Page 8 of Bound by Adoration

“Baby, come here,” I told her, wanting to feel her in my arms and take away whatever pain she had brewing inside of her. It had been way too long since I’d felt her touch, and I craved it like my life depended on it.

“Baby?” Raid questioned. “Guess I know how you two were together.”

I ignored him as Cami said, “No. I’m gonna sit here. Talk, and then you two are going to leave and give me space. If you don’t, I’ll get my gun and shoot you both. If you don’t think I will, test me. I’m short on patience and got plenty of built-up motivation for my trigger finger. I’m not in a good headspace right now, and I’m ready to shoot first and ask questions later.”

Fuck, that fire. She was a ball of it, ready to explode like fireworks, and I’d let it burn me into ash.

“Don’t fuckin’ call her that shit again, Liam. She isn’t your fuckin’ baby.”

“Shut the fuck up. Don’t you ever learn?” I fired back, knowing Cami was at the end of her rope.

“Alright,” Cami said, standing and putting her hands on her hips. “Both of you get the fuck out. I’m not gonna be in this, whatever the fuck is going on between you two, situation. Once you work out your shit, come back, and we might talk. Right now, I just want to be alone.”

Sucking in a deep breath, I leaned back in the chair, my attention on Raid; even though I didn’t want him in this, it wasn’t my choice. “If you want to know this shit, let’s focus on Cami right now and cut the threats.”

Raid growled low, saying nothing but putting his attention back on Cami. “Nyx. I’m listen’. Please tell me.”

Please? Damn, that was something new from Raid I hadn’t heard. Didn’t know that was in his vocabulary or one of his skillsets. Guess he finally cleaned his ears out.

“Last chance. I already don’t want to talk about this shit, Raid. Either you sit, shut up, and listen, or I’m done. You can do all your caveman shit, and it won’t matter. I’ll be done.”

Raid stared at her, then lifted his chin, and Cami let out a long breath.

This had to kill her. She always told me that once she got out of Atlanta, she’d never talk about her time with the Hamiltons again. It would be buried and dead. But here she was about to cut herself open and only because I’d shown up. It cut me, but I needed to protect her.

And I’d do anything and everything in my power to do so. Even if Raid was included.

3

RAID

Well, wasn’t this a fucked up twist of events.

Liam McMathews here in the flesh, sitting across from me with his sole focus on my woman. My woman. The intensity of his gaze told me more than I wanted to know between these two. The connection. The bond. The trust.

Yeah, that last one was a kick to the nuts. Trust was big in my world. Fucking backbone of everything Ravage stood for. Without it, nothing would be safe.

With my feelings for this woman, the fact she didn’t trust me like she did Liam hurt more than I’d ever care to admit. It was a knife twisting my soul and fuck, it killed.

Part of me wanted to get up and beat the fuck out of him, then make him disappear. Totally get him out of our lives once and for all. But if I did that it would affect Nyx and me, something I wasn’t willing to do. That time might be coming, though. Keeping it on lockdown was getting harder by the second.

If I could go through with it…

A huge sigh came from Nyx, and I turned to her. The stark pain in her eyes shined like the stars in the midnight sky. So bright. So lonely. So painful. I didn’t want anything to ever hurt her. Therefore, I sucked down my thoughts, anger, and voice and only nodded to Nyx, giving her my answer. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall.

When she spoke, the haunted tone sent a chill through the room. It even went down my spine, and I knew whatever she was going to say wasn’t good.

“When my mom was alive, we had a pretty good life. She was happy, loving, and took great care of me. It was after she died that I learned more than I ever wanted to know about her life and what she had to deal with day to day. And all of it was to protect me. She spent the last years of her life shielding me from…” She trailed off, and it appeared as if she was holding her breath, then let out a gust of air. The agony was so stark on her face, I felt it down to my bones. It was a hurt no one should ever have to feel. While I wanted to know, fuck, this was going to knock me on my ass. I could feel the hammer coming down.

“Cami, you don’t have to do this. It’s killing you,” Liam spoke, his elbows on his knees and leaning toward Nyx like his voice was going to help her through this.

I wanted to fucking punch him. Hard. Knock him out, then skin him like I’d threatened. Get all the information out of him, then put him in the pig farm. Nyx was the only one saving his ass at the moment.

Nyx’s head cocked to the side as she spoke. “Liam, I appreciate you trying to protect me, but it’s time. It’s been weighing on me for so long, and it’s not going away. No matter where I run to, it’s always a black cloud right behind me, on my heels chasing me. Raid wants to know, wants to be involved. He’s a big boy and can make his own decisions. He wants to be in my life, he needs to know what he’s getting himself into.”

“I already know what I’m getting into,” Liam responded, pissing me the fuck off. He wanted to be with my girl even now; his feelings for her were fresh on the surface, blaring in neon lights. No fucking way that was happening. He would not take her away from me. Ever. “You don’t owe him anything, especially this piece of you.”

Her pain-filled gaze settled on Liam, and I thought I saw a tear welling in the corner. Fuck, he was pissing me off. “I can’t get into that right now, Liam. One thing at a time.”

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