The Camp (Chateau 2)

“No.”

She opened the lid and turned the box toward me. “Want some?”

I shook my head.

“Come on, it’s amazing.”

I ate three meals a day and never snacked in between. I also avoided desserts because I didn’t have a sweet tooth. In general, I wasn’t much of an eater. I preferred to drink copious amounts of wine and scotch instead.

She took another bite and leaned against the headboard, her sexy legs poking out from underneath her shirt. “I want to eat as much of this good stuff as I can before we go back.” She took another bite and ate closer to the crust.

When we stayed in Paris, it was easy to fall into this dreamlike reality, enjoying the city and each other. Sometimes I forgot about the camp altogether…until the departure date drew near. The feud with Alix had been resolved, or at least it seemed, so Raven wouldn’t be in danger. But bringing her to that miserable place was getting more and more difficult.

She bit the crust in half as she watched me. “What?”

I shifted my gaze to hers, unsure what she referred to.

“You disappeared.”

My eyes looked away again, staring at my dark bedroom and the shadows in the corners. “Nothing.”

Twenty-Six

Back to the Beginning

I drove down the street lined with apartments in one of the upscale neighborhoods of Paris. People walked down the sidewalk with their dogs on leashes, their hands holding mugs of coffee. Shopping bags were in their hands, baguettes sticking out alongside the necks of wine bottles. It was still the quiet neighborhood I remembered.

When I recognized the house, I pulled over and parked in front of it.

Raven turned to look out my window, knowing we’d stopped for an important reason. We were on our way back to the camp, but I’d decided to take a detour. She held her silence and watched me look out the window.

I’d only come back to that house once. The city had repossessed it and sold it to pay off some of my father’s debts. I’d watched the new family move inside—they’d gotten it at a cheap price because of the murders that had taken place.

There was a new coat of paint on the outside, but it otherwise looked the same.

Raven didn’t ask any questions, picking up on my mood and my stare. “That’s where you grew up.”

I kept my gaze on the entrance, seeing the front door open and a teenage boy take the steps to the bottom. He turned right and continued on his way, oblivious to the two of us staring at him intently.

“Does it look different?”

I shook my head. “There’s a new coat of paint on the exterior, but…” I remembered the Christmas tree that used to be in the front window every year. We would decorate it with ornaments we’d kept since childhood. The house would be filled with the roast turkey my mom would cook for hours, starting right in the morning. I remembered our family vacations to Italy and Switzerland. My childhood had been wonderful, with two loving parents and siblings I’d never forgotten. Money had ruined us, not because we’d lost it, but because my father thought it was more important than the most priceless thing he had—us. My brother seemed to have fallen victim to the same illness, chasing wealth like it was the answer to all his problems, like it would somehow prove something to our dead father, who’d been dumped in the ocean.

I liked being rich just like everyone else, but I also thought it was evil.

Her hand moved to mine as it rested on the center console. Her fingers moved in between mine, and she gave me a gentle squeeze, telling me she was there even though she didn’t have the words to comfort me.

“My mother was a housewife. She kept that place perfect at all times, ready for any unexpected company that would stop by. Our meals were homemade every single evening. If she ever saw anyone less fortunate than us, she didn’t hesitate to open her purse and hand over all her cash. She was really generous with her time, money, and her love…”

Her hand squeezed mine again.

“I have good memories of my father too. Before he pissed our inheritance away, he was a good man…for the most part. But he lost his mind when he lost his money.” My father laughed loudest at the dinner table and was eager to take my brothers and me to sporting events. He loved us…at one time. “My eldest brother was quiet and studious. He went to university but chose to live at home because he wouldn’t be able to survive without my mother’s cooking. Can’t blame him. And my sister…” I pulled my gaze away from the front door and looked straight ahead over the steering wheel. I could still hear her voice in my head sometimes, in my dreams, and she had the most innocent soul of anyone I’d ever known. Losing every member of my family was difficult, but her death was the worst. “She was my twin.”