CamdenI sigh, thinking that I should follow her, thinking that I should probably go and talk this through, but I’m too tired.I wait for a few moments, until I can’t hear her footsteps down the hallway, and then I leave the room and I walk over to Dante’s office, knocking lightly on the door.“Come in,” he calls, and Mia is perched on his lap, looking about to burst and smiling at him. She kisses his cheek when I walk in and nods at me as she walks out the door, seeming to know that we need some time alone.“Hey,” I say tiredly, plopping down in the chair across from his desk.“You look like shit,” Dante says bluntly, and I snort.“Thanks a lot,” I grumble, but I know he’s right. I haven’t been sleeping well without Kendall in my bed, and I don’t like to think about what that means. It’s just that I got used to it while we were away, that’s all.“You seem conflicted,” he continues, and then he gets up and pours us both a drink.“You’re an angel, Dante.”He laughs. “Maybe a fallen one
KendallElora and I head out to the pool the next morning as if nothing happened. She doesn’t comment on Camden or my pregnancy, just acts like everything’s normal. I don’t ask what she said to Camden. I’m too embarrassed.I can’t be angry at her for taking up for me, but I hope that she didn’t tell Camden anything personal – like how I’ve had a crush on him basically my whole life.I feel like I look a little chubby in my bikini, so I wear a one piece with cutouts right above my love handles.“You look great in that suit,” Elora says, as if she knows I feel insecure.I smile at her gratefully. I was wrong last night to accuse her of wanting me to be invisible. I know it isn’t her fault that she’s so beautiful and straight-forward and that guys flock to her.She’s always been lovely to me, and instead of apologizing, I lean against her and she hugs me from the side.All is forgiven, just like any other time we’ve ever had a fight. It’s one thing I love about being friends with Elora
Kendall I meet Elora in the dining room with a plate in front of her and sit down next to her.“You need to eat something,” Elora says, but my stomach feels funny after talking to Camden.“Elora ,” I say seriously. “I need to talk to you.”She looks up at me from her plate of fruit and slides it to me. “Okay, but you should eat.”I take a piece of honeydew and eat it slowly, and it does make my stomach feel better.“This thing with Camden,” I start, and she waves her hand dismissively.“I’m not upset with you or anything, babes,” she says easily. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”“That’s the thing, though,” I argue quietly. “I want to be able to make my own mistakes. I know that I’m not very experienced and that you are, but you make lots of mistakes.”Elora scoffs. “Tell me about it.”I continue without looking at her. “So, I need to know that you’re not going to interfere. Not with Camden, not with this baby.”“That baby is my niece or nephew,” she argues. “I’m going to interf
CamdenAfter my swim, I go to shower and spend some time in my room, making calls. Angelo is my first call, since he’s nearby.“Camden, what’s up?” he answers, sounding out of breath.“Are you busy?” I ask him, and he scoffs.“There’s been nothing going on for weeks,” he complains. “I’m bored out of my mind.”“Good to hear,” I mumble, “because I’ve got something really exciting coming up.”“Oh, do tell,” he says brightly.Angelo is a bit of a loose cannon, but everyone knows he gets the job done.“Marco Barone,” I say, and I can practically hear the grin in Angelo’s voice when he answers.“Oh, hell yeah.”“He’s hiding out underground,” I tell him. “Abandoned warehouses in the slums, that kind of shit.”“Sounds like a good time. When are we moving out?”“Soon,” I tell him. “I’ll call you once I get the location.”“Perfect. I just got a new piece and I’ve been dying to use it.”I laugh and hang up the phone. It’s good to know that I have people on my side, especially Angelo. He’s always
Camden Dante snorts. “No, not really. It was hard. It’s hard to change, Camden. But it was worth it. I did it for Mia and for our little girl.”“When’s she due?” I ask.“Soon,” he says. “Any day. I worry myself sick thinking about Mia going through labor.”I swallow hard. I hadn’t thought about that, not yet. It’s like the baby is just some possibility, some future problem. I hadn’t thought about all the pain that Kendall will have to go through. I think about the scar on her face, how angry that scar makes me.Not because it makes her less beautiful. Because Marco Barone had been the cause of it. Been the cause of her pain and trauma.I hate him, and I want to take him out. That’s why I need Angelo, and that’s why I need Dante to give me the location. At least he’s finally agreed to it.“I don’t know if I can do it,” I admit.“Do what? Go after Marco?” Dante asks.I shake my head. “That, I can do. I mean about changing. About being a different man for Kendall.”“You can do that, too
KendallI’m full and tired by the time dinner is over, and I go to lie down for a few minutes. It’s still early, but I fall asleep nevertheless.I wake up late at night. Looking at my phone I notice that it’s two in the morning. Someone is banging on the door and I squint at the doorway.“Come in,” I call, and Camden all but falls into the room, stumbling toward the bed.“Are you going to see anyone else?” he asks, his words slurred, and I just stare at him, sitting up in bed with the duvet still over my body.“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask. “You’re drunk.”“So?” he asks, walking over and climbing onto the bed clumsily, plopping down beside me on top of the duvet.“So, you don’t know what you’re saying,” I say, looking over at him and fighting a laugh. His dark hair is falling into his face, his shirt half unbuttoned, showing bronze flesh in between. He smells like whiskey. “Have you been drinking all day?”“I am stressed,” he says. “You’re having my baby and you’re goin
