by Low, JA
Jumping out of my bed, I grab at him, but Jackson’s ex-military and takes it easily.
“Where the fuck is she?” I shake him, but he barely moves.
“She’s disappeared off the island sometime last night.”
She what?
A headache claws at my brain as I draw my brows together not understanding what they are telling me.
“It looks like Harris planned all of this.”
“All of what?” Am I missing something?
“He drugged you, brought you back to your room. Set up two women to fuck you so Camryn would see,” Alex tells me.
“Camryn wouldn’t leave over that?”
Would she? I mean if it’s true, it’s a dick thing to do but not to disappear like that. Surely, she’d give me a roasting first.
“There’s more, and you’re not going to like it,” Jackson explains.
“More?”
“You were drugged in the dark room. One of the guys you had in there had a needle. Harris paid him a million dollars to drug you,” Jackson tells me.
“He told them he wanted access to your office to get some info. They didn’t know it was to—” Alex stops what he’s about to say and looks over at Jackson.
“Harris paid all the men to leave him alone with Camryn in the dark room.”
No. No. No. No.
My world begins to crumble around me.
“No. He… no…” I’m going to fucking kill him.
“She broke his nose,” Jackson adds. “Then rushed to your villa to find you.”
“Except you had company,” Alex adds.
Wait! What?
Jackson presses play on the security camera in my room that only I have access to. There, clear as day in black and white, are two women having their way with me. Camryn rushes in looking disheveled in a towel. The women see her, stop what they’re doing, and then Camryn’s gone.
“Fuck!” Screaming, I run my hands through my hair.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
As I fall back onto my bed, the realization hits me. “He raped her, didn’t he?”
Alex and Jackson look at me. I can see it on their faces they’re going to tell me something horrible.
“We don’t believe that he did,” Jackson adds.
“But you’re not sure?” Jackson shakes his head. “Fuck, Camryn… I… fuck. Fuck!” My heart is slowly being ripped out of my body knowing I put her in that position when I told her I would protect her.
“We are going to find her,” Jackson tries to reassure me.
“What about him.” A sneer falls across my face. “Where the fuck is Harris?”
“We are on it,” Jackson tells me.
“I want him destroyed. I want everything he owns destroyed. Harris Edwards needs to die.”
“Bro, no,” Alex butts in. “That’s murder.”
Turning around quickly, I glare at my brother. “He’s going to fucking pay. That man tried to rape my girlfriend. He drugged me. He doesn’t deserve to live.”
“Nate,” Jackson grabs my attention. “Death is too easy for a prick like him. I have other ways to destroy him that won’t land you on death row.”
“He fucking touched her,” I scream at them both. Do they not understand what I’m saying? “And who the fuck knows where she is now? She is out there thinking I set her up with that monster, all so I could fuck two fucking women who mean nothing to me. No. He doesn’t deserve to get off lightly.”
Jackson places two hands on my shoulders. My chest is heaving. My heart’s leaping out of my chest.
“I promise you… I will find a way to destroy him and keep all our hands clean.” There is an edge to Jackson’s tone that tells me he means it.
“I don’t care what it costs,” I tell him.
“Noted.” Jackson nods his head.
“Where’s Camryn?” My stomach churns at the possibility she’s gone.
“Sam, Kim, and Harper have gone back home to look for her.”
Fuck! I run my hand through my hair.
“They hate me, don’t they?” I question my brother.
“The girls, yes. Sam’s borderline.”
“I’ve passed on all the information about what happened to Sam. They know that this isn’t your fault,” Jackson states.
“But it is.” I thump my chest. “I promised her I would keep her safe. That I wouldn’t ever let Harris near her again. I failed her. I’ve fucking failed her.” My heart is being ripped out of my chest, knowing Camryn’s out there all alone and thinks I fucked her over in the vilest of ways.
* * *
“You okay?” Alex asks me once we’re alone.
“No, I don’t think I am.” Looking up at my brother, I continue, “I love her, man.” The realization hits me like a sucker punch to the gut.
“Once we find her, and she realizes that Harris set this all up, everything will be fine.”
Shaking my head, I answer, “I don’t think so. I don’t know if we will come back from this.”
“Don’t say that, man.”
“Love doesn’t always conquer all.”
My brother frowns at me.
* * *
It’s been a couple of weeks, and no one has seen Camryn.
It didn’t take long for Jackson to locate her, he even hacked into her phone. I know it’s wrong, but I’m desperate. She’s been in contact with the girls but has asked for them to respect her needing some time alone, which is good. The last thing I need is for them to try and push her further away from me.
Men like Harris Edwards, entitled assholes, who think the world owes them everything because of who they are, always have secrets, and those secrets are the ones they wish to stay buried. Once you start digging deeper into people’s lives, the skeletons soon rise to the surface.
