“Lying by omission is still lying!” All of the anger mutated into something much uglier. Something like betrayal. Oh, and hurt. Definitely a good dose of that swirling through her blood. “Cam, you lied to me during an official interview. That’s obstruction. I can arrest you for that. I should arrest you for that.”
“Whoa, hold up,” Cam said, and his own temper sparked in his eyes. “I didn’t lie during the interview. You asked me what I had met Soup about that night, I told you it was in regards to a case we were working. That was the truth. I just didn’t go in to specifics about which case. You asked me where Soup got my jacket, I told you I gave it to him. You asked me about the money he had, I told you I didn’t know where it came from.”
“But you did. If someone paid him—”
“No, I didn’t know that at the time. I suspected a lot of things, but until you came in here and told me definitively that Soup was murdered, I had no proof to substantiate any of my suspicions.”
“Bullshit.” Her voice wobbled and she hated herself for it. She threw back her shoulders, lifted her chin, and nailed him with a glare. “You lied to me.” And the pain of his betrayal cut so deep into her chest, she didn’t know if she’d ever breathe normally again.
Cam rubbed his face with both hands. “All right, yes.” His arms dropped back to his sides in a gesture of defeat. “I lied. To you, to my brothers. I didn’t want any of you involved. I can’t risk anyone else getting hurt just because some asshole thinks I’d look better in a casket.”
“It’s my job to be involved. And I can handle myself, fuck you very much.” She shoved him hard enough that he staggered. “You, of all people, should know that.”
“I know you can,” he said, straightening himself. “Believe me, I know. But no matter how well you’re trained, horrible things can happen. Look at Seth Harlan. And my Dad? He was career military, and he and Mom still wound up bleeding to death in a gas station parking lot because someone wanted their car.”
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Abruptly, she realized everyone else had vacated the room.
“I can’t risk losing you, Eva. I just…can’t.”
Christ, she’d fucked this up. She was supposed to come in as a law enforcement officer and get an official statement. Instead, she’d let her emotions get the best of her and now here she stood, clinging to Cam like he’d vanish if she let him go.
And it took a helluva lot more willpower to yank out of his embrace than it should have. “News flash, Cam. You can’t lose what you don’t have.”
His eyes, now more gray than blue, sparked with a flare of temper. “Nobody can take care of Eva like Eva, that it?”
“Damn right. I’m not yours to protect.”
He laughed, but it was a nasty, sardonic sound that raked over her nerve endings. “Because God forbid you ever let anyone close enough to care for you.”
She stared at him, her breath sawing in and out of her lungs with the force of her fury. “Don’t you fucking dare turn this around on me. You’re the one lying about everything and you’re the one in danger. Not me. Not your brothers. So get your head outta your ass, Camden.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw, but he didn’t move, didn’t say anything more, and for a half second, she felt like a complete bitch for throwing his fears in his face.
But, no. Dammit, she wasn’t going to feel guilty for pointing out the obvious.
Unable to stand the deepening silence between them, she backed to the door. “You need to make an official statement. Again. We’re going to have to investigate Soup’s claims.”
“It’s a dead end,” he said, jaw still clenched.
“That will be for us to decide. Miguel will take your statement.” Blindly, she reached out for the door, found the handle, and all but fell through. Miguel waited on the other side, his expression grim. She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Can you find out what’s going on?”
“Sure. Are you okay?”
Not in the least. Cam lied to her. The only person in her life she could count on to always tell the truth, and he’d lied.
“Yeah,” she answered, telling a whooper of a lie herself. “I’m just…taking a personal day.”
He nodded and patted her shoulder. “Good idea, chica. It’s long overdue.”
Chapter Twenty
In the short distance to the door, Eva got three offers for a ride back to the police station from Greer, Reece, and Vaughn, and declined them all. She didn’t want to be around any of Cam’s brothers, and especially didn’t want to be cooped up in a car with them for any length of time, so she walked a couple blocks until she found a taxi. Her phone started buzzing, vibrating against her hip, the moment she slid into the cab’s backseat and told the driver her destination.
What now?
She snapped it up and checked the screen. Preston. Right. She definitely was not in the mood to talk to him…
But instead of hitting ignore, her thumb hovered over the answer button.
A little voice told her she’d regret it. That she was only considering answering his call out of hurt pride and spite.
Fuck it.