Page 39 of My Secret Santa Mason

“Bullshit,” I growled. “What’s going on?” I reached for her.

She pulled away, her gaze flickering to the floor. “No, Mason. It’s nothing. Really.”

I clenched my jaw, frustration and worry gnawing at me. Something was wrong but she wasn’t letting me in. “Cami, I can’t protect you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

She looked up at me, and for a moment she looked like she was about to say something, but then she shook her head. “You don’t need to worry.”

But I couldn’t stop worrying. Not now. I wanted to press her for more, to demand she tell me what was going on, but she wasn’t open the way she’d been when we’d been together at my place. If I pressed her now, she would withdraw more.

So instead, I pulled her into my arms, holding her close. I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I knew they were going to come after her at some point, and no matter what, I was going to keep her safe. I didn’t care what their plans were.

Cami wasmine, and they had better stay the fuck away.

17

CAMI

Mason’s knock startled me so much I nearly jumped out of my skin. Since the guys had been in my house, I couldn’t relax. My home wasn’t a haven anymore, it was a place where they could find me.

When I opened the door, he stood there like a wall of muscle and concern. I couldn’t breathe. What if, somehow, he knew what had happened? That those men had come looking for him, because of me.

He stepped inside without waiting for an invitation, his eyes scanning the room like he was looking for something—or someone.

I swallowed hard and panic bubbled up inside me.

“Cami,” he said, his voice low and rough with worry. “Are you okay?”

I nodded quickly. My hands trembled, and I pushed them into my pockets.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

His eyes narrowed, looking straight through my lie. “You look like something’s wrong.”

I took a shuddering breath and tried to steady myself.

I couldn’t tell him. Icouldn’t. If I did, he’d know I’d brought this danger back into his life, that I was the one who had done exactly what the people he’d cared for before had done.

I’d put him in harm’s way.

The guilt twisted in my stomach like a knife. I wanted to tell him—God, I wanted to spill everything—but I couldn’t. Not when I knew what it would cost him.

Traitor.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I said, forcing a smile that I knew didn’t reach my eyes. “I’m just… having a bad day.”

He wasn’t buying it. He stepped closer, his big muscular bulk overwhelming in the small space of my cottage, and the heat radiated off him, the tension between us thickening with every second. “Cami,” he said softly, his voice a deep rumble. “If something happened, you need to tell me.”

I bit my lip, my heart aching. He deserved to know. He deserved the truth from me. He hadn’t had it from anyone who mattered in his life before. But what if telling him only made things worse? What if I was the reason everything fell apart for him again?

“I’m fine,” I said, trying to convince myself, too. “Really.”

He didn’t look convinced, but he sighed, his shoulders relaxing a little as he stepped back. “I don’t like the idea of you being here alone, especially with everything going on.”

I swallowed hard, guilt gnawing at me.

“With what going on?” I asked.

He was worried about me. Worried about keeping me safe. And here I was, hiding the fact I’d been threatened. Because I’d let my past creep back into my present and drag him down with me.

---