Chasing Love's Wings (14 page)

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Tristan

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I can’t decide whether Cami is laughing at me, Bobby, or the whole fucked-up situation
we’re all standing in. I won’t apologize to the idiot; he deserved what he got and
so much more. I really wanted to shoot him, but Tyson wasn’t stupid enough to give
me his gun. Though it would be the perfect murder; everyone thinks he’s dead already.
 

I don’t go near Cami — she needs to let this mess work its way out of her system —
but Bobby hands me a dishtowel full of ice for my hand, then hands me a beer.
 

“Well, I have to admit, I’d rather see her in hysterics laughing than the mess you’ve
put her into these last few weeks.”
 

“Believe me, Tristan, I wanted it to be over far sooner than it was, and I am sure
I should’ve told her sooner than I did, but I needed to make sure we were in the clear.”
 

“That doesn’t excuse you from what you’ve done. You’ve damn near destroyed her.” I
breathe.
 

“I know, and I can’t take it back, I can only try and change it going forward.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about it,” I say to him; I’m not sure how I want to go about
letting this jackass back into her life. “I’ve seen her at her lowest and I won’t
have her back there again. Do you understand?”
 

“Believe me, Tristan, I want nothing more than to see her happy. If it means I never
see her again after today, then that’s her choice. But when she leaves here, she will
have all the tools she needs to get in touch with me safely, if she needs or wants
to.”
 

“Don’t hold your breath just yet, Robert.” Cami finally comes to life and out of her
hysteria.
 

I suddenly feel the need to defend Bobby from Cami’s words, but he holds up his free
hand. “I’m not. Just want you to know I’m here.”
 

“Duly noted.”

“Have you said everything you wanted to say to him?” I ask her, hoping like hell we
can get out of here; it’s awkward and extremely uncomfortable, and I’m not sure I
can stay here anymore, but I won’t leave without Cami.
 

“For now. I need a little time to cool off. Who else knows you’re alive?” she asks
Bobby.
 

“I’m afraid to tell you.”

 
“Well I can tell you that the two of us are not the only ones. Tyson, for obvious
reasons, Mick, and Beau know as well.”

“For fuck’s sake, Cami, who the hell else knows?”
 

“Don’t you dare take that tone with me, asshole. Tyson knows because Tristan told
him, because Tristan didn’t know how to handle me anymore. Beau knows because she
is my best goddamn friend, who has been there for me through everything. Unlike someone
else in this room. Mick knows because he is my financial advisor and my contact when
it comes to your fucking estate because I refused to deal with it and you forced him
to deliver your dirty work. Mick and Beau are my two best friends, so yeah, they fucking
know you’re alive. Who else, Robert?” I can see Cami’s face turning red with anger
as she says all of this to Bobby, and so help me God, I understand why and I am more
than willing to punch him again.
 

“Vincent.”

“Son of a bitch! For how long, Robert?”

“Since the beginning. He helped me set it up.”

Cami takes the glass she has in her hand and throws it up against the cupboard behind
Bobby’s head. “You son of a bitch. You get pissed off at me because the people closest
to me know you’re alive, but yet Vincent helped you orchestrate this whole fucking
disaster?” I suddenly understand why Cami did not want me here; she’s angry, beyond
angry, and it’s not something I’ve ever seen before when it comes to her. “I’m done.”
I watch as Cami takes off through the living room and toward the door. She throws
the door back and steps onto the porch. “Dammit! Tristan, where’s my car.”

I set my bottle down on the counter and follow Cami out. Tyson’s taken her car home,
leaving us with this one. She is standing next to it, and I click the button so she
can get in. Bobby is hot on my heels. I turn around, and this time he dodges my swing.
“It’s bad enough she doesn’t trust you, but now, one of the two people she’s confided
in and turned to in the last year in regards to your business has been in cahoots
with you this whole time. Un-fucking-believable, Robert.”

“I did what I had to do.”
 

“For what? For yourself?”

