Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
I choked on a laugh. “Understatement of the century.”
“And we both have pasts that we haven’t walked away from.”
I looked up at him. Those were words I’d never thought I’d hear him say. Usually, when we talked about our pasts, he just got pissed off that I’d even had one. And I couldn’t even stomach the thought of him with Fiona. Even when I was mad at him… even when I hated him, I still didn’t like it.
“Why did we think we could make this work?” I whispered.
He didn’t flinch from the question. “Because when we agreed, this was just an arrangement.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And what is it now?”
“A marriage.”
A breath escaped me. It was, wasn’t it? Somehow, it wasn’t what we’d agreed to anymore. We’d both crossed that line too many times. The line was blurry, brushed-over chalk.
“Would you like a drink?” Camden asked.
“No,” I said, reaching between us and taking his hand. His eyes widened slightly. “I want us to talk.”
He wavered for a minute, as if a drink would calm him, steady him. But he relented. “All right.”
I released his hand and sat back. He looked down at where I’d released him. “I don’t want us to argue. I just want the truth… from both of us. I’m tired of dodging and parrying here.”
“Katherine Van Pelt tired of emotionally fencing?” he asked with a smirk. “Now, I’ve heard everything.”
“Just with you,” I amended. “Or at least… just for now.”
“Ah, a truce?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that works. What happened in Puerto Rico only happened because we were ignoring the source of the problem.”
“I thought you quite liked what had happened in Puerto Rico,” he said, his voice laced with command that thrilled my body.
I cleared my throat. “Be that as it may… I still ended up alone in the sand.”
“On your birthday.”
“Yes.”
“Without a New Year’s kiss.”
“Yes,” I repeated, clenching my jaw.
“That should not have happened.”
“Is that an apology?”
“It’s a statement of fact. I was mad at the situation with Fiona, and then, when I saw you with Penn, I just lost it.”
“I noticed that,” I told him. “Can we go back to Fiona? You really haven’t been together?”
“Not since the raid on the gambling hall.”
My jaw dropped. “That was in August, Camden.”
“I’m aware.”
“But why?” I gasped out.
“I realized it was too easy to leave Fiona behind. My instinct was to protect you, which was what I did. Fiona was pissed at me for leaving her there that night. She had to find her own way. I decided that it was best to cut ties then.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me believe that you were together?”
“You never asked.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Should I have to ask if my husband is seeing his mistress?”
“I am accustomed to letting people think whatever they want of me. It serves me in business for my adversaries to believe that I’m ruthless and above the law. Whether or not that is true is another matter. One that doesn’t actually have any bearing on reality.”
“But this isn’t business,” I said, my voice rising. I couldn’t keep it down. I’d said that I didn’t want to argue with him, and here I was. I tried to breathe and focus on the present. I bit my lip until it hurt before speaking again, “Don’t you think it would have been different if you’d just told me?”
“I’m telling you now.”
“It would have been easier to believe you weren’t the father if you’d told me you hadn’t been sleeping together months ago,” I ground out.
“I had no idea that she would be foolish enough to get pregnant.”
I tipped my head up in exasperation. This was going nowhere. I had to take him on faith. Either he was or wasn’t the father to that baby in Fiona’s stomach. Fiona had all but said that it was Kurt’s baby. She’d seemed genuinely afraid underneath her bitchy veneer. If it were Camden’s, wouldn’t she have thrown it in my face? Wouldn’t she have shown up well before this to let me know?
In some way, her coming here to get Camden’s help actually… made sense. It was crazy to even consider, but Fiona and Camden were a bit like how I felt about me and Penn. Penn was my person. I’d known him since I was young. He’d always been there for me. The person I’d thought I’d always end up with.
And while Fiona and Camden hadn’t known each other that long, they’d been together before Camden and I had decided to try this thing out. She had taken the news that we were together about as well as I did when learning that Penn was with Natalie. Which was to say, terribly, burning the world to cinders terrible. When things went bad, I turned to Penn. When things went bad for Fiona, she turned to Camden.