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“No, you’re not my father. You’re not anything to me. You lied and used me. And since you deprived me of what could be the most important thing in a man’s life, I’m going to take what’s most important in yours. The only thing you’ve ever loved.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Cam chuckled, the sound so ugly it turned his own stomach. “Find a way to fund your gambling elsewhere, Walter. As of today, the stipend stops. I’m taking your name off the credit cards. You won’t get another dime from me. I hope you don’t fucking owe anyone shit.”
“You can’t do—”
Cam didn’t let him finish. He cut off the call and threw his phone on the other side of the seat. It began to vibrate again almost immediately. Walter’s name appeared on the screen time after time. Cam ignored it the rest of the way to D.C.
•••
Adrianna sighed and shot to her feet. She strolled to the window and looked out into the square. She twirled the stem of her wine glass around her fingers. Canton was practically dead on weekdays unless the Orioles or Ravens were playing. It was a shame. She could have used a little distraction tonight, and people watching probably would have done the trick. She wasn’t holding her breath.
Neither music, TV, nor yoga had done the job of calming her nerves. Usually, she could lose herself in the lotus, downward dog, and tree pose positions and let them empty her mind. But there was too much there. Too much emotion, too much fear, too much Cam.
He’d strolled back into her life with the finesse of a category-five hurricane, blowing everything all over the place. The life she kept as meticulously organized as her dresser was now turned on its side with all her feelings hanging out from the drawers.
This wasn’t about her. It was about Bron finally getting to know her father and Cam finally knowing the truth. Adrianna just happened to be stuck in the middle, trying to shield her daughter from getting hurt and preparing for Cam’s anger. It would come. She knew it would. He would want all the answers but she wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.
The buzzing of her phone had her whipping her head around. Her pulse rushing, she stared at it for a couple of seconds. It couldn’t be Cam. She wasn’t expecting to hear from him until tomorrow. Plus, they’d exchanged numbers and she didn’t recognize this one.
She crossed the room and grabbed it. She didn’t even get to greet the caller.
“You just had to look for him, didn’t you?” The thick voice was familiar. Not because she heard it every day but because Adrianna had only heard it a handful of times in the past ten years. It was flat and dry like surgical soap. Walter Blake was always frigid with her. He’d been that when he’d recommended she get an abortion, and with the same tone when he threatened to destroy her and her mother’s lives if she went near Cam.
She should be used to his tone. She wasn’t. She still got lightheaded. Her knees gave out and her butt plopped on the ottoman. The wine swirled and spilled over the rim of the glass. Red droplets landed all over Bron’s school newsletter. It was the same one Cam had been rifling through on the coffee table.
She took a deep breath and recited the same mantra she had for years.You are not a pregnant eighteen-year-old girl. He can’t hurt you or Bronwyn. Except he could.
“I didn’t go looking for him. I told you that if Cam ever came, I wouldn’t lie to him.”Nice and steady, you have to stay that way.
“Liar,” Walter spat on the other end of the line. “But you’re not going to get his money.”
“I. Don’t. Want. His. Money.” She made sure to enunciate every word. “I don’t need Cam’s money or your family’s. My daughter and I live very well. We’re not rich like you but we don’t need to be.”
“Go feed that hogwash to someone who doesn’t know a Hayes like I do. Your kind sells their own flesh for a few bucks.”
Ice coated her stomach hard and fast. Yes, that had been her father’s legacy but she had her mother’s. Those roots were stronger. She’d always put Adrianna first and that’s what Adrianna would do too. She’d always put Bron’s interests first.
“You should know a Hayes better than anyone, Mr. Blake. But I’m no longer that. I also don’t have time to talk to you right now. Don’t call me again.” She was so proud of how firm her voice came out.
“Walk away now. Send Cam away and tell him it’s not his kid. You don’t think I’ll make good on my promises but I can go to the police any day. I will destroy you. You know I can. And what’s going to happen to the kid then?”
The air wooshed out of her lungs. Anxiety scaled the walls of her chest but she banished it with a forced breath. Bron would never be alone. She had made provisions for that and she needed to stop reacting to Walter’s threats. He was nothing but a sixty-something-year-old bully.
“Leave us alone. I didn’t go looking for Cam. He came here. I kept quiet and never did anything, but I can’t control what your son does.”
“I don’t care. You need—”
She cut off the call. She couldn’t stand to listen one more second.
Her hand still shook and she punched the wrong numbers and had to erase and type again. She started talking as soon as Lauren picked up. “Are you still downstairs? I need to talk.”
Thirty minutes later, after closing, Lauren sat on the other end of the couch, the spot Cam occupied a couple of hours ago.
“Adri, you have to stop getting all worked up when that old bastard calls.”
“I know but I can’t help it. He said he would make good on his promise. I can’t let that happen. I just…” Adrianna buried her head in her hands and breathed.
