by L. P. Dover
“And if no one acts funny, what then? You’ll forget this hunch of yours?”
He sighed and shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t know. This is the first time I haven’t had all the answers. I can’t think of any other reason how Scar would know where Camden is, or who you are.”
“Am I fighting tonight?” Camden asked, glancing back and forth between me and Mason.
Mason grinned and lifted a brow. “Do you want to fight me?”
“Actually, I feel like being able to move tonight,” he pointed and winked at me. “But there is someone I’d like to have a go at.”
WHILE BROOKLYN WAS in the shower, Mason joined me in the kitchen for a beer. “I swear I don’t know what I’m seeing,” he started. “It’s almost as if you like it here.”
“I do. It’s different being here, where no one knows who you are. Well, at least I thought no one knew who I was.”
Mason took a swig of his beer and nodded. “Brooklyn’s a good girl though. I hope you know what you’re doing. She’s not one of those women you can fuck and send on her way. I grew up with her.”
“I don’t want her to move on. She’s the only one I can talk to.”
He drank the rest of his beer and set the bottle down. “Everyone back home asks about you. They’re worried.”
I scoffed and averted my gaze. “Like who? Gabby and Pax? They’re the only ones who actually give a shit about me.”
“Your brother gave me a call. I told him you were doing well and that you were in great company out here.”
“Like he cares,” I snapped. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“Maybe if you call him and you guys work this shit out, you can be a family again. You have a niece and a nephew whom you’ve never met. You can’t tell me you don’t want it all back.”
I chugged my beer and tossed the bottle in the trash. “You of all people know how bad I fucked up. I tried to mend things at one point, but he looked at me with nothing but disdain. I don’t think I can handle seeing that again on his face. It’s what I expect to see on everyone’s faces when they look at me.”
“But not Brooklyn’s . . . You care about her, don’t you?”
Down the hall, I could see into her room, at her reflection in her bedroom mirror. She was so beautiful and strong, like Gabriella and Ashleigh, but so much more. I didn’t quite know what I felt. Whatever it was, it felt fucking amazing. “I don’t know what it is about her,” I said, “but I can’t imagine feeling it with anyone else.”
Mason slapped me on the shoulder and laughed. “Welcome to my world, Jameson. And good luck. You’re gonna need it. Once they trap you, it’s impossible to get out.”
“I heard that,” Brooklyn hollered from down the hall. She joined us in the kitchen with her arms crossed over her chest. “And you’re only trapped because you want to be. I’ve heard the way you talk to Claire. Don’t pull that macho bullshit with me.” She winked at me and started out the door. “Aren’t you guys coming?”
Mason chuckled. “Okay, I think it’s time to go. Just do me a favor tonight, Jameson. Be smart. If my assumptions are correct, someone at this bar wants you dead. Don’t provoke anyone, and that goes for Blake. If he wants to fight you that’s fine, but don’t bring it up first.”
With wild eyes, I thrust my finger toward the door where Brooklyn waited outside. “And have you seen what she’s wearing? That guy’s going to be all over her tonight. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Sit around and let him mess around with what’s mine?”
Mason clapped me on the shoulder and smiled. “I never said that. But I can say I’m glad to have you back. It hasn’t been the same at home without you.”
“Thanks, bro. I appreciate that.” When we got outside, Brooklyn waited for us on the front porch with a wicked smile on her face. “What are you grinning about?”
Once the door was shut, she locked it and we started down the steps toward Mason’s rented SUV. “So you don’t want anyone messing with what’s yours, huh?” she murmured so only I could hear.
“You got that right. Just don’t get mad if I lose my temper. I’m warning you now.”
We stopped at the car, and she leaned against it, pulling me closer by the belt loops of my jeans. Taking my hand, she placed it over her tits and slid it down to her hips. “I like being called yours, Camden. Just as long as I can call you mine. This isn’t a one way street. If you really want me, you need to make sure I’m all you want. That sharing shit you’re used to isn’t going to happen with me.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t want to share you with anyone . . . ever. I want you all to myself. And I’m going to have more of you when we get home. I want to finish what we started.”
