Page 74 of Born to Scar

Jay looks like he’s about to lose himself. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him so scared before.

“We’ll be back.” I drag him into the kitchen and around the wall. Ken knows about us, but I don’t know about Kia or Lainy. I put my hands on his face, forcing him to look at me. “Are you okay?”

He shakes his head. “No, seeing you in cuffs isn’t fucking funny, Cam.”

“I’m sorry, Jay. I didn’t realize how shaken up you are over this. For me, it’s not a big deal. I knew the second he pushed me against the wall, he had nothing on me.”

Casting his eyes toward the floor, he nods.

I gently tug his face back up to mine. “Everything will be fine. For you, for her, for us. I promise you that.” Pressing a soft kiss to his lips, I whisper, “I love you, Jay. I protect what’s mine, baby.” He leans into me, and I give in, holding him.

“I love you, Cam. I can’t…that was the worst feeling in the world. I felt so helpless.”

I hold him tighter. “You weren’t helpless. You did exactly what you needed to do and got Ken there.”

He nods and lets a shaky breath out. “We have to end this. We can’t wait for what you and Ken have planned, to do this legally.” I search his face. He’s scared and worried. But he also looks tired. This is getting to him more than he’s letting on. “Indy is right. He’s going to do something. Fuck, he already did, Cam. You were arrested.” When I don’t say anything, he adds the one thing that he knows might shake me. “Asher agrees with me.”

“Let’s go talk to them.” I motion for him to follow, but he stands grounded in his spot. His hand comes up and jerks away, before he grips the back of my head. He pulls me in, kissing me with more passion than he ever has. Our kissing is always rushed, harsh, and heated, teeth and tongues crashing like the waves in a storm. Not gentle. Not sweet. It’s never this.

My body melts into him with a soft moan. He pulls back with a pant. “Don’t be stupid,” he murmurs on my lips, and I smirk. He jerks his head toward the entry to the kitchen.

“I need a minute, Jay. You can’t just do that.” I look down for emphasis, but he’s not much better. I chuckle, grabbing a shirt from the laundry room.

When we walk back out there, Kia is the first to welcome us back. “Feel better?” He smirks. I arch my eyebrow at him, but he shrugs me off with a grin.

“I don’t think we have any more time. He is becoming more aggressive,” Ken blurts.

I nod. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes back tonight. Jay and I were talking about that in there. Asher”—I turn to look at him—“you agree we need to end this?”

He nods. “He isn’t going to stop. I think if we wait, it’ll be too late.”

“Too late for what?” Indy’s sleepy voice comes from the top of the stairs. Thankfully, she’s put pants on. Most of the time, she strolls around here in one of my or Jared’s shirts. She walks further down the stairs, her eyes darting around the room. “What the fuck is this?” Lainy pops up and hugs her where she stands. I guess I need to go ahead and rip this Band-Aid off.

“I was arrested,” I admit. Her head jerks to me, face in complete confusion.

“After you fell asleep, I wanted to make sure your phone got charged, so I put it with mine. But I noticed there were twenty missed fucking calls from an unknown number. There were no voice messages, but there were some texts from the same number. I looked at them. Open your apps, Indy,” Jared whispers.

She pulls her phone out and tenses, tossing it as if it burned her. At least she didn’t throw it, like I half-expected her to. It thuds as it hits the floor.

“He came here,” she whispers, trembling. Everyone in the living room nods. “How did you get arrested?”

“I told him he couldn’t come in,” I explain. She arches her eyebrow, and I nod. “He can’t legally arrest me for that, so I was released when we got to the station. It was a distraction. Ken came and got me. It’s all on the Ring camera if you want to see it.”

Tears rim her eyes. Lain looks at her with such care and pulls her in for another hug. Surprisingly, Indy allows it, even hugging her back.

“This isn’t your fault, Indy,” I soothe. She shakes her head and mumbles something into Lain’s shoulder.

Lain pulls back and shakes her head. “No, it’s not.”

“It is! I’m going to get you all killed!” She sits on the step she’s standing on, and Lain drops down with her.

“I know it’s scary, after what you’ve been through,” Lain starts.

“And what you’ve seen him do before. But you were children. He doesn’t have that control anymore,” Jay adds.

“Then how the fuck was Cam arrested?” she snaps. “I’m not going to sit here and allow him to hurt the people I love,” she screams, as the door opens behind me. Every set of eyes focuses on Mik as he strolls in.

“What the fuck is all of this?”