Page 45 of Hiding Hollywood

“Addie’s with me. You can meet us there.” Cameron’s low, authoritative voice sent a shiver through her. He’d claimed her as his. Despite what he’d said on the bridge, he wanted her for his own. God, she wished there was a way to make that happen.

Brian smirked and cracked his knuckles. Great, now wasn’t the time for Brian to grow a protective streak. Addie pushed them apart. She patted Brian’s shoulder. “Cameron is the Chief Deputy that got me out of jail and an old friend of Trevor’s. Please follow us to the house, and we’ll talk there.” She rushed out the door. What did Becky’s car look like? A large hand caught her elbow. She jerked in response. She wasn’t going with Brian.

“Becky’s car is this way.” Cameron didn’t drop her arm from his firm grip until he opened the passenger door to a little, ice blue two-door coupe. He closed the door and jogged around to the other side.

“I think you made Brian mad.” She glanced in the side mirror. Brian stood there, staring after them before climbing in his rented black Mercedes.

“I don’t give a shit.” His jaw tightened. He started the car and pulled out onto the street.

“Cameron, I’m sorry. I don’t know what kind of trouble he’ll cause. He’s always seen me as his personal doll. Almost like a possession. It’s never really bothered me one way or another before now.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “Just know I won’t walk away the next time he lays a hand on you.”

Brian tailed them to Cameron’s parents’ house as Cameron drove thirty-five the whole way.

Before Cameron even took the keys out of the ignition, Brian had opened her door. “Don’t worry, I’ll get us a nice, large hotel suite to wait this out. It’s ridiculous that you have to endure this treatment. I would have come sooner had I known. That brother of yours sure doesn’t know how to treat his sister. He said you were being cared for better than I could.”

Sheriff Dempsey walked out onto the porch, his calm demeanor the opposite of Cameron’s seriously pissed-off vibes.

“Ms. Iris called to let me know we have company?” Sheriff Dempsey sauntered down the stairs, the star of his badge glinting in the sunlight breaking through the rain clouds. “And that my supervision might be necessary.”

Addie straightened and faced the fact that this unpleasantness was due to her. “This is Brian Wellston.”

“The owner of the stolen vehicle,” Sheriff Dempsey said.

Brian grinned as if he were proud of that title. “That’s me. I’ve come to collect Addie. We’ll be back for her court date.”

“I don’t think so, son. She doesn’t seem to want to go with you.”

Cameron stepped up next to his father. She could see him being sheriff one day. Taking over. Running the town.

Brian puffed out his chest. “I don’t see why not. She’s my girlfriend.”

“She’smyresponsibility.” Cameron’s quiet words sounded more like a challenge than a statement of fact.

“It’s not like she’s going to run away.” Brian shrugged and looked around the front yard. “She shouldn’t be expected to stay here. I mean, this isn’t exactly the lifestyle she’s used to.” He looked at Cameron. “That I gave her.”

Cameron didn’t flinch. “She either stays here or she goes back to jail.”

Addie tightened her lips. Sheriff Dempsey raised his eyebrows but remained quiet.

“Are you threatening her?” Brian stepped up on the porch, coming toe-to-toe with Cameron. “Because we can settle this any way you’d like.”

Cameron’s tense body shifted, but his face remained neutral this time. “I’m saying the terms of her release from the Cook County jail that your dumb ass put her in was a release into the custody of the Sheriff’s department here in Statem. Custody. She stays here or in the local jail. Either way, she’s not leaving with you.”

He’d lied. He’d told a bald-faced lie. The tips of his ears turned red, but other than that, he didn’t blink. Sheriff Dempsey stared at his son. Addie had read the release papers. She was in their custody, but only as taking responsibility for ensuring she’d return for her court date, but she didn’t have to stay at their house. Mrs. Dempsey had even said she could’ve stayed at the bed and breakfast had there been an availability. Where she spent the two weeks was never outlined. She’d gone along with his plan to stay with his parents because that’s what Trevor had wanted for her. To have someone watching out.

“Is this true?” Brian stepped off the porch and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her around to face him, a little harder than necessary. “You have to stay with these people?” His fingers dug into her skin. He’d only been this furious a few times in their relationship. She’d always flirted him out of his mood. But she didn’t have it in her anymore.

“Yes. I have to stay with them, or I end up back in jail.”

“This is the most backward thing I’ve ever heard of. I’ll get the lawyer to fix this. Go get changed, and we’ll find you a nicer place than this to spend the next week.”

“Brian, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’m fine here with the Dempseys. I don’t even know why you care. I already told you we should see other people.” The manic look on his face worried her. He didn’t care about her, that had been clear in their relationship, so what was it? He’d always tried to control her, and she supposed he thought he had, although she’d gone along with it for her own reasons.

His fingers tightened.

Any lingering friendship-type feelings she’d had for him vanished with the pain and uncharacteristic aggression.

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