Kendall He takes my ankles in his hands, slides them across his shoulder blades so that he can press his mouth closer against me, latch around my clit, sucking so hard I see stars.“Oh, my god,” I gasp.“Not god,” he says sharply. “Say my name, principessa.”“Camden,” I manage, trying to breathe. “Camden, please...”I trail off, still having some dignity, enough to be slightly embarrassed that I’m begging him.“Please what, principessa?”“Please make me come again,” I whisper, and he doesn’t waste any time, suckling on my clit and pumping his fingers still inside me.I shudder all over when I come a third time, and then he removes his fingers, getting up on his knees and fumbling with his pants before shoving them down and freeing himself.I’m so blissed out I can barely move but it turns out that I don’t have to. Camden flips me over onto my stomach, spreading my thighs with one of his.“Ready, principessa?” he asks, and I’m not sure I am. I don’t know if I can come again without ex
CamdenI’m hungover as hell when I wake up in Kendall’s bed, and I barely remember the night before. I know that I should stay in bed with her, wait until she wakes up, but I can’t remember what I said to her.I know it must have been something stupid, because of the way I was feeling when I left Dante’s office.My head was spinning and I felt like I needed to see her, needed her viscerally, the way you need food or water to survive. I know that I said something that might hurt her later, when I tell her that I didn’t mean it.They say in vino veritas, which means in wine, there’s truth, but is that true? Did I mean whatever I said to her last night?Can I face her now?My plan is to play dumb, pretend like nothing ever happened.“When are we going back home?” Elora asks when I walk down to the kitchen. “I’m worried about Mama.”“I hired someone to help around the house and I’ve been calling her,” I defend, but I know that isn’t enough. Our mother won’t tell us when she’s not well, a
[Kendall]After we’re home, our baby finds his voice and screams the night away, but just when I think I’m getting to my breaking point, Camden's there.“I’ll take him for a while,” he says, pulling our son out of my arms.I run a hand through my mussed hair, exhausted. “He was crying all night,” I say.“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asks, frowning.“You looked so peaceful,” I tell him. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”Camden snorts. “Disturb me next time, principessa. I’m his father. I can do a lot of the work.”I look at him, disbelieving. I can’t believe he’s so involved when at first, I didn’t even know if he’d stick around even if he said he would.“I’m exhausted,” I admit. “And there’s baby vomit in my hair and I’m pretty sure his diaper is full of the most heinous thing you’ve ever smelled.”Camden barks out a surprised laugh. “I’m interested in where this is going.”“But I’m so happy, Camden,” I said, tears running down my face. “I’ve never been so happy in all my life. I didn’t
KendallThe day of the wedding and everything goes wrong.It’s raining and Elora is late and I don’t know if I can go through with this.She finally shows up and her hair looks mussed and I groan.“I know you’ve got a man, you should just tell me,” I say, and she laughs.“Absolutely not. I just overslept. I’ve been single and with me, myself, and I,” she insists. “I’m so sorry, Kendall.”I haven’t seen Camden in three days and I miss him so much. We’ve been living together but I’ve been staying with my father for the last two days according to tradition.“I feel like I’m too pregnant for this dress,” I say.“You look beautiful. Camden is going to lose it the second he sees you,” she insists.°•°•°•°•°•°•°True to her words, when I walk down the aisle with Papa, Camden has a tear running down his cheek.“This dress is perfect, you are perfect,” he murmurs to me, and it reminds me of that first night, the first night he really noticed me in that dress, and I can’t help but smile, happ
Camden“If you really want to get married…” I start, but Kendall cuts me off.“I don’t care about that,” she says. “I just need to know that this isn’t drugs, so tell me all of this again when you’re off them,” she says.I sigh shallowly so that I don’t hurt myself. “It’ll be a while before I’m off all of them.”“I can wait,” she says stubbornly.So, we wait. We wait until I’m out of the hospital and then she goes to her first ultrasound and tears well in my eyes when I see pictures of the little peanut.Kendall moves in with the help of Dante and Elora and sets up my bed in the living room so that I don’t have to go upstairs. We’re sitting in the doctor’s office at her five month appointment. She’s been living with me and taking care of me all this time, even though I’m getting better now.“Can I tell you now that I love you?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.“You’re still taking pills,” she argues.I groan. “Kendall, this is getting ridiculous. You live here. You take care of m
