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“Ford can take it.”
“That’s enough!” Cal grabs Camden’s arm but he shoves him away, too lost in his pain and rage. There’s too much anger, too much hurt, too much history and heartbreak.
Too much of everything.
Cal moves to grapple him again but is thrown off once more. “Fuck!” he exclaims.
“He’s going to kill him. You need to stop this!” Pink shouts, wrapping her arm around Ruby who’s cowering.
“Get out!” I shout at Pink, Kate and Ruby. They don’t need to see this. Any minute now Camden will break, and I don’t want them here to witness when he does. They don’t need to see one man fall to his knees so the other can finally break apart. I know what Ford is doing. Iunderstand. Camden can’t move forward if he keeps holding this rage inside, because this isn’t about gang warfare. This is about Sapphire. This is about the death of a girl they both loved.
“I said get the fuck out!” I snap.
They glance at Mr Burnside, who nods, ushering them out of the room. He’s about to return, to help Cal get hold of Camden but Cal shakes his head. “Go! Bring back a medical kit. I’ll deal with this,” he says, gripping Camden’s arms, yanking them behind his back. This time he manages to at least pull him off Ford. “Let it go, Camden. Let it go, man,” Cal mutters into his ear.
I fall to my knees at Ford’s side. He’s still conscious, but his eye is already swelling, his lip and eyebrow split.
“Ford,” I mutter, brushing his hair off his face. “Can you hear me?”
He groans, opening his eyes. One is swelling so fast that it’s hard for him to focus on me. Sonny drops to his knees beside me whilst Eastern helps Cal pull a still roaring Camden to the other side of the room. It takes the two of them to hold him back.
“Man, what the fuck Ford?” Sonny says, yanking his t-shirt off one handed, and mopping up the trail of blood dribbling from the split in Ford’s eyebrow and lip. I glance at Sonny, my cheeks colouring at his ripped muscles and eagle tattoo spread over his chest. The last time I’d seen him half-dressed was on the beach after he fought Monk in the Tower.
Behind us Camden is still struggling against Cal and Eastern’s hold, but after a quick glance I can see he’s running out of steam, that he’s on the cusp of losing himself.
“Fuck,” I mutter, my heart torn. Ford is beat up, in pain. But so is Camden. He might not bare the physical marks like Ford does now but that’s because his scars are on the inside. They’re locked away, festering, fucking killing him slowly.
“Go to him,” Ford says, his fingers reaching up to cup my cheek. “I did this for Cam. I will do it every fucking day until he can’t throw anymore punches. Until he’s purged himself of the pain and I’ve absorbed it. This is my penance, Asia, for what I did.”
“Ford…” I catch Sonny’s gaze, the surprise in them reflecting my own.
“Go to him. I’ve suffered worse. Just go!” he urges.
“Do as he says, Asia. I’ll help Ford,” Sonny reassures me.
Gripping Ford’s hand in my own, I press a kiss against his palm. Then I lean over and kiss Sonny’s cheek forgetting who’s in the room, forgetting that I’m not supposed to care about either of them, that I should be rejecting them.
Thing is, I’m done pretending.
It’s time I face at least one storm head on. Right here. Right now.
