Samuel’s expression turned stormy. It was enough of an answer.
“Now, then, Camila. Make me wait, and I’ll just hurt you first.”
She hated this. Camila hated it so much that she had been so caught off guard and so scared. That, even getting herself from a situation like this once, she didn’t think she had the power to do it again. Also, she felt that if she really went along with him, then it wouldn’t be like last time. There was no way for her to make him sick, either, so running away from him a second time would be impossible. But…
I don’t want to go back!
Her eyes filled with tears and overflowed, and they trickled down her cheeks. When Adrien took a step back, tugging on her shoulder so she could move with him, even scared stiff, she still moved back.
“Camila!” her mom yelled.
Her mom had been quiet the entire time Adrien and spoken, had taunted her and Camila knew that she had done it to save her. She could see on her mom’s face that she would trade places with her in a heartbeat and seeing her dragged away by a crazy man was more than she could handle.
Camila’s eyes flew to Samuel, the look in his eyes said he was thinking a lot. Trying to work out a plan to save her, again. She knew he didn’t have a weapon on him, though there were some available in the gun safe. However, they had gotten so comfortable at the safe-house, because they’d all been so sure Adrien wouldn’t find them.
How had he? Adrien must have tracked them somehow. But how?
Camila met Samuel’s eyes and she knew they were both thinking the same thing as his eyes ran over her, and he must have had an idea of what Adrien had done, because his expression changed.
Camila could see that Samuel was focused. Watching and waiting for an opening. She was very conscious of the distance between them. It really wasn’t that big. And Camila’s body shook as she moved, so she was purposely not going very fast. Also, they were moving through the living room, which was cluttered with things. Adrien also moved slowly, Camila was sure it was because he didn’t know the layout. She knew he’d bump into the seats, soon, if he just kept moving backward as they were.
Camila knew he only needed the timing to be just right…
Adrien turned around.
It was the briefest movement, but Samuel leapt forward.
Camila, seeing him move, finally reacted. She let out a cry, as she closed her eyes and fell down into a crouch, her hands coming up and around her head.
Adrien’s hand on her shoulder slipped off, and then Camila heard a flurry of noises, but she couldn’t see with her arms wrapped around her head, so she dropped her hands and turned around to make sure Samuel was safe.
She watched Samuel kick the gun out of Adrien’s hand, and then he fell on his brother. Only, unlike the last time, Adrien seemed to be at full strength. He wasn’t weak, as he had been at the farmhouse. So he fought back, as fiercely as Samuel did. Both of them throwing punches with a barrage of flying fists.
Camila fearfully crawled out of the way. Her mom was to the right of her so she moved in her direction, and when she reached her, her mom wrapped her arms around her.
* * *
Brianna
Brianna watched her brothers fighting. She took in everything. Seeing Camila was safe with her mom, she realized, no one was paying attention to her, though. After the first scream, when Adrien had come in through the front door, she had been still, silent. She wanted to stop being silent. Stop being afraid. Stop being the scared little girl. The mute sister. She wanted to be strong. Like Camila. Like Morganna.
When Samuel kicked the gun out of Adrien’s hand, and she saw Morganna dragging Camila out of the way of fire, she saw her chance. The chance for her to change her life. To take her power back from Adrien, and she acted on it.
She had seen where the gun flew, and she jumped for it.
Just as the two had each other in a deadlock, Brianna, feeling brave and strong, raised up the gun. Her finger was steady on the trigger as she trained the gun on Adrien.
Samuel caught sight of her, and his eyes widened as he turned to her instead of focusing on the fight.
Adrien, who must have thought he was lucky at this careless opening, stood, turning to go after Samuel again.
“Never again, Adrien,” Brianna said, her voice loud to her ears. She pulled the trigger.
Adrien dropped, a look of utter surprise on his face as blood spread over his chest.
For a long moment, everyone was frozen. Then, she watched Samuel move to Adrien’s body and place his fingers against his neck. Sitting back on his heels, he looked at her with awe.
Brianna knew the single shot to the heart had killed him instantly. She smiled and lowered the gun.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brianna
They had all been so worried for her after it happened, but Brianna knew they would find her in the right. She was exonerated. The shooting was in self-defense. She wasn’t even arrested, though she’d had to take several trips to the police station, and was given orders not to leave the country.
She hadn't planned on doing that in any case.
Still, even though everyone viewed her with awe, thinking she had acted purely on adrenaline to save them, Brianna didn’t bother to enlighten them by telling them they were only partially right.
After all, she still remembered what Adrien had done to her. And she’d wanted her power back.
She had been just a child at four years old. Even back then, she knew better than her parents how to tell the twins apart when Adrien starting acting exactly like Samuel, mimicking him down to the very last detail. Their parents had thought it was cute. They didn’t see anything wrong with it. Though they were loving, they weren’t always the most observant parents.
