Derek

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration as I poured over the communication files that Will brought me earlier this evening. It was a running record of all the calls and texts of everyone who had access to the account that got busted last week. So far, nothing was amiss. Everything checked out, the same way it did with every account we had. I couldn't find where the hole was, and it was pissing me off and costing me a hell of a lot of money.

I'd been planning to get everything settled before this thing with Camryn tomorrow, but it was close to 11PM and I was still at the office, grasping at straws. I'd be out of commission, at least for a few days with her, and each day we weren't opening new accounts, I was out millions. That meant my men were too, and they depended on this money to support their families. I had to figure something out, and fast.

I was about ready to call it a night and head upstairs when I heard the ding of an elevator. That was really odd for this time of night. Everyone else had left hours ago and I should have been alone. I was just tired and delirious enough to be concerned about it, so I grabbed my gun out of my desk drawer and slowly crept towards the door to the hallway, cracking it open.

The hallway was pretty much dark, but I could see the light in the back elevator and noticed the doors closing with somebody inside. Now I was really curious, so I took the stairs and tried to beat the elevator to the next floor.

When the elevator opened, I didn't see an intruder or any type of threat. It was Camryn and Riley. What the fuck?

Camryn was caught just as off guard as I was, and opened her mouth to speak, but Riley beat her to it.

"Derek!!" she grinned, jumping out of her mom's arms and rushing towards me.

"Well, hello!" I smiled, bending down and giving her a high five. "What are you doing here?"

I glanced up at Camryn, enraged at the swollen bruise that was forming on her cheek. She was visibly shaken, and I knew there had to have been some kind of altercation with Robby. That bastard had laid his hands on her again.

"Mommy said we're having a sleepover here!" Riley blurted out, a big grin on her face.

"A sleepover, huh?" I chuckled. "That sounds like fun! You want to know my favorite part of a sleepover?"

"What?" she asked.

I put my hand to her cheek and cupped it around her ear as if I was telling her a secret. "Popcorn."

"You have popcorn?" Her eyes widened.

I nodded. "What do you think? Could your sleepover use some popcorn?"

"Derek, you don't have to..." Camryn started, putting her hand on Riley's shoulder.

"Yes!" Riley cheered excitedly before Camryn could stop her.

"Riley, it's way past your bedtime. We talked about this, remember?" Camryn let out an exhausted, defeated sigh.

"Mommy..." Riley whined, throwing her head back dramatically.

"I'll tell you what, why don't you two go get settled inside, and I'll get the popcorn and bring it to you once you're in bed?" I glanced up at Camryn. "Compromise?"

"Sure." Camryn forced a small smile, not up for any kind of fight. I was desperate to speak to her alone.

Riley nodded and skipped into the apartment. When she was out of earshot, Camryn turned to me.

"Derek, I'm sorry. I didn't think..." She bit her swollen lip nervously. "What are you still doing here?"

"I have a penthouse one floor above this that I use when I'm working late. And I own the building. I think a better question is what you're doing here and why you have fresh bruises on your face?"

Her eyes darted away from me. "I'm sorry. We had to get out. I didn't have a choice, and I didn't mean to mess up anything."

I let out a sharp laugh. "Camryn, you didn't mess anything up. I'm glad you're here and you're safe. That's why I gave you the key, remember? Why don't you get Riley settled and then you and I can talk?"

She nodded, doing her best to maintain her composure. Her strength was always incredible to me. I had seen women in her position let the fear consume them, but I could tell she was doing everything she could to keep that from happening.

Camryn went inside the apartment and I headed down to the office kitchen, grabbing a bag of popcorn and tossing it into the microwave for Riley. It was going to be a long few days for the both of them and I wanted to do whatever I could to ease that. Tonight, it would be popcorn for Riley, and maybe something a little stronger for her mother.

I let myself in and made my way down the hall to where I could hear their voices and giggles. Camryn seemed to have things settled. I found her in one of the bedrooms, tucking Riley into the bed. How was it I was both relieved and angered that they were here? Relieved because they were safe, and I could see it with my own eyes and not have to wonder anymore. But angered because Robby couldn't even take care of the most beautiful and pure thing in his life. Not even for just a few days.

"Popcorn!" Riley cheered when she saw me standing at the door.

"You can have some, but you have to go promise to go right to sleep after, okay?"

Riley nodded her head in agreement.

"And you're going to have to brush your teeth again." Camryn smirked, tilting her head to the side.

"Okay, mommy." Riley grinned, taking the bowl from me. Camryn read her a book while she ate a few tiny handfuls, fighting off her yawns and rubbing at her exhausted eyes. Finally, she'd had enough and handed me back the bowl.

"Thanks, Derek. This is the best sleepover ever." She gave me a sleepy smile and curled up into her mother's arms, ready to pass out for the night.

"I'm glad you like it, Riley. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" I ruffled her hair a little.

She nodded with a grin.

"I'm going to go make sure I locked everything up at the office and I'll come back and we can talk."

Camryn gave me an appreciative nod and turned back to Riley. "Alright, sweetie, let's go brush your teeth."

I shut everything off in my office and made sure I locked the doors before heading back upstairs, anxious to talk to Camryn and hear what had happened.

