She whirled around to face her mom. Camila liked to think of herself as a perfectly independent adult that could take care of her own problems, but right then, she wanted her mom to wrap her arms around her and tell her everything would be okay like she was a little kid.
“Mom,” she gasped, voice sounding on the edge of a sob.
Her mom immediately looked worried. “Come here.”
She held her arms open, and Camila eagerly flew into them. With her mom’s arms wrapped around her in a hug, she finally gave into the need to cry. She could hear the other woman talking, trying to calm her down and find out what was wrong as she moved them to the couch. Camila couldn’t bring herself to say it, so she handed the phone to her mom to read for herself.
As her mom read over the messages, she buried her face into the other woman’s shoulder, body wracking in shivers as she slowly calmed down from her bout of crying. She could tell when her mom made it to the threatening messages, because her whole body went stiff. Then, a moment later she was pushing Camila away by the shoulders, looking intently at her face.
“Did he do anything to you?” she asked. “Camila, if he did anything to you, I swear I am going to…”
Camila shook her head before she could get the wrong idea.
“No. I only just saw the messages today. I haven’t actually seen him yet.”
Her mouth flattened, expression looking grim. “Camila, listen to me, and listen well. You are going to go to the police as soon as possible and get a protection order so this bastard thinks twice before coming after you. Unless his brother interferes, even if he’s rich, the police can still arrest him the moment he comes close to you, okay? No sane person does these sorts of things.”
Camila nodded her head rapidly, though she was a bit worried about Samuel. She didn’t think he would mind her protecting herself, but Adrien was still his brother. As if on cue, her phone vibrated with a message. Camila was apprehensive, but her mom read the message before handing the phone to her.
It was Samuel. They were supposed to be going out, and he was waiting for her downstairs. She looked to her mom, who nodded.
“Go to him. Best that he’s here. Talk to him and see how he wants to handle his brother. But the police order is a must, okay?” she added in warning.
“Okay, Mom,” Camila murmured.
She went to the bathroom to wash her face, before heading downstairs feeling subdued.
“Camila,” Samuel called when he saw her come out, moving closer to her. Then he noticed her expression and frowned, holding onto the tops of her arms. “Beautiful, what’s the matter?”
“I…got some messages from your brother,” she said hoarsely, seeing his frown deepen. “They…bothered me, I guess. Mom’s saying I need to get a protection order.”
She didn’t want to have to explain the whole thing, so she handed her phone to him, too, and let him read for himself. He went still, his hand tightening around her phone. He just stared for a long moment before he scrolled through the rest of them.
“Don’t worry about my brother, sweetheart,” Samuel said, his voice hard as he stared down at her phone. “I promise I’ll deal with it, however, you do need to go to the police as well.”
He wasn’t outright glaring, but his face was so cold it made her freeze, even though her chest warmed at the thought of his protection. He clearly didn’t plan on taking his brother’s side over hers.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes blurring with tears once more.
She heard Samuel sigh, then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into another hug.
“Of course,” he whispered back, kissing her temple gently. “I will take care of you, Camila.” He brushed a lock of hair from her face, caressing her cheek. “And I’ll have another talk with my brother. More than just a talk. He isn’t going to get away with harassing you like this.” His face was grim, but she could see how much he cared for her in his eyes.
She no longer wanted to think about Adrien anymore. She was very much enjoying being in Samuel’s strong arms, and she snuggled into his hard chest, allowing him to protect her from anything and everything that wanted to harm her.
Chapter Fifteen
They never did end up going for their date. The next day, Samuel showed up at her door, knocking hard.
Camila, barely awake, opened the door still in her pjs. “Samuel, what are you doing here?” she asked, blinking up at him.
“I wanted to take you down to the station. I want you protected, even when I can’t be right here at your side,” he said stepping into the room.
Camila hadn’t slept well, so she was still a bit groggy. She glanced at the clock on the living room wall and blinked. “It’s not even seven a.m., are they even open?” She rubbed her eyes sleepily.
Samuel’s lips quirked up. “They are. Now, go get your beautiful self ready to go, okay?”
Camila nodded and started from the room, but then stopped. “Mom is still sleeping I think, but if you want some coffee—”
“I’m fine, I’ll wait here.” He gestured to the couch.
“Okay,” Camila agreed, leaving the room. It didn’t take her long to put on a pair of jeans and a green sweater. She ran a brush through her hair, leaving it down because she was in a hurry. She slid her feet into her ankle boots and returned to the living room.
Seeing her, Samuel stood up. The look on his face told her she’d chosen well. “You look beautiful.” He smiled and held out his hand. “Do you have a coat? It’s a bit cold out.”
Camila nodded and grabbed her coat from the closet and then took his hand. “Thank you,” she murmured belatedly, remembering his compliment.
He looked at her curiously. “For what?”
“For saying I look beautiful even though I know I’m a mess.”
He chuckled and brought her hand up, kissing the back of it. He wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her down to the car, helping her in.
“Are you alright? Did you sleep well?” Samuel asked, putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking spot. His brow was scrunched with concern, and it warmed her heart.
