Chapter 21
Chapter twenty-one
Barrett
My stomach is in knots as Wyatt follows me back to my house.
I need to tell Cam about what else Sawyer found on the flash drive, but I don’t want Syd in the house when we have the conversation.
Wyatt offered to take Syd back to his place under the guise that Colby asked to play with her.
They’ve hung out at the clubhouse a couple times, and Colby adores Syd, so it isn’t much of a stretch.
Plus, Wyatt will be there the entire time, so she’s safe over there.
When I texted Syd to ask if she’d be up for hanging out with him, she jumped at the chance.
Syd gets a kick out of Colby, but I think she was more excited about leaving the house.
With her being on independent study, there isn’t much of an opportunity for that these days.
Wyatt parks behind me, then follows me up the stairs and into the house.
When I open the front door with the bag of croissants and coffees in my hand, Syd is coming out of her room with a backpack in hand.
“Hey,” she greets. “I packed a bunch of art stuff for me and Colby to use since it’s cold outside.”
“He’ll love that,” Wyatt says. “Hope you’re up for a snowball fight, too. That kid loves being outside even in this weather.”
“Is hot chocolate involved?” Syd asks, and I laugh. My little deal-maker.
“Absolutely,” Wyatt says.
Syd nods. “Then I’m up for it.”
Danny sets the book he was reading on the coffee table and stands.
I spy the cover of one of Camryn’s books. “You like romance books?”
He shrugs. “Why not? You’d be amazed at what you can learn from those books.”
My brows lift, and I file that little tidbit away in the back of my mind. “A thank-you for getting here early.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
No one can ever say we don’t treat our prospects well.
Camryn steps out of our room, fresh from the shower. “All set?” she asks Syd.
“Yup.”
Camryn smiles at my daughter then looks at Wyatt. “Thanks for getting her out of the house. She’s driving me crazy,” she jokes.
Syd feigns indignation as Cam puts an arm around her and kisses the top of her head. “Have fun.”
Syd walks up to me, grabs a coffee, and hugs me with one arm. “Thanks for the coffee. Bye, Dad.”
Wyatt’s lips tip up in a small, knowing smile. It wasn’t long ago that he heard his kid call him dad for the first time, so he’s well aware of how important that word is to me. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to.
Syd and Danny walk out of the house before Wyatt closes the door behind them. Cam walks into the kitchen and grabs a plate, then sits at the kitchen table.
“I’m starving,” she says, making grabby hand gestures at the bag.
I smile at my woman and set the croissants and coffee in front of her. She opens the bag with an excited smile on her beautiful face. I hate that what I’m about to talk to her about is going to dim that smile.
“How was your meeting?” she asks through a mouthful of chocolate croissant.
I have a seat at the table and clasp my hands in front of me. “I need to talk to you about that.”
Camryn looks at me for a beat and sets the pastry on her plate. “What’s going on? You’re kind of freaking me out right now.”
“I got a call from your dad this morning. He knows about the flash drive.”
Cam inhales a sharp breath. “What?”
“He knows your sister had it, and he made it sound like what happened to her wasn’t an accident. He didn’t come right out and say it, but it was heavily implied.”
Cam’s mouth is hanging open and she leans back in the chair, blinking several times as though she can’t process my words. “He…he had something to do with it, didn’t he?”
“Why would you ask that?” I mean, I thought it, but it’s still a stretch to come to that conclusion without her having the information I do.
“There was always something about the way he treated her. Like she was less important to him somehow. Not that he treated me much better, but it was nothing like Samantha. He would say some of the most heinous things to her, then he’d turn around a few days later and buy her something ridiculously expensive.
Samantha hated him. Like really hated him.
Maybe she knew he was working with criminals or something, and he was a hypocrite for acting high and mighty.
She wouldn’t talk about why, but she made comments here and there. ”
“I know why she hated him, pup. He…” I place my hand over hers and the worry lines around her eyes only deepen. “Sawyer uncovered more on the flash drive. He found evidence on there that your father was using Sami as a perk to work with him.”
“Perk?” Camryn’s breaths are coming fast. She’s putting the pieces together in front of my eyes, and it’s breaking my heart watching it happen.