She smiled and lifted her lips to mine. “Then don’t get your ass kicked tonight.”
That was not going to happen.
All heads turned our way when we entered the pub. Mason was like royalty in his old hometown. Several people flocked over to us, but Brooklyn grabbed my hand and pulled us over to the bar.
“He’ll be a little while. It’s always like this when he comes to town.”
“I see that.”
“We can talk to Crystal while we wait.”
When we sat down, Crystal bounced over to us. She was the same girl who was here the other night when I came with Jason. She smiled a little long at me, but then it disappeared when Brooklyn hooked her arm through mine. Sneaky girl.
“Hey, B. You drinkin’ tonight?”
“No, I think I need to keep my wits in case someone challenges me on the tables.”
“Ain’t that the truth, but I think the guys are more interested in him,” she said, nodding at me. “Or at least one of them is.”
I looked over at Brooklyn, who had her lips pursed angrily. “You wouldn’t happen to be talking about Blake, would you?” she asked.
Crystal chuckled. “Well, of course Blake wants to kick his ass, but I heard Reese say he wanted to fight him again too. He wasn’t happy about last time.” She hooked a glance my way. “You should be prepared for a couple of fights.” More people sat down at the bar and she scurried off to help them.
“How well do you know Reese?” I asked.
Brooklyn turned in her chair, keeping her voice low. “Not as well as the others. He’s not in our tight knit group like Jason, Blake, Wyatt, and Gabe are. He’s a complete dickhead for sure.”
“Do you think he could be who we’re looking for?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to imagine any of these guys being connected to Scar. I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.”
Mason hurried our way and joined us. “Damn, I thought I’d never get away. You guys ready to go down?”
“More than ready,” I replied. If this Reese guy was the one who wanted me dead, I was definitely going to make him suffer, both him and Blake.
IF WE WERE aiming for shock value, I think we achieved it. The second we came into view, the whole room froze in silence. It wasn’t because I was holding Camden’s hand or that Mason was with us. It looked like a combination of both. Especially when all I could see was Blake’s burning gaze as he glared at us. Everyone was there, but thankfully, Gabe broke the ice.
“Well, if it isn’t Mason ‘The Eagle’ Bradley. To what do we owe the honor of this visit?” he announced, extending his hand.
Mason chuckled, shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder. “I wanted to visit my old friends. Not to mention, make sure this one stays out of trouble,” he said, glancing toward Camden. “He’s been known to cause a clusterfuck or two.”
“Hey, I’m not the only one,” Camden countered with a smile.
Gabe noticed mine and Camden’s clasped hands and focused on me. “I take it he knows the truth then?”
I nodded. “It wasn’t easy trying to lie. Saying I was a traveling nanny didn’t exactly fit my personality.”
Mason and Gabe both barked out in laughter, but it was Camden who spoke up. “
What the fuck? I just now realized you were talking about me. Was it really that bad?”
“You have no idea.”
“What’s even funnier,” Mason interrupted, “is what she said to the women you tried to take back to your place. Let’s just say you can blame her for not getting any ass.”
Gabe grinned. “Uh-oh, this should be good. I gotta hear this.”
All three guys stared at me, and I was afraid Camden would get mad, but he actually looked amused. “Okay, I know you’re not going to think this is funny,” I started, “but I kind of told them you gave me crabs and that it wasn’t worth the ten second lay. You should be thanking me though. Those fucking sea donkeys probably would have given you crabs. Besides, all they wanted was to steal your money.”
They all burst out laughing, even Camden when he pulled me to the corner. “Sea donkey?” he repeated.
Giggling, I shrugged and put my arms around his neck. “I don’t know. We were by the sea. It seemed fitting.”
Shaking his head, he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Or maybe you were jealous and deep down wanted me all to yourself. I spent months thinking my scar turned people off. But that wasn’t the case, was it?”
