“Stop. Just stop thinking you know what I want or what I am feeling. Now, come back over here and sit down, it is your turn to listen to me.” Once I settle at the opposite end of the swing, he tells me, “Closer.” So I scoot down until there is about a foot of space between us. He immediately reaches around me and hauls me to his side. “I said closer, and this is what I meant.” I don’t know why at this moment I decided to cry. It could be his words, or the fact he wants me close to him after all I told him.
“Get a hold of yourself, you need to hear me out.” He wipes my face and holds my chin so I am looking at him. “I am not repeating myself, so take it all in.” I nod as well as I can because he still has a hold of my chin, and it is limiting my ability to move my head. “You need to quit assuming you know what I feel or what I want. I will tell you and always be upfront with what I need. Did I like hearing any of that? Hell no. But I have my own questions that I am not sure I want the answers to. Let’s revisit last summer when we were together. Do you not think I knew you loved me? You gave me something you never trusted anyone else with. Not just your virginity but your heart. You cannot hide anything in your eyes. I can usually tell exactly what you feel. And every time you looked at me I saw the love there. It humbled me. It made me want to be a better man, so don’t think I don’t feel. I won’t ever say the words until there are no more secrets between us, so when this case is over and I can tell you everything, I may just surprise you with what I feel. Are we clear on that?”
“Yes,” I barely get that out through the emotion coursing through my body. Did I read the situation wrong? I never tried to hide my feelings from him, but I never really confronted them either, and it was because I was unsure of how he felt. While I’m still not completely sure, I think he is telling me he may love me.
“Whatever you are thinking, the answer is yes.” He holds my chin in his hand for a few more beats, then moves his hand down to his sides, and they immediately clench. I feel the shift in his mood and the tension rolling off him. “Now, what do you mean by you made poor choices and they involved guys? I am imagining the worst here, and it is fucking with my head, so I need you to lay it out straight. How many of them did you sleep with?”
“None,” I answer him immediately. I see his face soften a bit. I take a deep breath, “I made out and uh . . . “
“Stop right there. I don’t need any more details. This is gutting me, Camy. I am relieved that you didn’t fuck any of them.” I flinch with his crassness. He doesn’t seem to care. “I can’t say I am thrilled with any of it, it makes me sick to my stomach to imagine your hands on anyone else, and anyone else touching you makes me want to lose my fucking mind.”
“How do you think I felt, Max? You weren’t actually an innocent when we met, then I had to look at Kamryn’s face every day at school and know she had a piece of you.”
“No, she didn’t have a piece of me. She had my dick, one night, Cambree. One fucking night. I didn’t say I was innocent, but damn it you were. You gave me that, all of it and I don’t ever want to think of another person getting any of you. I want that all for me. I want you to keep it all for me. Your mind, your body, and soon, your heart. I want to own that. Quit throwing our past in my face. Is that what your experimenting was about? Payback?”
“No, I swear it wasn’t. That thought never crossed my mind. I don’t even think I was thinking. It happened, and like I said, it never made me feel better. I have to be honest. I am not ready for us to go back to what we had. I want, no I need, for us to build this back up. We both have to learn to trust, and I need to let you tell me what you feel you can about what is going on, but I won’t push for information. I will trust you will tell me what you are comfortable with. So what I am saying is that I am not ready to jump in bed with you, but I am ready to move forward with you, if that is what you want. Leave the past in the past where it belongs.” I look at him and try to gauge his reaction to my speech. I hope he believes me.
“Those eyes, they bring me to my knees every time I see them, and that is a story I can tell you. Not tonight. We have been through the ringer enough, but come over for dinner tomorrow. You can cook, because we both know I can’t, and we can share some more. I won’t lie to you, Cambree. There will be some things I can’t tell you, there are some things I don’t want to tell you, but I will. And I won’t stop trying to get you back in my bed, back in my life. I won’t agree to take it slow, but I won’t push you.”
I shiver with his silent warning. I know what he means, and I know he will stop at nothing to get what he wants, which is really what I want. I need to be smart about it this time, not lose myself in him and how he makes me feel. Problem is, he makes me feel so much and sometimes it is overwhelming. I have to remember to think with my head this time . . . not my heart and libido. Challenge accepted.