KendallElora and I both are ordered to go home and we sleep in the same bed in my guest room, cuddled up together. We’ve been through a lot and we need that best friend comfort.When I wake, I immediately sit straight up in bed, thinking about Camden.“I have to get back to the hospital,” I mumble, and Elora yawns, grabbing my shoulder so I can’t get up.“Not yet,” she says. “You need to eat something. Have to feed that nephew of mine.”I chuckle in spite of everything. “You think it’s a boy?”“Just a hunch,” she says.“I guess we’ll see,” I say, rubbing a hand over my belly. “But shouldn’t we check on Camden?”“Mama’s up there with him now,” she says. “You don’t have to worry, she’ll call me if he sneezes.”I laugh a little. “All right. I guess I’ll eat.”My stomach feels like there’s a void in it, so I guess it’s a good idea.We walk downstairs and Marisa has made a spread that’s unbelievable.Mia is shoveling food in her face and she looks up at us and smiles.“Please sit. Maris
CamdenThe doctor comes in and I’m irritated, moving around.“Mr. Andretti, you have to stay still,” the doctor pleads. “You have tubes in your chest and they can’t be moved.”“He’s in pain,” Kendall says, seeing something on my face.“No,” I say. “I don’t want any drugs.”Kendall’s face is pleading with me. “Please, Camden. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”I sigh heavily and then groan because it hurts in my chest so much.“All right,” I croak, and the nurse puts a button in my hand.“Press this button,” she says, and when I do, something warm and relieving washes through me and my whole body relaxes. I feel myself drifting away.“Kendall,” I say, my words slurred. “Tell me that you know I love you.”“Sure,” she says, but I know that she doesn’t believe me.I struggle to say more but I can’t, I’m fading.“Camden,” she says quietly. “I—”But then I’m gone.°•°•°•°•°•°•°When I wake, Kendall isn’t in the room with me but I can still hear someone sobbing. When I turn my face, it’s El
CamdenI dream of Kendall. I dream of her with her eyes puffy from sleep, with her nightie bunched up, how she writhes beneath me. I dream of her in that little bikini she wore at the safe house, looking up at me with wide brown eyes.I remember hitting Marco, beating him so thoroughly that his face was unrecognizable. I remember Angelo’s pale, drawn face as I looked up at him. I don’t remember being hurt. I don’t know where I am when I open my eyes, looking up at the ceiling.“Camden?” someone says, some sweet voice that I know deep in my heart, and I look over to see Kendall staring at me with wide brown eyes. “Oh my god, he’s waking up,” she chokes, and I reach out for her and there’s a stab of pain in my chest that makes my breath hitch in my throat.“Principessa,” I choke out, but my mouth is so dry that I can’t make more words. I clear my throat, and as if reading my mind, Kendall brings me a glass of water with a straw.I sip it gratefully. “What happened?” I croak.“You were
Kendall I come to with Mia holding these awful smelling salts beneath my nose.“Camden,” I gasp, sitting up, and Mia struggles to her feet. She’s too pregnant to move quickly, but she does the best she can helping me up.“Go slow,” she warns, but her face is pale and I know something is wrong. I’m trying to remember what it is but passing out has made me so dizzy and fuzzy...Camden.I rush into the living room and Camden's on the couch, absolutely covered in blood. Dante and Angelo both have their hands on his back, holding pressure, and Jimmy Sawbones, the doctor to all the famiglia in the area, has just come in the door, rushing to the living room.I just stare at him, knowing that I’ll get in the way if I go over there.“Did you see the wound?” I ask Mia, and she slowly nods.“It’s bad, isn’t it?” I whisper.“It’s bad,” she agrees, and I feel faint again but I manage to keep consciousness, tears streaming down my face.“I can’t fix this,” Jimmy says almost immediately. “We have t
KendallAs soon as Camden leaves, I run upstairs to Elora’s room, banging wildly on the door.She comes to the door with her hair mussed and her eyes squinted since she hasn’t put in her contacts yet, glaring at me.“It’s seven in the goddamn morning, Kendall,” she complains, but then she sees the look on my face and stills. “What happened?”“Camden just left,” I babble. “He went after Marco.”Her green eyes widen. “Oh no, he fucking didn’t,” she curses, walking past me and running almost right into Dante. “How could you let him leave?”Dante shrugs. “I’m not his keeper.”“Don’t give me that,” she hisses. “You know going after Marco right now is suicide—”“Don’t claim to tell me what I know, Elora Andretti,” Dante says in a low voice, channeling his capo attitude, and I swallow hard.I don’t want Elora to get into trouble.“We’re just worried,” I explain, and Dante’s face softens.“I know, but you both know that Camden does what he wants. I couldn’t have stopped him if I wanted to.”
CamdenI swing by and pick up Angelo and he whistles when I open the duffel bag and show him the contents.“I’m keeping that automatic,” he says, and I snort out a laugh.“I figured.”“You don’t even have to pay me for this,” Angelo continues, hopping in the car as I shut the trunk. “I’ve been wanting to get rid of Marco Barone ever since he hit on my girlfriend.”I raise an eyebrow as I get in the car. “You don’t have a girlfriend.”“Not anymore,” he says mysteriously, and I don’t ask questions because Angelo wouldn’t tell me anyway. He keeps his personal life to himself, and I don’t blame him. In this lifestyle, it’s better to keep your mouth shut.We travel to the worst parts of the city, checking out the closest warehouse first. I’m pretty sure it’s not the one because it seems like a ghost town, and sure enough, there’s nothing but rats and mold in there.“How many of these are there?” Angelo complains.“Just three,” I answer.“Three?” he whines, always impatient, and I chuckle.