Chapter 33 JEALOUSY GOT ME
CALLUM'S POV
Monday morning came with all the usual chaos of a new work week, but I couldn't focus on any of it.
My mind kept circling back to Saturday, to the conversation in the living room, to the way Nova had looked me in the eye and told me she was dating Matthias Hale.
Our biggest rival. Our enemy. The man who had been systematically trying to destroy everything we had built for the past five years.
And she had no idea.
"Mr. Blackthorn?" My assistant Jessica knocked on my office door, pulling me out of my thoughts. "The event coordinator for the Business Excellence Awards is on line two. She needs to confirm the final details for Friday night."
Friday. The awards ceremony. Another thing I couldn't focus on properly because all I could think about was Nova.
"Put her through." I picked up the phone. "This is Callum Blackthorn."
"Mr. Blackthorn, good morning! This is Sandra Mills from the Meridian City Business Excellence Committee. I just wanted to confirm a few final details with you before the ceremony on Friday evening."
"Of course. What do you need?"
"The ceremony will begin at seven o'clock sharp at the Grand Meridian Hotel. Cocktail hour starts at six. Your company has reserved a table for eight, is that still correct?"
I thought about it quickly. Me, Elias, Nova, my father if he was feeling well enough to attend, and four other senior executives. "Yes, that's correct."
"Wonderful. Now, I have a few updates to your guest list that I wanted to confirm with you. First, Vanessa Sterling has been added as your plus-one. She reached out to our office directly last week to confirm her attendance with you."
My hand tightened on the phone. "Excuse me?"
"Vanessa Sterling? She's listed here as your date for the evening. She mentioned that your families have been close for years and that her father and your father had discussed the arrangement. If there's been some mistake—"
Of course. My father and her father have planned this already. He once told me about marrying Venessa. But I don't want to be part of it. Plus I and Venessa barely knew each other, we just talk whenever we get the opportunity to.
I had never been interested in her nor had I thought about marrying her. Not even for a second.
But apparently, Vanessa had taken their encouragement as permission to add herself to my guest list without asking me.
"Remove her from my guest list," I said, my voice hard.
"Are you certain, Mr. Blackthorn? She seemed very confident that—"
"I'm certain. Remove her."
"Of course, sir. I'll take care of that right away." There was a pause and the sound of typing. "Actually, Mr. Blackthorn, there's one more thing I should mention. I have Nova Sinclair listed here as part of your company's delegation, but she's also listed as the plus-one for Matthias Hale of Kane Tower. Is that correct?"
Everything in me went cold and still.
"What did you just say?"
"Nova Sinclair is listed as attending with Matthias Hale. He added her to his guest list three days ago. I just wanted to confirm that there wasn't a conflict, since she's also employed by your company."
Three days ago. Matthias added her as his plus one on Friday. Right before she had told us she was dating him.
He had wasted no time claiming her publicly.
"No conflict," I managed to say through clenched teeth. "She's attending as his guest, not as part of our company delegation."
"Understood. I'll make that adjustment to the seating chart. Is there anything else you need from me, Mr. Blackthorn?"
"No. That's all."
I hung up before she could say anything else, before I said something I would regret.
Nova was going to the awards ceremony as Matthias Hale's date. She was going to walk into that room on his arm, sit at his table, and be photographed with him by every media outlet in the city.
She was going to be publicly claimed by our enemy while I sat across the room and watched it happen.
And there was nothing I could do about it because we had promised to back off. To give her space. To let her make her own decisions.
I needed to see her. I needed to talk to her, to warn her about what she was walking into, to make her understand who Matthias Hale really was.
I stood up from my desk and walked out of my office, heading straight for Nova's office on the other side of the floor.
But when I got close enough to see through her glass walls, I stopped dead.
Matthias Hale was in her office. His hands were on her waist, pulling her close. And as I watched, frozen in place and unable to look away, he leaned down and kissed her.
And she kissed him back.
Her hands went to his shoulders, her body melting into his like it was the most natural thing in the world.
His hands slid lower, cupping her ass through her skirt, pulling her even closer against him.
She made a sound I couldn't hear but could see in the way her mouth opened under his, in the way her fingers curled into his shirt.
I couldn't watch anymore.
I turned and walked back to my office, my hands clenched into fists so tight that my nails were digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood.
My jaw ached from how hard I was clenching it, and I could feel the rage building in my chest like a living thing, hot and vicious and demanding release.
The walk back to my office felt like it took hours even though it was only seconds. Every step made the image of them together burn brighter in my mind.
Her body pressed against his. His hands on her. Her mouth opened for him.
I made it back to my office and closed the door, but it didn't help. Nothing helped. The rage was still there, consuming everything, making it impossible to think about anything except how badly I wanted to put my fist through Matthias Hale's face.
I went straight to the bar cart in the corner, but when I looked at the whiskey bottles lined up neatly on the shelf, I knew they wouldn't be enough.
Not when I could still see Nova kissing him every time I closed my eyes.
I pulled out the bottle of Absinthe that I kept hidden in the back for the worst days.
The green liquid swirled hypnotically in the bottle as I poured myself a generous amount, not bothering with water or sugar or any of the traditional preparation that was supposed to make it palatable.
I downed it in one burning swallow that seared all the way down my throat and settled like liquid fire in my empty stomach.
It tasted like licorice and regret and bad decisions, but I didn't care.
I poured another glass. And another. And another.
By the time the bottle was half empty, the world had gone soft and blurry around the edges.
The rage was still there, still burning hot and vicious in my chest, but it was muted now. Distant. Like it was happening to someone else and I was just watching from very far away.
My head felt heavy and my thoughts were moving like molasses, slow and thick and hard to hold onto. I sank down into my desk chair and stared at the ceiling, watching it spin slowly above me.
I heard my office door open at some point, but I didn't turn around to see who it was. Didn't care who it was or what they wanted.
Nothing mattered anymore except the green liquid in the bottle and the numb emptiness it was creating inside my chest.
"Callum?"