“Not too well,” Camila said honestly. “It was a long night worrying about all this. I don’t even know if I’ll be any better with police protection.”
“I believe you are doing the right thing, filing this protection order. Don’t you?”
“Let’s just go to the police. It’ll be something good to have, anyway. At least I can call the police and get him arrested if he tries something. That…wouldn’t bother you, right?”
She looked tentatively at Samuel, but his serious expression didn’t change. She was worried about the strain all of this was putting on his relationship with his siblings. It couldn’t be easy dating her when Adrien wouldn’t let her go. She thought about breaking things off, to make things easier for Samuel, but he made her so happy, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was selfish, she knew, and she frowned, her eyes filling with tears at her thoughts.
“Sweetheart, don’t cry. I am glad you are doing this. Don’t worry about Adrien being my brother,” he said, his voice firm, as he reached over and wiped away one of her tears. “Adrien’s behavior is unacceptable. He is going to be judged by the law. I will not protect him from this. He is insisting on being irrational, and will not listen to reason.”
Samuel held her hand as he drove them to the nearest police station. When they arrived, he guided her into the office and helped her make her statement to the police so they could start the process to get the protection order.
If she was being honest with herself, Camila couldn’t be sure if Adrien would go along with the order. She recalled from several of their talks in the beginning weeks of their relationship all the trouble Adrien had caused Samuel, and how Adrien had gotten away scot free for things every time. Adrien would probably be fearless in front of the law as well as his brother. He seemed to her like the kind of man that wouldn’t back down if it was something he
really wanted. In this case that something was her.
Camila was a bit frightened by that thought. She didn’t want him anywhere near her, but if he violated the protection order anyway, it would be better if he actually did try something with her where there were witnesses to it. That way he would end up in police custody.
When they were done with the whole process, she walked out of the police station with her chest feeling tight. Samuel followed her out the door, and then moved to her side, his hand gentle against her back as he guided her back to the car. She had to admit, with this done, her heart had calmed a bit, but not completely. It wasn’t until they reached the door to the car that she froze just before getting inside as something occurred to her.
“Ah!” she cried out, a bit distressed.
“What is it?” Samuel asked immediately, frowning.
“I just remembered! Your sister! This order means I probably shouldn’t be going to your place since Adrien might be there!”
Crap!
How had she not thought about this problem earlier? Then again, she had been too worried about Adrien’s threats to be thinking straight. But what was she going to do with the current situation as it was?
She and Brianna had become great friends since she’d been spending quite a bit of time at the Kane mansion. Brianna it seemed, actually liked spending time with her, and Camila enjoyed her company too. Well, Camila did live a mostly lonely life. Outside of work, she didn’t really have friends she could talk to or hang out with, other than her own mom, so having Brianna like her enough to open up to her had made her happy. She really didn’t want to give that up just because of Adrien.
“Don’t worry about that,” Samuel murmured, stroking her hair and cradling her face, bringing her out of her daze so she would look up at him. “Brianna doesn’t get close to people easily, and she doesn’t leave the house a lot because she’s really… shy. But it won’t be a problem bringing her out to some places we go. If you could actually draw her out, it could be good for her.”
“Does she never leave the house?”
Samuel hesitated slightly, his hand on her hair pausing. “Never is a bit much, but it’s pretty rare she wants to go anywhere. If you could entice her out of the house, it would be good. I feel kind of ashamed, actually. I’m her brother, but there isn’t much I can do to help her condition. But she feels just as happy away from my brother as I do, so I don’t think her saying no would be a problem.”
“You’re sure?” Camila asked, already feeling relieved.
“Definitely,” Samuel said, urging her into the car. “If you’d like, we can take her out tomorrow.”
“I’d like that.” She climbed into the passenger seat.
Samuel closed the door then rounded to get in the driver’s side. “I’ll take you home, and I’ll talk to Brianna after work and then text you.” He smiled. “And—” he turned to look at her, his expression suddenly serious, “I don’t want you to ever feel like being in my home is dangerous to you. I wouldn’t ever have you over if Adrien were there. You know that, right?”
Camila’s heart swelled. “I do, thank you.”
With a firm nod and a smile, he started the car and drove her home. It was a weekday so he hadn’t been able to linger, but he’d wanted to be by her side as she’d filed the order. When they reached her place, he got out and walked her in.
"I'll text you later with the plans, okay?" He cupped her chin and smiled.
“Okay,” Camila agreed. She gave him a wave as she started to go inside to get some of her own work done and then turned back. “Do you want me to come to your house to meet you and Brianna?” she asked as a thought occurred to her. She didn’t want Brianna to be uncomfortable.
Samuel turned back, taking her in his arms in the doorway. “No, no matter what we end up doing, we’ll pick you up.”
“She’ll be alright with that?” Camila fretted. Truthfully, Camila would have rather met the younger girl at their home. There were places Brianna didn’t move around in, or Camila would have met her back while she was there with Adrien. Brianna always looked the most comfortable in her own suite, where they usually hung out when Camila went to visit.
