Jesus, the three of us are like the bloody fucking light brigade, all armed with lamps and candlesticks, and my girl is fearless as she comes right up behind Cameron.

  ‘I’m almost sorry it’s had to come to this, because I’ll miss finding ways to screw with your life,’ he growls, taking a step towards me, and Emmy lifts the lamp up high, then knocks him over the head with it. The thing is too heavy for her to put much power behind the blow, but she manages to daze him enough that he staggers to his right, giving me the opportunity to move in and grip the wrist of Cameron’s knife-holding arm with one hand, while I drop the candlestick and curl my other hand into a hard fist, smashing it across his face. Blood spurts from his nose and his grip on the knife loosens, the long blade falling to the floor as I hit him again, and then a third time. After that, I let go of his wrist, and he slumps to the floor in an unconscious heap.

  Looking at my grandfather, I say, ‘I think I saw some twine in one of the drawers in the kitchen. Bring it in here and help me tie him up.’ As I reach down to get the knife, I ask Emmy to bring in one of the chairs from the dining room, and have to lock my jaw to keep from shouting at her for taking such a foolish chance with her safety. I know she’ll just shout back that we’re a team, so she wasn’t going to let me face the danger on my own, and right now it’s an argument that we don’t have time for.

  Less than a minute later, Harrison and I have Cameron sitting in the chair in the middle of the living room with his hands secured behind his back, as well as attached to the chair. We also attach each ankle to a chair leg, making it impossible for him to stand. Emmy comes in with my phone, as well as the tube of Deep Heat from the medicine cabinet that I’d asked her for, and as I take the cap off and wave the tube under Cameron’s nose, the strong-smelling ointment brings him to with a gasp.

  He instantly struggles against his restraints, straining and knifing against them, then turns a seething glare up at me as I stand in front of him, Harrison to my right and Emmy to my left. ‘What the fuck?’ he roars, so enraged that spittle sprays from his lips, the blood from his nose running all the way down to his chin.

  ‘So you’re the one,’ I mutter, my hands flexing as I fight the urge to start pounding him in the face again.

  ‘The one what?’ he snarls.

  I cross my arms over my chest, surprised by how calm I sound as I say, ‘The one who’s been trying to kill me.’

  ‘Fuck you, Jase.’ He turns his head, trying to wipe his nose with his shoulder, and gives a quiet laugh. ‘Shit, I’m sure there are lots of people in this world who would like to see you dead.’

  ‘Maybe so, Cam. Maybe so. But they didn’t just get caught breaking into the flat I’m staying in with a fucking knife. Did they?’

  ‘This was just a prank,’ he sneers, glaring up at me again. ‘No one will believe you.’

  ‘Aw, Cam,’ I say with a sad sigh, shaking my head at him. ‘You’re not thinking too clearly right now, are you, buddy? Because J.J. and Emmy here are both credible witnesses. And I’ve hidden cameras all over this room that the security team doesn’t even know about.’

  He pales at the lie about the cameras, and I decide to let him stew on that for a moment while I try the security team on my phone, but there’s no answer. And when I call down to the front desk, and the night doorman explains that the four guards told him they were no longer needed just before midnight, I don’t even have to ask my cousin how he got past them.

  ‘So you paid the guards off,’ I murmur, giving Emmy a pointed look as I hand her the phone, then slide my gaze back over to Cam. ‘Clever. Did you also bribe the management for a key?’

  ‘I didn’t pay anyone,’ he snarls, getting a weird look in his brown eyes. ‘And you’re so fucking stupid. I mean, Jesus, did it never occur to you that you’re staying in the same exact building Oliver’s flat is in? This is where his little pregnant tramp works. He’s always bragging about how she’s given him keys to all the luxury flats, and they meet in them to fuck when the residents are away. And seeing as how you and your precious Martin are hardly ever here, I’m betting this was one of their favorites.’ A gritty laugh spills from his lips as he says, ‘Yeah, I’m betting they’ve screwed on just about every surface in this place.’

  Well, hell. I shove the shit news about Grace aside, since the last thing I want to do is have to get a pregnant nineteen-year-old girl fired, and focus on the first thing this tosser said. ‘If you didn’t pay the guards off, then who did? And how did you even know I was here?’

