Chapter 86 86. Big Brother
Camila's POV
I only turned slightly.
I knew that voice even without looking up to see its face. Damon straightened but didn't step aside. His eyes moved from me to the man behind Lucien, taking in the gun and the tension spreading through the driveway.
"And you are?"
"Her fiancé." Those two words came out rough, scraped raw. "Now step away from her."
"I'm not your fiancée." The words left my mouth before I could think. I still hadn't looked at him. I knew I would break if I did.
Damon's posture shifted. His jaw locked and he moved in front of me.
"You heard her. You're trespassing on private property. Leave before this gets worse."
"I'm not going anywhere without her."
"This is my family home." Damon's voice dropped lower. "She's under our protection. You assaulted our security and forced your way onto our property with a weapon. I suggest you turn around and leave while I let you."
Lucien took a step forward. The gun lowered a little in his hand, no longer aimed at the guard.
"She's mine. She's always been mine. And I'm not leaving without her."
"She just said she's not your fiancée."
"Because she doesn't understand-"
"I understand perfectly." I cut in. "Go back to Jessica, Lucien. Go back to your inheritance and your perfect life. Just leave me alone."
"Camila-"
"She asked you to leave." Damon moved another step forward, and suddenly both men were squaring off, shoulders back and chests out. A masculine posturing that would have been ridiculous if the air wasn't so thick with tension.
I should have said something... or maybe put myself between them. But my knees were bleeding, my whole body ached, and I was so tired of fighting. So I stayed where I was and watched, still refusing to meet Lucien's eyes.
Lucien let the gun fall. It hit the ground with a hard clatter.
"I'll leave when she tells me she doesn't love me. When she looks me in the eye and says she doesn't want me."
"She doesn't need to explain anything to you."
"Stay out of this." Lucien advanced another step. Finally, I looked up and the first thing I saw was the hurt carved into his face. It hit me harder than all the shouting. "This is between me and my girl."
"Your girl just denied you."
The guard behind Lucien moved his hand to his back pocket and came out with something small and black. He pressed it to the back of Lucien's neck. The zap was sharp and electric in the quiet night. Lucien's body jerked, stiffened, then folded. His eyes rolled back as he hit the ground.
"NO!" The scream tore out of me. I pushed myself up, ignoring the sting in my knees. "STOP! STOP IT!"
The guard held the taser in place. Lucien shook violently on the ground with each pulse of electricity.
"TELL HIM TO STOP!" I lunged forward but Damon's arms wrapped around me from behind, holding me back. "LET ME GO! HE'S HURTING HIM! LUCIEN MEANT NO HARM!"
"He's fine. It's just a taser."
"LET ME GO!" I thrashed against his grip. Lucien had stopped moving. He lay limp on the driveway. "What are you going to do with him?"
The guard released the taser and grabbed Lucien under the arms, starting to drag him back toward the gate.
"Don't drag him like that! He's unconscious! He's going to hurt him!" Tears blurred everything. "Please, Damon, please make him stop."
"He'll be fine. We'll have him removed from the property and he can deal with trespassing charges if he wants to press the issue." He spoke calmly in my ear. "But he's not coming near you again tonight."
"But he didn't mean any harm."
"He showed up here with a gun and assaulted our security. He's clearly unstable." Damon's hold tightened. "You're safe now, Camila. I've got you."
But I didn't feel safe. I felt like my heart was being dragged away with Lucien's unconscious body. Felt like I was splitting in two. Half of me wanted to run after him. The other half wanted to let him go forever.
Eventually, my fight faded. Damon must have felt the fight leave my body because his grip eased.
"Come on. Let's get you inside and take care of those knees."
He kept an arm around me as he guided me up the steps. My legs were shaky, like they wanted to collapse.
Inside, he led me to a second sitting room. He made me sit, then knelt with a first aid kit.
"This might sting."
I barely felt it when he cleaned the scrapes. My mind was still outside, watching Lucien's body convulse. Watching him fall.
"You love him." Damon's voice broke through the fog. It wasn't a question.
"I don't want to anymore."
"That's not what I asked." He applied antiseptic to my knee. "Do you love him?"
"Yes. God, yes. I love him." I snifled. "I love him so much it's destroying me."
"Then why did you deny him?"
"Because he made love to me one night and proposed to someone else on live television the next."
Damon was silent for a moment, his hands steady as he bandaged my other knee. "Maybe there's more to the story."
"There's always more to the story. But the ending is the same. He's engaged to Jessica Bloom and I'm here bleeding on your couch."
"You're also here because you want to see your father." He moved to my other knee. "Even after everything, you still came."
He was right. No matter how much my father had betrayed us, no matter how angry I was, I still wanted to see him. I lied to myself under the guise of needing his evidence, but I just want to call someone father. I want to know what it feels like to have a parent who chose me.
"Stay tonight," Damon said. "Tomorrow my father will be home. You can talk to him and get your answers."
"And Lucien?"
"Will be banned from the property. But that's your choice. If you want to see him, I won't stop you. I just won't let him force his way in here again."
I nodded slowly. Damon finished bandaging my knees and helped me stand. The pain was manageable now, just a dull throb.
"Thank you," I whispered. "For protecting me."
"That's what big brothers do." He smiled, and it was heartwarming. "Even if we only met a few hours ago."
Maybe that was what it meant to have a big brother. Someone who stepped between you and danger without hesitation. Someone who protected you even when you weren't sure you wanted protecting.
Seraphina appeared with clothes for me to sleep in. She showed me to a guest room that was larger than me and Maya's bedroom combined. The bed was soft, and so were the sheets. But I lay awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Lucien unconscious on the ground, about how much I still loved him despite everything.
Of course, you just don't fall out of love in two nights.
I must have fallen asleep eventually because I woke to sunlight streaming through the windows and a voice calling my name.
"Camila."
I opened my eyes. A man stood in the doorway. My father.
"Hello, sweetheart."