I want to tell her that if Camile had been in my bed overnight, she wouldn’t have been wearing a stitch, but somehow, I manage to keep my mouth shut.
Why did Camile take my shirt, though? Is it innocent, or did she want something of mine to sleep in? I’d worn the t-shirt a few nights before, so it probably had my aftershave on it, and she could have taken a totally clean one, but she chose that. Surely, it means something. Even though I know I’m not allowed to feel this way, I can’t help the thud of pleasure deep in my chest.
“Nothing has happened between us.” It’s not exactly a lie… is it?
“But you want it to, don’t you? You want to hook up with my friend. What is there, a twenty-year age gap? She could be your fucking daughter.”
“Watch your mouth, Vani.You’restill my damn daughter. When did you get to have such a foul mouth?”
Her laugh is bitter. “Living around you, and now you’re lusting after my friend.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Vani.” I don’t answer the question she posed earlier and hope she will drop this.
“How long has this been going on? Is she the reason you decided to move up here?” She stops and stares. “It had nothing to do with wanting to be closer to me, and everything to do with being closer to her!”
Vani turns and points at Camile, who is standing nearby, her mouth open and face pale.
Christ, Vani has clearly inherited her mother’s temper. In a way, I’m proud of her being so fiery, but she’s also way off base and spiraling.
“Of course it wasn’t,” I tell her. “I hadn’t met the girl when we came to see you to tell you about the possible move.”
And that’s the truth. Camile isn’t the reason I split my MC in two and moved half of them here. We were already involved in helping the club here that was struggling, and I’d been after a change for some time. Ever since I lost Vani’s mom, I’d wanted something different.
Vani rounds on Camile. “You’re supposed to be my friend, Camile! My mom is dead, and you’re going after my dad? How would you feel if I’d been fucking your dad? Oh, wait, I couldn’t do that cause he’s dead.”
The room goes deadly silent, and Camile jerks back as though Vani has slapped her.
I can’t speak because if I do, I might say something I regret to my daughter.
“Vani, that was a low blow,” Saint warns her quietly.
“You think she doesn’t deserve it? What kind of a person goes creeping after her friend’s dad? I can’t even look at the pair of you.”
Zane signs something at Vani, I’m not sure what, but her cheeks turn pink. I need to try to rein in my temper because I’m about to fucking lose it with my daughter.
I grit my teeth and steady my voice. “Stop it right now, Vani. I haven’t had sex with Camile. You are blowing this out of all proportion.”
“Don’t gaslight me.”
I look over to where the Vipers are watching thiswhole scene go down, wondering if they’ll get Vani the hell out of here so she’ll calm down. I can tell they want to step in, but they’re on my territory. Unless I did something to physically hurt Vani, which I would never do, they won’t interrupt her anger at me. Her anger at Camile, yes, but me? No way. This is between me and her.
“I’m not gaslighting you.”
She throws up both hands. “And what about Mom? Do you just not love her anymore? Are you going to replace her with Camile? Is Camile going to be my stepmom?” The disbelief and hysteria make her voice rise higher with every word.
“It’s been years since we lost your mom, and I miss her every day, but if I wanted a relationship with someone else—” I deliberately lock eyes with Camile, who looks terrified and glances away— “it wouldn’t be any of your business. Got it?”
I think of the things I’ve done with Camile in my mind, dirty, shameful things. I should have kept my distance, but instead the lure of her pulled me in, over and over. I remember how I’ve climaxed over her, fantasized about her, inhaled her scent and run my tongue up her skin.
Now I’m lying to my daughter.
Am I going to lose her over this? Am I going to lose both of them? Vani is being cruel, and I didn’t raise her that way, but it comes from hurt, because she loves her mom so much, and seeing me with someone new would be a betrayal in her eyes. I could get her to see sense with time, but her friend? A girl half my age? That’s never going to fly with Vani. It will destroy us.
Shit. I need to stay the hell away from Camile. I need to figure out a way to make her someone else’s problem.
“Fuck you, Dad,” Vani spits through her tears.
Her words are ice down my spine. She’s never spoken to me like this before. I could shout, and rage, tell her to go the fuck home and calm down, but that would push her away even more. I already lost her mom; I can’t lose her.
