by Chloe Lang
“Damn it.” Her hands were shaking. She opened her bathroom bag and brought out her pills. She’d stopped taking them a month ago when Killer had told her to, but now she wondered if that had been a mistake. The voices in her head were screaming incessantly.
“You’re a fucking weak little cunt,” the cackling voice mocked. “Take those pills and you’ll lose everything.”
“Stop being a little bitch,” Killer ordered. “Do something.”
“But I did. I did everything you said. I tried to scare her away with the phone calls and the voice-altering device, but it didn’t work.”
“You loser,” several voices with no names screamed.
The little girl who rarely came out cried, “Camille Anderson is going to ruin all our plans.”
“You’re going to lose Miguel and Roberto to that goddamn bitch,” Killer said. “What are you going to do about it?”
She closed her eyes and brought her hands up to her ears. “I don’t know. Stop talking. Let me think.”
Maniacal laughter erupted inside her head.
Then Lady Leprosy stepped forward. “Call them, Alessandra.”
“But it’s so late.” She looked at the time on her phone.
“I’m not asking.”
Then the chorus of voices began chanting. “Call them. Call them.”
“I can’t. I can’t. They’ll think I’m crazy for calling this late.”
But the shouts only got louder.
Chapter Sixteen
Cami slipped out of the bed, leaving her two sleeping men. She grabbed her robe and Roberto’s cell. Before closing the bedroom door, she took another glance at Miguel and Roberto. I’m the luckiest woman in the world to have such wonderful men.
She sat on the sofa and looked out at Madrid’s night sky. This place would hold a special place in her heart from now on. It was the city where she’d found love. Madrid time was three a.m., but in Dallas it was seven hours earlier. Eight p.m. It was the perfect time to call Izzy and Toni.
“I was just about to call you, Cami,” Izzy answered. “Toni’s here with me. Let me get her to pick up the other receiver.”
“I’m on,” Toni said.
“Cami, I’ve got some shocking news. Hank is dead.”
“What?” Everything inside her went rigid.
“Authorities, with the help of our private investigator, found his body riddled with bullets in an abandoned cabin,” Izzy explained. “It was clear that it was a drug deal gone wrong. The coroner stated Hank had been dead for some time.”
“Oh my God, I hated him, but I would never want anyone to die like that.”
“Me either,” Toni said, “but I’m glad he’s finally gone for good. He can’t hurt you ever again.”
“But if he was killed a while ago, who has been calling me?”
“Honey, we’re still working on that,” Izzy said. “And we won’t stop until we know. By the way, the security system is going in at your place today. It’s top of the line. Plus, your two guys contacted my two guys, asking them to have a security service keep an eye on your place.”
She smiled. “Miguel and Roberto are quite protective. They seem to think of everything.”
“That sounds promising, Cami. I can hear something in your voice that tells me they are your guys now, right?”
“Let’s just say…yes.” She laughed. “I’m in love, Izzy. Really in love.”
“That’s wonderful news. I’m so happy for you.”
“Just be careful,” Toni said, which didn’t surprise her, given Toni’s history.
“Oh, don’t worry. They wore condoms.”
Toni groaned. “TMI. But I am glad that you are in love and that they love you. Be sure to tell them if they ever treat you wrong, they’ll have to answer to me.”
“I will, but they won’t. How’s my little boy?”
“Peanut is doing great but misses you.”
A beep sounded in her ear. “There’s a call coming in. I need to let you go because this is Roberto’s phone. It might be a business call.”
“Love you, Cami,” Izzy and Toni said together.
“Love you, too. Call you later.” She answered the other call. “Hello?”
No one spoke. All she could hear was heavy breathing.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up. “This is Roberto Sanchez’s phone. Are you there?”
Nothing. Then the call dropped.
* * * *
Rage rolled through Alessandra. She glared at her cell as the voices screeched their discontent.
“Kill her! Kill her!”
Why had Camille answered Roberto’s phone?
Killer laughed. “You already know why.”
She grabbed the letter opener from her briefcase, touching the tip to her finger. The opener doubled beautifully as a dagger, something she could stab that bitch’s throat with.
“Kill her! Kill her!”
She ran out the door, hearing Camille’s voice answering Roberto’s phone again and again, mocking her.
“The cunt has his phone, Alessandra,” Little John said in his sweet, sick tone. “That means she’s in their room.”
“You don’t know that,” she yelled back at him as she got in the elevator at her hotel.
“But I do know, and so do you. We all know it. She fucked them.”
Killer screamed. “They can never be yours as long as she’s alive. Kill her.”
“How do I get into the room?”
“Kill her.” The cackling voice of the witch almost drowned out Killer and Little John. But as she crossed the street to the other hotel, Killer told her to get the key from the front desk. “Your name is on the reservation. Tell them you lost your key.”
She followed his instructions to the letter, and he was right, yet again.
“I’m always right,” he said. “Now finish it.”
“Permítame que le llevará a su piso, señorita?” the man working the elevator asked her in Spanish.
“Piso décimo, por favor,” she answered.
The man nodded and punched the button for the tenth floor.
* * * *
Cami yawned, downing the last drop of wine from her glass.
Her eyes were heavy.
She was ready to crawl back in bed with Miguel and Roberto. Before she could get to her feet, she heard someone step behind her.
Cami turned around and saw Alessandra swinging something that looked like a knife. She jumped back in just the nick of time, saving her throat from a deadly slice. Cami lunged toward Alessandra, pushing her to the floor.
Alessandra jumped to her feet and glared at Cami. “No one is going to save you from us now, cunt.”
“What is wrong with you, Alessandra? Are you crazy?”
