When she had been younger. Before Mark had decided she was such a threat.
“I love you, Cami.”
She flinched.
Something seemed to shatter in her chest. A wash of fear, followed by a blaze of heat and an outpouring of emotion that dragged a sob from her chest and left her trembling in front of him.
“Don’t lie to me,” she burst out, her voice as shaky as her knees now. “Please, Rafe. Please don’t lie to me. I couldn’t survive it.”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
He never had, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. It didn’t mean he couldn’t change his mind later.
“No, you haven’t lied to me,” she whispered as she felt that first tear ease from her eyes. “I couldn’t bear it if you lied to me now, Rafe.”
His head lowered, his eyes locked with hers.
“I love you, Cambria Flannigan,” he whispered. “To the very depths of my soul. You’ve bound my heart since you were seventeen years old and didn’t have a date for the prom, and I’ve only grown to love you more each year.”
Her breathing hitched. Another sob shook her.
“Cami?” he questioned her gently as his lips touched hers. “We both know you feel it. Aren’t you going to tell me you love me too?”
Her lips trembled.
“I love you,” she suddenly cried, feeling the tears as they began to run down her face, the love as it finally broke free inside her, pouring into the light, refusing to allow her to ignore it any longer. “Oh God, Rafe, I love you so much.”
His arms wrapped around her as he jerked her closer. His lips covered hers, his body surrounded her, and the warmth and strength that was so much a part of him encompassed her. She felt warm, heated.
For the first time in her life, Cami felt warm from the inside out.
CHAPTER 25
The day seemed to fly by.
For the first time in her life, Cami felt as though she were walking on air. There was no fear that dawn would come and force her to leave the man she loved. There was no fear that if she stared into his eyes too long, then she would see the same lack of emotion that she had seen in the eyes of the man who had called himself her father.
For the first time, Cami felt loved.
She felt wanted.
And for the first time the love she had carried so carefully inside her heart, kept wrapped and hidden away from harm, could emerge, be free, and she did not have to worry that the emotions that drew it free would turn on her and destroy her.
She’d lived her life in the shadow of Mark’s hatred, her mother’s inability to deal with reality, and her sister’s death. Still, Cami had held that dream inside her, that hope, and an endless well of love for one man. That love had always remained steadfast, living, breathing, and waiting for the day it could emerge.
But there was also the knowledge that there was no true security, not yet.
There was still that unseen threat that made no sense and the shadow that haunted her, no matter how she trusted in Rafe’s ability to protect her. As she had said, even the Callahan cousins had to blink eventually. Returning from the grocery store that evening, she couldn’t help but fear the day the other shoe would drop.
When that unseen threat would make its move and destroy the life she had dreamed of having.
If that threat hadn’t reared its head, then neither had Amelia. That was another worry that followed Cami through the day, as she wondered why her friend hadn’t slipped into the house yet and why she hadn’t found a way to contact Cami and let her know what was going on.
It had to be important or Amelia wouldn’t have taken the risk she took the day before.
“I’m going to go shower,” Cami told Rafe as he put away the bacon, eggs, and other items his cousins seemed to thrive on.
It was growing dark, and Cami knew if she didn’t try to keep her nerves at bay, and her fears from taking over, then she would end up going after Amelia herself.
Making her way up the stairs, Cami wished she’d been smarter, perhaps not so willing to ignore the fact that Sorenson was such an asshole.
She simply hadn’t expected him to search through her things, though. Even more, she hadn’t expected him to read that particular journal. It was almost as though he had known exactly where to look for it.
Sighing at the futility of her thoughts, she pushed her bedroom door open, stepped in, then as the door cracked closed whirled around in shock and fear.
Dark brown eyes that watched her carefully, short brown hair, a tattoo on the back of his hand, and extending from the grip he had on it a weapon lifted and aimed for her heart.
Lowry Berry.
“Didn’t expect to see me, did you, Cami?”
That was the voice. Low, evil, rasping with dangerous intent as he stepped from the wall, reached over, and locked the door securely. Cami stared at the weapon.
“How did you get in?” She could feel terror rising inside her.
“I have my ways.” His smile was soft, hesitant. That boyish, apologetic charm that had fooled so many for so long.
“Don’t do this, Lowry,” she whispered as the teacher stared back at her, the dark brown of his eyes heavy with remorse. “Why did you even come here? Whatever you’re involved in, I didn’t know anything about it and I don’t care.”
“And you wouldn’t have recognized my voice either, would you?” he asked regretfully, the little Texas twang in his voice sounding dark and sinister now rather than friendly and a bit shy as it had the night he had asked her to dance at the Spring Fling Social.
“You were calling?” She knew it was him. The minute she had swung around and seen him, she had known.
“Your sister knew too.” His voice dropped further as Cami felt her heart fall to her stomach.
She could see it in his eyes. That silent admission that he was the reason Thomas Jones had managed to take Jaymi.
“What did you say?” No, this couldn’t be true. Lowry had been Jaymi’s friend. She would have trusted him. She would have felt safe with him.“I didn’t have a choice, Cami, just as I don’t have a choice now.” He took a step toward her as she stepped back.
“You’ll never get me out of this house, Lowry,” she warned him roughly, tears thickening her voice. “Rafe will be up here any minute. And even if he isn’t—”
“I got into the house, didn’t I? I got in, and I slipped right up the stairs while y’all sat in the kitchen chitchattin’ about your whys and your whens. And all these years, those boys never figured Jaymi was given to Thomas for the sole purpose of framin’ them just enough to get their asses thrown in prison.”
She was going to throw up.
She could feel it roiling in her stomach, thickening in her throat.
“How did you get in?” Her entire body was shaking, trembling in fear and in anger.
His smile was gentle as he looked around her bedroom.
“I like your room,” he said, staring around. “The soft cream and smoke color of the walls with the heavy, dark brown winter curtains.” He tilted his head and looked at the furnishings, the bedcovering. “Feminine softness without the prissiness,” he sighed. “Jaymi wasn’t like that, was she?”
