12. Camille

Chapter 12

Camille

T o my shock, Ty didn’t greet me. He barely looked at me. Instead, he headed straight for the coffee maker. I stared at him in disbelief, waiting. Waiting… He didn’t say a goddamn word to me. He acted like I wasn’t even in the room.

"What, no ‘hello’? No ‘where have you been’? No ‘are you okay’? Well, I’m just great. How about you, Ty?"

I knew my sarcasm wasn’t going to help anything, but I couldn’t help lashing out. He looked well-rested; I was envious, after the shit I’d been through. Ty glanced at me, his expression unreadable.

“Still nothing?” I fired back.

When he didn’t answer, I thought back on all things that had happened to me since I’d last seen Ty. The chase with Officer Davis, yes, but even before that: Davis telling me the gold bar Ava had supposedly stolen from me had been found in Ty’s stuff. Now, I had no reason to trust that Davis had been telling the truth and every reason to believe he’d been lying, but in my hurt and frustration, I blocked all that out. I wanted a reaction from Ty. It was like I couldn’t deny myself this – I wanted him to lash out at me, I wanted to feel something. Dante had been so kind and gentle with me, but there was a part of me that craved punishment for letting myself believe for even a moment that Kage could have been serious about me.

“Maybe you already know I’m not fine. Maybe you know Officer Davis tried to kill me because you and Silas and Davis were working together. That’s the only way you’d have my gold bar, right?”

That got his attention.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he shot back.

“Officer Davis told me they found my gold bar in your stuff,” I said. “What, you’re a thief now, as well as a murderer?”

His features twisted furiously, and he strode toward me.

“I don’t care what Davis said,” he growled. “I’m not a thief. But you’re right. I am a murderer. You sure know how to pick them, don’t you, Swan?”

The heat of Ty's anger washed over me like a fever. My emotions were all over the place. I’d wanted to bait him, to make him feel as crappy as I was, but now I was crumpling under a wave of guilt. Had I really just reminded him that he’d killed someone in that car accident?

“Fuck this bullshit,” he growled. “You won’t have to worry about me being around anymore because I’m moving out.”

I stared at him in shock. Those were the last words I expected to come out of his mouth. It didn’t matter that I was already planning to move out, too. All I could see was him leaving me behind. Again. It left me reeling. Despite the tension and arguments between us, I didn’t want him to go.

So I did the only thing I knew to do. Squashed what I wanted and pushed him further away.

“Of course you are,” I scoffed. “Because that’s what you do best, isn’t it? Run away when things get too hard.”

He remained silent. The scars on his face seemed more prominent, as if blood was pumping through them. He was angry and trying not to show how much my words were getting to him, but I wasn’t done yet.

“I’m right though, aren’t I? That’s what happened in Italy. You ran because you felt something for me. And it scared you. And you were too much of a pussy to face it!”

There. It was what I’d been thinking but it was the first time I’d said it quite that bluntly. I didn’t know if it was true, but I wanted to believe it was. The words hung in the air between us, and I half-expected him to just brush them off and pretend he’d never heard them at all. Instead, Ty stepped forward, backing me against the wall. I swallowed but held my head high.

“Not everything is about fear. People have facets. Sometimes they’re shitty ones and sometimes people do bad things. I’ve done them. So has Kage. Dante too. And you know what? You’re like a fucking mirror, reflecting the bad in everyone. I mean, who the fuck would want that?”

My hands clenched into fists by my sides. “Fuck you,” I whispered, his words cutting through me like a knife. “You want to leave, then leave. The sooner you’re out of here, the better.”

“Fine,” he snarled back at me, pulling back and stalking towards the door. All at once, the reality of the situation crashed into me – no, I couldn’t let him slip through my fingers. I couldn’t let him leave me the way Kage had. My emotions, already dangerously close to the surface, got the better of me.

I lunged for him and caught his arm. His head whipped around, eyes shocked as they met mine. For the briefest moment, I was overcome by the need to plant my lips against his and beg him to stay by my side.

“Don’t go,” I blurted out, before I could stop myself. “I... I need you, Ty. Please.”

Ty's response was a cold splash of reality. "That's your problem," he said, his voice hard. "I've got my own shit to focus on."

His words felt like a slap, the dismissal stinging more than I cared to admit. The sexual tension that always simmered between us, a dangerous undercurrent to our every interaction, suddenly felt like a distant memory, overshadowed by the widening chasm of misunderstanding and hurt. He wrenched his arm out of my grip and stalked out of the kitchen.

With Ty gone, the gaping hole left in the chateau was more than I could take. I paced the living room, eyes on the front door, praying Ty would come back so we could talk, and I could admit that I didn’t really see him as a murderer or a thief – but he was done with me. And rightly so. After what I said to him, why would he ever come back?

After what felt like a lifetime in that clutching silence, I gave in to the urge to do something stupid: call the hospital where Kage was staying. It was only then that I realized I didn’t have my phone. I hadn’t seen it since the car chase with Davis. It was probably in the wreckage of the Bugatti. I guess that meant Dante wouldn’t be able to track me after all.