He bends down and claims my mouth once again. There is no ease into this kiss. It is full on, open mouth, tongue in, mating with mine, teeth clashing, and lip biting. The best kind of kiss there is. Thank God I am sitting down, because my legs would not be able to hold me. Right when I am fully surrendering to him, he pulls back and kisses my eyelids and the tip of my nose. “Time for me to go home, tomorrow evening be at my house. Don’t make me come search for you, and don’t send me any lame ass messages trying to get out of it.” He quickly kisses my mouth and then gets up and walks to his car. Bastard. He thinks he is clever.
I climb into bed and sleep better than I have in almost a year. I wake up with a smile on my face and a, “Good morning, beautiful” text. My heart is beating wildly, and the day better not drag.
Chapter 22
Mitch
I cannot believe the fucking conversation I had with Dustin. I warned him not to go off on his own. Yes, what he found could break this case wide open, but it could also put his life in jeopardy. He doesn’t get the gravity of this situation. He is seventeen years old and acting on pure adrenaline trying to protect his sisters.
Max walks in and I tell him, “Chief’s office . . . now. You both need to be briefed on what I just found out.” He follows me, and we both enter the office.
Chief looks up. “This doesn’t look promising. Shut the door.” Once I do, I sit down in front of him.
“I just got a call from Dustin Parker. It is good, but now I think he could be in trouble.” I hear Max swear next to me. “After Cambree’s attack, he decided to start digging on his own. He broke into Brent’s house, and found some paperwork that seems incriminating from the pictures he sent me. Money transfers, wiring to overseas accounts, names and amounts next to them, looks like the blackmail and money laundering trail.”
“Shit,” the chief says. “He can’t touch any of that, it was obtained illegally. The case will fall apart.”
“I passed that same information on, and here is where it gets interesting. A detail we had no fucking clue about. Brent Hall has a daughter. She is two weeks away from her eighteenth birthday, and is willing to testify, and from what Dustin shared, basically she knows where the bodies are buried. He has kept her living like a prisoner. She has no clue where her mother is, or if she is still alive. Dustin says she is very fragile and for the past month he has been sneaking over to see her. I warned him to stay away, but he won’t. He refuses to leave her to fend for herself with that psycho as a father. I say we wait until she is legal so we can bypass her father hiring her a lawyer, and then her testimony will hold, and this nightmare may be over.”
“I don’t like this. I have a bad feeling,” Max speaks up. I agree with him. Brent is a slimy bastard and nothing gets past him. We don’t have much of a choice as of now. Max knows it and that is why he is defeated. I keep reminding myself that Dustin is not Hope, and he will get through this.
“I agree with Max, but know we don’t have a choice. The morning she turns eighteen, we move. No hesitation and no casualty.” This came from Chief.
We leave his office, and Max walks to my desk. “Are we keeping this from the famil
y?” I hadn’t decided yet.
“What is your take on that?”
“As much as I want to say yes, we should tell them because I don’t want any more secrets, I don’t think it is best not to. If any of them get the hint he is in danger and basically go rogue, they will fuck up. They will go to him and no telling what will happen then.” I agree with him.
“Another thing I didn’t tell Chief. I think Dustin is protecting this girl and is in deep with her. He didn’t say that, but just the feeling I get. He wouldn’t put anyone above his sisters, but with this girl he seems to be doing just that. It could be a great motivator, but it can also be his downfall.”
Max doesn’t say anything. I know what he is thinking, and I am thinking the same thing. A wing, a prayer, and some major luck are what we need these next two weeks.
“How is Kayleigh holding up?”
“Being almost eight months pregnant, lying to Addison, refusing a baby shower Addison and Brielle want to throw her, and hormonal, how do you think she is doing?” Glad I don’t live with them anymore with that description.
“Good times, man.” He smirks at me. I flip him off. “Hopefully, it will be all over soon enough.” I couldn’t agree more.
“How did your date go?” I really hope they can work it out.
