Chapter 30
Xander
“Turn around,” she demands, holding an arm across her boobs, a hand cupping her centre.
“What?” I laugh.
“You heard.”
“You’re acting as if I haven’t just seen every inch of your body and had my tongue—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence,” she warns, eyes narrowing.
Throwing my hands up in surrender, I turn towards the door. I wait until I can hear that she’s pulled a pair of my boxers on and spin back around.
“I told you to—” she starts, but I cut her off by closing the space between us and quickly, but gently, slipping one of my t-shirts over her. She weaves her arms through the holes and sighs defeatedly, her hand palming the right side of her thigh.
“You do not have to hide from me.” I grab her face in both of my hands and place a kiss on her forehead.
Scooping her up again, she squeals as I lead her back to the bed. I open a bedside cabinet drawer and pull out a brand new hairbrush with the tags still on.
“Wait… what is this?” she asks, scooting closer to the drawer and pulling it open, revealing a small basket of essentials. Sanitary towels, tampons, hair ties, make-up remover… anything she might need, it’s there.
“Is this all for me?” she asks, glancing at me. I nod my head. “And that?” she adds, pointing towards the new pole I had built for her a few days ago.
“That’s also for you. To have a private space to practice, if you ever wanted. At any time.”
She lets out a sceptical laugh and shakes her head in disbelief. “Why would you do this for me?”
“I told you before, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do for you. And I meant it. Now, turn around.”
She obeys without argument, turning around at the pace of a snail. I scooch closer to her, grabbing the ends of her hair and gently pulling the brush through the strands. I work my way up her head, being careful not to pull. Her hair is extremely tangled, and I don’t want to hurt her.
“You’ve done this before,” she states, a hint of jealousy in her voice that causes a pang of satisfaction to ring through me.
“My security guard—Ezra—he has a little girl. I spent plenty of time brushing her hair. By demand—of course.”
She giggles. The sound shoots right through me in the best way possible.
I finish brushing through her hair and pull out a hair tie, ready to braid it.
“You know how to braid, too? You’re the perfect man, aren’t you?”
“Only for you.”
I don’t need to see her to feel the burning blush on her cheeks.
The sound of a text message rings out next to us, and Camila’s body tenses up.
There’s only one person that would get that reaction out of her, and it’s someone that’s currently on my shit list. My hands spasm with the urge to wrap my hands around the fucker’s neck while Jac carves his name across his dick.
He’s a sick fuck; he’d enjoy that if he ever found out what he did to Camila.
A quick realisation hits me that I want Jac and Camila to get on together. They’re the two most important people in my life—and it’s something that Jac will have to accept. Once he realises I’m not falling into old habits.
Camila shoots off the bed towards her phone. Picking it up off the floor, she clutches it tightly in her hands. Her breaths come in rapid, and I have a feeling she might toss the phone at something.
Hopefully that something isn’t me.
Finally, she climbs back on the bed, sitting in front of me with her legs crossed. One hand clutching her phone, the other rubbing against the side of her thigh. Tears line her eyes again, but nothing spills. She takes a deep breath and exhales through her mouth, closing her eyes.
“Luke Archer. Twenty-nine. Lives in Oxford. Is currently hunting me down, as you’ve heard. I was with him for ten years before I ran away.” She finishes by placing her phone in my hand. Unlocked and open on a conversation with ‘Unknown’.
Red clouds my vision as the first text message catches my eye.
UNKNOWN: I’m catching up to you whore
UNKNOWN: Run while you can
UNKNOWN: Remember that time I broke your arm? Hahahaha
UNKNOWN: I’m gonna break every single bone in your body for ignoring me
Not if I get to you first.
UNKNOWN: Hope you enjoyed my pet rat paying you a visit slut. Did u fuck?
Pet rat? He can either be talking about Aidan or Jayden. My bets are on both. If Aidan knows Jayden was working for Luke, then Aidan was also connected somehow.
My pulse pounds in my ears as I read through the text messages. The muscles in my arms tremble with how hard I’m clenching around the phone.
Every single one of the messages is threatening and degrading. But Camila hasn’t replied to a single one of them.
I scroll up to earlier messages—not really wanting to read any more but also needing to.
UNKNOWN: Happy birthday bitch. How many guys did you fuck today?
The shaking stops, and a ringing silence fills my ears.
It was her birthday, and I didn’t know.
Tightness spreads in my chest. Not just at the fact that I missed her birthday, but also at what she must’ve felt on that day. Text messages from that cunt… Alone…
“It was your birthday last week?” I blurt out.