“No, I did it for her.” The car horn blares from behind me. “I did it to protect her.
To give my daughter what she so rightfully deserves — a loving father, not a dead
one.” I can see it in his eyes: the pain that he is enduring seeing this, seeing his
daughter so angry with him. “She deserved so much better than what I gave her, Tristan.
She deserved a loving family to grow up in and I couldn’t give that to her. I wanted
out. I needed out, and it was the only way I could without seeing everything I worked
for and everything I gave up fall to pieces. I gave up her life to build a business
that destroyed mine and hers.”

“It’s still selfish. No matter how you slice—” The car horn blares again and I hear
the car door slam shut.
 

“Tristan, dammit, let’s go. Or I’m walking.”
 

“Here, take this.” He hands me an envelope. “When she’s ready, give it to her.” I
tuck it into the inside pocket of my jacket, turn around, and head toward the car.
Cami jumps back into the car. “Take care of her. She deserves the best.”
 

“I have every intention of doing just that.” I try not to let the anger filter through
my mouth, and I don’t let the one thing I want to say to him slip past my lips.
 

I climb into the car. Cami is bouncing with rage and I can see the tears and frustration
etched into her features. I don’t say anything to her because I know that’s not what
she wants. She needs a chance to calm down and gain her own composure. I put the car
in reverse and back up so that I can turn around. Once we’re off of the property and
out of sight of the house, I can see her visibly relax, but she is mulling something
over pretty hard and I’m scared about what that might be.

After about five minutes in the car, heading back toward our rented house, she finally
breaks the silence. “How’s your hand?”
 

Oh, for Pete’s sake. She’s the one who’s hurting here and she’s worried about my hand.
“It’s a little tender, but I’ll be fine.” I sneak a glance at her, debating, weighing
the consequences of asking or not asking, and decide that asking is probably my better
option. “How are you?”

“Fine.”

So this is how we’re gonna be. “Please do not make me get angry with you.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
 

“Jesus Christ, Cami, I told you last night, stop hiding this shit from me. I can’t
take it when you hide shit from me. I know damn well you’re not fine, so stop with
the bullshit.”
 

She just looks at me, but I can’t look at her for more than a few brief seconds. I
have the disadvantage because I’m driving; thank God because she’d have us in Phoenix
by now.
 

“Tristan, I don’t know how in the hell to process all of this shit. Put yourself in
my shoes, what would you do if it were your mother?”

My heart aches. “You can’t ask me that. Our situations are completely different, Cami.
I spent the whole first year after her death begging for one more chance to talk to
my mother for no other reason than to tell her goodbye and that I loved her insanely.
I didn’t get that chance, and the last time we talked, I was too busy with school
and we talked for all of thirty seconds. Then she was gone.” My heart hurts, not only
for Cami but now at the thoughts of my mother. Not a day goes by that I don’t think
about her at least once, but this is harsh.
 

“How can you possibly understand what I’m going through then? So what’s the point
in talking about it?”
 

“Jesus, Cams. Whether it is me or a shrink, you have got to talk to someone. I’m sure
I’m more equipped to be your sounding board than a shrink would be, if for no other
reason than I’ve seen it firsthand. I am begging you, do not shut me out of this.”
 

She doesn’t say anything the rest of the drive back to the house. I breathe a deep
sigh of relief when I realize that Tyson has taken my advice, come back for Jo and
taken off. The car is nowhere in sight, and Cami and I have the entire house to ourselves.

“He had no choice. Tristan, he is under witness protection. The death was his way
of protecting me, of protecting his own ass, his employees and his business.”

The car swerves slightly as I take in what she’s told me. I can’t even begin to really
process it at this point, but dammit. “What the fuck?”

“It’s a long damn story, Tristan. I barely had time to get through it when you texted
me. Bobby changed the subject and told me to invite you over. I guess he figured the
broken bones should all be managed in one visit.” I look at her, and the look in her
eyes is dancing with humor. “Thank you for punching him.” I snort. “Is it broken?”

“No, I’m all right.”
 

“Where’s Ty and Jo?” I can tell in her voice that there is disappointment and maybe
even a little frustration. I think she was hoping to use them as a buffer, and I take
a little pleasure in the fact that it is just she and I.
 

“They went into town.”

“Damn it,” she spouts as I put the car in park.
 