  ‘What?’ he scoffs, puffing up his chest. ‘You think you’re the only smart one in the family? We’ve had a bug planted in Martin’s office since you went running after your American bitch. We’ve known every move you were making, and you never even had a clue.’

  I’m wondering if he even realizes he’s slipped into saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’, when he adds, ‘Caroline had to blow one of the security guards at your building before he’d give us access to Martin’s office, since the fool wouldn’t do it for just the money. But she felt it was worth it.’

  Fucking Caroline, I think, not at all surprised, given the suspicions we already had. And I have no doubt that she’s the mastermind behind all this shit. I just don’t understand why Cameron is so willing to be her little lapdog. ‘What happened to you, Cam? Why are you slumming around for Caro, doing her dirty work? You’re a smart guy. Is she really that good in the sack that you’d throw your life away for her?’

  He flinches, and there’s a panicked look starting to spill over his mottled face, gleaming wildly in his eyes. He didn’t mean to let her name slip, and now that it has, he’s shitting himself.

  Rubbing one hand across my jaw, I keep my tone deliberately mellow as I say, ‘I’ve known something wasn’t right between the two of you for a long time. I just didn’t care enough to look into it. I mean, Alistair has his younger mistresses all over London, and I get that you’re in on that too. So are you spying on him for Caroline? Is that why you hang out with him so often?’

  ‘No,’ he mutters. ‘I understand Alistair.’

  ‘Well, what’s not to understand?’ I laugh. ‘Booze and women, that’s his driving force.’

  He shoots me a smarmy, blood-drenched smile. ‘Maybe it’s mine too.’

  I cock my head and let another low laugh fall from my lips. ‘And yet here you are, doing Caro’s dirty work for her. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, Cam, because even if you’re that hot to keep nailing her, it’s not like it’ll last. Shit, all you need to do is look in a mirror to know that you’re getting way too old for her tastes.’

  He flinches again – then quickly shakes it off and snarls, ‘You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Jase.’

  ‘Yeah?’ I ask with a lift of my brows, sensing that I’m getting close to pushing the bastard over the edge, so he’ll start spilling his guts. And since the phone that’s being held casually in Emmy’s hand has been recording every word of this conversation since I ended the call with the doorman, we’ll have proof of his confession. ‘Then I’m guessing you don’t know about all her shiny nineteen- and twenty-year-olds in London, do you? The ones she pays to fuck her, sometimes two and three at a time?’

  ‘You don’t know anything!’ he shouts, straining violently against the ties again, a vein popping in his temple and the cords of sinew in his neck so pronounced it looks like he’s about to have a seizure. ‘And you sure as shit don’t know Caroline! She’ll never be done with me. I was her boy!’ he roars, before making this godawful whimpering sound and then bursting into tears. Head down and voice cracking, he whispers, ‘Only . . . only hers. All hers. Shiny and new. Shiny and new. Shiny and new.’

  What. The. Fuck?

  I hear Emmy gasp, but can’t turn my head to look at her. I’m too in shock, feeling like something slimy has just been thrown in my face, and I break out in a cold sweat, hyperaware of the single drop that starts to slide down the back of my neck.

  ‘Jase,’ my grandfather murmurs, his voice sounding like it came from far away, and I shake my head for him to be quiet, my gut churning. Cameron’s either losing it, or putting on one hell of an act, and a huge part of me just wants him to shut up so I don’t have to hear what’s coming. But there’s another part that knows if it’s true, then I have to hear it, so I’ll know exactly what that psychotic bitch is truly capable of, and can take her sorry arse down.

  I work my jaw a few times, then say, ‘You think she’s going to visit you in prison, Cam? That you’ll mean anything to her at all once you’re gone?’

  His head jerks up, and there’s nothing but raw hatred and fear in his eyes as he shouts, ‘She loves me!’

  I shake my head again as I take a step closer to him. ‘No, she’s setting you up.’

  ‘You don’t understand! She didn’t leave me any choice!’

  ‘Have you been in on this with her from the beginning?’ I demand, lowering my hands to my sides. ‘Did you hire the shitheads who tried to kill me in San Diego?’

