46. Chapter 46
Miles
I lie in bed next to my woman, my Cattleya, Mi Amor. The one who hated me with a passion, who now burns only for me. I remember the night I made a promise to protect her. The night that changed my life.
I lay Veronica on her bed. I’m livid. I could have been anyone. She won’t remember throwing herself at me. I turn and exit her room. I close the door and start to leave. I have to fly home to Colombia in a couple of hours.
“Camilo.” I turn to see Abigail Kayde standing against the wall.
The epitome of elegance. She looks worried.
“I need to talk to you.” I look around to check for Miguel, but he’s nowhere to be found.
I walk in her direction. She looks past me to her daughter’s room.
"I need your help.” She doesn’t hesitate to ask.
“I need you to protect Veronica. I know she’s going through something, but she won’t come to me.
” I’ve never seen this side of Abigail. I feel for her, but I can’t do what she’s asking.
It’s a horrible idea, especially after what just happened in the garden.
“Let’s not pretend I don’t know what you do.
I need your help protecting her, even if it’s from herself. ”
I’m caught off guard. “She has her brothers, Miguel, the family.”
“Yes, and she expects them, but she will never see you coming. She will never suspect it’s you.”
I look back at the door I just closed, then to Abigail.
“Promise me, Camilo. Just like I promised your mother I’d protect you. Just like I protected you the night you killed your father.”
Shit.
I think back to the phone call I made that night.
My mother always told me that if I needed help, to call Abigail Kayde, and she would always help me, and she did.
Hours after I called her and confessed what I’d done to Papa, men showed up and carried his body away.
I never saw it again. She called me and told me what to tell the authorities, and I did.
I got the sense that it wasn’t the first time she’d done something like this.
She’s always been my secret guardian. So I promise to protect her daughter.
“She can never know it’s me.” I make her promise. “No matter what.”
That was the day I tied myself to Veronica.
Gabe knows what I did to Papa, but I omitted the role his mother played. I know I can trust him, just like he knows he can trust me. We cover each other’s sins. There is a darkness within that family. It’s a darkness that I see in Veronica. She’s chaos and self-destruction. It’s always been there.
I’ve learned that Abigail Kayde is not only a mother but a fierce protector.
This isn’t the first time she’s used me to protect her children.
She had me dig into Mila, an engagement business deal that Ian needed to get out of, and he did.
He eventually found out it was due to his mother, but she never mentioned me, and I prefer it that way.
Veronica stirs and opens those big blue eyes of hers.
This woman whose praise soothes my inner turmoil.
Who I’d give my life for. “Move in with me?” I ask.
She surprises me when she says yes. I thought she'd put up a fight. I guess she’s picking her battles or knows I’ll just tie her to my bed and keep her here.
“What about the apartment? And my babies?”
“I have an idea for that. Plus, I have a great view of the city with plenty of sunlight,” I reassure her.
“Can we go back home to Colombia?” she asks, laying her head on my chest. I love that she fell in love with the small town.
I hold her, remembering how close I came to losing her.
“I promise, but Amor, home has always been where you are. You’re my home.
” This woman tests me in more ways than I can count, but she’s my family.
I’ve watched Veronica for years, chased her all over the world.
I don’t know at what point she became my obsession, becoming something more.
Something that consumed me, where all I saw was her, where she became all I needed, but it happened.
Over the next couple of days, she moves in.
I don’t want to wait. After what happened with Eric Harrison and Frank Sivila, things have been hectic.
The cousins took care of the physical evidence, and I took care of the digital evidence; nothing will lead back to the families.
There is something brewing with the brothers; whatever Eric started didn’t end with him.
Unfortunately, we never found Tabitha’s body.
I know that Veronica feels the loss. Like Tabitha, Susana was never found.
I think about what Susana told me. My mother’s plan to leave my father. And I know without a doubt the land that I kept for so long was part of her plan. It was her fresh start, her way of doing something for herself.
The Nina’s Hope project is scheduled for completion in three months. There is still so much work to be done. I adjust my glasses. I look at the closet that’s being taken over. I have a separate room that I plan on converting into a closet space for Veronica. She has a lot of stuff.
I love her so fucking much. I don’t just protect her from behind the screen, but now I stand by her side.
Even when she admits to herself how deep her dependency on pills and alcohol is, which is used to numb not only her fears, but her memories.
She attended her first AA meeting a couple of days ago.
She hasn’t had a drink since I took her to Colombia.
But we know it’s not going to be an easy road.
I can see the moments she craves a drink.
She starts picking at her nails. Those are the days she begs to be flogged more times than I’m comfortable with.
But I trust that she will tell me her limit.
There are days when she can’t look herself in the mirror.
Those are the days I hold her tighter. I wish she would love herself as I love her.
Knowing what was posted for everyone to see in the black market is a tough reminder of her past. She still has a hard time eating in front of others, but she’s more comfortable around me, so that’s something.
She decided to start therapy after making plans to return to college to get a degree. The fear of failure and her anxiety can cause a relapse. I feel her enter the bedroom; she wraps her arms around me. She’s come such a long way. This strong, resilient woman.
“How are your babies?” I ask. She just came from visiting Violet.
“They are doing amazing! I can’t wait for my flowers from Colombia to get here.”
The plants have stayed at her old apartment, which is now inhabited by Will and his grandmother. Will really looked out for Veronica, so I had him and his grandmother move into her old apartment. He still works as a bellman and attends night school.
I turn to face her. “Follow me.” I take her hand and lead her to my office. Monitors cover the entire wall. I move to the keyboard and have her stand next to me. Facing the screens. I type in some codes, and they come to life. I turn to see Veronica’s face.
“You didn’t.” Her eyes are wide, shocked.
“Oh, but I did.” I grin. On the screens are images and videos of Veronica naked and getting fucked in one way or another.
In some, she’s bent over the bed. In others, she’s sitting on my face as I fuck her with my mouth, but my favorites are the ones with me on my knees crawling for her.
“I want you to see yourself as I see you. A beautiful and powerful queen.”
I can’t tell if she’s pissed at the reminder that there were cameras in her bedroom.
Of course, with the new tenants, they have been removed and installed in this apartment, but she doesn’t know that.
Just like she doesn’t know that she has a tracker in her.
I’ll tell her, someday. Veronica leans forward on the desk.
At first, I think it’s to see the images more clearly, but then she arches her back.
Showing off the red dress I recently bought her.
We are working our way up to the love of the color red.
I know where this is going, and my dick knows too.
She looks over her shoulder, biting her lower lip, giving me that fuck-me look.
“Time for you to worship,” she demands.
I smile and get to my knees. I wouldn’t have it any other way.