Tracing my finger down the pink jagged line on his face, my heart broke. “No, not at all. I saw the way it hurt you when the women walked away from you. Maybe I didn’t want others to have you. I justified it by thinking it only fair that if I wasn’t getting any action, then you shouldn’t be either.”
“All I can say, buttercup, is that you have a lot of making up to do. Do you have any idea how hard those months were for me?”
“Don’t worry,” I said, lifting up on my toes. “Get through tonight and I’ll be happy to make it all up to you.”
Before I could kiss him, Blake cleared his throat behind me . . . a little too loudly. Camden tensed and his fingers dug into my waist, but I placed my hands over his and pulled them away so I could turn around. “Blake, how are you?” I greeted. Camden put his hands back on my hips and I leaned against him.
Blake smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “The question is, how are you? I haven’t talked to you since the night of the attack. Do you know if Mason found out if anything was connected?”
Camden tensed behind me. “Night of what attack? What the hell are you talking about?”
Clenching my teeth, I glared at Blake.
He was surprised. “Oh, shit! You didn’t know? Weird.” He glanced at me and then back to Camden. “Your girlfriend was attacked in a parking deck a few days ago. Don’t worry though, I was there to help her.”
Not so gently, Camden turned me around to face him. “Why didn’t you tell me this? Is there any connection to me?”
“That’s what I was wondering too,” Blake sneered. “The last thing any of us want is for Brooke to be in the crossfire trying to protect your sorry ass.”
Camden started to lunge, but Mason jumped in and helped me hold him back while Blake chuckled. “Camden, calm the fuck down,” he growled low.
Breathing hard, Camden kept his venomous glare on Blake. After they all stared each other down, he nodded once and backed up. When Mason let him go, he turned around and pushed Blake hard against his chest.
“What the hell are you doing? If you’re trying to start shit, this isn’t the way to go about it. Get your ass in the ring and fight it out like a fucking man.”
Blake lifted his arms in the air. “That’s what I’ve been dying to do since this dickhead came into town.”
“Then what’s stopping you?” Camden challenged. “I’m right here.”
Blake lunged this time, but he didn’t get very far with Mason blocking his path.
I couldn’t watch this shit anymore. “What happened to working things out and being friends?” I spat. “This isn’t the way to do it.”
His chest rose and fell with his rapid breaths and instead of looking at me, he kept his venomous glare on Camden. “Sorry, Brooke. I realized I can’t sit around and watch you throw your life away on this jackass. He needs to go back to California and stay the hell away from you before you get hurt. He’s not worth it.”
“In the ring, now,” Mason shouted, pointing to the mats. Blake ripped off his shirt and started toward the ring. Everyone parted, giving him a wide berth. Reese slapped him on the back with a huge smile on his face and whispered in his ear. I didn’t like their connection. Even Mason lifted a brow at me.
Camden marched toward the ring, but I grabbed his arm. It took all the strength I had to get him to stop. “Wait, you have to let me explain.”
“Later,” he growled. “I may not deserve you, but I’m not going to let that prick think he’s worthy of you either. This ends tonight.”
He jerked out of my hold and stalked toward Blake who bounced on his feet with his hands already gloved. “Camden,” I shouted, charging after him.
Mason put his hand on my shoulder, stopping me. “Let him go. Blake’s been asking for it. I don’t think I’m the only one here who wants to see him get his ass kicked. Just let ‘em fight it out.”
“Yeah, but this is Camden we’re talking about. He fought his own brother with broken glass knuckles. He might take it too far.”
“Then Blake will have to learn to keep his mouth shut. It’s a lesson everyone should learn when dealing with someone like Jameson.”
“Fuck,” I grumbled. It was easy to see anger was controlling him.
Reese tossed Camden a pair of gloves but he threw them back, shaking his head. Words were exchanged and then Blake followed suit, taking his off with a devilish gleam in his eyes. I never knew how deep his jealousy and hate went until now.
