5. Crew
Fights are bound to happen when there’s this much testosterone in one place all the time.
We live together, work together, and aside from a few friends, we’re all each other has, which makes for the occasional scuffle.
But I’ve never found myself wanting to see one play out quite like I do this one.
I’m mad, fucking livid is probably a better description. But maybe I shouldn’t be. Maybe I should have seen this coming. After all, Kaos made his dislike for Camilla very fucking clear from the day she arrived. Of course he was the most willing of us to hand her over to Davenport.
The thought of that pig having his hands on my sweet little menace makes my stomach churn uncomfortably. He could be doing anything to her, and right now I’m powerless to save her. At this point, I don’t even fucking know what happened to lead us here, and until I do, I’m not going to get any closer to bringing our woman home.
I step between Kovu and Kaos, knowing if I don’t end this before it begins, the room will be trashed by the time we get to discussing how we got here.
“Fighting isn’t going to bring her home,” I growl. “And make no mistake, Camilla will be coming home. We don’t rest until she’s back with us, where she belongs.” The words fall from between my lips before I can catch them. It’s been so long since I’ve cared about anyone who wasn’t family, and I’m not sure how I feel about admitting it out loud, to having a vulnerability as great as this one.
Bishop rubs the back of his head, wincing as he runs his fingers through his hair. Clearly he’s hurt, and I quickly shoot off a text to Rogers to get here to check him out. He’s probably fine, but I’m not willing to risk it.
“I got jumped not long after we went into the warehouse. No fucking clue how they knew about the trackers in the rings, but when I woke up tied to a chair, I knew immediately that I wasn’t wearing mine anymore. Davenport was sprouting shit about how sick of following the rules he is, how he’s preparing to overthrow us, and then he told me that the only way I was being returned alive was if we handed over Camilla.” He turns accusatory eyes to Kaos, who can’t meet any of our gazes.
There’s a bruise forming beneath his eye, and his lip is split from the few hits Bishop landed before I tore them apart, but he doesn’t bother wiping the blood away.
“They told me they would kill Bishop if I didn’t hand her over,” Kaos whispers. “I didn’t know what else to do. I promised myself I would never let a woman come between us, that I wouldn’t lose any other family because of a bit of pussy.”
This time, it’s me who lunges. Kaos is four inches taller than me, and he’s a hell of a lot more stacked, but I slam him into the wall, relishing in the sound of the drywall cracking at his weight. “Camilla is not just a bit of pussy,” I snarl as anger beats down on me. I don’t know what it is about her that makes me fucking crazed, but I can’t say I’ve ever felt as protective over a woman as I do her.
“Don’t you think I know that?” he shouts, his eyes shining with regret. “I fucking know. But I couldn’t lose Bishop. I couldn’t lose anyone else.”
I force a deep breath into my lungs, trying to make myself see this situation rationally. Objectively. But all I can see is Camilla hurt. Her body broken. The evidence of whatever the hell Davenport plans to do to her with the knowledge that we care about her. He knows he can hurt us with her. He knows that our feelings toward her are the only vulnerable part of us.
I release him and take a step back, looking around the room that smells too fucking much like the woman who has stolen the heart I thought was long dead. “Bishop, go to the medical suite. Rogers will be here soon, and I want him to look you over. Kovu, I want you to work with Wyatt on tracing every fucking step Davenport takes. I don’t want him to take a fucking dump without us knowing about it. I’m going to contact the other families and start doing some damage control before he can tell everyone we’ve been harboring Camilla for the last six weeks without anyone, her family included, knowing about it.”
“What do you want me to do?” Kaos asks, his eyes darting between the three of us.
“I don’t give a fuck what you do. Just stay out of the way.”
I force one foot in front of the other as I stride out of the room, knowing if I spend another minute in a confined space with him, I may very well kill my own nephew.
They say love makes you stupid, but even I know ending the life of a family member isn’t something I can come back from.