Camden's Redemption (Gloves Off #4)(36)

Brooklyn turned in her chair, keeping her voice low. “Not as well as the others. He’s not in our tight knit group like Jason, Blake, Wyatt, and Gabe are. He’s a complete dickhead for sure.”

“Do you think he could be who we’re looking for?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to imagine any of these guys being connected to Scar. I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.”

Mason hurried our way and joined us. “Damn, I thought I’d never get away. You guys ready to go down?”

“More than ready,” I replied. If this Reese guy was the one who wanted me dead, I was definitely going to make him suffer, both him and Blake.





IF WE WERE aiming for shock value, I think we achieved it. The second we came into view, the whole room froze in silence. It wasn’t because I was holding Camden’s hand or that Mason was with us. It looked like a combination of both. Especially when all I could see was Blake’s burning gaze as he glared at us. Everyone was there, but thankfully, Gabe broke the ice.

“Well, if it isn’t Mason ‘The Eagle’ Bradley. To what do we owe the honor of this visit?” he announced, extending his hand.

Mason chuckled, shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder. “I wanted to visit my old friends. Not to mention, make sure this one stays out of trouble,” he said, glancing toward Camden. “He’s been known to cause a clusterf*ck or two.”

“Hey, I’m not the only one,” Camden countered with a smile.

Gabe noticed mine and Camden’s clasped hands and focused on me. “I take it he knows the truth then?”

I nodded. “It wasn’t easy trying to lie. Saying I was a traveling nanny didn’t exactly fit my personality.”

Mason and Gabe both barked out in laughter, but it was Camden who spoke up. “What the f*ck? I just now realized you were talking about me. Was it really that bad?”

“You have no idea.”

“What’s even funnier,” Mason interrupted, “is what she said to the women you tried to take back to your place. Let’s just say you can blame her for not getting any ass.”

Gabe grinned. “Uh-oh, this should be good. I gotta hear this.”

All three guys stared at me, and I was afraid Camden would get mad, but he actually looked amused. “Okay, I know you’re not going to think this is funny,” I started, “but I kind of told them you gave me crabs and that it wasn’t worth the ten second lay. You should be thanking me though. Those f*cking sea donkeys probably would have given you crabs. Besides, all they wanted was to steal your money.”

They all burst out laughing, even Camden when he pulled me to the corner. “Sea donkey?” he repeated.

Giggling, I shrugged and put my arms around his neck. “I don’t know. We were by the sea. It seemed fitting.”

Shaking his head, he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Or maybe you were jealous and deep down wanted me all to yourself. I spent months thinking my scar turned people off. But that wasn’t the case, was it?”

Tracing my finger down the pink jagged line on his face, my heart broke. “No, not at all. I saw the way it hurt you when the women walked away from you. Maybe I didn’t want others to have you. I justified it by thinking it only fair that if I wasn’t getting any action, then you shouldn’t be either.”

“All I can say, buttercup, is that you have a lot of making up to do. Do you have any idea how hard those months were for me?”

“Don’t worry,” I said, lifting up on my toes. “Get through tonight and I’ll be happy to make it all up to you.”

Before I could kiss him, Blake cleared his throat behind me . . . a little too loudly. Camden tensed and his fingers dug into my waist, but I placed my hands over his and pulled them away so I could turn around. “Blake, how are you?” I greeted. Camden put his hands back on my hips and I leaned against him.

Blake smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “The question is, how are you? I haven’t talked to you since the night of the attack. Do you know if Mason found out if anything was connected?”

Camden tensed behind me. “Night of what attack? What the hell are you talking about?”

Clenching my teeth, I glared at Blake.

He was surprised. “Oh, shit! You didn’t know? Weird.” He glanced at me and then back to Camden. “Your girlfriend was attacked in a parking deck a few days ago. Don’t worry though, I was there to help her.”

Not so gently, Camden turned me around to face him. “Why didn’t you tell me this? Is there any connection to me?”

“That’s what I was wondering too,” Blake sneered. “The last thing any of us want is for Brooke to be in the crossfire trying to protect your sorry ass.”

Camden started to lunge, but Mason jumped in and helped me hold him back while Blake chuckled. “Camden, calm the f*ck down,” he growled low.

Breathing hard, Camden kept his venomous glare on Blake. After they all stared each other down, he nodded once and backed up. When Mason let him go, he turned around and pushed Blake hard against his chest.

“What the hell are you doing? If you’re trying to start shit, this isn’t the way to go about it. Get your ass in the ring and fight it out like a f*cking man.”