Who knew we would hit the jackpot so quickly? One little hack and Harris’ world is all about to crumble to the ground, and I didn’t have to plant a thing. Jackson started looking into the Harris’ family business. Our forensic accountant was able to find some discrepancies, and the next thing we knew, we uncovered the motherlode.
Harris’s father was the leader of an international underage girls’ escort ring. Once we picked the first thread, the whole elaborate scheme unraveled. We obtained as much evidence as we could legally because most of it was obtained illegally, and handed it over to some friends in the FBI.
We had no idea that they too had been investigating the leader of this ring for the last two years, and we just handed them all the evidence we had.
Watching Harris and his father taken away in cuffs with all of their assets frozen, and the whole of New York society turning on them once everything was flashed across the nightly news, gave me some joy.
Honestly, I wish he was dead, but we can’t always get what we want.
Now that the arrests have happened, it’s time for me to see Camryn.
41
Camryn
I’m staring at the news highlights on my phone about Harris and his dad. I can’t believe that they were both involved in something so insidious. A shiver travels down my back just thinking about Harris.
How do I always pick the worst guys in the world?
Lance, Harris, Nate.
Damn if that last one doesn’t hurt my soul just thinking about him. I thought Nate was different, but he’s just as bad as the other two. The difference with Nate is, I fell for him. I gave him all of me, and he still threw me away like yesterday’s trash. I haven’t heard from him in the two weeks I’ve gone underground. I mean I blocked his number, but still, that’s not the point. I am sure with his abilities and people he could have found me easily.
I’m nestled up at Vanessa’s parents’ health retreat in Byron Bay, Australia. This will be the last place anyone will think to find me. I couldn’t get any further away than here. I have been doing yoga daily, eating vegan food, and I’ve done some crystal healing, but above all, I have seen a therapist. The therapist has been helping me work t
hrough my trauma. Of course, I didn’t tell them exactly what had transpired that evening, just the points which didn’t make me seem like I might have deserved what happened to me because I let multiple guys sleep with me. I know they’re meant to be unbiased, but still, I don’t trust them.
It’s nice being here. It is quiet, the views are spectacular, and I’ve been hiking through the bush just trying to process everything. It’s been hard.
I’ve spoken to Ivy, Harper, and Kimberly a couple of times letting them know I am safe and okay, just working shit out. They wanted me to tell them where I am, but I didn’t because I knew they would be on the next plane to Australia. And in all honesty, I don’t want to see anyone.
I’m embarrassed.
Ashamed.
I don’t want to see people’s pity when they look at me or their damn judgment. I know my sister and close friends won’t be like that, but I am working on myself, getting myself stronger to go home and tackle my life again.
I’m walking back from a session in the pool, taking in the songs of the birds around me, listening to the serenity as I walk along the pathways back to my cabin. I still when I see a figure standing near my cabin. My hands become clammy, my heart rate increases, and for a moment, I feel like I’m seeing Harris, but the closer I get, I realize it’s Nate.
Shit. How the hell did he find me?
He looks good dressed in shorts and a casual tee with his aviators on. He stops and turns, he sees it’s me, but my steps slow. There’s probably a couple of hundred feet between us when he lifts his hand and waves. I simply stand there, unsure how I feel about him invading my personal space. He then turns on his heel and walks away from me. Weird. I mean he’s flown all this way to see me, yet he walks away? Once he’s gone, I rush toward my cabin and race up the stairs. There’s a bouquet of Australian native flowers waiting for me, and a thick envelope with my name on it. Picking up the flowers, I bring them inside and place them on the dining table. I pull off the envelope and turn the white paper in between my fingers. I’m not really sure what to do.
I’ve stared at the envelope for the past hour with every single scenario flashing through my mind, and they all come back to Nate being here.
Curiosity finally gets the better of me, and I open the envelope and pull out a letter addressed to me.
Dearest Camryn,
I’m not sure where to start with this letter. I feel like there are not enough words in the English language to convey how sorry I am for everything.
I let you down.
I promised I would keep you safe. That you could trust me. That I would never ever let that man anywhere near you again.
I failed you.
Everything I promised you, never happened.
I let that monster back into your life.
I don’t know if there’s anything I can say for you to ever forgive me, and I would completely understand if you never did.
Tears begin to fall down my cheeks onto the handwritten pages.
I guess I’m being selfish in my reasoning for writing this letter. I simply want you to know the truth about that night. It doesn’t absolve me from anything, but maybe it might help you, and that’s more important than my own pride.
That night was supposed to be a celebration, a thank you for everything you had done for me. I wanted to give you the world, instead I sent you into a nightmare.
Everything was going great until one of the staff members in there stabbed me with a needle.
My hand flies to my mouth in surprise.
Apparently, it was filled with a date rape drug, but in an extremely high dosage. Enough to kill me if I’d been given the full dose.
