“Your mother Vivian won’t back you on this,” I said. “She knows you are a liability now.”

His jaw tightened. A small muscle near his temple twitched.

“My mother is protecting her own interests,” Callum said. “But she knows that if I fall, the family name goes with me. She will do what she has to do.”

I felt a sudden, sharp ache in my lower back.

It was a dull, heavy pressure that seemed to radiate forward.

I did not let my expression change, but I gripped the metal side rail of the bed a little tighter.

“The federal protection order is active, Callum,” I said, waiting for the sensation to pass. “Judge Mallory signed it this afternoon. You are in direct violation of a federal court order just by being in this building.”

“The security guards at the front desk were happy to take a break,” Callum said. “Nobody knows I am here.”

“I know,” Arthur said.

Arthur held up his mobile phone. The small green light on the top of the screen was blinking.