Page 62 of Face Off
He’s here. Wrapping Camden and me in a protective cocoon before ushering us toward a door that Halloway is holding open for us. He throws open the door to his SUV, helping Camden and me inside before running around the front and taking his spot in the driver seat. His foot hits the gas hard as he peals wheels out of the parking garage and heads for his condominium.
I look back at Camden in the backseat, who has a scowl on his face and his arms folded across his chest. How did they get past security? My phone buzzes in my hand, Dad flashing upon the screen, but I hit ignore.
It rings again, Dad.Ignore.
A third time, Cassidy.Ignore.
I don’t know what to say to anyone, what to feel right now. We were ambushed. And from what it appears, Camden heard the reporter grill me about Boyce.
Perfect. This is the exact situation that I’ve been trying to avoid.
Brooks parks in his spot in his underground parking garage, throwing the car in park and killing the engine. The car is silent as I continue my focus on Camden who hasn’t looked at me once since we got in the car.
“I’m going to make a call to my security personnel at the front desk,” he says, smoothing my hair on the back of my head. “I’ll give you two some time to talk.”
He pulls his phone out of his pocket before getting out of the car. I stare at Camden as I search for the words to say.Your dad is Boyce Cameron.
He didn’t want you or me when he found out about you.
He abandoned us.
I take a deep breath, clearing my throat, and open my mouth, then close it again. A lump forms in the back of my throat as I choke down the burning sensation.
“Cam.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who my dad was?” he says, cutting me off in a fit of anger.
“Camden, it wasn’t that simple.”
“You knew all this time that Boyce Cameron, one of my favorite hockey players, was my dad, and you didn’t think you should tell me,” he says, throwing his arms in the air.
I close my eyes as I fight back the tears burning to spill. “That isn’t the reason I never told you.”
He flings open the back door before slamming it shut. I make quick to follow him as he stomps away from me. “Camden, we don’t slam car doors… Hey, where do you think you’re going, mister… I’m talking to you.”
“Oh, now you wanna talk to me and spill all your secrets about my dad and how you kept him from me.”
“I did it to protect you.”
“Fuck that,” he screams at me.
I stand frozen as my ten-year-old yells every profanity he can at me. My heart breaks for him as it has for so many years, but this time in a different way. All the hurt he’s experienced for years has finally overfilled and is now making its way out.
I walk toward him to pull him close to me. To hold him as he cries the tears he should have cried so many years before, but he pushes me away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Camden, please,” I plead as I walk toward him, and he takes two steps back.
“I said don’t fucking touch me,” he spits.
In any other situation, I would be furious with his choice of words, but as of right now, this is all my fault.
Brooks comes to stand beside me as I take a step toward him again. “I fucking hate you,” he cries out.
“Hey, that’s not a way to speak to your mother,” Brooks defends as he assesses the situation.
“You knew too, didn’t you?” He stares at Brooks with anger I’ve never seen from him before.