Mason squeezed my shoulder and said, “I’m going to talk to the rest of the guys and get a feel for everything.”
He began to walk off, but I grabbed his arm. “What if he takes things too far? You have to stop him.”
Mason sighed and shook his head. “You would have better luck. He won’t listen to me.”
As soon as he walked off, Gabe came to my side and put his arm around my shoulders. “I heard Blake and the others talking earlier. They were giving him a hard time about fighter boy gettin’ in your pants.”
“Great. That’s just what I need.”
Gabe slid his arm down and bumped me with his shoulder. “You’re not serious about him though, are you? I thought you were done with the douchebags. Camden Jameson is way worse than Blake will ever be.”
“He’s changed, Gabe. Or at least around me he has. Regrettably, right now he looks like the Camden I’ve heard so much about.”
Reese stepped into the center of the mats and said a few words to the guys before rushing out. Not two seconds later, Camden swung and knocked Blake on the side of the head. He tumbled back, but righted himself and charged towards Camden’s midsection. They both ended up on the mat and rolled around, the sounds of flesh hitting flesh were all I could hear above the din of the crowd.
Across the room, I could see Reese, Wyatt, and another one of our guys, Chase, flipping through wads of cash with more coming in from the crowd. What the hell? They were gambling on the fight and it wasn’t just a small amount of money either. “I am so going to kill them,” I hissed.
As fast as I could, I rushed over, Gabe hot on my heels. Their eyes went wide when they saw me coming. “You can’t be serious. You instigated this on purpose, didn’t you? You knew Blake would blow up if he thought Camden and I were sleeping together.”
“You mean fucking?” Reese laughed. “All we wanted was a good show and now we got it. Look at them, it’s insane.”
I looked over at the fight and they were definitely giving the room some excitement. They were back on their feet, but now Blake had a bloody nose and Camden’s knuckles were torn. I snarled and turned back to Reese. “Well, if it’s a show you want, I guess it’s good you’re not out their fighting. Didn’t Camden kick your ass the other night? From what I understand, it didn’t last very long. But that’s not the first ti
me I’ve heard that about you.” I glared down at the money and then back up to them again. “Enjoy the show, fucktards.”
Gabe chuckled and grabbed my arm, pulling me away. I didn’t dare look back at the guys. Reese probably wanted to kill me after embarrassing him. “You sure do have a set of balls, B. You surprise me sometimes. The first time I met you, I never thought you’d make it in this line of work.”
“Why is that?” I asked, keeping my focus on Camden. He and Blake circled the ring and it didn’t look like either one was going to back down any time soon. I thought Camden would look up at me at least once, but he never did.
“I don’t know. I guess because you looked so innocent and fragile. I never understood why a beautiful girl like you would want to be involved in the shit we have to deal with. It’s dangerous.”
“What can I say? I like adventure. The beauty queen role was for my sister. I always felt the need to protect her. I don’t regret my decisions to do this. It brought me closer to my brother and I’ve met some great people in the process.” Speaking of my brother, he just walked in the room and realized what was going on.
Gabe smiled and bumped me in the shoulder. “Like me?”
I bumped him back. “You know it.” And also Camden, who was beating the shit out of my ex. He currently had Blake pinned on the mat with his fist raised high.
“What’s going on here?” Jason asked, eyes wide at the sight before him.
“Just a bunch of bullshit. This has to stop before it goes too far.” Mason was nowhere to be found and the others were enjoying the show a little too much. Camden’s fist connected and more blood sprayed from Blake’s nose. I thought it would knock him out but he held on strong and elbowed Camden in the cheek. Everything after that moved in slow motion. Camden hit Blake again and again, with no sign of stopping.
“Camden, stop!” I shouted. Blake wasn’t on the offense anymore; he had his arms up to protect himself. And yet, Camden didn’t stop. “Jason, we have to do something. Tell Reese it’s over.”