Camila sighs, flopping backwards on the bed and covering her eyes with her arm. “Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, Angel?”
“I don’t celebrate my birthday,” she mumbles, turning her back to me.
I toss the phone aside and curl up behind her, my hand gently stroking her arm. “You don’t have to tell me. But I’m here for you if you want to talk about it.”
She sniffles quietly, and that’s all it takes for the rage, the vicious need to protect her, to return. I grab my phone out of my discarded trouser pocket on the floor and immediately shoot a text to Ezra.
Me: Have Robert prepare me a burner phone ASAP.
“Stay here. I’m going to have someone go and collect your things from your apartment and take them to my house—”
“No,” she snaps and sits up. “I’ve agreed to move in with you, but you can’t keep me bubble wrapped. I want to get my own things.”
My jaw ticks, and bile settles low in my stomach. My body is vibrating from keeping myself put. “After what happened—”
“It’s not safe. I know. It’s been two years since I escaped Luke. I’ve been doing it this long, and this doesn’t change anything.”
“Let me at least have Ezra go with you. He will stay out of sight, but he’ll be there if anything goes wrong.” I have to keep myself from literally begging her.
She cocks a sceptical eyebrow at me.
“I swear. You won’t even see him.”
She contemplates for a few seconds before she resigns and nods her head.
The door swings open, hitting the wall, revealing a less-than-impressed-looking Jac when he takes in the sight of me and Camila. Sitting in front of each other, with Camila only in my boxers and t-shirt and me only in my boxers.
My eyes narrow on him in warning.
Camila stiffens as she fixes her gaze on Jacques.
“Fuck, I’m gonna lose my job,” she whispers, putting her head in her hands.
“Hey, no.” I peel her hands away from her face.
Little does she know, this is perfect timing for that contract termination I had drawn up, which states she will still be paid for her time at Diamond Lounge without having to physically work.
It was the only way for me to pull her out of having to dance every night.
The only way I was going to stop her from being the subject of men's lustful gazes every night.
“Diamond Lounge will be closed until further notice. You’re not fired. You don’t have to worry about that,” Jac’s bored tone carries through the room. “Xander, I need to speak to you.” He walks outside, shutting the door behind him.
“Stay here. You’re safe in here. I promise you.”
I meet Jacques outside. He’s leant up against the wall, flicking a coin using his thumb and catching it perfectly every single time.
His tied-back hair is slightly dishevelled.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Did you know Camila’s signature colour is green?”
“I could lie to you and say no.”
“But you’re not going to. I know you better than you know yourself.”
I nod once.
Truth.
“I’m sorry. For the shit my fucked-up head caused.”
Jac huffs out a laugh, his chin falling to his chest. “It’s a good thing you’re my best friend.
” He turns, leaning his elbow on the wall and facing me.
“But I swear to fuck if you don’t screw your head back on right about now, I’m going to beat your ass.
” His voice lowers as he points his finger into my chest.
“I will,” I swear.
After the night Camila and I had, I don’t think there’s going back for us. It’s only forward from here.
“You have a problem in the basement you need to deal with,” he says pointedly. He glances at me, a playful look painting over his face.
“You’re sick, you know that?” I chuckle.
“Get Camila to the mansion. If anything is going to lure those fuckers, it’s her.”
Alarm bells blast in my head. Without thinking, I grab his shirt in my fist, slamming him against the wall.
“Are you using my girl as your fucking pawn?” I grit, my face inches away from his.
“You want to keep her safe? This is the fucking way to do it, asshole. He’s coming for her regardless of where she goes. And as much as I hate to admit it, she’s safe with your obsessive ass.”
I let go of him. “Fuck you, Jacques.”
He huffs a laugh. “I called a staff meeting next week. We need to shut DL until all this shit is blown over. I’m not risking the pigs here again.”
I nod once before returning to the bedroom.
Camila is pacing around the room, biting on her manicured fingernail.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She pauses mid-step. “I didn’t hear you come in. Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
I close the distance between us, gripping her waist and pulling her into me. The smell of my shampoo hits my nose, and satisfaction brushes over me.
Mine.
Now, how the fuck do I tell her I have Jayden locked up in the basement after he betrayed us, and I was going to kill him for what he did to her anyway?
“I have some business to take care of in the basement,” I grumble.
“Okay.” She nods. “I’ll wait for Ezra.”
My heart stops in my chest.
