Page 83 of Playing For Keeps
Her eyes narrow on me. “You mean my dad was physically hurting him?”
“That’s what he said.” My throat closes.
“Why didn’t you tell me that before now?”
“He didn’t bring it up until I was about to beat him to a bloody stump, so I wasn’t sure I believed him.” My stomach flip-flops. “I’m sorry it slipped my mind, but I was out of my head in fear of losing you.”
“Why?” She stands, concern in her eyes. “Why would you think Aiden would lie about that?”
“I played sports with him and never saw any signs. He never had bruises that seemed out of the ordinary.” My thoughts spin as I process the events of the past few days.
What if Aiden wasn’t lying? What if he was trying to keep Dori safe, and it turned into something more than he could handle? Could I forgive him?
Dori studies me. “But now you think he might have been telling the truth?”
“I don’t know. If he was, I never knew or suspected it. Did you?”
Her forehead crinkles as she wraps her arms around her waist. “No, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
“How is that possible? You lived in the same house.”
“But I hid in my room most of the time when my parents were around because Aiden told me to stay in there. He said it was safer that way.”
They lived in a big house, so it’s plausible.
Rising, I step to her and rest my hands on her hips. “Do you think it could’ve been something your dad did to him when you weren’t around?”
“Yes. Aiden always tried to keep me away from him.” She brushes beside me and peers out to the dark ocean. She takes a minute to herself then starts to cry. “It doesn’t matter though, because Aiden hasn’t been being abused by my dad in years, so it has to be about the money.”
She has a valid point, but maybe his dad used different kinds of threats against him as Aiden got bigger and was able to fight back. Threats that caused him to cower.
I walk to Dori and hold her in an embrace. “There might be more to this than we realize.”
She peeks up at me. “Like what?”
“I don’t know, but there’s one way to find out.”
I just hope the answers we get don’t break us apart.
CHAPTER 20
DORI
It’s beena month since I packed up my life and moved to Miami. As much as I love it here with Jami, I’m lost.
I enter our place after a long walk on the beach and take off my shoes by the front door. Jami’s in the kitchen, talking on the phone with someone.
I wander to him with a heaviness pressing on my heart. I come around the corner, and his eyes light up when he sees me.
“Camilla, I need to take care of something. I’ll see you in the office on Monday.” He pauses for a second then says goodbye. He strolls over to me and kisses my cheek. “How was your day?”
“The same. I still haven’t found anything remotely interesting or close to what I’m qualified to do.” I reach into the fridge and take out an iced tea.
“Something will pop up soon.” He sits on one of the stools at the kitchen island. “Come here.”
I twist the lid off my tea and take a drink as I go to him. He pulls me between his legs, running his hands along my thighs as I place my bottle on the counter next to us.
He stares up at me. “You seem down. What’s going on?”
