Chapter 220: And You Are A Kiss Ass
Chapter 220: And You Are A Kiss Ass
Camilla
"I need to be in quad seven…."
"For the big presentation, I know." Stella interrupted me, righting herself as she turned her body toward me.
I let her squeeze my hand in the comfort she wanted to offer me but I quickly slipped away as I stood full, tying up my shoes and fixing the collar of my shirt. It was a presentation my father needed me there for the sole reason of showing what a great and happy family we were and it had very quickly become my least favorite pastime.
Festus Davis, the half brother who took the hint that I wanted nothing to do with him within a week of meeting each other. His mother, the woman who smiled way too much at me as though she could just sense the restlessness winding inside of my stomach. They may have been my father's family but they weren't mine. My family was stripped away from me and then ruined my chances of ever wanting them back.
"That is not why you are distracted, though." Stella cut off my thoughts when I suddenly felt her at my back, respecting my space but not understanding how much I didn't want her words either. It was the truths that hurts so fucking much.
"My father…."
"Domenico, Camilla." She said the one name I didn't want to hear right now.
"This is about the possibility of him being dead because that means you will never get to see them again."
Them, not him, but I don't want to see them again. I couldn't want that because if I did, I don't think I would be able to survive it.
"He is not dead." I shook my head, slipping on my jacket before walking even farther away from her touch.
"This is just their plan to lure these people in so they can annihilate them all at the time and place of their choosing."
It didn't matter how real the picture looked, this was just Adriano's way of gaining control of a situation he had no control over.
"I know you want to believe that but what if he is?"
"Then, he is dead, Stella." I replied, raising my voice just a little and hoping to mask the shakiness of my words.
"If Domenico Jaxson is truly dead, then that is it. Nothing I can say or do will change it."
With that, I left, closing the door behind me and only letting myself feel a shred of guilt for the way I spoke to her when I knew she was just trying to care. Unfortunately for the both of us, I wasn't capable of much of that, not anymore.
*****
"You are late," Festus muttered as he held the elevator door for me, letting it go once I was inside and hitting the button that would take us down the front of quadrant seven.
When my father had something big and new that needed to be discussed, this was the process that happened. The five of us, myself, Mabel, Festus, Jacob and Louise stood in a line right behind a slick black podium where Lucas Brown, the leader of The Safe word, was front and center, explaining how we were going to change the world. It was the only place in this hallway that could fit all five thousand of us in a single space, people gathering around just to hear what new things were occuring. Today, I had no doubt who and what the meeting was about.
"And you are a kiss ass." I snapped back, bending down to roll the cuffs of my pants for the sole reason because my father thinks it makes me look too improper for these important events.
In my opinion, having the white material damn near dragging with each step is worse.
"And you are sad about a dead man who never even loved you in the first place." He smirked just as the elevator doors opened to the much too large platform, walking out with myself still bent close to the ground.
If it weren't for the white-hot rage that bailed within every ounce of my blood, I probably would have felt that sting straight in my heart. Unfortunately for him, my body was only capable of feeling the former right now. My eyes locked on the loose cut of his dress pants, I felt no regrets as I reached out just before he got top far away, grabbing on and yanking as he stumbled out his step in front of everybody in the room.
Of course, nobody in the audience would give a shit despite Mabel's disappointed hand slowly swiping over my face but out of everyone in this place. It was her that I hated the most. Seeing Festus's fragile arrogant shatter just that small amount made it worth almost as much as it would be with my stepfather in his place. I guess he should have rolled the cuffs.
Feeling just ever so slightly better as I rose from the carpet floor, I leveled my shoulders back, striding straight past the red eared man whose ego would one day drine him to the ground.
"Camilla." My father wore a strained smile but believable enough to the gathering crowds in the wide open space below us. We were essential on a really big balcony with a podium and a microphone.
My only acknowledgement was a nod of my head, my jaw clenching against my will at the fact of where my father was gesturing me to. It was almost worse than being stuck with Mabel. Louise held out a hand at her waist to gesture my spot beside her, Jacob taking his place at my right and then Marble and Festus.
We all had our own space but Louise was inching gradually closer to me as my father turned on his microphone, making some light hearted statement to easily get everyone's attention from below. The large powerpoint screen behind us flickered to life as the hidden remote in his hand told it to, opening up to the statistics of last month's spending and all this other crap that threatened to make me fall asleep.
My father had everyone's eyes and ears though, I couldn't deny the fact that he was the admirable leader everyone here saw but it was the appearance and force proximity u couldn't handle.
"Camilla?" Lousie called in a hushed tone to grab my attention but I have been aware of every breath she has taken since I took my place beside her.
"Yes?" I hummed, angling my head just a little in her direction to show I was somewhat listening. She was taller than me but I refused to look up at her until I absolutely had to. I couldn't stand her eyes.
"You are not going to like what Lucas is about to say, but if you want any chance of getting out of here, you need to stay calm."
Her words were not more than a mere whisper in my ear but I heard them all the same. I couldn't resist as my eyes met hers but the smile across her face was a believable and formidable as always. Glancing back at the screen, I held a tight leash around my emotions at the sight of a map with a solid red path drawn along it. I wasn't surprised when I saw the streets of Kumon City.
"Festus will notice if you fidgeted, don't touch your hip and don't narrow your eyes."
The bare skin of my left hip, a place of comfort even despite the hate I carry for Adriano, Lousie's son. Once again, I listened but I didn't know what her motive behind this was. What did she have planned and why was she only now going against what my father wants?
"I have waited years for this opportunity to come, some of you even longer." I finally key in on what my father was saying, the map still bright and expanded over the projection.
"Just over a year ago, the first love of my life was murdered brutally by the same man who just sent three of our people in a box to Nick Myers's house."
My entire body stiffened at that, refusing to look at the scream that had people gasping below me. Nick was one of our runners that has been missing for the last multiple days. My father continued on to say that fact hasn't changed but it was the Jaxson family that sent three bodies from Nick's family home where his mother had a damn near heart attack before calling the police. Those bodies were a statement dropped in Phoenix. They were getting close and I suddenly understood why Lousie had told me to rein my reactions in.
"It is no secret about what is going on in the news right now." My father said as he flicked to the next slide, a compilation of news articles appearing with Domenico's face painted across them all.
The words billionaire, young, dead and Domenico Jaxson were the main headers, feeling thousands of eyes fall upon me while I did everything in my power to maintain my composure.
"I am sure we all thought the same thing, this could be fake but we already have a plan that will change our futures for the better. The time we have all been waiting for has finally come. The time we have been waiting is now."
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