Maybe I should go to the hospital. I could sneak in and see for myself how Kage was when he was alone. Or maybe he’d be awake, and we could talk. I could accuse and he could somehow make things right. He’d tell me he wasn’t engaged.

That would be a good start...

But I knew I wasn’t being realistic. I’d seen the ring on Daniella’s finger myself. I’d heard his mom straight up say he was engaged. Everything between us had been a lie. Just like his mother said, I was just a distraction, a plaything to occupy him until he returned to the mafia life—and the girl—waiting for him.

I couldn’t stay here, in this house filled with so many memories of Kage. I decided to clear my head on campus but realized all too quickly that it was a mistake. As had happened after Ava drowned, I was the focus of unwanted and often hostile attention.

"Poor Kage," I overheard, a female voice laced with a venom that made my skin crawl. "What does she have against his family? Before too long, they’ll all be dead."

The comment was like a dagger slicing through me. I wanted to turn around and scream that I loved Kage and he loved me. That we’d whispered those words to each other when we didn’t know if we would make it out of the car alive.

I quickened my pace, trying to outrun the whispers, ready to head back to the chateau.

I bumped into someone and was suddenly shoved back so hard I lost my balance and sprawled on the ground. Standing over me was Phillip Hermes, the same guy who’d knocked out Kage with a dirty punch to the back of the head on fight night, but of course he hadn't been expelled because the fights were illegal, and no one pressed charges.

My eyes widened when I realized Phillip was wearing an eye patch and that a nasty scar ran from under the patch down his cheek. Was that how Kage and Callum had "taken care of" Phillip after Kage recovered? Had they taken his eye ?

"That's right, bitch. This is what Kage did, and now he's lying in a hospital close to death."

I glared at him and jumped to my feet. "Looks like you didn't learn your lesson, Hermes."

"Because I'm hassling you? From what I hear, you're nothing but a plaything to Kage. Plus, if he somehow makes it back here alive, he'll stay clear of you. Ava and Silas are dead. Kage might not be yet, but if he hangs out long enough with you, it will happen."

He pushed my shoulder, sending me stumbling back. I got into a fighting stance despite knowing I probably wouldn't win.

He reached out to push me again, but before he could, Ty was there, grabbing Phillip's arm and flipping him to the ground. Students around us gasped and cheered. “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

I rushed to Ty and pulled at him, but he shook me off.

“Let’s go, Ty!”

He ignored me.

Phillip got to his feet and Ty shoved me back just as Phillip threw a punch. Ty blocked it, his arm absorbing the impact. He countered with a swift jab to the ribs, followed by a right hook that sent Phillip staggering back. Blood trickled from his nose, but he didn’t back down. He lunged at Ty, aiming a wild punch at his head.

Ty ducked, his reflexes sharp. He landed a solid kick to Phillip’s midsection, doubling him over. But he recovered quickly, grabbing Ty by the shoulders and slamming him into the side of a nearby building.

I watched in horror as they grappled, their movements a blur of fists and feet. Ty managed to break free, landing a series of rapid punches that had Phillip stumbling back. Ty seized the opportunity, launching himself at Phillip. They went down in a tangle of limbs, rolling across the floor. Ty’s fist pounded into Phillip’s face, his sides, his gut. Blood splattered, the sounds of impact echoing through the room.

Finally, with one brutal punch, Ty knocked Phillip out cold. Chest heaving, he stood over Phillip’s unconscious body, blood dripping from his knuckles. Bending over, he ripped Phillip's eye patch off, and I flinched at the gnarled scar tissue where his eye used to be. "Take a good, hard look, fuckers. If you don't want this to happen to you, stay the fuck away from Camille Parelli."

I just stood there stunned, unable to reconcile how he'd acted earlier at the chateau and how he'd come to my rescue just now. Ty turned, strode to me, grabbed my arm, and started dragging me away.

I was silent for a long time before I finally said, "You didn’t have to do that, but thank you,” I said.

He abruptly released me. “Don’t thank me! Do you think I want to have to come to your fucking rescue?”

I scowled at him. “Then why did you?”

His mouth opened and shut then he ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck if I know. Maybe I just hate bullies more than I dislike you right now.”

“But you bullying me is okay? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Who says it has to? I told you before, I’m not the guy you once knew. I’m fucked up, Camille. And as much as I can fuck up anyone who messes with you, I’m a hell of a lot more dangerous to you. So stay away from me.”

“That will be easier after you move out, right?” When he said nothing, I sighed, feeling defeated. “Fine. I’ll stay away from you. But Ty? You don’t have the monopoly on hurting me. In fact, Kage might have you beat.” When he didn’t respond, I shook my head. “You know what? You don’t have to move out. You two deserve each other. I want nothing more to do with either of you. I’ll be gone in a few days.”

For a moment, I even considered leaving school altogether. Bianca had said that would be best, and maybe I should listen to her. The one thing that stopped me, though, was the possibility that Bianca was right about the CU kids having gone missing. The possibility that they’d been hurt or killed. If it was true, whatever was happening to them could be wrapped up in what happened with Ava and Silas. Even if it wasn’t, I wasn’t going to leave my sister here to deal with it herself. Otherwise, I’d be a coward just like I’d accused Ty of being.