Second Chance His Unending Love (Calista Hartwell) novel Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Not a flicker of surprise crossed Evander’s face-he’d seen this coming.

Calm and unruffled, Calista stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel.

“Killian and Stephanie. They must’ve followed us here.”

Olivia’s face lit up with unbridled admiration, eyes sparkling.

“They really can’t get past the gate! Finally, a quiet night with no drama!”

Evander’s gaze drifted to Calista, tone gentle but firm. “How do you want to handle them?”

Calista shook her head, saying flatly, “Treat them like any other trespassers. Their mess, their fault-nothing to do with me.”

A soft sigh escaped Olivia, slumping back into the couch. “I wish they’d just leave us alone for good.”

1/9

| 15:47

< Chapter 97

Alisa hurried off at once to relay the order to the guard

post.

At the compound’s imposing iron gate, four uniformed. guards had pinned Killian and Stephanie against the cold metal bars, their arms twisted firmly behind their backs.

Stephanie’s phone skittered across the concrete, and she let out a shrill wail, struggling against the grip.

“Let go! I’m old-you’ll break me!”

“Who sent you? This is a restricted military area—no photography, no trespassing. Can’t you read the signs?” a guard snapped, voice sharp with authority.

Stephanie hadn’t cared about the signs-not one bit.

She’d watched Calista’s car drive straight in and thought if Calista could get in, so could she.

However, she hadn’t even focused the camera before the guards had tackled her to the ground.

“I’m innocent! I swear it! My son’s wife, Calista, and my granddaughter, Olivia, were in the car that drove in! Ask

15:47

< Chapter 97

anyone-they’ll confirm it!”

The guard scoffed, unconvinced, his lip curling in disdain.

“Nice try. Only military personnel and their immediate families are allowed in here. You think we’d believe a random stranger claiming her family’s inside this compound?”

“I’m not lying! It’s the truth!”

“Save your lies for the interrogation room.”

Killian stopped struggling at once, his body going limp- fighting back would only make things worse, only earn him more pain, more humiliation.

He stared past the iron gate, at the quiet, tree-lined road beyond, at the warm glow of lights in the distant villas, and a cold, overwhelming sense of powerlessness crashed

over him like a wave.

Why? Why had everything gone wrong since the divorce? Nothing had gone his way, not a single thing.

Every day, every interaction, every plan-ruined,

15:47

< Chapter 97

shattered, gone.

How had he ended up so miserable?

*****

Back inside the villa, Calista set a steaming bowl of tomato meat sauce pasta in front of Evander, an extra portion on the side-she’d figured he had a big appetite, from his broad build, from the demanding life he led.

She hadn’t expected him to eat it all, though-slowly, silently, savoring every bite, the bowl clean as a whistle when he finished, not a drop of sauce left.

“Was it that good?” Calista asked, genuine surprise in her

voice.

Austin had always disliked her cooking.

Evander dabbed his lips with a linen napkin, his eyes warm and sated, his voice soft as silk. “It’s happiness made tangible.”

At his words, Calista’s cheeks flared bright red, hot enough to burn, and she stood up quickly, flustered, her47

< Chapter 97

hands fumbling with the empty bowl.

“Well, you’re full, so let’s get settled. Alisa, where should Olivia and I sleep tonight?”

Evander stood, too, nodding toward the stairs with a gentle gesture. “The master bedroom’s yours-Olivia’s got the guest room right next to it. She has school tomorrow; she needs a good night’s rest.”

Olivia’s eyes went wide, her jaw dropping in shock, and she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, “Mr. Hayes! You’re letting Mom sleep in the master bedroom? Should I just start calling you Dad now? Are you gonna give me a little brother or sister?!”

The little girl’s words were blunt, unfiltered-exactly like Kyle’s used to be.

Calista’s face turned an even deeper shade of red, so bright it matched the ripe tomatoes she’d cooked with.

She clapped a hand over Olivia’s mouth at once, her eyes wide with embarrassment, her heart racing a mile a minute. Pale-skinned as she was, the pink flush of her cheeks stood out vividly-she looked like a lost little 15:47

< Chapter 97

rabbit, flustered and sweet, and Evander wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, to hold her close, to

soothe her embarrassment with a kiss.

His eyes turned molten, his gaze lingering on her for a long, heated second-until he snapped back to his senses, hurrying to explain.

“I’ll crash at Connor’s place tonight. He lives just a few minutes away; it’s no trouble at all. You two make yourselves at home.”

Calista and Olivia both looked guilty.

Olivia, in particular, wanted to sink into the floor in embarrassment. She’d let her cynicism get the better of her and assumed he had an ulterior motive.

Now, she finally understood why Evander had lost to her dad all those years ago.

Because Evander was too good, too kind, too willing to put everyone else’s needs before his own.

Evander grabbed his coat from the back of the couch, slinging it over his arm, and headed for the door-until

15:47

< Chapter 97

Calista’s hand closed around his wrist.

“Wait!”

She’d grabbed him on instinct.

She knew why he was going-he was worried she and Olivia wouldn’t sleep easy with him in the house, worried about her reputation, worried about overstepping a line.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify