“You see, Devin is a dangerous man. Has he told you any of the things he’s involved in?”
Camille shook her head. “He hasn’t said anything, but I can guess that something is up,” Camille replied, relaxing a little. She felt like she was out of immediate danger around Evangeline, as the woman didn’t seem to want her life with Devin. She must have just overreacted.
“You guessed right. He’s involved in some things that I shouldn’t be discussing. I know things about him and his club of thugs that could get me killed. And that’s what I thought he wanted. You know, to kill me off,” Evangeline said, and Camille gulped. Devin didn’t seem like a killer. He was kind, appreciative, and encouraging.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Evangeline interrupted her thoughts. “That he seems like a good guy. But he has a dark layer underneath, my sweet girl, that you don’t want to see. And I was glad that I was rid of him.”
Camille bit down on her lip. “He’s gone now,” she said flatly, and Evangeline’s face changed to look surprised.
“Gone? Gone where?” she asked, and Camille shrugged her shoulders, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t bother to hold them back any longer. Life as she knew it had come to an end. Her dream man, the man who had saved her, wasn’t a superhero after all. He was a thug, a criminal, and someone who manipulated and scared the women he slept with.
“I don’t know. He disappeared last night, and I don’t know where he is. I thought he was with you,” Camille said, and Evangeline smiled again. She was still holding onto Camille’s hands pulled her in closer.
“With me? I ran home because I saw the rage in his eyes. I was afraid of what he was capable of doing. I didn’t want to be around him,” Evangeline said and shivered a little.
Camille looked at the woman in fright. “You’re that scared of him?”
Evangeline nodded and bowed her head. “Devin Rock was the single worst decision of my life. He had me terrorized since the first time we slept together,” Evangeline said, and Camille shook her head, still unable to process all this information.
“But all those photographs you took of him… How comfortable you both were in each other’s presence… I thought you were happy together,” Camille insisted, but Evangeline insisted more. She pressed Camille’s hands to her chest and pouted her lips like she was about to cry.
“I had to do those things. I had no other choice. If I didn’t pretend like I was happy to be with him, I wasn’t sure what he was capable of doing,” Evangeline said, and there was a tear in her voice. Camille looked at her in shock. None of these things about Devin made sense. He had done nothing to make her afraid. But where was he now and what good would all this do to Evangeline? Why would Evangeline lie to her about Devin?
“How did you manage to leave him?” Camille asked, and Evangeline took a deep breath.
“I got lucky. Just before we were supposed to get married, he disappeared, and a few weeks later he appeared out of nowhere with you by his side.”
Camille gasped again. She couldn’t believe that she had been a part of all this!
“But you’re lucky too. He’s bored of you. He’s disappeared. Maybe, if you’re really lucky, he’ll find someone new in a few weeks, and he’ll leave you alone. Then you’ll finally be safe,” Evangeline said and pulled Camille even closer.
Camille wriggled free from her hug, but her hands remained tightly in Evangeline’s grasp.
“I can’t believe any of this. I can’t believe these things that you’re telling me about him!” she screamed, and Evangeline nodded in silence, tightening her lips like she was disappointed with Camille.
“I understand. He’s a good actor. A good model. He did the same with me. He charmed me into thinking he was just a normal handsome man. But once I got involved in his life, and found stuff out about him, he changed. He couldn’t trust me. He wanted to control me. He wanted to make sure that I never told on him to anyone,” Evangeline said and placed a cold hand on Camille’s slight shoulder.
Camille tried to jerk it off; she was still unsure of why Evangeline was in her store. She looked back at the woman’s face. Evangeline’s eyes were reddened like she had been crying too. She wanted to believe what Evangeline was telling her - the perfect explanation for Devin’s disappearance - but then she remembered his face, his hands on her skin, the way he kissed her, the words he had whispered to her in her ears, and how he had encouraged her to come out of her shell. She thought she knew him. Things just weren’t adding up.
***
Camille found herself in Evangeline’s arms again. She had been crying, and Evangeline was trying to console her. She was stroking Camille’s blonde curls while Camille cried on her shoulders, her body shaking, unable to control the sudden surge of emotions. She was in love with a man who wasn’t who he said he was. She was in love with a man who she should have been afraid of. And now he was gone. She should be, was supposed to be, relieved, but all she could do was cry and wish that he were there so that she could confront him. How could she have been that stupid?
“There there, sweetheart. I know how you feel. A few more months with him and you would have been in the same state that I am in now, hoping that he disappeared from your life,” Evangeline was cooing. Her voice was a whisper, and she was managing, strangely enough, to calm Camille down.
Camille blubbered and pulled away from her, wiping her cheeks with her knuckles.
“I’m so sorry, Evangeline. I’m so sorry for doubting you and thinking that you were the villain in this story. I fell for him hard. I was so stupid.” Camille’s tears were uncontrollable, but Evangeline shushed them away. She wiped them from Camille’s cheeks and pulled her close to her again.
“You can’t blame yourself, dear girl. This isn’t your fault. We both fell for his charms. At least you have me to tell you the truth and warn you before things got really bad,” Evangeline replied, and Camille shut her eyes tightly. All of this was too overwhelming. She had slept with Devin; she had given him her body and her soul. She had trusted him when all her instincts, and her best friend, had warned her against him. Camille felt stupid and naive. She had fallen for a man’s good looks and tattoos.
“What does he do? What are the dangerous things that he’s involved in?” she asked, with her head still on Evangeline’s shoulders.
Evangeline shushed her again. “Forget it, Camille. You don’t need to know. With any luck, he’s gone, and he’ll never bother you again. I can help with your art. We can work together.” Evangeline stroked her hair, but Camille pulled her head away. They were both hugging each other tightly, with Camille’s back against the counter.
“I want to know what he does. I want to know exactly how foolish I’ve been. Has he killed people?” Her lips were quivering, and Evangeline laughed. Her laughter was loud pitched and cold, and Camille suddenly felt very afraid of her again.
“You think that killing people is the worst thing that someone can do? You truly are a little girl aren’t you?” She placed a finger under Camille’s chin.
Camille furrowed her brows in irritation. She was having a tough enough time; she didn’t also want to be laughed at.
“Just tell me, Evangeline!” she demanded, and the other woman wrapped an arm around her and looked her straight in the eye.
That’s when she felt it, a cold metallic restraint being slipped onto her wrists that had been wedged at her back. She tried to turn around, but she heard a metallic click, like handcuffs being locked.
It was handcuffs. Evangeline had managed to handcuff her to the leg of the counter, and then she felt Evangeline’s hands. Camille was forced to slide down the leg of the desk so that she was now sitting on the floor. She tried to struggle free and screamed, but there was nothing she could do. Evangeline had duped her. She had been fooled. She had allowed Evangeline to get close to her.
“What the hell is going on? Let me go, now!” Camille shouted, and Evangeline stepped away from her, appearing to study C
amille.
“You are a silly little girl, aren’t you?” Evangeline commented, sticking one hand into the pocket of her jumpsuit.
“Why did you do this? What do you want?” Camille was crying again. She hadn’t asked for any of this. She had followed Devin’s lead, and now she seemed to be in real big trouble.
“What I want?” Evangeline threw back, and Camille watched in horror as she extracted a thick hypodermic needle from her pocket. “I want Devin, obviously.”
Camille screamed again. “You lied! You lied about him!”
Evangeline laughed.
How could somebody be this evil? Camille had been right about this woman all along.
“Of course I lied. Devin is a gentle giant. He’s a gem, and you should have kept him closer. And now you’ll overdose on heroine.” She took a few steps towards Camille, who tried to thrash her away with her free arm.
“What are you doing? Get away from me!” Camille yelled, none of Evangeline’s words were sinking in. All she could do was stare at the syringe in Evangeline’s hands and how it was full of a milky liquid that she couldn’t identify.
“There’s no use struggling, darling. You’re going to overdose on heroine, and when Devin finds you here, I’ll be there to console him in his hour of need.” Evangeline pouted her lips and smiled at the same time. Camille shrieked again, but she knew nobody was coming for her. She was alone, and this mad woman was going to kill her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Devin
Devin dialed Evangeline’s phone number on his cell phone as he paced the floor of his kitchen. All his dogs were following his every move, and he was looking at them with nervous eyes. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to them. They were his life and soul. He had spent years rescuing them, and they depended on him. He loved them more than life itself, and they were devoted to him.
Evangeline’s phone was switched off.
“Shit!” he screamed and flung his phone at the wall, where it cracked and fell to the floor. His dogs looked at him with worry, a few of them whining. They knew that he was upset about something. He invited them over and sat down on the floor. His dogs surrounded him - they licked his face, jumped on his shoulders - and he petted them, huddling with them like they were all one big pack. No, he could not let anything happen to his dogs.
Eventually, Devin stood up and walked up to his bedroom. He didn’t know why he was so afraid. He had never been afraid before. He wondered if he was afraid for the first time because he was concerned about those other than himself. For the first time in his life, he was responsible for other people’s lives. Camille and his dogs. Did he have to choose? He had no other choice. Jimmy Figueroa had made it very clear to him that he could have it only one way. And he had to do it to prove his loyalty to the biker code.
Devin locked himself in his bathroom, away from his dogs who were still following him around. His face was completely bruised; the top of his left jaw had taken on a purple hue. His lip was swollen and cut, and he had a black eye too. His limbs ached, his joints creaked, and his shoulders felt like they had been carrying a mountain. He was happy to be back home and safe, but he wasn’t happy about the next steps he had to take.
