Chapter 13 Camile
CAMILE
As I hold onto Ghost and try not to notice the hardness of his abs beneath his t-shirt, my mind whirs with all that’s happened today.
Rook taking me for a ride had been kind, and it had been fun, at first, until those men turned up.
To be honest, they were more interested in making Rook’s life difficult than they were in me.
Even when one of them grabbed me, it was because Rook was getting stressed with them and kept repeating that he had to keep me safe.
Then Ghost turned up, and he had been so rude to me. The way he spoke reminded me of how my father can get sometimes, as if I’m an idiot who has no clue how to behave.
I’m not a goddamned idiot, and all I’ve ever done is consider how I’m supposed to behave.
Instead of being treated with respect, I’m used like a pawn, and manhandled, and told what to do, and fucking shot at.
An anger like I’ve never felt before bubbles up to the surface. Screw these men. Screw them all!
Screw my brothers, too. One for basically deserting me, and the other for turning hard in order to follow in Daddy Dearest’s footsteps. Screw Ledger. Screw my father, and Jack, and Ghost. Even Ace, with his flirty smiles, can just fuck off.
My entire life, I’ve been told to keep myself pure and perfect, for a man. Told how to dress, for men. Here, in this place, the women are all waiting around on, pining after, and performing for… men!
I’m sick of it all, and I need my friends back at college. Mackenzie, Ophelia, and Vani will know what to say, and more importantly they’ll listen and consider my feelings instead of just doing whatever is right for them.
Once we get back, I’ll demand Jack take me home to the college. Once there, I’ll plan my escape for good.
My heart beats too fast at the thought of what I’m contemplating, but I can’t do this anymore. I can’t marry some man I don’t know, who my father picks for me, and become a doting wife.
Slowly, I’ve seen my friends blossom and grow, and I want that. Not necessarily the exact same way they have it, but I want the chance to find out what happiness looks like for me.
We finally pull up outside the clubhouse, and Ghost climbs off the bike, offering me his hand to help me dismount.
“We need to speak with Jack,” he says without even glancing my way.
Stalking off toward the clubhouse, he turns and gestures for me to follow him with an arrogant flick of his fingers.
I grit my teeth. Fuck you, Ghost, I mentally curse, but I have little choice but to go with him.
He takes the door to the left of the bar and walks down a corridor to knock on a door near the end.
“Yeah.” The deep voice sends a shiver down my spine. That’s Jack’s familiar timbre.
Ghost pushes into the room, and I reluctantly follow.
Jack looks up and frowns. “What’s going on? Why are you with her? Where’s Rook? Did you find anything out about Ledger?”
“One, Rook fucked up. The Numbnuts were pushing his buttons and literally pushing her.” Ghost jerks his thumb my way.
“Rook rode up to the ridge, so probably got followed. I told them to fuck off back here and wait to see you, and Rook as well. Then I brought Camile back. Two, I did find something, and I need to hack into the area’s security cameras, so that’s next on my list when I can grab Cryptic to help me.
Three, I’m with her because she needed protection.
If we’re going to leave the girl with a prospect, then it should be within shouting distance of the clubhouse. ”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Jack explodes from the chair he’s sitting in like a powder keg of male anger and pissed-off energy. “I thought it would be pretty obvious that I didn’t want Rook driving off with the girl.”
“She’s causing a stir,” Ghost observes.
?Ay, Dios mío!
“She is here,” I exclaim. “I am right in front of you. And you know what? I’ve had enough. I want to go back to the college.”
“Not safe,” Jack interjects.
“I take full responsibility for myself. I’m an adult. So, please, take me back.”
“No.” Jack shakes his head.
I blink at him in surprise. “No?”
Really? How dare he?
“Not until Ghost has at least investigated Ledger a little more.”
“I want to go back. You can’t just say no to me. I’m not a prisoner here.”
“No, but you’re under my protection.” Jack glowers. “You came to me, remember?”
Flutters of panic dance around the hollows of my chest. “I didn’t realize coming to you would hand over my freedom!”
A muscle ticks beneath his eye. “You have your freedom.”
I throw out a hand. “How can you say that? I can’t even go for a bike ride when I’m still in the confines of the compound. I’m being stalked by your asshole men—” I glare at Ghost so there’s little confusion who I’m referring to. “And now you’re telling me I’m not allowed to leave at all.”
Jack slowly rises from his seat, seeming to grow as large as a monolith. He plants both hands on the desk in front of him and cranes his head closer to mine. His voice is low and steady.
“You leave when I say you leave.”
I sputter at the audacity of this man. “If you don’t take me back… I’ll, I’ll… call the police.” It’s a stupid threat that I don’t even mean.
The room goes very still. So still and so silent it makes the hair stand on the back of my neck.
I just seriously fucked up.
Ghost steps closer to me, tall, quiet, and terrifying. I immediately move back until I end up flat against the wall with Ghost right at my front, staring down at me.
“Little girl, we don’t threaten to call the police around here, ever. It’s a fucking death sentence to do something so stupid.”
That’s when it happens. That’s when I lose my last shred of dignity. The moment any control I had left snaps.
“Please, just leave me alone.” The words come out on a sob and big fat tears spill down my cheeks. I sniff loudly, not caring the sound is unpleasant, and wipe at the tears with my hand.
