Hot Commodity (Banks / Kincaid Family #1)(62)

Blowing out a breath, Cameron pushed to his feet and gritted his teeth. He was more than grateful she was okay, but a new fear lodged itself in his abdomen as he moved toward the check out.

He’d married another suicide junkie.

If he didn’t do something, it was going to be Sienna all over again. But for some reason, Cam knew it’d be more devastating to lose wife number two.

"I’m not going to do this again," he said quietly, staring down at his shaking hands. "I can’t. Damn it. I won’t."





Sixteen



Cameron was strangely quiet as he drove home. In the passenger seat, Olivia snuck quick glances his way. He ignored her, staring bleakly straight ahead. She wasn’t sure what was going on with him. It wasn’t normal for him to be this mute. His silence was almost scary in fact, because he was usually so open with what was on his mind.

Olivia realized she didn’t like not knowing what he was thinking. Sensitive to his mood, she clamped her own mouth shut and closed her eyes, resting her face against the passenger side window. When they reached the house, he came around to her side as if to help her from the car, though Olivia had already opened the door and slid out.

He paused when he saw her taking care of herself. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned his back to her and started for the house. When she reached the entrance, he was on the phone.

Olivia had no idea who he was talking to; his voice was muted too low to hear. Slowly, she started for the sofa, wincing with each step she took. She was just settling herself into the plush cushions when he hung up.

Cameron ignored her and picked up the remote control to the television. He turned it on and commenced to pace behind the divan as he stared fixedly at the screen. Trying to watch him made her dizzy, so Olivia gave up and closed her eyes.

*

Something was wrong.

"Get over here now," Cam growled in Boston’s ear. "And bring your briefcase."

Boston wasn’t sure what had happened, but he hurried out the door as soon as his cousin disconnected. Once he reached Cam’s place, he let himself inside the front door without knocking and found both Olivia and Cameron in the front room.

A relieved breath deflated from his lungs. By the tone in Cam’s voice, he’d been so sure she’d left him.

But there she sat slumped on the couch with Cam pacing behind her,

his hands on his hips. He sent Boston a dirty look as if to say, What took you so damn long?

"What happened?" Boston asked, coming to a stop when he saw Olivia’s pale face and bandaged wrist

Cameron merely growled, "Start the annulment papers. Right now."

Boston paused. He glanced at Olivia in confusion. She looked about as shocked as he felt as she twisted around to gape up at Cameron with her mouth falling open. Boston shook his head as not to question anything. Setting his briefcase on an end table, he opened the lid and cleared his throat. "Um, okay. What terms do you want?"

Cameron snorted bitterly. "I don’t give a rat’s ass. Give her whatever she wants. Just get her the f*ck out of my house."

Boston looked up at his friend’s words. He glanced toward Olivia again. But she still looked confused, except now there was a load of hurt filling her features.

Boston let out a sigh and set down his papers. "What happened?"

Cameron sneered. "I’ll tell you what happened." He jabbed his finger toward Olivia. "Little Miss Spoiled Princess here didn’t get her way and couldn’t have the speedy annulment she wanted, so she came home and tried to slice her wrist open with a broken piece of glass."

"What!" Boston and Olivia gasped together. Boston looked at her, and she turned to stare at him as if she assumed he was behind her husband’s announcement. He could only shrug and shake his head.

She swiveled back to Cameron. "What in the world are you talking about?"

Cam finally gave her his attention, cutting his eyes toward her with a killer glare. "If you want to overdose on pills, cut open your wrists—do whatever to try to commit suicide—I don’t care. Just don’t ever do it on my time again."

Olivia got to her feet, staring at him as if she wanted to slug him, which Boston had to guess she really did.

"For your information," she snarled, straightening her shoulders righteously and lifting her chin. "I wasn’t trying to commit suicide. I was getting some aspirin because you were giving me a headache. When I slammed the medicine cabinet because you had pissed me off, the mirror shattered. Okay? And a piece of glass landed in my arm."

She shivered as she spoke the last bit and covered the bandage with her hand.

"I don’t believe you," Cameron said, though he looked less angry. "When I walked into that bathroom, you had the glass in your hand."

"Because I’d just pulled it out, bonehead!" Olivia snapped. "Suicide is for weak, stupid people that don’t care about anyone but themselves. Besides, if I had really wanted to die today, I certainly wouldn’t have cut my wrists because I can’t stand the sight of blood. And I wouldn’t have overdosed because it takes too long and usually doesn’t work anyway. I’d have just stuck a gun in my mouth and pulled the trigger. Like my father did."

Turning on her heel, she stormed from the room. Cameron looked devastated as he stared after her.