“Okay, sweetheart.” I smile at her, placing a kiss on her forehead.
Jacques is already waiting in the basement, hand smoothing over the shiny metal weapons on the table. Jayden is still slumped in the chair asleep.
I pour the leftover vodka from Aiden over Jayden, and he wakes with a gasp. I pull up a chair, settling myself in front of him. Jac whistles a tune by the table, settling on a hammer.
“What the fuck?” Jayden gasps out, spitting vodka out of his mouth. “My eyes,” he whines.
I nod at Jacques, and he doesn’t hesitate to smash the hammer onto Jayden’s palm that’s currently strapped to the wooden chair.
He roars in pain, and I wait for him to quieten down until it’s just his ragged breathing in the concrete room.
“Good morning, Jayden. Sleep well?” I purr, taking a chair and sitting in front of him.
“What the fuck,” he puffs out. “I can’t see.”
“That’s fine. You don’t need to,” Jac chimes in.
Jayden scrunches his face, attempting to open his eyes, but hisses in pain when the vodka stings him.
Jac saunters over to the table, grabbing a screwdriver and throwing it in my direction. I catch it with one hand, letting it dangle between my open thighs.
“Who do you work for, Jayden?” I ask, my tone a pitch higher in sarcastic curiosity.
“Y-you,” he trembles.
“So, you know who’s in the room then?” Jac asks, tapping the hammer on his messy head of blonde hair.
“It sure as hell didn’t seem like you worked for us out there,” I drawl, leaning back.
He manages to peel open one of his eyes—all bloodshot.
I stab the screwdriver into his thigh, making him yell in pain again.
“Who the fuck are you working for?” I repeat.
“No one, I swear,” he whimpers.
“I don’t have patience for lies today, Jayden. Tell us who you’re working with so we can get this over with,” I grit.
Jacques slams the hammer down on his other hand. Bones crack.
“Shit,” he yells.
“Okay. I’ll make this easier for you. Where is Luke?”
To the point. As much as I would love to cut his tongue out right now, we need answers from him.
I watched the CCTV footage. I saw what happened in that corridor. The worst is yet to come for him.
“I don’t know who Luke is, I swear.”
“Bullshit,” Jac growls. Grabbing his finger and holding it steady, he busts it open with the hammer, and Jayden roars in pain, tears falling from his eyes.
“I swear,” he pants. “I don’t know a Luke. I-It’s the Dellers.”
We both look at each other. Aidan worked for the Dellers. But if Aidan was Luke’s dog, who the fuck does Jayden think he’s working for?
“What about the Dellers?” I ask, ripping the screwdriver out of his thigh. Blood squirts upwards, landing on the ceiling.
“Fucking stop,” he begs through clenched teeth. His eyes are fully open now, but he’s slouched and focused on the ground. “They offered me a lot of money.”
“It’s time to stop being cryptic, pretty boy.” Jac grabs him by the hair, yanking his head backwards. “What the fuck did they pay you for?”
Jac raises the hammer to his face, twirling it in his hand threateningly.
“They wanted inside information. They wanted to rat you out to the police for money laundering. They want to take you out,” he rushes out, clenching his eyes shut again.
“That explains the raid,” Jac offers.
I agree.
Jayden’s finger hangs loosely off the armrest. Now that we’ve got our answers, I can focus on getting justice for my Angel.
Fuck Jac and what he thinks.
I nod towards him, and he retreats, letting Jayden’s head flop forward. His breaths are wheezy, and his frame is still. He doesn’t dare move; it’ll cause him more pain than he’s already in. Smart.
“Now, Jayden. That’s not the only reason you’re down here, is it?” I drawl, and that gets Jac’s attention.
“What?” Jayden breathes in short bursts.
“You assaulted my woman. And that’s not something I take lightly.”
Jayden’s head snaps up. Jacques watches with rapt attention.
“Camila? Luke said she’d be fucking easy. And she was. Months ago. Best pussy I’ve ever fucked.”
Red.
All I see is fucking red.
I plunge the screwdriver into his eye. I’ve heard enough. His body goes slack within seconds.
I jerk out the weapon and plunge it into his head repeatedly.
“Xander,” Jac calls.
I don’t hear him. I don’t hear anything but the loud pounding of rage inside me.
“Xander.”
In. Out. In. Out.
Blood drips off my face.
Thick arms wrap around my waist, dragging me away from Jayden’s deceased body.
“Calm the fuck down.”
My chest heaves as I drop the screwdriver with a clatter.