Wait. What? I reread that sentence.
I’m not saying that to make you feel sorry for me, Camryn. Just that I blacked out, and they were able to remove me from you without a fight.
They knew I would have fought until the end to protect you if I’d known.
I was taken back to my villa, where I was placed on my bed unconscious. Apparently, at some point, someone organized for the two women to have their way with me.
The image of Nate with those women in that moment is burned deep in my soul.
I had no idea what they were doing to me. It took me two days to come around after many, many treatments.
That was when I found out about what happened to you.
I lost it, Camryn, and I was ready to kill him with my own bare hands. I didn’t care if I went to jail for the rest of my life. Just the fact he was able to get to you again was enough for me to want him dead.
Biting my lip, I continue reading Nate’s angry words.
Thankfully, I was talked out of murder. It’s still on the cards, just say the word then burn this letter.
This makes me smile. I shouldn’t, but his semi-joke in between the seriousness of everything gets to me.
I’m hoping now you have seen the news. It took us a while to find all the information on Harris and his father, but we did it. Jackson told me that it would be better to see him taken down this way than the other. For me, the jury is still out on that one. But, the case is solid, we made sure the evidence could never be disputed. We wanted a rock-solid case, so they got what was coming to them. Seeing him disgraced, his reputation in tatters doesn’t feel like it’s enough, but I know it has to be for my own sanity.
I’m not sure if this news will help you heal, but I’m hoping it does a little.
I’m sorry I let you down, Camryn. My heart feels like it’s been ripped out of my chest since you left. I feel lost without you around me, but I understand why you left. I understand why you needed time to begin healing. I know things may never be the same between us, but just know that I love you, Camryn.
I suck in a surprised breath.
I know this is a shitty way to tell you through a pathetic apology letter, but I need you to know that.
I know it won’t change anything, because I’ve hurt you, maybe beyond repair.
I’ll wait if you let me.
Even if you don’t, I still will.
You are the first thing I think of when I wake, and the last thing I think of when I fall asleep.
You haunt my dreams, Camryn.
I’m selling my stake in The Paradise Club Resort.
Hang on, what?
I can’t stand to be there anymore. I hate it. I never want to go back there again. My brother and Sam are going to purchase my stake in the business. I trust them to keep my vision alive.
I’m not sure what I want to do next, but maybe it’s time for me to leave the sex empire behind.
He’s going to give it all up?
Pass it onto someone else. It’s not really a good business to have if you want to settle down one day and have kids. I’m sure the PTA moms might not want me around their husbands.
This makes me laugh. Damn him. Even on paper, he’s fucking charming.
I’m rambling now.
I just want to know if you are okay? You can text me that you’re okay and to leave you alone, and I’ll respect your wishes. If you want to curse me out to my face, I’m staying in room 308. Whatever you want, I’ll respect your decision.
I love you, Camryn Starr.
You were going to be my end, Camryn.
My happily ever after.
I am so angry that Harris destroyed what we had before we had a chance to explore more of it.
I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, Camryn.
If there is a slim chance that you might ever want anything with me again, know this... I would give up everything I have in this world to have a second chance with you. To wake next to you. To kiss you. To make love to you. To sit around binge-watching Netflix. To be the man you want in your life.
I know you need time, so I will give it to you.
Love Nate.
xoxo
I’m a blubbering mess, but my heart aches for him. My head is telling me he’s no good, and I have no idea what to do.
42
Nate
Camryn looks like she’s lost an awful lot of weight when I saw her walking along the path. She looked so sad, so damn vulnerable. Then she saw me, and the look that she gave me chilled me to the bone. I know I have broken her. There’s no coming back from this, I saw it written plainly on her face. That’s why I had to walk away. And as I did, my heart shattered into a million pieces.
All night I hoped for a knock on my door, but it never came. Eventually, I fell asleep sometime in the early hours.
Maybe I should go? It’s clear Camryn doesn’t want me here.
You’re just going to give up? It’s only been twenty-four hours, you dick. My stupid subconscious kicks in. But maybe it’s right. I just don’t want to cause her any more pain by being here.
I need to go for a run, clear my head. Grabbing my workout gear, I open the door and find a letter addressed to me in Camryn’s handwriting. The thumping in my chest echoes in my ears. Slamming the door behind me, I rip into the letter.
Nate,
I’ve hated you for weeks now.
This is not a good start.
I could never get my head around how you let him into the resort, or into that room. How you could have betrayed me like that?
Was I not enough for you that you needed to distract me to fuck those girls?
Shit.
None of it made any sense in my head. I didn’t think you were that cruel. I believed in you. I trusted you. And I just didn’t understand how you could throw me into the lion’s den with him.
Since I left the island, that’s what’s been plaguing me. How did things go south so quickly?
But then I saw you looking miserable at the end of the path, halfway across the world. Somehow you found me.
