Chapter Eleven
Camila walked out of one of the stalls, stopped suddenly, and stared at her friend. “Mandy?”
Her friend laughed and hugged her tightly.
Camila closed her eyes and hung on for a long time. “What are you doing here?”
Mandy leaned back. “Is there any place we can talk privately?”
“Sure. Let’s go into the family room,” Camila said. “Are you hungry?”
“Not yet.”
Camila looked at her as they made their way back to the house. She laced her arm through Mandy’s. “Is everything okay?” she asked, worried.
Mandy smiled at her. “Stop worrying.”
Camila couldn’t help worrying. Her friend had never just shown up before.
They walked into the room, and she closed the door. They both took a seat on the sofa and faced each other.
Camila took her hand. “Tell me.”
“I’m here for you,” Mandy said.
Camila was confused. “For me?”
“Yes, Drake called. He’s really worried about you.”
“So, he asked you to come?”
Mandy nodded. “I know you’re happy to see me, but I can still tell something’s bothering you.”
Camila looked down.
Mandy squeezed her hand. “He told me about your sisters being here.”
Camila nodded. “Yeah. It was awful. I never want to see them again.”
“What happened, Camila?”
Camila looked away and could feel the searing sting of tears fill her eyes.
“Camila?” Mandy asked.
She turned back to her friend. “They talked about that night.”
Camila knew she didn’t have to elaborate because Mandy already knew what she was talking about.
“Those bitches,” Mandy swore.
Camila nodded. “That’s not the worst of it.
” She took a deep breath. “They said they took pictures, and if I didn’t let them and my parents come here supposedly for a visit—but I can see them try to stay—they would put the pictures on Facebook and Twitter and anywhere else they can hurt me.
Penelope and Aubrey said they wouldn’t go to Drake and tell him what a slut I am or show the pictures if I did what they said. ”
“Do they get that if they did that, they could be charged?” Mandy asked.
“I was thinking about that, but all they’d have to say is they had no idea and that someone else had sent them the pictures.”
“What about when you saw them undress you?”
Camila swallowed. “It’s their word against mine, and they’ve said so many awful things about me where we live, no one will believe me.”
“I want you to tell Drake,” Mandy said.
Camila shook her head. “God, I can’t. He’ll hate me for not telling him before we were married. I can’t see him wanting to stay with someone who could ruin his reputation. And I can’t ever be around my family again so...”
“So what?”
“I might have to leave.”
Mandy’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”
“To protect Drake. If I’m not here, they can’t come.” She couldn’t help the tears that rolled down her face. The thought of never seeing him again was a searing, tearing pain in her heart.
Mandy shook her head. “Drake will never let you leave.”
“He can’t keep me here against my will.”
Mandy snorted. “He already did, remember? You wouldn’t go out with him after finding out who he was, so he brought you back here and kept you here until you finally gave in. You never left, right?”
Camila shook her head and tried to smile. “No.” She remembered being scared about opening herself up to another person, but also about losing the one she felt was her other half.
“Camila, what if I told you that you had been a virgin when you made love to Drake the first time?”
She felt her face heat with a blush, but also her breath stall in her throat. “What? How would you know that? How could I have been a virgin after those men ... raped me?”
Mandy squeezed her hands. “They didn’t rape you. I don’t know what happened, but they didn’t violate you.”
“How do you know this?” Camila asked, shocked.
“You need to talk to your husband. You need to tell him everything.”
Camila started to shake her head.
“Listen, sister, I will bet you with everything I have that your husband will not leave you. In fact, he’ll do everything in his power to protect you.”
“But, what if...”
Mandy cupped the side of her face. “He called me to come to you because he’s terrified of losing you. You would tear his world apart if you tried. Don’t let them get between the two of you. Please.”
Camila exhaled and nodded. “Okay.”
“I want you to go to him right now,” Mandy said. “I’m going up to my room.”
“But you haven’t eaten, and you just got here.”
Mandy grinned. “I’ll call down to the kitchen and have them send me up a tray.
I’m planning on soaking in that awesome Jacuzzi and then lying in bed, eating, and catching up with some of the shows I never have time to watch.
We’ll see each other tomorrow. They don’t need me back at work until Monday, so I can stay until Sunday. ”
Camila smiled. “You can stay four days?”
“Yup.”
Camila hugged her tightly. “Thank you, my friend. You have been a godsend to me.”
“And you’re the best friend I could have had and my honorary sister,” Mandy said.
“Yes. Family has nothing to do with blood but everything to do with the people who love you.”
Mandy’s eyes widened dramatically. “Wow, you should write poetry.”
Camila laughed and slapped her friend’s arm. “No way. You know I can’t write.”
Mandy shrugged. “People learn new things all the time.”
Camila snorted. “Not that, I can’t. I was horrible in English in college.”
“Well, I sucked at math and science, and you were the star student,” Mandy reminded her, making her smile.
They hugged before walking out of the room. Camila stopped short when she saw Drake leaning against the wall farther down the hallway with his hands in his pockets.
Even when Mandy kissed her cheek and said goodnight, Camila couldn’t tear her eyes from him. She would find out in the next few minutes if her world was about to shatter, but she prayed her friend was right. She didn’t have a choice. It was time to lay it all out.