Brianna had always been a little uneasy in Adrien’s presence, and he didn’t miss it, especially since Samuel had always been her favorite person in the world. She didn’t know why, but out of nowhere, one day, Adrien tried to strangle her. They had been alone, she recalled and she had wanted to leave, but Adrien hadn’t wanted her to. So she had been annoying him. Taunting him with her four year old sassy attitude.
She recalled him screaming at her and grabbing her around the neck. She’d grabbed at his hands and scratched him, but he kept squeezing and she remembered passing out from lack of air. She remembered the pain in her chest when she woke. And she remembered the look in her brother’s eyes as he’s gripped her neck. The trauma stuck with her, and she stopped talking, stopped trying to learn the world, the way every curious child at that age would. He’d stolen her power that day. Taken her voice.
She’d wanted it back.
He ruined her life. So, even though she had killed Adrien, she felt zero regrets. Once he was gone, everything was so much easier.
She could finally breathe after fifteen years of suffocating.
It was nice.
She knew her brother, Camila, and even Morganna were all worried about her mentally, because they thought the incident would leave her even more traumatized.
Instead, Brianna held her head high and she started to improve very fast after Adrien was cremated. After those three little words, it was as if the damn shoring up her vocal cords had burst. She became a chatter box. Talking about anything and everything.
Three months after the whole incident, and Brianna looked and acted like every other nineteen year old girl.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Camila
“Is that everything?” Bri asked holding a box up.
Camila looked around the empty apartment and smiled. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Are you going to miss it?” Bri asked looking at the space.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so,” she said thinking about it.
“Good.” Bri smiled brilliantly, her eyes lighting up with merriment. “I’m glad you and Morganna are going to be living with us.”
“And I am glad you’ve got your voice back.” Camila chuckled. “Now I can’t
imagine a time when you weren’t talking.”
Brianna laughed, a loud musical laugh that showed off the absolute joy in her spirit. “I know, right?”
* * *
“Camila, sweetheart?”
She heard her name, and opened her eyes. Samuel was holding himself above her with his hands braced on the bed to either side of her head. He was smiling down at her, and she returned it sleepily, before closing her eyes.
He chuckled. “Don’t go back to sleep. Everyone is already awake, and we have a lot to get done today.”
She groaned and rolled over, burying her head in the pillow. “Five more minutes,” she mumbled.
Samuel just chuckled again. She felt his hand brush the side of her face as he swept her hair aside, then a kiss pressed against her temple, moving down the side of her face to her jaw. She sighed, tilting her head into the movements.
“There’s a lot of preparations to be made still, though, so come on, sweetness. You know if you don’t get up now, your mom and Bri will just be in here to wake you up,” he snorted. “Honestly, it’s like they’re more enthusiastic about this whole thing than even we are.”
Camila rolled over blinked her eyes up at him for that. “I’m pretty enthusiastic too, you know.”
He hummed. “Are you?” He arched a brow and then threw her a mischievous grin. He climbed from the bed, and then he tugged her out of bed along with him.
With an exasperated sigh, she went. “Fiiiiinnnne. I’m up. Happy?”
“Ecstatic.” He kissed her lips and grinned.
First, they went to the bathroom for a shower. They were on a time limit, so there was no sexy times to be had in the bathroom, but Samuel did stop to rub his hand along her stomach. He always had this awed look on his face whenever he did it, and Camila couldn’t help but smile at it.
The pregnancy was coming along nicely. At a bit over five months along, she had just started showing. It might be because it was her first time, according to her mom, so the pregnancy took longer to be obvious. It was only a light lump now, enough that she could hide under her clothes if they were a little loose.
She had more or less gone back to her life. She still worked at the blog, though she didn’t show up as regularly as she had before. She’d only been back for a month, and everyone had been completely understanding of her situation once she explained it. They had been worried for her, too.
Samuel had told her she didn’t have to work, but Camila actually liked her job, at least the part of it that meant she got to take pictures, so that was the agreement she made with her boss. She would continue on at their photographer, taking pictures when needed, but no more writing, and no more interviews.
“It was the reason I got to meet you, too,” she pointed out, when he got insistent.
It was enough to shut him up.
In her condition, she wasn’t doing a lot of work anyway, but the assignments she currently had fit just perfectly into her life.
After all, they were preparing for both a wedding and a baby, and how could those stories not be popular? Especially when you added the name Samuel Kane to some of the articles.
“You don’t actually have to treat me like glass, you know?” Camila sighed, secretly loving his pampering.
After their shower, Samuel carried her back to their bedroom, where he set her down on the bed, then proceeded to wipe her down tenderly.