Ghost glances over his shoulder at Jack. “Well, fuck. Now what do I do?”
It’s as if he’s not been threatening me. As if my reaction is totally over the top.
Jack blows out a breath and shakes his head. “Get the hell out and sort out Rook and those fucking Numbnuts. Tell them they’ve lost all privileges for a week. As for Rook, order him to stay in his room until I talk to him.”
Ghost gives a curt nod and leaves me and Jack alone, the door closing behind him.
I hang my head, mortified at my tears and my brokenness.
I just want this to end now. For all of it to stop, and to be able to feel safe again.
I wish I’d never gone on that stupid date.
I wish I’d never come to Jack for help. I wish I’d remained invisible to everyone and just been allowed to get on with my life.
“Please, let me go back to the college. I need my friends. It’s all been too much.”
“Baby-girl.” Jack’s deep voice calling me that pet name is like molten heat to my core, but I harden myself against it as he carries on. “It’s not safe.”
“What if I promise that I won’t ever be alone outside my room?”
“How do you plan on doing that? You don’t have a personal bodyguard.”
I think fast. I need to get out of here.
These men are screwing with my mind. I want Jack all the time—even when he’s acting like a total controlling, overbearing dick—and then there’s Ace, whose gorgeous mouth and beautiful eyes keep sneaking into my thoughts in the same way he’d slipped into my bed.
My heart now seems to be making space for Rook, with his prison tattoos and lean body.
He looks like a tough guy on the outside, but he’s young and unsure of himself, just like me.
Finally, there’s Ghost, who clearly hates me and think’s I’m a brat, and, despite myself, I discover that I want to prove to him that I’m not what he thinks.
Would Vani let me stay with her? No, if she asks me about Jack, I’ll end up blurting something out.
Ophelia and the Preachers, though?
Ophelia came to the college last year, and she has her men, the Preachers. They live in a water tower, and it is heavily guarded. They would maybe let me stay for a few days, I’m sure.
“I can stay at the water tower with Ophelia and her men.”
Jack’s eyes narrow.
Wiping my tears with the back of my hand, I stare at Jack and hold his intimidating gaze. I remember those moments between us, when he dragged his thumb down my lip and used his big body to press me against the wall, and I play my ace card.
“I think some distance between us would be a good thing.”
Bingo! His gaze darts away from mine, and his shoulders slump as something in him gives.
“Fine.” He nods once. “But only if you let me talk to Vani and the others, and we make sure you have someone to stay with for a few days.”
That means my friends will all know what happened—if they don’t already—but to be honest, I relish the thought of being able to talk to them.
Vani might be pissed when I turn up with her dad, because she once accused me of having a thing for him, which I vehemently denied, but once I explain that the compound was the closest place to seek help after the attack, and that I want to be back at the college, I hope she’ll see it was innocent.
“I’ve still got some of my stuff at your house.”
“That’s fine. We can swing by and grab it.”
“Fine.”
We leave the clubhouse and stop by Jack’s. He opens the front door for me and waits.
“I’ll change and leave the clothes on the bed if you give me a minute,” I offer, referring to the clothes I was given to borrow.
“Nah. Keep them on. I am sure they won’t mind you borrowing them a while longer. They’re better for riding on a bike than those sky-high heels and a strappy top.”
Not wanting to argue anymore, I nod. “Okay. I won’t be long.”
I hurry into his house and collect the few belongings I had with me, including the clothes I’d worn on my date, stuffing them into the bag Jack had brought the items he’d collected from the ol’ ladies.
I pause by the laundry basket and add something extra.
I hope it’ll go unnoticed, but I couldn’t bring myself to give him up completely.
I sling the bag over my shoulder and head back to where Jack’s waiting.
“Ready?” he asks.
“Ready.”
He leads me to his bike. It’s parked up a few feet from the clubhouse, and it’s a beast of a machine. Trust Jack to ride something so intimidating, just like the man himself.
Once I settle on the back, my arms hooked around Jack’s waist, I begin to doubt my decision.
Heading back to the college is risky. Ledger could come after me there, and my friends might quickly grow tired of me and my drama.
They’re not used to me being someone who has drama following her.
I’ve carved out my place among my friends by being the stable, dependable one all the others come to for advice.
Maybe they won’t appreciate me being the one who needs advice for a change.
The door to the clubhouse opens, and a woman pushes a man out into the light, screeching something I can’t make out.
He stumbles away and then turns grabbing his crotch, leering at her in a gross way. “Hey, cutie, suck this.”
She gives him the finger and turns back to the clubhouse, slamming the door shut behind her.
“Fucking cunt.”
The man spits on the floor near us as he storms by, and I shudder in disgust. This place is far too wild for someone like me.
That makes my mind up. Leaving is the right thing to do. I can’t stay somewhere that’s so alien to me and expect to fit in.
Once I’m back at college, I can take my time to figure out my next move, because I don’t know where life will lead me next, but I don’t want it to be into a forced marriage, even if it means my father disowning me.
The realization of this hits me in the chest. I still have no idea how I will survive, but if I want to have any kind of a life, I’m going to have to figure it the fuck out.
Jack revs the engine and the bike jerks forward, taking me from the compound.
I twist to look over my shoulder in time to see Ace wander out front and stop short, staring as I disappear from view.