21. Bishop
Ipace up and down the garage, my shoes hitting the ground in rhythmic steps that bounce off the concrete walls. It’s been an hour since Kaos left to pick up Camilla, and every second of that time has felt like an eternity.
It should have been me to get her. It was my fault she was ever handed over in the first place, even if it was Kaos who physically did it. But Crew insisted that it be Kaos to collect her, because he was the one that she needed to see bring her home.
Despite my obvious annoyance about the situation, I kind of understood it. She knew he was the one who gave her up, who took her to Charles like nothing more than a bargaining chip, so she needed to know he was also the one who brokered the deal to bring her back.
How he swung that with Knox, I have no idea, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Kovu passes me as he paces in the opposite direction to me, while Crew is leaning against the wall, watching the garage door like it holds all the world’s secrets. Not for the first time, I realize how fucking whipped we are and how little I care.
Camilla completes us.
She’s the missing piece none of us realized we needed, and now that she’s coming home, I doubt any of us are going to risk losing her again.
The garage door grinds open, and I pause in place, watching with bated breath as Kaos pulls his car into its spot and Camilla darts out of the car. Her dark hair is pulled into a messy knot on the top of her head, her body is covered by an oversized coat that falls to her knees, and her legs and feet are bare.
Before I realize I’m moving, I run toward her, and when she flings herself into my arms, I swear my entire world snaps back into place. The feel of her against me only makes me hold her tighter as I breathe her in. She doesn’t smell right. Not like the strawberries and vanilla of her shampoo or the lavender body wash she seems to reach for.
Kovu covers her back, wrapping his huge arms around us both and burying his face in her neck on the other side, and for long minutes, we just hold her between us, thanking the universe for bringing her back to us.
Someone clears their throat beside us, and when I look up, I find my dad standing there, his hands in his pockets, as he peeks between our huge bodies to where Camilla is wedged. She wiggles out of our hold, and then she’s clinging to Crew like he’s the only thing holding her together. And tonight, he was.
While we all watched in horror as Charles forced her to perform for him, she kept her eyes on Crew for every single second so she wouldn’t fall apart.
A soft sob fills the space, and my heart aches for her, for whatever Charles put her through in the days since she was handed over.
“It’s okay, Little Menace. You’re home now,” Crew murmurs to her as he turns toward the door that leads to the house. He takes quick, measured steps through the hallway, and when he reaches her bedroom door, he hesitates and glances down at Camilla nestled against his chest. “You’re free to roam wherever you want in the compound, Camilla. We won’t lock the door anymore.”
My brows shoot up, but I feel a smile tug at the corners of my lips. She’ll never know what a concession he’s making or how the women that came before her, however few there may have been, were never given the same privileges.
Camilla nods, and he moves into the room. He places her on the edge of the bed and makes quick work of shoving the coat off her shoulders, uncovering her body to us.
She’s only wearing a silk and lace button-up shirt and shorts set, the black fabric tight against her perfect body. The sight would normally have my cock jumping for joy, but the knowledge that another man bought it for her, that he saw her wearing so little, makes my stomach churn uncomfortably.
Crew doesn’t hesitate as he reaches for the buttons and methodically moves through the motions of undressing her. The second the shirt drops from around her, she instinctively moves to cover herself, only for Crew to grasp her arms before she can.
“No,” he says simply, holding her for another beat to make sure she understands before he starts working the shorts down her thighs.
Camilla’s eyes flash up to meet mine, but I just shrug and move further into the room. I strip off my sweats until I’m down to just my boxers, and then claim my side of her bed. There’s no way I’m not spending tonight with her. I don’t care what the others do, I’m sleeping with Camilla in my arms.
Kovu strips off his shirt and hands it to Crew, who looks like he’s about to argue until he notices just how fucking unhinged he looks right now. In the last week, he’s torn apart his bedroom, right down to tearing the door from its hinges, and has beaten so many people to a bloody pulp that even I lost count.
Kaos lurks by the door, his eyes focused on her face rather than her body. His body and jaw are tense as he tries to decide whether to stay or go.
Stay, K. You need to make this up to her. Don’t leave her now,I think to myself.
Once Crew has helped her into Kovu’s shirt and the man himself has visibly relaxed at the sight of her in his clothing, I pull back the covers for her, and she crawls between them, immediately wrapping her arms around me.
Crew strips out of his suit, discarding it on the floor in the corner, which has my brows rising. I’ve never seen him not at least hang it over a chair, but clearly his need to hold Camilla is just as great as mine. He climbs in behind her and presses his body against hers, letting out a breath as soon as she’s in his arms.
Kovu shoves his sweatpants down before climbing up the bed, resting his head on Camilla’s legs with no regard for the fact that half his body is hanging off the end of the mattress.
“I missed you, love,” I whisper against her temple, trying to distract her from the fact that Kaos is still standing in the doorway, looking more uncertain than I’ve ever seen him.
“I missed you,” she admits. “All of you.”
As if the words kick him into motion, Kaos moves around to the armchair I spent that first week sleeping in and drags it to the edge of the bed.
Crew carefully tugs her onto her back, allowing Kovu to reposition with his head resting on her stomach while we keep her sandwiched between us.
It’s not until I’m about to drift off that I realize we’ve never done this before. We’ve never all spent the night with the woman we’re sharing, and the significance of that has my lips curving up as Camilla’s breathing evens out.
At least for the moment, everything is perfect.