TWENTY-NINE
Callie

My eyes are wide at the bullet that is now buried in the wall beside my head.

"You're joking." I release a nervous laugh. "What the fuck was that?!"

"Okay, I lied. He's new on the job, and I'd never kill my friends." I furrow my eyebrows at Mason's words.

Who's new on the job?!

Friends?

"We're not your fucking friends and you —" Phoenix grits out and then turns to point at me. "I told you to fucking stay inside!" He shouts and Miller steps up behind him, putting his hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Don't shout at her." He tells Nix who continues to stare at me with a harsh frown on his face.

"She didn't fucking listen to me!" He exclaims in anger, his face going a light shade of red.

It's only now I notice that we're standing in the pouring rain. My dress is drenched along with my hair and raindrops begin to coat my eyelashes causing me to blink a lot more than usual.

"What is going on?" I question over the loud pelting of raindrops.

"What is going on? What is going on is that you should have kept your ass inside? You nearly got a bullet in your head!" My eyes slowly close as Phoenix begins to shout louder.

How was I supposed to know that someone was going to shoot at me as soon as I stepped through the door?! I thought they came out here for a conversation, not a battle!

"Hey, he told you to stop shouting at her." Everest steps up to Phoenix who turns his attention onto him.

Phoenix then looks at Mason before slowly walking over to him, my eyes widen when he raises his fist and lands a hard punch to his nose. I wince at the cracking sound that fills the air.

"Fucking shit!" Mason clutches onto his bloody nose and looks at Nix with wide eyes. "I thought I'd try and scare you, that's all! I'm not here to kill you, fuckin' hell! I admit I'm jealous of that fuck over there, but I would never try and kill him!" Mason points to his brother before another groan leaves his mouth.

"So why the hell would you have a sniper on a roof! An untrained one at that!" Miller yells, and I have to exhale a deep breath at the situation I find myself in. "You nearly shot our girl's head off, Mason, you fucking idiot!" Now Miller is mad.

And it takes a lot for Miller to get mad.

"Okay, I've said I'm sorry!" Mason holds his hands up in defence, but Phoenix has other plans and punches him again.

"What the fuck is going on out here?!" River storms outside and looks at the scene in front of her like it's nothing new. "Cal?"

"Nix is beating the shit out of Miller's brother." I point out the obvious, and she rolls her eyes before pulling out her gun, cocking it. The sound grabs the attention of everyone, and they turn to look at her.

"Put your gun away, Riv." Everest rolls his eyes at his sister.

"Shut the fuck up, Ev." She retorts and I facepalm myself.

"You! You're coming with us and I swear to fuck I don't care if you are Miller's brother, I'm going to torture you until you tell us everything about who is behind all of this shit!" Phoenix threatens Mason who looks unfazed.

"Sure." He shrugs.

And another punch.

"Nix, stop." I plead and the look he gives me has my heart dropping to my stomach.

Miller drags his brother back into the restaurant, with River and Everest following behind them. Now it's just me and Phoenix standing outside.

"Why are you ignoring me?" I question as he avoids eye contact with me. "Hey, I'm speaking to you!" I snap my fingers in his face, and he clenches his jaw.

"I'm so fucking mad at you right now, Callie. So now isn't the right time to piss me off further before we both end up saying things we regret." He warns and I look at him in disbelief. "I told you to stay inside, and you didn't fucking listen." He says lowly.

"How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?" I throw my hands in the air.

"I told you to stay inside." He repeats and I sigh.

"Okay, and I didn't." He releases a low chuckle and places his hands on his hips, looking anywhere but me. "Phoenix, I think you're blowing this out of proportion. I'm sorry that I've upset you."

"I'm not blowing it out of proportion, Callie, when you were inches away from having your brains splattered on that wall." He points to the wall behind me.

My mouth falls open slightly as he storms past me and back into the restaurant.

•••

Poppy knows everything. I had to explain it to her as I walked back into the restaurant, minutes after Nix did. She understood, in fact, she already had her suspicions like I did in the beginning.

Now we're back home and Phoenix has not uttered one word to me. He won't even look me in the eye. Mason has been locked in some room in the house, security is posted near enough everywhere.

"My love?" I turn and smile gently as Miller takes a seat next to me on the sofa. "How you doing, baby? You frightened the shit out of me earlier on." He reaches forward to stroke my cheek and I lean into his touch and rest my head on his shoulder — my body warms as he wraps his arms around me and places a soft kiss on the top of my head.

"I didn't know that was going to happen, Mill. I was just worried about you three, I heard you all arguing, and I got concerned, that's all. Why is he so mad?" I whisper, my eyes beginning to water as I speak about Phoenix.

"I know, sweetheart. We're all protective of you and Phoenix was already pent-up on anger before you came out, I'm sorry he took that out on you." He places another kiss on my forehead as I sniffle, burying my face into his chest. "Don't cry, my love."

"I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting all of that to happen tonight." I cry, and he begins to stroke my back gently.

"It's okay, baby."

The sudden sound of footsteps has me freezing, and I pull away slightly from Miller's chest and turn to see Phoenix standing at the entrance of the living room. We maintain eye contact for a few more seconds before he storms over to the alcohol cabinet. He rips open the door and pulls a bottle of vodka out. I sit up alert and watch as he storms out of the room.

"It can't just be what happened earlier on that's annoyed him." I look at Miller and he smiles gently.

"I'll speak to him. Don't worry." I wrap my arms around him, and we sit in comfortable silence. My ear rests against his chest and the soft beating of his heart soothes my body. "Callie."

"Yes."

"You looked beautiful tonight. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to tell you." I look up at him and smile.

"Thank you." I place a kiss on his lips, and it doesn't take long for the kiss to become passionate between the two of us — his lips fit perfectly with mine. "I love you." He whispers against my lips and I pull back, looking down at him with warm eyes.

I get the same feeling I did when Everest told me, and it's like the second piece of the puzzle has been placed on my heart.

"I love you," I whisper. "I love you loads." I pepper kisses all over his face, making him laugh.

"Good because if you didn't, I'd be grabbing a bottle and joining Phoenix." He smirks and I lightly tap his arm.

"That's not funny." I point and he chuckles lightly.

"Sorry."

I relax back against him and wrap my arms tighter around him but pause when I hear him wince. I sit up and slowly push his suit jacket black to reveal his white dress shirt, which is painted crimson red.

A/N
Welllll👀💙