Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Why?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Jagger barely speaks, who knows with him.”
“Did Jackson know it was in there?”
“I don’t think so, but that’s beside the point. Aiden, you have to go find Camila. I have a really bad feeling, okay?”
“Where? Where am I going to find her?”
“She went to some club where her friend works, Havana. Go there and bring her back. Beg if you have to, Bailey would want her here for your kids.”
Skyler was right again. I needed to do what was right for our children, nothing more, nothing less.
At least that’s what I needed to keep telling myself.
Because at the end of the day, I wanted her here…
For me, too.
“Will you stay—”
“Of course, go!”
I nodded. “I know I don’t say it often but thank you. For everythi—”
“Jackson Pierce!” Harley screamed from somewhere inside the house, interrupting me. “I can’t believe I wasted my time coming here for you! I hate you!”
“Good! Cuz I can’t fuckin’ stand you!”
Skyler rolled her eyes. “Go!” She waved me off. “I’ll handle it.”
Noah was already storming his way inside before she got the last word out.
I jumped in my car and typed the name of the club into my GPS. Driving toward Camila in a much different state of mind than the one she left me in. I went over the words in my head I would say to her and how I would say them as I sped over the old, broken down bridge over the Cape Fear River. Through Oak Island to Selma, South Carolina where she apparently lived.
I’d been watching this woman from my office in the hospital for the last three months as if she was my favorite television series. Glued to the screen in front of me.
Unraveling.
Day after day, I witnessed something new about Camila that captivated me. I observed her through fascinated eyes, waiting on her every word, her every move.
She was like a light waiting to break through all of the sadness and despair. All the things that ate away at me, which only added to the complicated emotions that were placed in between us once we came face-to-face.
I needed her light.
Her goodness.
I needed something to bring me out of this darkness. To keep me from spiraling down this dark hole of misery.
If I was being completely honest with myself, she was the reason I drove home tonight. I had no idea I was going to walk in on her watching our wedding video, throwing me for a fucking loop.
After finding out she was at my hospital yesterday, ready to put me in my place because of the shitty father I’d become, there was no way I could continue doing this.
I was selfish bastard.
Like a moth drawn to a fucking flame, I drove home…
For my kids.
For her.
I groaned at the thought, feeling it deep within my soul. As though she was the blood running through my veins.
And here I was, driving to her once again.
I’d never felt an instant connection to another woman who wasn’t my wife. From the moment I first saw Cami walk into my home for her interview, I couldn’t for the life of me stop watching her.
Thinking about her.
The emotions she stirred within me were crippling in ways I hadn’t expected. The intense anguish overwhelmed my body and mind, an ache resonated in my fucking soul. Awakening a part of me I thought died long ago.
The closer I got to the club, the more evident it became that Skyler was right when she said south side. All the rundown buildings were on the verge of collapsing, squatters and bums taking up residency within and on the streets.
The town was fucking filthy.
Several houses were boarded up and half burnt down. Others had people hanging out on their porches, drinking, smoking, music blaring from their decked out low riders.
The further I drove, the worse it got.
On the main strip where the club was, there were prostitutes on every corner. Flagging down cars, trying to find someone to occupy their time with sex, booze, or drugs for the night.
It made me sick to my fucking stomach, knowing she was living around this. She deserved more, like Bailey and I did. Which only stirred up memories of my fucked-up childhood, hating it as much as I did back then.
Watching a drug deal go down in plain sight didn’t help my troublesome state. Along with two guys beating the shit out of each other.
A crowd surrounding them, jumping up and down. It brought back even more memories of finding Noah in the exact same situation’s years ago.
My chest seized with every unforgiving thought that crossed my battered mind, going full speed with memories, regrets, and all the mistakes I’d made.
“Aiden, I’m sorry,” Bailey rasped, looking at me with so much sadness in her eyes.
“It’s not your fault, Bay.”