“Guess you’re stuck with me, sweetheart.”

The look she gives me tells me she’s pissed, and I don’t care. She climbs out of the
car, slams the door and heads straight for the house. I’m hot on her heels because
I don’t want her to lock me out.
 

She gets through the door first and slams the door in my face, but it’s not locked.
Opening the door I can hear the click of her heels across the hardwood floor, but
she isn’t in the kitchen; she’s headed straight for the bedroom. “Oh, shit.” Fear
races through me that she’s going to pack her shit and leave. I go running down the
hall after her.

SEVENTEEN

“Leave me alone!”

“Why, so you can pack all your shit and run away? Fuck that, sweetheart. I will not
let you run away from me.” She stops dead in her tracks and turns to look at me. Something
is there in her eyes, but I can’t even begin to make it out. “You see, Cameron, there
is one HUGE—” I throw my arms wide. “—difference between me and your father, and I’m
going to explain it to you right now, and I am only going to do it once. Are you listening
to me?” She nods tentatively. “I love you with every fiber of who I am. Everything
I do is for you. I am here, ready and willing to take whatever you want to throw at
me. Yell at me, scream at me, cry, or fuck me stupid, it DOES NOT matter, Cameron
Celeste Enders - I am NOT going ANYWHERE, and I will chase you to the end of the earth
and back to bring you back to me. I love you for you and who you are, the woman you’ve
become because of all the fucked-up shit your father has done to you. I love you because
you’re beautiful, you’re strong, you’re compassionate and you are downright fucking
crazy when you want something.”

“Keep going,” she breathes.
 

I take a deep breath because I know that I am getting through to her. “I love to be
around you. You make me happier than I have ever been in my entire life. We know each
other better than we know ourselves, and there is nothing that will stop me from ever
finding out more and more about you.” I take a couple of tentative steps in her direction.
Staring into her beautiful blue eyes is hypnotic and I’m dazed by her. The fight in
me is gone, washing away like a hot shower. “I love the way you dress, the way you
walk, the way you curl your hair around your finger when you’re nervous.” I watch
as she realizes she is doing just that, but she doesn’t stop. “I love the way your
barbell clicks against your teeth when you’re deep in thought.” Another step toward
her. “I love the way you get angry because, for the briefest of moments, you’re vulnerable,
and then you open your heart and lay it all out there.” Another step in her direction.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve, which makes me an open book, but I love the look in
your eyes when you realize I’ve done something completely unexpected.” Another step.
Getting closer. “You are like a firework. Simple yet capable of the extraordinary.
When you’re lit, you explode into the most beautiful colors that light up the night’s
sky.” I’m standing in front of her. I can see the tears in her eyes. I reach up to
cup her cheek in my hand. “I will never, ever let you walk away from me. I’m yours,
always. Be mine forever. Don’t shut me out. Keep me close.”

My words are interrupted abruptly by her lips on mine in a fierce, ferocious kiss
that takes my breath away. Our bodies mesh together and I hold her to me, tighter
than I’ve ever held her before. Her hands are in my hair, holding me to her. Our tongues
begin to dance and my head begins to swim at the desire in her touch, and I feel dizzy,
drunk on her.
 

My hands go to her waist and I find the zipper on the back of her skirt, unhooking
the small clasp and slowly sliding the zipper down. Her skirt falls straight to the
floor. Next comes her jacket. I slide it off of her shoulders and it joins her skirt
in a crumpled heap on the floor. Her hands begin to move like mine. They are between
us as she works on my jeans, getting the button and the zipper down. I feel her thumbs
hook into the waistband and she pushes down, her lips becoming stronger and more demanding
on mine.
 

Once my jeans are down to my thighs and my erection meets the air, it twitches, and
then her hands are on me, lightly stroking, tugging, begging me. I start on the buttons
on her blouse and decide that it is too much to handle right now, and the next thing
I know the buttons from her shirt are flying against my chest and her hands are pulling
my shirt up. Our kiss breaks and my shirt is off and over my head before I know it.
Her hands slide greedily over my shoulders and down my chest and stomach, and then
she is on her knees and my cock is in her hand.