  ‘I don’t know anything about San Diego,’ he mutters, sweat and blood flying as he shakes his head. ‘You were in a car crash, that’s all.’

  ‘Bullshit,’ I growl. ‘Was it you? Or is Caroline the one who contracted those men to kill me and make it look like an accident?’

  He grinds his jaw and refuses to answer, looking away from me.

  ‘You either answer the question or I’m calling the cops, Cam. And you don’t want that. So tell me the truth. Was it Caroline? Or was it you?’

  ‘Fuck you!’ he snarls.

  ‘Is she blackmailing you?’ I ask, sensing that he’s about to break. ‘What dirt does she have on you that’s worth trying to commit murder for? Worth spending the rest of your damn life behind bars for?’

  ‘It’s none of your fucking business!’

  ‘Emmy, baby, hand me the phone.’

  ‘No!’ he shouts up at me, his face so red it’s making his eyes look unworldly. ‘I . . . Don’t! Please. Don’t call them.’

  ‘Sorry, Cam. I can’t help you if you won’t talk.’

  ‘She’ll tell everyone!’ he bellows, and I’m surprised we haven’t had neighbors knocking on the door by now. Hell, from the way he’s struggling, I’m surprised he hasn’t broken the bloody chair. ‘All of it,’ he scrapes out, his chest heaving. ‘She’ll show them the photos. Sell them to all the papers. And then they’ll all laugh at me. Every one of those cocksucking bastards will laugh, like I’m some kind of joke.’

  ‘What photos?’

  He shudders at my question, and it’s like a chill has just spread through the room. The look in his eyes is like staring into the face of fear itself, and I hear Emmy make a low noise, as if she’s trying to hold back a sob. J.J. moves behind me and puts his arm around her shoulders, the three of us horrified by what we’re watching unfold.

  Cam starts rocking back and forth. ‘She’ll tell Mummy lies about me,’ he forces through his clenched teeth, the tendons in his throat looking ready to snap. Then he sucks in a sharp breath and whimpers again, his chin to his chest as he whispers, ‘And Mummy will be mad . . . mad . . . mad.’

  ‘What the hell did she do to you?’ I croak, crossing my arms back over my chest and rubbing my palm over my mouth.

  He doesn’t lift his head as he whispers, ‘Caro says I can’t tell, or she’ll do things to them too.’

  My head jerks back like I’ve just been clipped on the chin. ‘Do things to whom?’

  ‘Jase and Olly. She said I have to be the man of the family, because Alistair’s just a worthless shit. That I have to be her little man, and make her feel good, or they’ll be next.’

  Oh, fuck no. No goddamn fucking way.

  I don’t know if I whisper the words out loud, or if they’re only in my head. But Cam’s words are burning in my ears like acid, and I have to suck down a deep breath to keep from puking on the floor.

  He’s sobbing now, and as I turn my head to look back at Emmy, I see that her eyes are glistening with tears too. They’re tracking down her cheeks like tiny rivers, and even J.J. looks wrecked.

  Looking back at Cam, I heave in another deep breath, and know what I have to do.

  I haven’t taken more than two steps when my grandfather’s rough voice cuts over Cameron’s crying, making me pause. ‘Jase, be careful.’

  I give him a sharp nod, and then keep going, until I’m kneeling down in front of my cousin’s vibrating body. ‘Cam, if you’re still listening, I want you to know something. She’s not going to get away with it, so stop worrying about whatever she’s threatened you with. I won’t let her hurt you anymore. Not ever again, okay? Whatever it takes, I’m going to take her down.’

  His head wobbles up, and the man sitting there in the chair doesn’t even look like someone I know. It’s like Cam’s not even in there, hiding behind those tear-wrecked eyes. Instead, this is a man who’s finally broken free of a terrible secret that’s been weighing him down for decades – one that’s twisted and warped his entire life – and as he tries to blink the tears from his eyes, he says, ‘Don’t. Don’t tell . . . Olly.’

  I jerk my chin back, feeling like I’ve just been landed another blow.

  ‘Don’t . . . Please, don’t call Olly. I don’t want him to know. About any of it.’

