We drive back to Toronto in the dark. Cameron doesn’t say a word to me as the miles fly by, and in the quiet, I reflect on the conversation we had today on the boat.

I should be happy. After nine years of wondering why Cameron never reached out to me, I now know the truth. Joseph Drake’s lies and manipulation had separated us for almost a decade.

Yet my heart is heavy, and not just because of the horrible news about Emily. On the boat, Cameron and I didn’t talk about the future. He didn’t ask me to stay in Toronto. When he heard my father was getting out of prison, he didn’t respond by reassuring me that we’d solve the problem together.

I’ve been a fool this week. I’ve let my hopes cloud my judgment. I knew that letting Cameron back into my life would be dangerous to my heart, and I slept with him anyway.

Worst of all, I fell in love with him once again.

“I didn’t see Ryder back at the cottage,” I say, breaking the silence that has stretched on for miles. “Did Zoe and he leave for Toronto as well?”

“Does it matter?” His voice is tinged with bitterness. “I hate that cottage. The worst memories of my life are in that place. If it were up to me, I’d raze it to the ground and never look back.”

My heart stops. I always knew that my time with Cameron was fleeting. I didn’t realize it could end tonight. “You don’t want to buy the cottage anymore?”

His mouth twists into a grimace. “I never wanted the cottage for myself. Just for Aunt Emily. And now…” His voice trails off.  “It might not be an issue anymore.”

Despite my best intentions to protect myself, the anguish in his voice almost rips me apart. “She’ll make it, Cam.” I cover his hand with mine. “She has the best doctors tending to her.”

“Anything can happen, Maddie,” he replies harshly. His jaw sets in a resolute line. “I have to be prepared for the worst.”

My heart breaks for him. “Don’t do this to yourself, Cam. Please.”

“My mother died of a heart attack,” he continues, lost in his musing. “When she was only forty.” He lapses back into a brooding silence, and I don’t know the right words to help, to pull him out of this dark place that he’s fallen into.

“I’ll drop you off at the house.”

“You don’t have to,” I reply. “I can take a cab from St. Michael’s.”

He shakes his head. “Please, Maddie,” he says quietly. “I don’t want to worry about you tonight. I just need to know you’re safe.”

“Okay.” Tomorrow, I can begin to pull the pieces of my life back together and figure out how to mend a broken heart. Tonight, Cam’s in pain and I’ll do anything to make him feel better.

It’s too quiet at Cameron’s wood and glass home. I swim laps in the swimming pool, under the soft floodlights that illuminate the garden. Even though the exercise leaves me exhausted, it doesn’t quell the turmoil in my mind.

Emily might be dying. Cameron and I are ending. It all seems too bleak to contemplate.

Again and again, I drive my drained body until my limbs tremble and my muscles scream with pain. Finally, when it gets to the point when I can’t take anymore, I pull myself wearily out of the water, towel off and make my way upstairs.

Cameron’s sea-green master bedroom mocks me. The idea of falling asleep on his king-size bed, and waking up to find myself snuggled in his arms… I’m so tempted by the fantasy.

But it’s not real.

Don’t make things awkward, Maddie. You don’t need Cameron to openly reject you to get the message that he’s not interested in anything long-term.

I walk past Cameron’s bedroom, and make my way to one of his guest bedrooms. I expect to toss and turn, but within an instant of my head hitting the pillow, I’m fast asleep.

When I wake up, Cameron’s standing in the doorway. I blink the sleep out my eyes and turn on the lamp at my side. “What time is it?” I ask, my throat dry and scratchy.

“Four.”

He doesn’t move. He doesn’t say anything else. Dread clutches at my heart. “Emily? Is she okay?”

He nods. “For the moment. The next twenty-four hours are going to be crucial, but the doctors think she’s over the worst.” He runs his hand through his hair. “You weren’t in my bedroom. I thought you’d left.”

I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t know how to respond to the hurt in his voice. I sit up in the bed, forgetting I’d fallen asleep naked. The sheet falls to my waist, exposing my breasts to his gaze.