It had to have been extreme, otherwise she wouldn't have come here, and I needed to know what exactly we were dealing with. Was he already looking for them? Could he have followed them here? If that was the case, I needed to get in touch with Will and go straight to Plan B. Plan B was much messier and much more direct. Plan B was killing the son of a bitch, and I had to admit that was looking better and better as time went on. If he wasn't the damn senator's son, it would have been easier, but taking out someone in the spotlight was more brazen than I liked to operate. If he knew I was helping Camryn, and that she and Riley were here, I might not have much of a choice.

The apartment was quiet when I got back upstairs. There were a few lights on and I could feel a breeze blowing through. The patio door at the back of the kitchen was open and I could see Camryn's silhouette leaning against the railing. Her hair was blowing gently in the wind, her hand gently shaking as she draped it over the bar.

Before joining her, I made us both a cup of hot tea and poured a little whiskey into them. I had a feeling we were both going to need it as she told her story.

She jumped slightly at the noise of me shutting the door behind her, but didn't look back. I joined her at the railing, leaning against it and handing her the steaming cup of tea.

"Thank you." Camryn pressed her lips into a thin smile and then took a sip. She coughed, covering her mouth with a small laugh.

"Too hot?" I arched my eyebrow at her.

She bit her lip with a soft giggle. "You put whiskey in hot tea?."

"You're shaking." I nodded towards her hands. "I thought it might help. Sorry, I'm not really good at this emotional stuff—that's usually Cole's department." I chuckled, shaking my head.

"It's great, thank you." She smiled, but then her eyes got dark, teeth sinking into her lower lip, trying to keep her emotions at bay. "Have I ruined everything?"

"Camryn, I told you, you haven't ruined anything. But I need to know what happened." I tried to say as gently as possible. "I need to know what we're dealing with. Can you tell me what happened tonight?"

She swallowed the growing lump in her throat and stared back out into the darkness. "I thought he was working a long shift, and that when he left this morning, I was done with this bullshit." She wiped a tear off of her cheek. "When Riley and I came home, he was there, and he was drunk. And I should have just stayed away, but I sent Riley up to her room and I went into the living room to talk to him. To find out what was going on."

I clenched my jaw in anticipation.

"He got suspended at work. Someone made a complaint about an arrest he made. He was too rough, if you can imagine that." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I don't even remember how it all transpired. I don't know if I spoke first or if he did, but soon I felt his fist on my cheek. And then he was on top of me..." She gulped, biting her shaking lip. "He wanted to have sex, but I just... I couldn't, Derek. I couldn't make myself spend another second pretending like..." She still desperately clung to the shred of composure she had left.

"Anyway, I kneed him and I tried to run upstairs, but he got to me first. And he threw me to the ground by my hair and the next thing I knew, I was... I was staring down the barrel of his gun. And he... he asked me if I was feeling lucky." The second the words were out of her mouth, Camryn broke with emotion. Heavy tears flowing freely down her cheeks, her breath so shallow she could hardly speak.

"Hey." I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her into my chest. "It's okay. You're safe now."

She didn't respond, just let me hold her in my arms as she cried for several minutes. I'd never held a woman quite like this before. I'd been with plenty of women in my lifetime and held them in my arms as we'd had sex, but never in this way. This simple, pur, intimate way.

It felt good, which automatically triggered a terrible feeling inside of me. Camryn was reeling, she was hurting, and I was taking in pleasure in that? It was sick and twisted and in no way did I want to take advantage of her. She was fragile, so whatever feelings of attachment I was developing towards her needed to be squashed.

I let her cry in my arms until out seemed like she had no tears left. When she was finally calm, I pulled away and led her over to the table where we both sat down. She took another sip of the tea, this time without a cringe as the whiskey went down. "What made him stop?"

She shrugged. "I honestly don't know. He said he was going to the bar, and I went upstairs and got Riley and our things and I came here. Well, I went to the park first. I parked my car just like we'd planned and then I called a cab."

"Why didn't you go out to the van and tell my men?" I asked in confusion.

"I don't know. I was in such a panic that I wasn't thinking straight. I just had to get away from there." She bit her lip, starting to become hysterical again.

"Camryn, stop." I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. "You did great. All that matters is that you guys are safe. We can fix the rest of it."

"Are you sure?" She stuttered.

"I'm positive. I'll get eyes on him now to be sure he didn't follow you here, and then we'll figure out what to do next. You did great, really." I reassured her, hoping she'd take my words to heart.

Of course, she wasn't thinking straight. Her husband had held a gun to her head while her daughter was upstairs. It was a miracle she had had the peace of mind to get them here at all. "I think you need to get some rest, though. Would it make you feel better if I stayed in your apartment tonight? On the couch?"

Camryn thought for a second, but then shook her head. "No, you don't need to do that. We're fine. I'm sorry I got so worked up, I just..."

"There's no need to be sorry. I'm just upstairs, if you need anything at all. Please call me if you need help."

She nodded. "Thank you, Derek. I can't ever say it enough."

I smiled, squeezing her hand one last time. "Goodnight, Camryn."

I let her apartment and immediately got on the phone with Will. We needed to salvage what was left of our plan. It was a stroke of genius for her to get the car to the park, and I was still amazed she'd been able to do that. It would take some finagling, but maybe we could still pull this thing off.

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***If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence of any kind, please reach out to someone in your community. In the US, that number is 1-800-799-7233**