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I’ve probably already violated that stupid agreement six ways to Sunday, but I don't care. He at least deserves to know the truth.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice. Travis made me sign something saying I agreed not to have contact with you. Randy flew us to South Carolina and brought me to a house on Kiawah Island.”
“South Carolina? What the fuck? Why?”
“We have some vacation rental houses here and a small office. He set me up with a car here to help at our leasing office.”
“Vacation rental leasing?”
He sounds so blown away by the prospect that my ears burn. It’s a far cry from working at my father’s company, and only further signifies just how little merit I have to my family.
“It was…something for me to do,” I offer pathetically.
It was a way to get rid of me. That, I’m sure of. I pinch my swollen eyes closed, knowing that Pete now knows another piece of my shame.
“Cam,” he soothes, his voice dipping into that deep octave that I love. It’s a cruel temptation right now. “I don’t give a damn what you signed. Come home, or I’m getting on a plane to come get you.”
“It’s not that simple. My car—my parents paid for it.” I feel like such a child admitting that to him. I have literally nothing to show for my life. “I can’t come back to work. I don’t have a job, and they’d know if I came back. Apparently, my apartment manager knows Travis. He gave him the keys so Travis could pack a bag of clothes for me.”
His exasperated sound tells me he’s finally starting to see me for the burden that I am. I swallow against a lump in my throat, mourning the loss of what I was lucky enough to have for a moment in time.
“Come home to our home. To our bed. Where you belong. No one’s ever going to hurt you again, Cam.”
A broken sob lurches out of my throat. They say love is blind. I believe it now after those words. This wonderful man is completely blind to the mess that is me and my life.
“What about you? They’re probably going to fire you unless they have already, and you haven’t told me.”
“I didn’t get fired.”
“Yeah, because I left. Travis didn’t say outright, but the message was pretty clear—I have to stay away from you if I want them to leave you alone. I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me.”
“Cam, they can't fire their new COO.”
“Dad fired Randy?”
I knew he was acting odd the entire trip. I thought for a moment that it might be because he actually felt pity for me. I never ventured that Dad might have blamed him for not keeping an eye on me at the office. If Dad is punishing Randy because of me, he’s even worse than I thought.
“I thought he looked unhappy about the whole thing, but he still went through with my dad’s wishes.”
“What? No. He’ll be my assistant. I’m the new COO. I told your father that was my price for threatening me.”
That has my eyes snapping open wide. Why did I go through all of this if they didn’t keep their promise to leave Pete alone?
“He threatened you?”
“He tried. We’ve done nothing wrong. We didn’t even violate the relationship policy. Everything is fine. He knows he can’t do anything to us. He was just flexing.”
Every instinct in my bones tells me it’s a trap. Why would my father promote Pete and send me away?
“Oh, God. Don’t trust him, Pete. I know he’s my father, and I shouldn’t say that, but please don’t play hardball with him.”
“Let me worry about your father.”
Sliding down the wall, I drop to my ass on the floor. I’m so drained I don’t know right from left, up from down. All I know is that I hate myself, and I think I hate my family, too. I’ve never hated anything in my life. The ugly emotions feel like a blemish on my soul.
“Cam,” he soothes again. “Come home, sweetheart. Come home to me, please, and everything will be okay. I told you; I’m not going anywhere. Now, I need you to make the same promise.”
A puff of breath gusts over my lips, and I close my eyes, failing to hold back more tears. He makes it sound like there’s hope. I want to give him my heart in thanks for his faith and devotion, but it feels so battered and weak, it’d be an inadequate reward for not giving up on me.