  ‘I won’t. I won’t call him.’

  ‘Okay,’ he breathes, slumping against the back of the chair, tears still streaking from the corners of his eyes as he squeezes them shut. ‘She always said that you hated me. That you told her you hated me and wanted me to die.’

  I have to swallow twice against the lump in my throat before I can say, ‘She lied, Cam. She fucking lied to you.’

  ‘Yeah,’ he sighs, finally passing out from exhaustion, and I fall back on my arse, hanging my head in my hands, and promise myself that whatever it takes, I’m going to find a way to make Caroline Beckett pay.

  Chapter Six

  Friday morning

  EMMY

  After a simple breakfast of toast and coffee, we leave the flat not long after Jase’s longtime friend Callan Hathaway arrives, and head to London.

  With Harrison’s help, Jase had managed to get Cameron cleaned up after his breakdown, and then he let the guy stretch out on one sofa, while he kept watch over him the entire night from the other one, reassuring Cam that he was safe whenever his cousin would wake in a panic, before slipping back into an uneasy slumber. I know, because I stayed up with Jase, too worried about him to crawl back into bed and sleep. But I hadn’t wanted to make Cameron any more upset than he already was, so I stayed in the dining room and fiddled around on my laptop, making so many cups of coffee for me and Jase that I eventually lost count of how many we’d had.

  The two cousins didn’t talk much during the night, but I do know that Cameron was able to tell Jase that he has no idea why Caroline is so fixated on keeping the two of us from being together, to the point that she’s willing to have Jase killed to keep it from happening. He said she rants about it constantly, claiming I’m going to destroy her entire life.

  It doesn’t make any freaking sense. But by tomorrow night, Jase is hoping to finally have some answers. And then we’ll let justice do its thing, and get on with building our new life together, while she spends the rest of her miserable life behind bars. It’s better than what the evil woman deserves, but at least she’ll be someplace where she can no longer cause so much damage.

  Callan knocked on the door just after nine, and Jase took him into the kitchen to give him a more in-depth briefing on what had happened, while Harrison stayed with Cameron, who was still sleeping on the sofa, and I finished getting ready.

  The three of us – me, Jase, and his grandfather – had a brief discussion last night, after Cameron had fallen asleep, and Harrison and I both agreed with Jase that it would be wrong at this point to press charges. Jase has an incredible heart, and despite all the shitty things that Cameron has done to him over the years, all he cares about now is getting help for his cousin. So after our talk, he started quietly making calls, and even though it was the middle of the night, he was able to get results. I think it has to do a bit with his money, but mostly with the fact that he’s so respected by those who know him. And in Callan’s case, the fact that they’ve been friends for so long, and have always had each other’s backs.

  Callan was the first call that Jase had made, and it turned out that his friend, who owns his own private security firm and is a highly trained bodyguard, was in Paris, having just finished up with a conference there. All Jase had to do was tell him that he needed his help, because there was no one else he could trust, and Callan said he’d be on a plane first thing in the morning.

  The second call had been to a doctor that Jase knew through some mutual friends, and he was able to secure a place for Cameron at one of the most renowned mental health facilities in Europe. This afternoon, Callan will personally escort Cameron there, via a private jet, and then head back home to New York. And since Harrison collected Cam’s bag, which thankfully contained his passport, from Oliver’s flat, there won’t be any issues with him traveling out of the country.

  Then Jase had called Martin, alerting him to the fact that his office was bugged, and instructing him to contact the head of security at the building about the guard who had given Cameron and Caroline illegal access in exchange for money and sexual favors.

  His last call had been to the owner of the private security agency whose guards were meant to have been protecting us last night. Jase informed the owner of the breach, as well as the fact that he’ll be reporting them for misconduct to the appropriate regulatory commissions. The owner was outraged about what had happened and deeply apologetic, claiming he would launch a full internal investigation. He also offered to send new guards for free, but Jase refused. He’d already made arrangements with Callan’s company, Hathaway Security, though the new security team won’t arrive until tomorrow morning, since they’re flying over from the States. The fact that they’re based outside the UK is the only reason Jase hadn’t gone with them originally, but he said he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.