“See, they are all great men. I couldn’t wait until I found my one, but I guess I found two and I’m happier than I have ever been,” I say.
We all take a shot to our men with smiles on our faces.
Camilla lets out a sigh. “That’s wonderful. It’s very rare that a love like that exists, but you all found it.”
We all nod, and everyone starts talking about what we love and what bugs us most about our men.
I look at Camilla with a smile. She looks less nervous now than when we started. I had just wanted her to relax.
“How have you been?” I ask softly.
She smiles softly. “Alright. I have had both some tough days and some good moments, but it’s going to be a long journey before I’m healed. I’ll get there. I had lost hope while I was in that place. I didn’t think that I would ever come out alive. Now that I’m finally out, I feel like this completely different person.” I nod my head.
“I miss my family and friends, but I’m not ready to contact them yet or go home. I know that I can’t go home until this is over anyway, but I wish I could let them know that I am okay,” she says softly, tears gathering in her eyes.
“Would you like us to get a message to someone? Is there someone you trust that won’t tell anyone where you are; you know, in case anything bad happens?” Lily asks softly.
“Yeah. My twin brother Xavier. He’s probably worried sick about me,” she says with a small smile, probably thinking about her brother.
Lily nods and writes his information down.
“Did you want to do it later, or I could try right now. He can hear from you as long as we know you trust him.”
Camilla nods, “Yeah, we can do it now.”
“Okay, let me get Derek and he can listen. Sorry to do that, but he’s already protective of you,” Lily says, and Camilla gives her a look of understanding.
Tears are already welling in her eyes. I move to sit beside her with Danielle on the other side. We both grab her hands as Lily walks in with Derek behind her.
His eyes soften on her. “Are you sure? We can still wait if you want to…”
She blows out a breath. “Yeah, he needs to know that I’m okay. It has been months.”
Lily types in the number that Camilla gave her and it starts to ring.
“Hello?” A deep voice asks.
“Hi, is this Xavier?” Lily asks.
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“I have some information about Camilla Jones.”
I hear him suck in a breath and there’s silence.
“I-I’m sorry did you j-just say Camilla?” he asks in a choked voice.
I see Lily’s chin wobble at his obvious reaction.
There is no doubt that he loves his sister.
“Yeah, I did. You’re her brother, correct?” she asks.
“Y-yeah I’m her brother. Do you know where she is or what happened to her?” he says clearing his throat a bunch of times.
“Well I’m with her right now. She wants to let you know that she’s okay, but she can’t come home yet.”
“C-can I talk to her?”
“She can hear you. You’re on speakerphone,” Lily says softly.
“X-Xavier?” Camilla says in a broken voice.
“Holy shit, Cami! I can’t believe it. Where have you been? You know how crazy everyone is going?” he says in a rush.
“I know, but it’s not safe to come home yet.” she says, her voice cracking.
He sucks in a breath. “What do you mean ‘not safe?’ What happened?”
“All I can tell you is that it was Brent’s fault and don’t trust him or say anything to him,” she says almost looking panicked.
“Shit C, he was here yesterday asking if we had heard from you or found you. He was frantic. You’re telling me that asshole boyfriend of yours put you in danger?” he says angrily.
“He’s not my boyfriend anymore. Keep this phone call to yourself. Please. No one can know where I am yet,” she says urgently.
I hear him take a deep breath. “Whatever you need, C. You know I have your back.”
They exchange a few more words before Camilla hangs up the phone looking better since she was able to talk to her brother.
“Camilla , can you tell me the full name of your ex-boyfriend?” Derek asks softly, but I don’t miss the anger that he’s clearly trying to hold back.
“Brent Manns. We dated for a while and he wanted me to join him for a party. I went alone because I didn’t have any reason not to trust him; he had been sweet for the first six months. I should have known!” She breaks off with a sob.
Derek pulls her into his arms whispering words in her ear.
I wish that I could get my hands on this guy and show him a taste of what she went through.
“We are going to look into him, okay? You are safe here. You can talk to your brother when you want, but I need you to do it from my or Lily’s phone. They can’t be tracked,” he tells her, and she nods her head.
Derek leaves once Camilla calms down.
“Well I think this calls for more shots,” Ella says, making me laugh.
We try and help take Camilla’s mind off everything. I have a feeling that she doesn’t want to talk right now, so I won’t try to force her.
“So, tell me, there has to be something that Trigger does to bug you. No guy is that perfect. Does he chew loudly? Throw his clothes beside the basket and not in it?” Ella asks.
Sophie laughs and shrugs. “There