“I don’t kiss and tell.” That pisses me off. Brother or not, he is talking about my baby sister.
“Don’t fuck with me, Max,” I warn him.
He just grins at me. “We talked last night, and it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Some shit went down in her life at college that I am definitely not cool with. We will work through it.”
I study him, and his body posture is screaming that he needs a few rounds in the ring. “Want to go hit the gym?” He actually begs off and says he needs to get some work done, and Cambree is coming over to cook him dinner.
“Mitch, I need to tell you, I am telling her about Hope tonight. I can’t guarantee she won’t tell her sisters, and I won’t tell her not to. That may work out for you, one less secret, and one less thing Kayleigh has to keep quiet about.”
I agree with him, but for some reason, I don’t want to share Hope with them, yet. I want to be able to tell them about her when I tell them about me. We were always a team, and that is how I wanted to introduce us. That is purely selfish, and is in my mind. I can’t ask Max to keep more secrets. He is doing all he can do to juggle everything I have asked of him.
“Whatever you need, Max. I understand.” And I do. It doesn’t make it hurt less. Until that fucker is behind bars and paying for his sins, it won’t be right. The pain of losing Hope will never lessen, but justice for her is what I am after. For Hope, Brielle, and now Cambree.
Chapter 23
Max
I know telling her will be harder on me than her, but being able to share this with
her is what I need. Holding this part back from her has been crippling me. I gave her space today and didn’t bombard her with texts and calls like I wanted. I told her to be at my house at 4:30 and bring what she needed to cook dinner.
She knocks right on time, and as soon as I open the door I gather her in my arms
and inhale her scent. I nuzzle my face in her neck and she giggles. That sound is all I need at this moment. I back up and take the bags from her.
“What’s for dinner?”
“Lasagna. Amelia made it while I did errands, worked out at the gym, and registered for school.”
“I didn’t think you were allowed to work out until next week. We agreed that I would take you.” I am a little irritated thinking of her up there in workout clothes with me not there . . . especially after our conversation last night.
“We did, and I didn’t really work out. Just did some cardio, looked at tapes of current routines, put myself on the schedule, and talked about getting back to stunting.”
I am not really happy at this change of plans, and I know logically it doesn’t make sense. I decide we have enough to get through tonight and table this discussion for later. I know it is my jealousy. All the information she gave me last night stunned me. It will take me a little while to get used to her being near other guys. I never had that problem before, so I know I will get over it.
“Come sit down, let’s relax before dinner.” She follows me over to the recliner and doesn’t even act like she isn’t going to climb in my lap. She must know I need her close, or she craves the comfort as much as I do.
“I have some good news,” I begin. She looks so hopeful. I have to be careful how I word this. “The case took a huge turn for us today, and it may be over in as little as two weeks.”
“No way. What happened?” I shake my head letting her know I can’t share. Surprisingly she accepts this and moves on. “Do you want to talk before we eat, or just relax for a little while?”
I think we should get it over with, and she seems fidgety, but I just want it to be us in this room for a little while. “Relax. Let’s watch a movie and just be, for once. There is nobody else here and nowhere we have to be. This is good.” She smiles and puts her head on my shoulder curling into me.
“You comfortable?” I ask her.
“Perfect,” she doesn’t hesitate to answer me.
Flipping through the channels, I can’t find anything. I hand her the remote, and she puts it on some dancing show. I will be content to just sit here, tune the show out, and hold my girl. That is until some tyrant is yelling and smashing chairs in the room. Kids are running out crying, and moms are yelling at that woman.
“What in the fuck are you watching?”
She grins at me sheepishly. “Dance Mom’s.” Like I am supposed to know what that is. “That woman has made some dancers famous, and she runs this competition team. She is mean as hell, and the moms get all up in her shit. Except that one with the long hair with her two daughters. It is funny to watch.”
I try to pay attention but cannot believe parents put their kids through that. “Please tell me you don’t enjoy watching this?”
“I love it. I am hooked.” She is proud of that. I shudder thinking of any kid dealing with that woman.
“Please tell me it isn’t true.”