“Do you remember your father having parties with business associates?”
“Vaguely. But I always stayed in my room when those were going on. Usually, Samantha was gone—or at least she wasn’t in her room—so I assumed she went to a friend’s house or something.”
“She wasn’t at a friend’s house, pup. Your father had her working the party for him. Had her exchanging her body for favors and deals for him. There were pictures and a few videos on the drive.”
Camryn bolts from the chair and looks around the kitchen like a caged animal.
She runs to the back door and wrenches it open before running out to the patio.
I jump from my chair and follow her in time to watch my strong and fierce woman let out the most heartbreaking scream I’ve ever heard in my life.
So much pain and anger erupt from her body as she’s racked with tragic sobs.
Walking up behind her, I take my jacket off and place it over her shoulders. She jumps at the contact, and when she turns to face me, I want to kill her father for the pain that’s on her face. The pain caused by what that man did to her only sister.
“He sold her body?”
“Yeah, he did.”
Camryn collapses into me, and I immediately wrap my arms around her to keep her upright.
“She was only five years older than Syd when she left. How…how long was it going on for?”
“I’m not sure. A couple years, I think, based on the time stamps on some of the photos and documents Sawyer found.”
“She never told me. Samantha never said a word to me about it. Why didn’t she tell me, Barrett? I could have helped her. I would have gone with her to the police. Anything she needed. I would have done anything to protect her,” she cries into my chest.
“Baby, look at me.” Camryn lifts her head from my chest, and I place my palm against her tearstained cheeks.
“Your father is a powerful man with an unlimited bank account and connections in high places. You and your sister were just kids. I’m sure she thought no one would help her or believe her if she told anyone.
Men like your father have a way of getting away with shit like this, even if a witness comes forward.
It would take a lot more than a teenage girl’s word to put him away.
There’re a million reasons why she didn’t tell.
He may have threatened you, may have threatened your mom.
Who knows? But that would be typical for a man like him. ”
“She started experimenting with drugs when she was barely fifteen years old. Probably not even. That’s probably when he…when he started using her.”
“It wouldn’t be surprising. That would be a heavy burden to carry for a kid who thought she couldn’t get away from him.”
“She cleaned up when she had Syd, though. At least for a few years.”
“The best thing she did was have Syd and try to give her the life she didn’t have,” I say.
“She did try. It just got to be too much. I remember her saying that to me once. That sometimes it was all too much. I didn’t know what she was talking about.
It was only a couple years ago when her addiction was full blown.
I thought she was talking about being broke, or a single mom, or something.
But what if she wasn’t? What if what happened to her was haunting her? ”
Camryn closes her eyes, and fat tears trail down her face.
“We’ll never know, Cam. She took all those secrets to the grave with her.”
“Not all of them. We have the flash drive. And now we know just what kind of sick monster my father is.”
“We’ll take care of it, sweetheart. He isn’t getting away with hurting your sister—and he won’t touch you or Sydney.”
We stand in silence for several minutes, and I hold on to my woman, running my hand up and down her back as she clings to me. Camryn finally looks up at me and reaches on her tiptoes to press her lips against mine. “You’re freezing.”
A chill runs through my body then, but I don’t give a shit. My girl needed to be outside, so outside is where I’ll stand next to her.
“Come on. Let’s go inside.” Camryn takes my hand and leads me back into the house.
We walk through the kitchen then into our bedroom.
She stops at the edge of our bed and shucks out of my jacket.
Then she lifts the sweatshirt she was wearing from her body and stands in front of me in her bra and flannel pajama pants.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice hoarse from breathing in the cold air for so long.
“I need to feel something real, Barrett. Something good. I can’t…I can’t bear this pain, and I need you to take it away.”
I close the short distance between us and pull her into me. “Whatever you need, baby, I’m here.”
I lean down and take her mouth in a searing kiss.
My body instantly reacts to her touch. Cam reaches behind her and removes her bra.
She breaks the kiss, then slides her pants down her legs before pulling the covers back on the bed and crawling under them.
I don’t waste any time and quickly remove my clothes before sliding into bed next to her.
We lie on our sides, and Camryn throws her leg over mine. “You’re so cold,” she says, wrapping her arm around me.