55. Camille

Chapter 55

Camille

D ad nodded at Angus and even as I tried to whip around, strong hands grasped my wrists, rendering me helpless. I fought hard, desperately trying to free myself from the hold on me but it was useless. The man was too strong.

My heart thumped as I watched my father yank Elise toward him.

“Let her go,” I pleaded with him.

What was happening? Things had changed so fast. My father—always distant and critical—looked crazed as he grabbed Elise by the throat.

Dad laughed at me. “Or what?” he taunted.

My brain raced, and I tried to slow my thoughts into something I could handle. “It was you, wasn’t it? You had Silas kill Ava.”

Surprise flickered through his eyes. That was the last thing he’d expected me to say, but he recovered quickly and barked out a laugh while I kept talking.

“Why?” I choked out.

“Because the bitch thought just because I’d fucked her a few times, that meant she was invincible. That being pregnant would somehow save her, not doom her.”

My eyes bugged. Holy fucking shit. He’d been sleeping with Ava?

I shook my head. It was sick. Beyond sick. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I knew she had been involved with an older guy, and of course she wouldn’t have wanted me to know that she was involved with my own father...

“No,” I whispered, my heart sinking. “That can’t be true.”

“Why, because she was such a good friend to you?”

“No, because you are my father,” I murmured, tears welling in my eyes. “I can’t believe you’d betray me like that. And you killed her to hide your dirty little secret? To hide the fact you knocked up a nineteen-year-old girl?”

“Oh please,” my father said. “You make it seem like I was the only one with a motive. Who knows if it was mine or Silas’s kid she was carrying. Killing her worked out best for the both of us.”

“It didn’t work out for Silas,” I spat out, anger and disgust coating my words. “And it sure as hell won’t work out for you.”

“Empty threats as usual,” he said. “But you are right, it didn’t exactly work out for me.”

The toxic tone of his voice seeped into my skin.

“They didn’t appreciate me ordering Silas to kill Ava, or maybe it was more that they didn’t appreciate me doing it without permission, so they decided punishments were in order.”

“ They? You mean the group linked to that tattoo on your ass? The group that’s ‘cause’ somehow hinges on making Three Tier students vanish?”

My father snorted. “You sure have begun to think of yourself as an amateur detective, haven’t you?” My father let out a frustrated chuckle as his grip tightened on Elise. “You had them scared, too. That’s why my punishment would have served them, too. My meddlesome failure of a middle daughter dealt with, a punishment for me and a nuisance for them done away with.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Tears began to fall down my cheeks as my father glared at me. Had he hated me all this time?

“But no,” he continued. “You’re such a failure that you couldn’t even get kidnapped right without everything going to shit. And because of that, I had to lose the one daughter I had with any damn drive in her.”

His words crushed me. He must be talking about the attempted kidnapping at the river that Ty had stopped. And because that had failed, Bianca had been taken?

“The only one I had left was Elise, but because you two have been talking, I can’t take chances on her either. Angus…”

Angus loosened his grip on me for a microsecond and I seized my opportunity, whipping around and kneeing his crotch. Angus howled in pain and fell to his knees, letting go of me as he staggered backwards.

In one fluid motion, I round kicked him in the head, sending him smashing into the ground while I pulled the gun Kage had bought me from my back waistband. Immediately, I shot Angus in the chest before I aimed the gun at my father’s head. Shock registered in my father’s eyes, but he quickly covered it with a smile even as he pulled Elise close to him and produced a knife, holding it at her throat.

God, no!

“Really, Cami? We all know you can’t shoot for shit.”

“Let her go, or I will shoot,” I hissed at him, my hands shaking.

“And risk shooting your sister instead of me?”

He lifted the blade like he was going to plunge it into Elise.

I took a breath, focused on what Kage had taught me at the shooting range, and fired.

My father jerked back as the bullet entered his forehead. He slumped forward, falling into a heap on the floor. Blood pooled around him as he stared lifelessly at the ceiling, a black hole in his skull where the bullet had entered. My legs were shaking as I stepped over him and pulled a sobbing Elise into my arms.

“Shh, it’s okay. Everything is okay,” I soothed her, kissing her on the forehead. “We need to get out of here.”

I didn’t know what I should do, other than I wasn’t going to call the police. And I wasn’t going back to the chateau either. I drove Elise to a hotel, sending a prayer of thanks that I had a sweater and spare jacket in the car for us to wear to cover up traces of my father’s blood that had gotten us.

Then I did the only thing I could. I called the three guys in my world I trusted the most.

As soon as I heard Kage’s voice, I was overcome with emotion. The moment he heard me sobbing, he put me on speaker so Ty and Dante could hear too.

“Rebel, what’s wrong?” Kage asked.

“I killed him,” I whispered. It was like I was just realizing what I’d done.

“Fuck,” he whispered. “Are you still at your dad’s?”

“I’m with Elise. At a hotel. She told me my dad was trying to marry her off, that Bianca had come to see him two days ago and they’d fought. I went home to see her. W-we were talking, she told me our father had a tree tattoo,” I mumbled, trying to make sense of everything in my head. “Then suddenly he was there. He admitted he had an affair with Ava. Had her killed. He grabbed Elise. He had a knife. God, Kage, I thought I was going to lose her.” A sob escaped me, the thought of losing both my sisters too much.

Where was Bianca? Was she still alive?

“Stay where you are,” Kage ordered. “Lock the door and don’t let anyone in. We’ll meet you there soon. I’ll send some men around to your dad’s place to take care of everything. This needs to stay a secret, Camille. Do you think Elise can do that?”

I glanced at Elise, who I’d thought was asleep. She was staring at me, her eyes wide with fear. “You can’t talk about this to anyone,” I said.

She nodded.

“She said yes,” I replied. I took my sister’s hand and squeezed it, determined to be strong for her.

“Good,” Kage said. “We’re on our way. Stay strong, Rebel. We’re going to get you both through this.”

“Rebel? You in there?”

Startled, I opened my eyes and looked around, disorientated. After a few seconds, the events of the last few hours came back to me. Shooting my father. Escaping to the hotel. Calling Kage.

I stood up and padded over to the door, unlocking it. I opened it and fell into Kage’s arms, relief washing over me. Dante and Ty stood behind Kage.

“It’s okay, Rebel. It’s going to be okay. I want to get us out of here fast, though.” He glanced at Dante, who had already scooped Elise into his arms. We all climbed into Kage’s SUV.

“Where are we going?”

“My place in Manhattan.”