AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER SIX
LYNCH
Looking out at the lake behind my house, I stand there, not actually seeing it but rather seeing the look on Camilla’s face. The anguish. The betrayal. Not mine, but hers. I take a sip of my coffee and contemplate all the things that have to do with the woman sleeping in my bed right now.
Last night, after she’d cried herself to sleep in my arms, I carried her to my bed, where I held her through the night, not once sleeping myself. I couldn’t even if I tried. My mind wouldn’t let me.
All I kept seeing in my head was those pictures and then the look in her gaze when it hit her. I could see it in her eyes. She only ever looked at the man in the pictures and never the woman. Somehow, someone had gotten pictures of Camilla and me. I’m pretty sure I know who’s behind the photography, but I can’t prove it. Camilla won’t exactly believe it to be true without proof. Otherwise, it’ll be put down as hearsay, which can be argued and denied.
Taking another sip of my coffee, I step back into the house and go into the kitchen to get a refill. Camilla should be up soon, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s still all about the coffee. Well, not just any coffee. She used to only drink chicory coffee and got me hooked on it. It’s what I keep here at the house.
While I wait for her, I do my best to come up with a game plan on how to handle Camilla. With the bullshit that happened yesterday with Ezra, I know he was playing a game with her. I just didn’t know what it was, but now, I do. He intended to take her as payment. If he’d gotten his way, that is, but she’d been smart when he showed his true colors, she ran.
Camilla isn’t stupid by any means. She’s tough and doesn’t let anyone or anything get in her way of whatever she sets her mind to. However, I’m sure she’s questioning her judgment right about now. Some of the pictures she showed me, like the ones with a woman on my bike, were Harlow. There was one where I embraced Raven and Victoria as well. But fuck they’re family. I should have made time for her to meet them all back then, but Harlow had been in Virginia a while, and I was happy she was finally healing after what she’d been through. Then Raven and Victoria took off running to shield Victoria from the life that was going to surely end up with her being killed.
It’s a wonder how things turn out in life. Karma can seriously be a bitch at times, but she also always sees things through. My aunt, Ela, always told me and Pitch Black that things happen for a reason. Lessons are to be learned from and not shoved aside or ignored. I remember her coming to me after things went down with Camilla. I’d been hurt. Angry. Pissed at the world. I had something good in my life, only for it to be ripped away. She sat down next to me, looking off into the wind, watching nothing in particular when she spoke, “Sometimes love is lost among us. It takes time to be found. When two souls are meant to be, they’ll always be found. The beacon between the two will always guide them back. It just takes time, and that time will come. You must be ready and not let the anger you feel come first. You must prepare to do what it takes to see through the haze.”
I didn’t get what she meant then, but I get it now. I need to see clearly where it’s been clouded in the past, not just for me, but for Camilla. For years, she’s thought I cheated on her when I did no such thing. I might like pussy, but when we were together, the only one I ever craved was hers. I didn’t even look at other bitches because I wanted her. She’s always been it for me. Even now, when I want to be pissed at her for not coming to me to begin with. We’ve missed out on so much damn time together because of some bullshit pictures.
The sound of shuffling feet draws me out of my head, and I glance in the direction the noise is coming from to find Camilla stumbling in my direction.
“Is that coffee I smell?” she asks, her voice thick from sleep. Her hair a mess, and her face is somewhat smudged from the makeup she didn’t remove last night.
Still, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
“Yeah,” I answer. “Mug for you next to the pot.”
“Thanks,” she grumbles and stumbles to the coffee. She pours her cup and takes a sip, moaning. “God, this is good.”
“Just coffee, Cams,” I mutter, eyes on her. It doesn’t take but another sip for her brain to start functioning as she used to say, and she straightens.
“I need you to take me to my apartment. I need to get ready for work and then head to the office. I’ve got a few meetings today and then court this afternoon,” she says, not once looking me directly in the eyes.
“Take you when you’re ready,” I tell her, finishing my cup. “But I’ll also be sticking close to you today.”
“What?” Her brows draw together, and she gives me a confounding look. “Why do you need to stick close to me?”
I set my mug in the sink and cross the space between us, caging her in against the counter. “A few reasons. One of them is because last night, you broke things off with Ezra Pennington. He’s going to be coming for you in a different way if you don’t change your mind about him.”
“I highly doubt he would do anything to hurt me,” she says, brushing it off.
“Cams, Ezra Pennington the second is just like the man who fathered him. He fooled you into thinking he was for whatever game he’s playing at. He’s not just a bad guy, baby, he’s far more dangerous than you want to fuck around with.”
“If that’s true, then I at least know the truth now and can stay away from him. I don’t need you sticking close because of that,” she mutters and still refuses to meet my gaze.
“Camilla, look at me.” Lifting a hand from the counter at her waist, I reach up and grip her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Ezra isn’t the only reason I’m sticking close. We’ve still got shit to talk about.”
“Right,” she mutters and tries to jerk her chin out of my grip. “If you’ll let me go, I’ll give you the papers in my briefcase. You can go over them and whatever. Sign them and we can officially be done.”
“I’m not about to sign shit,” I growl, holding her in place, refusing to let her keep thinking that shit. “We’re not getting a divorce, Camilla. What we are going to do is finish talking about those pictures. I want to know exactly where they came from. Also, what the two of us are going to do is spend some time together. Lastly, we’re going to get back in that bed once you get off work, and I’ve made sure you had dinner. While we’re in bed, baby, I’m gonna be inside you.”
“You’re going to . . . ugh, no, that’s not going to happen,” she remarks, doing her best to shake her head and push me away with one hand while holding the mug in the other. “That’s not going to happen,” she repeats. “It can never happen again.”
“It happened the other week,” I remind her, and grip the mug she’s holding, taking it from her. I set it down next to her and wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her into me. “It’ll happen, Camilla. We’ve got a lot of time to catch up for. And if what the last time was like is any indicator, it’s gonna be explosive.”
Dipping my head down, I don’t give her a chance to protest. I don’t want to hear any bullshit coming out of her mouth. I claim her lips with mine and immediately slip my tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss, enjoying having this again.
Camilla moans and falls farther into me. I release her chin to slide my other arm around her, gripping her ass and setting her on the counter before moving between her thighs.
