Camden's Redemption (Gloves Off #4)(16)

“The only way I’m going to do that is if you do it in return,” I challenged.

He shrugged and took another chug of his beer. “You’re first.”

Taking a deep breath, I turned my body to face him and pulled my legs up onto the couch. “My sister died seven months ago.”

“What happened?”

The memories came flooding back and so did the pain. I pulled out my phone and found the last picture my sister and I took together. It was the night before she died. “This is her,” I said, passing him the phone.

His eyes went wide. “Holy f*ck, was she your twin?”

Shaking my head, I took the phone and set it on the table. “No, but we were only seventeen months apart. She was the youngest.”

“I can’t imagine the loss. Do you want to talk about it?”

I looked down at my clasped hands which were now turning white from squeezing them so hard. “Braylen was leaving for the Miss United States pageant, so we went to a party with a bunch of our friends to celebrate the night before. She was so happy.” I paused to collect myself. “On the way home, the road was dark and it was hard to see. A deer shot out in front of the car and Bray tried to avoid it. She lost control and we flipped a few times, before ending in a ditch.”

Camden put his beer down and turned away from me, placing his head in his hands. “So you survived and she didn’t.”

“That’s the f*cked up part,” I said. “We were strapped in our seatbelts, hanging upside down. It was so cold that night and I remember shaking uncontrollably. Bray’s eyes were closed and there was blood everywhere. I screamed her name over and over until I felt her hand in mine. She squeezed and I remember thanking God she was alive.

“It wasn’t long before car lights started to come down the street, along with the sound of sirens. I kept telling her to hang in there, that help was coming. And then her hand grew limp. I couldn’t turn my head to see her. I was stuck. I screamed at her to squeeze my hand, but she didn’t.”

Camden kept his head down but I had to keep going. I had to get it out. “My brother was actually the first one there. I could hear his voice, then the car caught on fire. I can feel the heat from those flames even now.”

I closed my eyes and felt arms wrap around me. Camden had moved over and pulled me into his chest. Tears fell and soaked his undershirt, but he didn’t care. He held me tighter.

“Jason was able to get me out before the flames engulfed the car. Long story short, my mother’s mad at my brother for getting me out and not my sister. Braylen was her favorite.”

“Believe me,” he growled. “I know what that’s like.” Not only could I hear it, I could feel his anger rising.

Pulling out of his arms, I looked up at him. “Cam, are you okay?”

He shot up to his feet and finished off his beer before throwing it across the room, shattering a picture frame on the wall. What the hell was going on? Pacing the floor, he fisted his hands in his hair, almost like a caged lion. I didn’t know what set him off, but I took a gamble and slowly crept up behind him and put my hand on his arm.

“Cam, calm down. I’m sorry for telling you, but you should know it actually felt good to talk about it. What’s going on?”

The muscles in his arm relaxed and he turned to face me, his gaze raw and sad. “I watched my father die,” he revealed.

I gasped. In his record, his father died in a motorcycle accident. I didn’t know he was there. “Oh my God,” I murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

He huffed, nodding quickly. “Yeah, it was pretty f*cked up. The guy who hit him was texting and drove into his lane. I watched the whole thing happen. Afterward, I snapped.”

“What did you do?”

“While my father laid on the ground bleeding to death, I ripped the driver out of his car and started beating the f*ck out of him. I wanted to kill him and I almost did.”

“What stopped you?”

“My brother, my twin actually. He pulled me off the guy, but only after my father had already died on the road. I spent the last minutes of my father’s life in a blind rage. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

“Where is your brother now?” I asked softly even though I knew.

“He doesn’t talk to me.”

“Why not?”

Angrily, he threw his hands in the air and moved away from me. “Because I f*ck things up,” he spat. “That’s what I do, Brooklyn. I f*ck things up. Tell me, were you ever jealous of your sister? Did you hate her for being your parent’s favorite?”

“Every sibling goes through that. I bet your brother was jealous of you.”

“Hardly,” he scoffed. “He always got what he wanted. He has everything and I have nothing.”

I wanted to tell him all the wonderful things he had, and show him he was just as rich in life as his brother. But I couldn’t do that. Not without telling him who I was. “That’s not true, Cam. One of these days you’re going to realize what you have.”

“How can you say that? You don’t even know me or what I’ve done.”

“Then show me,” I shouted. “Stop pushing everyone away when they only want to help you.”

“Fine.” He ripped off his shirts, baring his scarred and tattooed skin. They were on his arms, across his chest, and all over his back. He must have done some heavy fighting at the Dark Side. “Do you see all of this?” he asked angrily. “I got them all from fighting, from hurting people. It’s what I do. It’s who I am. I’m a monster, Brooklyn. People are scared of me. And for the life of me, I don’t know why you aren’t.”