Page 29 of In the Shadows

He sighs and brushes his fingers over the stubble on his jaw. “I’m not sure yet. Camilla is…different to how I expected an eighteen-year-old girl to be. She’s stronger, more determined.” He shakes his head as if he’s trying to make sense of what he’s saying. “I suppose I expected her to be weak. Terrified. Traumatized from what she went through. In a single day, she was told she would marry Charles, only to then make a run for it and have it all torn out from under her when she was brutally beaten within an inch of her life, and then as if fate hadn’t already been cruel enough, she woke up surrounded by some of the most lethal men in the country and has gone toe to toe with us at every turn.” He pauses. “She’s a bit of an enigma.”

I glance at the closed door again, considering his words. “I suppose she is.”

It’s not that I don’t realize what she’s been through in such a short span of time, it’s that I hate her for what she is. A woman. Capable of tearing us apart the same way she did, and I don’t know if we would survive another loss like that. I know I won’t.

We stare at one another for a while longer before I finally stalk off toward the gym.

I need to work out some of this pent-up aggression.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CREW

Ispend entirely too long lurking outside her bedroom door for a man as cold and callous as I am.

What the hell am I afraid of?

The tiny pocket rocket of a girl on the other side of the door?

Of seeing my son and Kovu in positions I long to be in with her?

Or is it my own conflicted feelings for her that stop me from walking in?

When I finally get sick of standing in the damn hallway we’ve spent more time in this week than we have in the years since we bought the complex, I force myself into the room.

Camilla is still curled up on her side, her cast splayed out in front of her. I’ve spent far too long watching her on the cameras, which means I know she struggles to get to sleep at night because of the plaster.

Bishop is on his phone in the armchair he seems to have claimed, his brows furrowed as he types furiously. And Kovu is spread out in the middle of the bed, his fingers wrapped around some loose strands of Camilla’s hair.

Perhaps that’s been the most telling part of their feelings for the girl. The fact that the boy I adopted, the one who was so terrified of touch that I had to have him sedated just to wipe the blood from his hands and arms before the police could find him, is actively seeking her touch. He’s the one who reaches for her in the middle of the night. He’s the one who initiates all their touches, when he never has before.

Even when she was here, he never did that. She was under strict instructions to never initiate touch, and every time I saw them play, her hands were bound so she couldn’t break that rule.

Bishop looks up, and surprise flickers across his gaze. I’m not entirely surprised seeing as this is the first time I’ve stepped foot inside this room since she arrived, but I couldn’t keep myself away any longer, not when I finally had a taste of what it was like to touch her.

“I came to check how Camilla is doing after our conversation.” I lie through my teeth. If that were the case, I could have just checked on the cameras, which I think he’s about to call me out for until his eyes flick back to his phone.

“She hasn’t woken up yet. She was up in the middle of the night with some pain?—”

“Is she okay?” I snap, my eyes moving over her sleeping form for signs of more injuries. The little menace couldn’t handle anything else on top of her bruises.

Bishop stares at me for a moment, and I realize I’ve just shown my hand the second I walked into the room. But if there was anyone who would be able to see through my bullshit facade, it was him. “Her ribs have been giving her some grief. I spoke to Rogers yesterday and he said it was normal considering the extent of her injuries and to give her pain meds to allow her body the chance to heal without being tense because of the pain.” He pauses and looks to the bed where Kovu has shifted slightly closer to her. “Kovu gave her something for the pain, and she’s been asleep ever since.”

I blow out a breath and try to shove down how what he’s just said makes me feel. The idea of Camilla in pain is hard for me to swallow. I thrive on control, and this kind of pain is something that is far out of my control.

“I want to take her for a walk today. He said it might help a bit. I’ll keep her isolated to this wing of the complex for now. I know you and Kaos are still nervous about her being here.”

I nod. “As long as you think she’s ready. I’m sure she’s going crazy in here.”

He chuckles. “Her cabin fever is definitely getting more obvious by the day.”

“Keep her on this level only. I don’t want her near our bedrooms or our workspaces. Understand?”

“Yes, dad. I get it.” His eyes flick back to his phone. “Charles is trying to get the families together for a meeting behind our back. I’ve had messages from Thorne and Sterling, which means we still hold favor for the moment.”

I rub my hand over my face and groan. He’s going to be a real headache if we don’t take care of him soon. He’s becoming a bigger pain in the ass by the second. “Did Kovu tell you anything about a break-in at the fight club?” I flick my eyes over the two sleeping forms. It’s strange to see him sleeping so soundly, but I can’t help but feel jealous that he’s the one to care for her in the middle of the night while I’m holed up in my office trying and failing to pretend she doesn’t exist.

“In passing when he came home covered in blood, but we didn’t get a chance to speak about it.”

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