Devin screamed at himself in the mirror as he slowly slipped his T-shirt off. They had punched and kicked him when he was unconscious too because he realized that there were bruises on the sides of his torso as well. He glared at himself in the mirror, with his nostrils flaring.
“Fucking bitch,” he muttered, thinking about Evangeline. And now he couldn’t even call her since he had broken his phone a few minutes ago. He couldn’t even call Camille. Although he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to speak to her. What would he say? How would he explain all this? How could he explain to her what he had to do next?
Devin punched his mirror and bruised his knuckles. But the pain from the punch seemed to calm him down; it reminded him that he needed to get going. He needed to set the ball rolling. The Choppers were watching him. They’d be following him. He needed to do this to keep his dogs and himself safe. Nothing else mattered.
Camille mattered. He thought this as he put his T-shirt back on. He didn’t even know where she was. He didn’t know what she might be thinking. He didn’t think that anything had happened to her, but he was convinced that she hated him now. She would even more after what he was about to do. But the code was the code. He had to do what he had to do. And hopefully, she would understand.
As for Evangeline, he would have to deal with her in his own time. He had to solve the problem with The Choppers first. She has another thing coming, he told himself as he grabbed the keys for his Harley off the rack by the front door.
When he stepped out of the house, he thought he heard the rumble of bikes. The Choppers were watching him. They were making sure that he went forward with his proof of loyalty to bikers. They had to see it with their own eyes. He didn’t blame them. In reality, he didn’t even blame Figueroa. He knew the power that Evangeline had over people’s minds. She could convince someone of anything. She’d once had Devin under her control for so long that he was eating out of her hand until he finally snapped back to reality. Figueroa was in the same position. Devin needed proof to be able to show Figueroa that she was duping him.
Devin got on his bike and put on his helmet. His shoulders ached from the strain of clutching his gears. But there was no time to waste.
It was nearly six in the evening, which meant that the bookstore would be closed. Shayna and Camille would have gone home by now, which would give him the perfect opportunity to execute the plan. He didn’t want to have to do it, he didn’t see the point of doing it either; but if that was the proof of loyalty that Figueroa wanted, then that was what Devin had to deliver. And he was going to do it himself. If he were going to be responsible for Camille’s ruin, then he would own the responsibility, not get some other guy to do it for him.
His only hope was that this wouldn’t mean that he’d lose Camille forever.
As Devin rode his bike towards the comic bookstore, he wondered if all this was for the best. The events of the past two days had only proven his worst fears - that his life wasn’t meant to be shared. He couldn’t have another liability. He couldn’t have a family or other people he loved and cared for, as it would only make them easy targets for his enemies.
Devin was approaching the bookstore with a heavy heart, but he was resolute. There was no other choice. There was no way he could back out of the deal now.
***
When Devin parked his bike outside the store, he noticed that the lights were still on. He took off his helmet and walked towards the front door. Now he could see clearly into the store. Evangeline was pushing Camille down on the floor and it seemed like Camille’s hand was handcuffed to the desk’s leg.
Camille was screaming something at Evangeline, and to his horror, Evangeline was laughing. Then he saw the syringe in Evangeline’s hand. She was going to do something. She was going to poison Camille. Devin gnawed his teeth. He wanted to punch through the glass of the door and unlock it, grab Evangeline by the neck and strangle her to death.
But Devin breathed in quickly to calm himself. The situation needed to be handled with care. One wrong move could mean pushing Evangeline over the edge. Camille was under her control now, her hands were cuffed, and Evangeline could do something rash and put Camille in danger. Devin needed to think straight.
He ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair and breathed in deeply. When he released his breath, he knocked on the front door in quick successions. He saw both the women turn to look towards the door. Camille screamed, crying out for help. She looked relieved to see him there. Evangeline on the other hand, looked like she had been caught red-handed. She gripped Camille’s shoulder and stuck out the syringe in the air.
Devin knocked on the door again, and this time he even forced a smile on his face. He was directing Evangeline with calm eyes to come over and open the door for him. She looked un
decided. She clearly didn’t trust Devin’s intentions, but she also seemed to be confused by Devin’s calm reaction.
Eventually, when he knocked again, Evangeline approached the door, leaving Camille wriggling on the floor. Devin didn’t dare to look at Camille again; he didn’t want Evangeline to think that he was interested in her at all. He had seen the look on Camille’s face - her beautiful eyes screaming out for help. He would have given his soul to stop her from screaming, but this was the only way to keep her safe. He was going to play Evangeline’s game. He had no other choice.
Evangeline unlocked the door, staring right at Devin. He kept the smile pasted on his face. She opened the door, and he stepped in calmly like he was in no rush.
“Help me, Devin. She’s crazy!” Camille screamed, but he ignored her and instead smiled at Evangeline.
BAD BOY’S SURPRISE BABY: The Choppers MC Page 19
