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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Cam had spent the last twenty minutes alternating between berating himself and raging against his father. He should’ve hopped in the shower with Adri. She was taking too long and he was getting antsy. She was level headed but this whole thing with Walter and the secret, he’d never seen her like that. She had always been so sure, so brave about everything. She’d always held her head high in Acacia, despite what people thought about her family. Fausto had really fucked up their lives.
Now, beyond the grave, he continued to do that. Why did he have to call Walter? Why had he been out to screw his ex-wife and daughter up until his last breath? Cam couldn’t blame Adri for being so scared. This threatened everything that was sacred in her life. Her mom. Bron. It covered all her bases.
And what kind of asshole, knowing everything Fausto had put them through, blackmailed women who were only trying to defend themselves? Walter was worse than Fausto. He was a leech and roach. Cam wasn’t going to let him mess with them anymore. He pulled out his phone and texted Chase.
Walter is here.
Not even a minute later his phone went off. “What the hell is he doing down there?”
Cam sighed, hit the speaker icon, and placed the phone on the bed. The evening, the secrets, Adri’s sadness, the asshole he had for a father all weighed heavy in his shoulders. “He’s trying to manipulate me into giving him money by blackmailing Adrianna.”
“Blackmailing her with what? What did she supposedly do?”
He looked up to find her standing at the door. Her face serious, her eyes somber, but her shoulders didn’t droop. She was holding her head high as ever.
“She did what she had to.” He extended his hand to her.
She closed the door behind her, locked it, and crossed the room. He leaned back against the pillows and she leaned against him.
“Okay,” his brother said. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
“Walter has a voicemail recording from over eleven years ago. I need to retrieve and destroy it. Do you think your friends can help with that?”
Adri’s soft gasp was the only sound for a while.
“I can ask, but…”
“I know I told you I never wanted you mixed up with them again, but I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t—”
“No, it’s not that. I think getting that may be easier than you think. Walter is not a genius. He’s probably got that in his old laptop and if he’s in Maryland, I can go to the brownstone and get it. Lux has helped him with it in the past.”
Adrianna sat back to look at him.
“You can trust them,” he mouthed. “Okay?”
She hesitated but then nodded after a few seconds.
“Okay, when can you go?”
“I’m texting with Lux. She’s on a date but told me to pick her up.”
“Call me when you get there. I’ll owe you two.”
“Oh, please. If she’s willing to end the date without me explaining, it wasn’t going well to begin with. Will call you when I get to Hades.”
“You guys call your parents’ house Hades?” Adrianna asked.
He brushed the strands of hair that had fallen over her eyes. “Tells you everything you need to know.”
“Won’t your mother have something to say about them snooping around?”
Cam shook his head. “She takes Ambien and is probably asleep but if she’s awake, Chase will know how to deal with her.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I know I laid all this heavy shit on you and you don’t have to—"
He placed his fingertips over her lips. “I do have to. You had to solve things on your own for long enough. But now you have me here and we’re going to do it together. I’m your man, right?”
