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The door swings open, raising my head slightly I see it’s Seb with two mugs of tea. No doubt he sweet talked one of the nurses, the guy knows no bounds. I shake my head at him as I take the mug he offers.
“What?” he asks, innocence and disbelief lacing his tone.
“You. You’re unbelievable, that’s what,” I say with a small smile, as I take a sip of the hot, sweet tea.
“Sit down, man. You make the place look untidy.” Not in the mood to argue, I take the seat across from him. “So, while I was gone, I called that Jamie chick. She sounds hot. Like, she can ride my dick anytime, hot.” I narrow my eyes at him, piercing him with a glare that makes it clear he’s to stay the hell away. “Aww, come on, don’t be like that. She might like me.” He winks, bringing the mug to his lips.
“She would not like you. Jamie is a smart woman. Not at all like the bimbos you usually go for,” I say, rolling my eyes. He scoffs at that and goes back to drinking his tea.
While we wait, I try not to think about how different tonight could have been if we hadn’t had that tracker on Cam and Russ. After Jamie’s attack and Cam’s accident, I became suspicious of Russ. Some stuff just didn’t add up, and when we did a little digging into the guy from the hotel, we came up trumps.
We managed to trace him back to a bar in the city that frequently ran behind doors poker nights, and who should be sat at the table with him? Russ. After that I had Scott keep a very close eye on Russ. We don’t yet know how Russ was connected to Sean, but I will get the answers I need.
An hour later the nurse comes and gives us an update on Cam. Aside from the dislocated shoulder and the wounds to her back she’s good. They have moved her to a private room, at my request, and though she’s still woozy from the drugs we can see her.
I pause with my hand on the door, suddenly unsure about seeing her and what to say. I haven’t forgotten our lovemaking, and that’s what it was, the day she found out I knew about Faye. And even though I felt those words on the tip of my tongue, they never crossed my lips. I think that maybe if I had, then this would be much easier. Cam would know exactly how I feel about her, and that fucking recording that Sean played wouldn’t have put any doubts in her head. I don’t know how this is going to go, so I take a deep breath and push through the door.
Cam is asleep, left arm in a sling while the other lays by her side. The knuckles on both her hands are red, evidence of her fight with Sean. How the fuck she managed that with a dislocated shoulder, I don’t know, but it shows just how strong she really is. If only she believed it.
I pick the only chair in the room up and move it closer to the bed, and when I turn around her eyes are on me. I offer her a small smile as I sit.
“Hey,” I say, then clear my throat and swallow down the lump there. “How are you feeling?” Cam closes her eyes, wincing as she shifts in the bed. I try to wait her out, but the tension in the air is stifling. “Jamie is on her way. I told her you were fine and to let you rest, but she wasn’t hav—”
“Why are you here, Ryder?” she questions, her voice quiet but strong, and I don’t miss the slight bite to them. “Your job is finished now. Sean’s dead, so you don’t need to check up on me anymore.”
Fuck. This is going to be harder than I thought. “That’s not fair, Cam. You were never just a job and you know it,” I growl.
“Do I? Because from where I’m standing that’s all I ever was to you, oh, and a good fuck.” I leap to my feet, the chair scraping on the floor as it’s pushed back. “I think you should leave.” Cam turns her head away from me in complete dismissal, and my heart sinks.
I open my mouth ready to fire back at her, but I stop myself, knowing it will only make things worse. My chest aches, like someone just shoved a knife right through it at what I’m about to say, but I need to give her time.
“Okay, fine. I’ll go, but don’t for one second think that this is over, Cam, because it fucking isn’t.” The words burn their way out, and I have to physically force my feet to move away from her.
I stop at the door, turning to look at her. She’s still facing the window, but I don’t miss the tear that slips down her face. I clench my jaw, and my knuckles turn white with my grip on the handle of the door because all I want to do is go to her and hold her. Instead, I drop my head and walk away, praying that I’m doing the right thing. That giving her time will help her see straight and see the truth. That I love her.
As I step out, shutting the door behind me, I see Jamie rushing down the corridor. I walk down to meet her, and as I reach her, I see the confusion on her face.
“Hey. Is she okay? What’s going on?”
“She’s fine, Jamie. Well, not fine, but she’s okay. You should go talk to her, she’s awake. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” I try not to sound bitter, but Jamie doesn’t miss it in my voice. She scrutinises my face, and I don’t think she realises how intimidating she can be.
“What did you do?” Jamie points an accusing finger at me.
“Look,” I sigh, running my hand through my hair before continuing, “Cam will tell you, but you need to know that it’s not true. And, yeah, I may have known some stuff I didn’t tell her, but I did what I thought was right. None of it changes anything between us, not for me anyway.” I go to walk past her, but Jamie’s hand on my arm stops me.
“You love her, don’t you?” she asks, looking at me with a knowing smile on her face.
I nod, then say, “Not telling her sooner was my mistake, and I intend on fixing that. When she’ll fucking listen to me. Take care of her for me, yeah?” Her hand slips off my arm as I walk away down the corridor, and the knife in my heart twists with every step I take.
Thirty-Six
Camryn
The soft click of the door closing opens the floodgates, and my bottom lip trembles as the sob I fought to keep in breaks free. My whole-body hurts, my shoulder throbs, my back feels as though there are a thousand tiny fire ants dancing across it, but the most agonising pain is deep inside. It’s the kind of pain that sits in the shadows, a dull ache that can be ignited to the heat of fire in an instant. I swipe at the tears on my face, angry at myself for allowing them to fall.
The whoosh of the door opening has me tensing, ready to tell Ryder to do one. When I turn around, it’s not Ryder, it’s Jamie. Jamie strides across the room and takes me into her arms. Talking softly and stroking my hair as I fall apart in her arms. When my head throbs and my eyes are swollen and gritty, I pull back. Jamie passes me the box of tissues, and I wipe the tears from my face. Not one to waste time or beat around the bush, Jamie dives right on in.
“So, you want to tell me why that broody hunk of yours just walked away looking like someone kicked him in the nuts?”