“Should I leave you alone, Maddie?” he asks me.

Call me foolish, call me selfish, call me stupid. But if things are going to end between us, then I want him one last time. I want to etch the memory of him in my soul.

“No.” I lift my eyes to meet his. “Stay with me, Cameron.”

He moves to me, intently and forcefully, unzipping his jeans and pulling his t-shirt over his head. I drink in the sight of him, his chiseled body, his dark hair, his blue eyes. “Like what you see, Maddie?”

I kick my blanket off. Holding his gaze, I cup my breasts and run my fingers over my nipples. He inhales sharply. “Like what you see, Cam?”

His lips curl into a grin. “Is that how we’re playing?” He fists his length stroking several times, holding my gaze. “Spread your thighs. Touch yourself.”

Heat builds in my passage. I part my legs and stroke myself, slowly, softly. My finger traces small circles over my clitoris. I’m picking up speed when I’m startled by his voice. “Stop.”

I whimper. He moves closer and places his large hands on my thighs, pushing them wider. “I want you,” he says harshly. He places the head of his cock against my pussy. My body aches to deepen the contact, to feel his full, hard length inside me.

His grey-blue eyes hold mine. “What do you need, Maddie?”

“You,” I gasp, need stripping all the shyness from me. My eyes are glued to his dick.

“Is that so?” He flexes his hips and slides inside me, another inch. I close my eyes as pleasure spikes through me. Pleasure and frustration, because I want all of him. Right now.

He senses the aching void in me. Normally, he’d make me wait, but tonight, he’s just as driven as me. “Watch,” he says hoarsely, thrusting deep into me.

A cry is torn from me, primal and ragged. “Yes,” I hiss out. “Please…”

His mouth descends on my breast, catching a nipple between his teeth. I shiver and moan, writhing beneath his body. “I love the way you look,” he murmurs in my ear. “I love the noises you make when I touch you. I love the feel of your skin against mine…”

Another nip of his teeth and I whimper again, my pussy clenching as Cam’s thick cock thrusts into me, over and over again. Our lips touch, our tongues dance together. He trails kisses down my jawline, my throat, and my neck. His fingers tweak and pinch my nipples, his hands squeeze my breasts.

His skin slaps against mine, the sound adding to the arousal that hums through my body. At the angle he’s thrusting, each stroke hits my g-spot. My insides tighten with the exquisite pressure. “That’s it, Maddie,” he coaxes. “Let yourself go, love.”

The unexpectedness of that endearment pushes me over the edge. I come, shaking and moaning. The muscles in my pussy clench around his cock, and he groans, burying himself deep inside me as he too finds his release.

“What happened with Emily?” I ask him, resting my head on his shoulder. Cam seems more relaxed now, and I take the chance to satisfy my curiosity. “What brought on the heart attack?”

“From the sounds of it, my father was having an argument with my grandfather about money. Emily tried to get in the middle of it, but they yelled at her to stay out of it. That’s when she had the attack.” He sighs tiredly. “My father’s long burned through the trust my grandfather set up for all his children. He’s failed at every business he’s ever tried to run. He’s completely broke. My grandfather didn’t tell me exactly what led up to the screaming match, but piecing it together, I’m guessing my father wanted him to invest in his latest cockamamie venture.”

“Your father’s broke?” I’d have never believed it. Joseph Drake embodies old-money, with his impeccably pressed clothes, his handmade shoes, and his air of barely concealed disdain for most people.

“He’s been penniless for years,” Cameron confirms. “He lives rent-free in a house I own, and my grandfather gives him a small stipend so he can afford to pay his bills. But the leash is pretty short, and it’s about to get shorter.” His voice turns grim. “All my life, he’s been a terrible role model. He’s lied and cheated, he treats people like garbage. With that stunt he pulled with you, he went too far. Once the dust settles, I’m throwing him out.”

I want to cheer Cameron’s move, but I shiver in fear. Wounded, cornered animals don’t leave the fight; they lash out. Joseph Drake isn’t going to back away quietly. I’d wager my last dollar on it.