Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
“Why would he do that?”
Her question hampers my flow, and I pull up, realizing I’m not going to get away with vagueness, especially since I’m about to ask her to be my accomplice. I close my eyes and breathe some strength into my lungs, preparing to hear it out loud. “Dad told me Jake has a wife.”
“What!” The decibel level of her yell knocks me back a few paces.
“Shhhh!” I hiss, jumping forward and slapping my palm over her mouth.
Her eyes go like saucers and she mumbles something against my hand. I have not a clue what it is, so I take my hand away, bringing my finger to my mouth in a sign to keep it down. “Do you believe him?” she asks.
I swallow down my pride and admit what I’ve been thinking. “It makes sense. I saw a picture of him and a woman and asked him about it. He wouldn’t tell.”
“It could just be another attempt by your father to tear you apart, Cami.”
“He’s not stupid. He wouldn’t make shit like that up. Not unless he could back it up, and I doubt he’d go to the extreme of paying a woman to pose as Jake’s wife.” I laugh hysterically on the inside. Yeah, because that would be going too far. This is all adding up perfectly, and it’s tearing out my heart.
“Oh, shit, Cami.” Heather’s sympathy could break me. “I’m sorry.”
I smile. I don’t know why I’m smiling. On the inside, I’m dying. “I need to find out what’s going on.”
“Of course.” She nods, understanding, but then her eyes drop to the frying pan I’ve almost forgotten I’m armed with. “What are you going to do with that?”
“I’m going to knock out my replacement bodyguard.” I don’t beat around the bush. I haven’t got time.
“I had a feeling you were going to say that.” Heather shakes her head in despair. “I don’t want to piss on your bonfire or anything, but I doubt the bulldog out there is going to let you walk right up to her and smack her around the head. And you can hardly tuck that thing down your knickers to conceal it.”
“That’s where you come in.” I grab her hand and drag her over to the door.
She comes, but I feel the reluctance traveling through her limbs into mine. “I had a feeling you’d say that, too.” She sighs.
“How are your acting skills?” I ask, peeking through the hole again and spotting Lucinda holding position.
“The last time I acted was in the school pantomime.”
I smile, rather inappropriately, given our situation, remembering Heather playing Cinderella. “You’re going to open the door and throw yourself into the corridor. Look panicked.”
“I can do that.”
“Tell her I’m climbing out the window.”
“I can do that, too.” She rolls her shoulders, readying herself, then drops her eyes to the frying pan again. “And as soon as she barrels through the door to stop you…”
I smile and raise the pan. “I’m going to whack her over the head.”
“Fabulous,” Heather mutters, putting her hand on the knob. “I only came over for wine and a chat,” she reminds me grimly. Then she opens the door and starts screaming like a deranged nut job.
Chapter 29
JAKE
I’ve been sitting in my car across the road for…I don’t know how long. Time has slowed to nothing. My heart is slowing to nothing, too. All of the purpose I’d found slipped away the moment I left Cami in her apartment. The moment I left her. The urge to go straight to Logan Tower to sort that mess first was a constant challenge. But Camille is safe under Lucinda’s watch while I deal with this. Whatever Logan throws at me, I need to have made the first step to put things right. I can’t move on if I have this noose around my neck. I need to face my demons and find forgiveness. Then maybe Cami can forgive me for deceiving her. Cami. I close my eyes and start rolling through the endless mental images of her face, her smile, her eyes. She’s the clarity I’ve needed all these years. She’s the trigger I needed to pull myself together and do what I’ve been delaying.
I reach for the car door and let myself out, shutting it softly behind me. My steps start slow as I cross the road, but get faster, more determined, the closer I get to the familiar house. It’s exactly how I remember. My heart starts to beat faster, and I’m quickly flooded with the memories of this place.
I move up the path, my legs wanting nothing more than to turn and sprint away.
I don’t have a chance to knock. The door swings open and I freeze.
Tears burst from Abbie’s eyes the second she sees me, and she comes forward, but I move back. No touching. I can’t have her touching me.