“I think most of it is. One of the girls I cheered with at UGA said she went to a dance competition last year, and they were there. She said Abby, that is the dance teacher, is worse in person. I don’t know how, but I am thinking of going to a competition to meet her.”
“Make sure I can go, at least I can carry a weapon. She is seriously one pissed-off woman.”
“Yeah, that blonde mom says all the time she needs to get laid.”
“I hear that does wonders for tension, and you feel awfully tight, Camy.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her. She starts laughing at me.
I start rubbing her shoulders and bring my lips to her neck. “Right here. I feel the muscles all bunched up.” I gently kiss and lick up one side of her neck to her ear. “The other side is just as tense, let me see what I can do,” I whisper in her ear before I bite down on her lobe. I feel her shiver, see the goose bumps, and hear her moan. My dick goes hard with that little bit of foreplay. As I move my lips to the other side of her neck, I run my hands up and down the sides of her torso and just let my fingers graze the side of her breasts. She wiggles in my lap, and I grab her hips to still her. Right when I am about to put a halt to this, she turns her head and captures my mouth with her lips. Immediately her tongue enters my mouth, and she nips at my bottom lip. I fist her hair in my hand and deepen the kiss.
Somehow she turns in the chair and straddles me, and I am about lose my mind. The whole time her mouth is working mine, her hips start pressing down against my cock and grinding. I let her go on for a few minutes, but before I get to the point of no return I break the kiss and push her hips back. Her whine of protest almost makes me continue, until both of us get the sweet release we are craving, but this isn’t what needs to happen right now.
“Damn, Cambree, you drive me crazy.” I kiss up her nec
k and pull her head into my chest while I work at controlling my body. “Eat, and then talk,” I tell her, hoping she gets the hint and climbs off my lap. I push on her gently to speed the process along. When she sighs at me in frustration, I want to remind her of her words last night, but I don’t dare if I ever want to get laid.
I stand up and lead us in the kitchen. She goes about making our plates and heating them up. Eating in silence isn’t awkward. We both know there is something much bigger that is coming, and so we are soaking up all the peace we can. That isn’t to say I don’t constantly have body contact with her. If I could attach her to my lap and let her eat that way, I probably would. Once we are done eating, she goes to do the dishes.
“Leave them.”
“The food will cake, this will only take a minute.” She is stalling.
“Leave them,” I growl. My words come out more sternly than I meant, but it works. She drops the plates in the sink, wipes her hands, and follows me out to the living room. I mute the TV and pull her back in my lap.
“Are you sure this is the best position for us?” She is trying to be a smart ass.
“I have other positions I will show you, but for now, this is fine.” Her mouth opens and her cheeks begin that sweet blush that drives me crazy. I kiss her hard and fast.
“Your eyes. That is what I told you last night. Your eyes drew me in the first time I looked into them. That is because they are almost identical to Mitch and my sister’s.”
I hear her gasp. “I had no idea you have a sister.”
“Had,” I correct her. “Her name was Hope, and she was Mitch’s twin sister. That was how the case started for us. She had a run-in with Brent and got on his radar. Hope was stubborn, a lot like Brielle is. Their resemblance is uncanny with their hair color.” I need to remember to be careful and not give her too many similarities, but it is hard when Hope is a piece of all of them. Remembering every detail of her, I close my eyes and try and compose myself so I can continue. When her hands start caressing my cheek and head, I almost give into the emotions. “Brent raped her, and Hope kept quiet. We knew something was going on with her, one look at her eyes, and you could see they were dead. She wouldn’t let us in, and we tried. God, did we try. One day, it got too much for her, and she killed herself. Overdose. Drugs supplied by Brent. She left a note, and it explained what happened. Not only did Brent rape her, he let a few of his cronies have a turn. Mitch started working undercover on the case right away. Ma and I begged him not to. He was too close to it, and it would only stand to remind him of what we all lost. He was stubborn, and I couldn’t let him go through it alone. I joined the academy, worked my ass off, and was able to start working the case with him.” When she doesn’t respond, I look up at her. Her eyes are bright with unshed tears and she is fighting to hold it together for me.
Parker Sibling Series Box Set Page 43