“We are not crazy, bitch. You’re the crazy one.” Alessandra’s head tilted to the side, and in a tone Cami had never heard from her, she said, “Just quit talking to the cunt and kill her.” Her tone changed again. “We’re going to kill you, bitch, and save our men.” Alessandra lunged, knocking her down.
Cami’s head hit the coffee table before she landed on the floor. Alessandra jumped on top of her, pinning her down.
Miguel and Roberto bolted out of the bedroom.
“What the fuck, Alessandra?” Miguel asked.
Alessandra held the point of her makeshift weapon to Cami’s jugular. “Move one more inch, fellas, and the skank dies.” Alessandra blinked and her voice returned to normal. “Don’t talk to them like that. Guys, I’m sorry about this, but Cami is no good for you. I have to do this. It’s for your own good.”
Oh God. She’s totally insane. “Listen to me, Alessandra. You don’t want to—”
“My name isn’t Alessandra, cunt,” a new voice said. Alessandra’s entire demeanor seemed to change whenever a new personality took over. This one had a swagger and narrow eyes.
“We want to talk to Alessandra,” Roberto said as he and Miguel inched their way closer.
Dazed by
the injury to her head, Cami wasn’t able to get free of her attacker.
Alessandra’s face twisted with insanity, her eyes crazed with a murderous hate. “This is all your fault. You should have listened to my phone calls and stayed away from them. Now you die.”
Alessandra swung the dagger at Cami’s neck.
Roberto and Miguel lunged forward, grabbing Alessandra’s arm before she could plunge the knife into Cami’s throat. They shoved the woman to the side, freeing Cami.
Alessandra began cackling hysterically. “It’s all done. We lost. Ha. The bitch won. Off to see the doctor once again. Ha. Ha.”
Roberto held Alessandra down as she continued to rant.
Miguel helped Cami off the floor, concern apparent on his face. “Are you hurt?”
Her heart was racing. “No. Just banged my head.”
“It’s her fault,” Alessandra shouted in one of the earlier voices. “That fucking slut is to blame.”
“She’s the one who was calling me, not Hank,” Cami told them.
“Liar. Liar.” Alessandra writhed underneath Roberto.
“Shut the fuck up,” Roberto ordered.
“But I love you. We belong together.”
“Miguel, call the police,” he said. “She’s clearly insane.”
Alessandra continued ranting until the authorities took her away.
The emergency medical team checked out Cami’s bump on the head and determined it wasn’t serious.
When everyone left their room, she wrapped her arms around Miguel and Roberto.
“The nightmare is really over.” She held on tight to them as they pulled her in close. “You promised to keep me safe and you did. I love you.”
They each kissed her and told her how much they loved her.
Chapter Seventeen
Miguel was brimming with so much excitement that he barely tasted the food. He and Roberto had prepared a special meal for Cami to celebrate their one-month anniversary of living together.
She’d moved in with her dog one week after they returned from Madrid. He and Roberto had grown as crazy about Peanut as Cami.
Alessandra was still being treated in Spain. Her mother was with her and had told him and Roberto she would never be able to work again. “She’s too fragile for that, I’m afraid. Alessandra will be coming to live with me. I will make sure she doesn’t ever stop taking her medicine.”
“You two really went all out for this,” Cami said, taking another bite of dessert. “Yum. I can’t imagine what you will do to top this night on our two-month anniversary. But you didn’t have to close the restaurant just for me. This is Saturday night, a time when your customers expect you to be open.”
“But we did have to close, sweetheart,” he said, getting down on one knee and taking her hand.
“Oh my God.” Her eyes widened.
Roberto got down on his knees. “There’s something else we want to celebrate, mi amor.”
“Oh my God. Is this really happening?”
“Yes, my love, it’s really happening.” Miguel looked into her eyes and brought her hand up to his mouth. “I could never live without you, Camille.”
“You are my whole world,” Roberto said. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you.”
“The only future I want to have is the one with you by my side.” Miguel stared into her eyes. “I love you, mi amor.”
Then as they had practiced together, he and Roberto said in unison, “Will you be our wife?”
They presented the ring they’d chosen for her.
“Yes. Yes, I will marry you. I love you both so much. I want to be your wife more than anything. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Together, they held her hand and placed the ring on her finger.
Roberto kissed their bride-to-be first. Sharing Camille with his brother, his best friend, made him so very happy.
Then he kissed her. She’s my forever.
“Come on out,” Roberto shouted to their friends and loved ones, who had been hiding in the kitchen. Everyone came out with a glass of champagne in their hands, toasting them.
“Oh my God, that ring is gorgeous.” Izzy hugged her.
Toni smiled. “You’re very lucky, sweetheart. They are good guys.”
That was the highest praise Toni had ever given him and Roberto. She was still on the fence about Zane and Maddox, refusing to go out with them, but Miguel knew the Kavanagh brothers weren’t quitters. They weren’t going to ever give up on Toni.
“Congratulations, guys,” Clay said with a smile.
“May you be as happy as we are with our wonderful wife,” Jay added.
“We already are.” Roberto once again said more in the fewest words than Miguel ever could.
He put his arm around his brother and looked at Cami, who was surrounded by friends. “Just knowing the three of us will be together for the rest of their lives makes me happier than I’ve ever been before.”
THE END
WWW.CHLOELANG.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chloe Lang began devouring romance novels during summers between college semesters as a respite to the rigors of her studies. Soon, her lifelong addiction was born, and to this day, she typically reads three or four books every week.
For years, the very shy Chloe tried her hand at writing romance stories, but shared them with no one. After many months of prodding by an author friend, Sophie Oak, she finally relented and let Sophie read one. As the prodding turned to gentle shoves, Chloe ultimately did submit something to Siren-BookStrand. The thrill of a life happened for her when she got the word that her book would be published.
For all titles by Chloe Lang, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/chloe-lang
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com