“I promise she’ll be alright,” he said gently. He kissed her temple and smiled. “Now, I’ve got to go, I’ve got meetings all day today, but I’ll text you.”
Nodding, she left it all to Samuel’s discretion. If he thought his sister could handle it, then she wouldn’t worry about it anymore. She smiled and waved as he moved down the stairs.
In the end, Camila was joyfully surprised because Brianna was all too happy to come out of her comfort zone and go outside. When Samuel had texted her that Brianna had agreed and he was bringing her, she couldn’t believe it. But they were both waiting for her when the car came to a stop, meeting her at the curb because she had been too excited to wait inside. Brianna was the first to jump out of the car and rush over to Camila, jumping her in a hug. Camila could only laugh and hug her back, and Samuel came to a stop a foot from them with an indulgent smile.
Just like that, Brianna was included in most of their dates, coming with her and Samuel to most of the restaurants and museums they visited as well as all the other activities they planned. Brianna even helped out in planning outings between dates.
Camila hated not being around their mansion anymore, but with the protection order in place, even if he wasn’t around, she knew it was a place she should avoid, just in case. She couldn’t however, stop him from still sending her messages. Well, she could. She could block him, but she didn’t, for the same reason she kept reading the messages—so if he was planning something, she would know. The texts had paused for about a week after she’d told Samuel about the threatening messages, and the new ones were a bit less creepy, but still just as much a bother, because a text couldn’t really tell her what he was thinking. She realized, looking at the latest messages that he was starting to grow suspicious.
Camila chewed on her lip thinking about that. Did he know that she was seeing his brother now? Probably. Did he know that they were taking Brianna out with them, too? He might have known that as well, because it wouldn’t be hard to ask around when he was at the family home and found neither of his siblings were there. Camila didn’t have a good feeling about that realization.
“Camila?”
She looked up to see Samuel and Brianna already waiting for her.
“I didn’t notice you pull up,” she said, glancing to where he’d parked his car. There was some room, so he’d parked even closer to her building.
“Are you ready to go, beautiful?” he asked, a smile curving his lips.
Camila nodded and followed them, then got inside the car. Samuel drove them to the zoo. Brianna was seated in the back, humming as she bounced. When they stopped outside the zoo’s gate, Camila heard her give a small sound of excitement as she practically jumped out of the car. She waited for the two of them, at least, and they all went inside.
It being a weekday, the zoo wasn’t all that crowded, so it was easier for them to move around.
From the moment they entered, Camila had an uneasy feeling, as if she was being watched. As they moved, she kept looking around, until she got distracted by the two siblings. If she didn’t think it was too paranoid of her, she would think Adrien was actually tailing them. Still, they had a relatively nice time, with Brianna in particular appreciating the animals.
Toward the end of the day, Camila could have sworn she’d seen Adrien lurking in a crowd of tourists outside the gift shop as they were inside making a final purchase for Brianna. But when they returned to the path outside, he was nowhere to be seen. She looked around every corner, and stayed close to Samuel, slipping under his arm as they walked. By the time they got back in the car, she was feeling less paranoid, but still worried.
Chapter Sixteen
Things were going pretty well, so of course, the other shoe had to drop at some point. Camila had just gotten so happy with the way th
ings were going with Samuel and Brianna that she’d forgotten all about her previous troubles.
It was naïve of her to think they would go away so quickly.
“Camila!”
A knock on her door and her mom shouting her name brought her out of her daze. She actually didn’t have any job going on, but she’d taken plenty of pictures on the trips she’d been going to with Samuel and Brianna. She didn’t do it when it was just the two of them, but Brianna was actually interested in Camila’s photography. Camila was sorting the shots. Of course, they weren’t things she could sell, but she could at least arrange them.
“What is it, Mom?” she called back, putting everything in their chosen folders and turning her computer off. When her mom called her like that, it was usually because she wanted something.
“Honey, can you go get something from the grocery store for me? I didn’t realize how little we had left at home.”
Oh, she thought guiltily.
Not that it was strictly her job, but Camila was usually the one watching their resources in the kitchen and restocking when they needed more, especially since she was the one with the money, and she knew it made her mom feel ashamed to keep asking her for cash.
“Hang on, I’ll be right there!”
With her computer turned off and her things put aside, she changed out of her yoga pants and old sweatshirt into clothes she could actually step out in public in, and picked up her purse.
“Do you have a list for me?” she asked, walking out to the kitchen to find her mom going through the cupboards and the fridge.
“I’m almost done with it, just wait a sec, okay? Just buy whatever you can.”
A minute later, she had the list and headed out to the store a block away. She hummed to herself as she picked up all the things on the list, paid for them and then walked out of the grocery store carrying all her bags.
The whole thing was so familiar. She looked casually around as she was leaving the store, and just happened to see him. Then again, he wasn’t trying to hide, either, and she could feel her heart freeze and her legs go stiff.
Buried Obsession: Book 1 of the Obsession Trilogy Page 12