Page 114 of Callous Shot

“Boyfriends,” I confirmed, and Lincoln pressed a kiss to the side of my head.

“Good. I seem to remember you saying you were gonna mark me up.”

“Mmm.” Mouthing at my boyfriend’s throat, I slid my palm onto his ass. “I’m gonna make sure there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that you’re all mine.”

When we were back in Lincoln’s bed, stretched out beneath fresh sheets, he turned to me. “We need to work out what we’re going to do. We’re together now, and I don’t want anything to change that.” He paused, bringing his hand up to cup my jaw, his thumb rubbing circles into my skin. “I won’t let anything change that. I guess I’m worried about what it means for my uncle. I’m me, and you’re you, and as far as he’s concerned, we’re on opposite sides. Then there’s the complication with my father…”

His tormented expression killed me. It must have been killing him to keep it all inside for so long, unable to tell anyone for fear of what might happen. “Tell me everything he wanted you to do. I’ll tell you what it was like for me, too, if you want. Maybe knowing my side will help.”

His hand stroked up the side of my face and into my hair. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Do you want to hear?”

Our eyes connected, and he was so easy to read. Fuck, I felt dizzy when he looked at me like that, like I was the only thing that mattered to him.

“Yeah. I always want to hear.” Dipping his head, he tugged my bottom lip between his. “I want you to trust me, Dan.”

“I do trust you.” It was the honest truth, and he smiled, his gaze turning all soft and warm. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into me so his head was resting on my shoulder. “I guess…uh, a lot of this stuff obviously happened when I was too young to remember. But it all started with a loose business agreement that my dad made with the Culverhouse Network. I guess they got annoyed about the fact we were more powerful, or they wanted our assets or whatever. Frank Culverhouse got your dad involved, claiming we were skimming from the business, and it all went downhill from there.”

I recounted the events as best as I could, based on everything my mum and Neil had told me over the years, finishing up with a rundown of everything that had happened tonight at the rink. Neil had sent me a simple text earlier that was just one word: Sorted. I assumed I’d get the full rundown when the dust had settled, but for now, I was secure in the knowledge that he had everything in hand.

Lincoln was silent for a long time after I’d finished speaking, and I trailed my hands up and down the warm skin of his back while I waited for him to digest everything I’d just thrown at him.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “What was it like from your point of view? I know you hated me, but, like, what was it like?”

He buried his face into my neck with a groan. “My parents are hypocrites. They acted as if the world was black and white, as if we were good and your family was bad. They drummed it into me throughout my childhood. How you hurt people. Took from the innocent. Did bad things.”

“We didn’t… Yeah. Okay. I’m not gonna pretend we don’t have blood on our hands, because that would be a lie. I can’t justify some of the things we’ve done. But we never go after innocent people. We’re ethical criminals.”

“Ethical criminals.” He huffed out a laugh. “That’s not a thing, baby.”

“It is a thing. My mum and Neil are philanthropists.”

Lifting his head, he brushed a kiss over the tip of my nose. I grinned at my boyfriend. He was so sweet.

“Shut up,” he warned, even though I hadn’t said anything. Mind reader. We needed to circle back to my witchcraft theory. “Listen, I’m not the naive little child I was once. Honestly, I’m not sure I ever was that child. It was always clear to me just how hypocritical my parents were, happy to cosy up with the wrong side of the law when it suited them. And when we were children and at the same social events, I always noticed the difference.” He stopped, lowering his gaze, his throat working.

“The difference?” I said softly.

“In how your mum and uncle treated you, compared to the way my parents treated me. It was like— I remember once, when there was a charity event that we both attended. We were ten at the time. Right before it started, my father beat me⁠—”

“He fucking beat you?” I am going to kill him. Slowly and very fucking painfully.

“Yeah. He, uh, my parents didn’t like me very much. The wrong son died, you know.” Lincoln shrugged it off, but there was so much pain in those few words, so much left unsaid, that I struggled for a minute to speak.

“Link.” I rolled us over so he was beneath me and I could look down at him. “You’re fucking amazing. I can’t imagine a world without you in it. You’re—you’re— Fuck. I can’t even say. There aren’t even enough words in my brain to say how incredible you are.”

“Dan.” His cheeks flushed, and he wouldn’t look at me.

“I’m the luckiest person in the world because I get to call you mine. Whether you want it or not.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “My little demon. Of course I want you.”

“Yeah. You want me, I want you, we’re boyfriends, and I have the best taste in the world. Ergo, you are basically the Crown Jewels of partners.”

His brows flew up. “What the fuck are you talking about?”