now standing in my kingdom, telling me I’m unprofessional.

Trent takes a step forward and places an arm around Bella’s waist. “I think you need to leave this room. It’s Bella’s private space and you shouldn’t be in here.”

Gnashing my teeth, my gaze skates from his hold on her to his eyes. “Actually, I think you need to leave. Your trip has come to an end. Bella, please see him out.”

“What? No!” she stammers, stepping away from him and into my space. “Please, Cal,” she whispers. “Let me handle this.”

I stare into the eyes of my enemy before looking down at her. “You’re not handling it very well. End this,” I mumble.

Her doe eyes peer up at me and it’s hard not to fall under their spell. “I will. I just need some time.”

“Fine. I’ll see you both at dinner. The cook will be off duty in an hour and if you’d like to eat, now is your chance. Otherwise, you can both starve, for all I care.”

Bella glances over her shoulder. “Is that okay?” she asks Trent.

Why the hell is she asking his permission to eat? 

“No,” Trent retorts with a glowering look. He takes another step forward and pulls Bella back by her hips. Her back hits his chest while his hands stay locked on her waist, his eyes on me. “Bella and I will be eating in here tonight.”

Don’t kill him.

Not yet.

Look at Bella.

She can calm you down.

She can end the deranged thoughts swirling in your head.

I look at her and see those sad, begging eyes. There’s a tremble to her bottom lip that tells me she’s scared. She should be. She knows what I’m capable of and I won’t hesitate to show them both.

Collecting my composure, I stand tall. “You eat downstairs or you don’t eat at all. You sleep in your own room or you get the hell off my island. Got it?” I’m talking to him, not her, but there’s a good chance he thinks I’m speaking to both of them.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Trent grumbles. “You get a few bucks in your bank account and, suddenly, the orphan has all the power?” Bella turns around and begins whispering something, but Trent snaps at her, “Don’t interrupt me when I’m talking.”

Unable to refrain any longer, I step up to him. Moving Bella out of the way, I get in his face. “Do you have a death wish, Beckham?”

I reach out and grab Bella by the hand, trying to get her away from this lunatic. “Come on, we’re going to eat.”

Her eyes beg for mercy as she tries to free her hand to no avail. “Just give me a minute. He needs to eat, too. Please.”

“You’ve got two minutes.” I drop her hand, throw Trent a warning glare, and head out the door, leaving it ajar.

My back presses to the wall beside the open door and I kick my foot up behind me. One night. One more night and she will never see him again.

“We’re leaving this place right now or I’m going back and telling your parents you’re working for a psychopath.”

I reach into my pocket and pull out a tube of toothpicks, then pop one in my mouth with a smirk on my face.

Oh, if you only knew, Trent. Bella isn’t going anywhere with you. 

“Trent, please just stop this. This job is important to me.”

“You don’t need this job, or any job, for that matter. In fact, once we’re married, I’d like to start our family right away. You can stay home with them and I’ll work.”

“Don’t I have a say in what I want? Maybe I don’t want kids yet. Maybe I want to work.”

“My future wife will not work some ridiculous nine-to-five job for little pay while someone else raises our kids.”

There’s a beat of silence that has me leaning closer to the door.

“Trent, this just isn’t working anymore. I think you should go.”

Trent laughs menacingly. “You’re kidding, right? I take time off work to come here and you think you’re going to break up with me. For what? This lousy job? For him? He might have money and connections. But I do, too. If you’re scared of him, we can take him down. I know a guy—”

“Why are you talking like this? Are you seriously talking about having Cal killed? Have you lost your damn mind?”

Instead of an answer all I hear is the shuffling of feet. “Let’s go. We’re leaving this damn place.”

She stops in her tracks, not allowing him to usher her any farther. “I’m not leaving with you.”

The scuffing sounds against the floor has me pulling the door open the rest of the way. Just as I do, I watch as Trent raises his hand and flattens it across Bella’s cheek. The National Guard couldn’t even stop me as I make a beeline right for Trent. I grab Bella, who’s cupping her tear-soaked cheek, and give her a push to the side. My fist cocks back and I lay it straight on his nose.

“You’re a dead man,” I scream, as I continue to hammer his face with my fist, rotating from left to right as he falls to the ground. My legs wrap around him. His arms cross in front of his face as he tries to stop me, but I’m unstoppable. Blood splatters around the room. Bella cries out, begging me to stop, and Trent moans beneath me, but I don’t stop. I keep going. Punch after punch. Blow after blow. Hearing bone meet bone as my knuckles grind into his flesh. Feeling the slippery mess of his blood—tasting it, smelling it. I’m a man hell-bent on retribution, especially from the asshole who took everything from me.

“Help. Someone help,” I hear Bella holler from outside the room.

Trent reaches up, trying to grab my throat, but it’s useless. He’s too weak. The strength and the power are all mine. His demise will be my dawn. My fresh start. A new beginning. A life with the woman he claims to love.

I’ve waited years for this. Years of knowing he was living his best life. He had it all. The perfect family, unconditional love, inherited wealth. Then I found out he got her. He got the girl that was meant to be mine. He stole her from me in a dirty power play.

Now, I’m taking it all back. The sweet taste of revenge sits heavy on my tongue as I watch him crumble beneath me.

“I lost everything because of you,” I scream so loud my words echo off the walls. “For twelve years, you and that asshole lived a life that should have been mine. Everything we wanted, everything we dreamt, you stole. Now you get to pay. Bella is mine and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”

I hear her.

“Please stop, Cal. I’m begging you.”

The voice of an angel.

“Please,” she cries out.

My blows become sluggish. The pain in my hands begins to creep in.

“Please,” she says one more time, her hand resting on my shoulder.

I look behind me and see her standing there, tears streaming down her face.

“Please don’t kill him.”

My chin hits my chest and I sit there, on an unconscious Trent, for what feels like minutes.

“Would you like me to take care of him, sir?” Anders asks from behind me.

“Take care of him?” Bella howls. “I know what that means. No you will not take care of him.”

I push myself up, feeling lightheaded from the sudden adrenaline shift. Looking at Anders, I nod. “Take him to the cellar. I’ll be there in five.”

“No!” Bella screams. Her fists hit me over and over as she cries before falling into my arms. “I won’t let you kill him. He’s a person, Cal. He might be cruel, but he doesn’t deserve to die.”

“Now,” I say to Anders, before scooping Bella up and tossing her over my shoulder.

She fights me the entire walk down the hall. Her fists whale on my back. Legs kicking, mouth running.

We stop at my room and I squeeze her body tighter, so she’s unable to get away. Reaching in my pocket, I pull out my key, unlock the door, then open. Once we’re inside, I go straight to my closet and pull open a drawer.

Bella stops moving, watching as I pull out a thick bundle of rope. “What are you doing?”

“It’s for your own good. With him gone, we can finally live.”

“No!” She begins kicking and punching again while she screams at the top of her lungs.

“It has to be this way.”

I set her down on the bed and bind her wrists together. She doesn’t make it easy as she jerks and squirms to try and free herself. Once the rope is tight enough that she can’t get free, I tie the loose end to the pole on the footboard of the bed.

“Why are you tying me up?” She sniffles. “I already know you’re planning to kill him. Why are you doing this?”

“Because I don’t want you to stop me. He hurt us. Everything that happened is because of him.” I give the rope a pull to make sure it’s secure. Once I’m sure it is, I kneel in front of Bella. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”

Her lips curl in a snarl. “If you kill him, I’ll never forgive you.”

“With time, you will.” I stand up and head for the door. “Scream all you want. This room is soundproof, so no one will hear you.”

I walk out and lock the door behind me. Vengeance awaits.