“I don’t do it because I think you can't do it all yourself,” he said, grinning up at her. “It’s because I love you and want to do this for you.”
Camila felt her face warm up. She was comfortable with them being naked around each other, but this still made her heart race. They hadn't said it to each other before Adrien had kidnapped her, but afterwards, Samuel couldn’t stop saying it. Every chance he got, it was there, in his words and in his actions.
And she had to admit, she was addicted to hearing it. To seeing it.
“I love you too,” she whispered, catching his face between her palms, and leaning down to give him a sweet kiss on the lips.
After they were both dried, they got dressed and left their living room. They went downstairs, and followed the sounds to the back parlor that they had turned into a second, smaller dining room, where Morganna and Brianna were already having breakfast.
“What took you so long,” her mom nagged. “I was about to come up there and call you. We have an appointment at the bridal shop, and there’s so much to do. The way you are right now, if we don’t do things right, you might outgrow your dress before your wedding day, you know.”
Camila pretended to pout, but then chuckled. “Yes, Mother,” she said cheekily.
“Morning, Camila,” Bri said happily, chewing away at breakfast. “Morning, Sammy!” She grinned up at them.
Camila smirked. She still thought it was precious that Brianna called her brother that. Samuel ruffled her hair as the two of them joined them for breakfast.
“Hey!” Bri fussed. “It took me like forever to get these curls just right!”
“Sorry, Sis.” Samuel’s eyes met Camila’s over the table and she grinned.
Light conversation went around as they ate, happily talking and laughing. Then after, Brianna was the one to jump up and get everyone to hurry up.
“Come on! We’re gonna be late. Let’s go!”
Brianna no longer felt wary about leaving the house. She was full of excitement and life, bouncing from one place to the next as if she’d just discovered the next best thing ever. Which to her, it was.
The three of them laughed.
“All right, all right,” Camila murmured. She was eating more than everyone else, so she was the last one. “You couldn’t leave me behind even if you wanted to, so hold your horses!”
Finished with breakfast, the table was left for the staff to clear up, even though Camila hated doing that. They were all dressed and ready to go. Brianna was the first to head for the door, laughing as she ran out. The other three adults looked at each other before following the exuberant girl. With that, their family of four, soon to be five, headed out to face another beautiful day, together.
Samuel wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple.
As Camila looked at her small family, she knew she was about to experience her next best day ever.
About Roxy Sinclaire
Roxy Sinclaire writes steamy, suspenseful romantic stories as the main genre, and this includes a variety of different topics. Some of these include dark romances, action packed romances, mafia romances, and many more. She currently works in customer relations in New York City, but is trying to fulfill her passion in writing and eventually have her dream job become a reality.
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Also by Roxy Sinclaire
The Obsession Trilogy:
Buried Obsession (Book 1)
Tangled Obsession (Book 2)
Shattered Obsession (Book 3)
Deadly Passion Series:
High Stakes (Book 1)
Double or Nothing (Book 2)
Triple Threat (Book 3)
Mafia Romance Series:
Dirty Indiscretions: A Dark Mafia Romance (Book 1)
Her Protection: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Book 2)
Deadly Ink: A Dark Mafia Romance (Book 3)
His Revenge: A Mafia Revenge Romance (Book 4)
His Betrayal: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Book 5)
Dangerous Indulgence: A Dark Mafia Romance (Book 6)
Bundles:
Book Boyfriends
Omerta Series Box Set Books 1-3 (Volume 1)
Pass To Win Series:
Touchdown: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 1)
Line of
Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Book 2)
Between The Tackles: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 3)
Fourth and Goal: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 4)
Game Winning Catch: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Book 5)
Second Chance Draft: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Book 6)
Romantic Secret Agents Series:
Lethal Seduction (Book 1)
Deadly Seduction (Book 2)
Toxic Seduction (Book 3)
City Bad Boys Series:
Object Me: A Bad Boy Lawyer Romance (Book 1)
Entitled: A Bad Boy Romance (Book 2)
Tempting Me: A Bad Boy Romance (Book 3)
Fast And Loaded: A Bad Boy Romance (Book 4)
One More Series:
One More Kiss (Book 1)
One More Turn (Book 2)
One More Chance (Book 3)
One More Night (Book 4)
Standalone Novels
One Night With The Tycoon: A Billionaire Romance
Dirty Fighter: A Bad Boy MMA Romance
The Devil’s Dream: A Dark Romance
Trapped In His World: A Dark Romance
Dirty Money: A Dark Mafia Romance
Deceived By The Hitman: A Bad Boy Hitman Romance
Standalone Novellas
His Long Island Iced Tea
Shattered Obsession: Book 3 of the Obsession Trilogy Page 16