Chapter Fifteen
They never did end up going for their date. The next day, Samuel showed up at her door, knocking hard.
Camila, barely awake, opened the door still in her pjs. “Samuel, what are you doing here?” she asked, blinking up at him.
“I wanted to take you down to the station. I want you protected, even when I can’t be right here at your side,” he said stepping into the room.
Camila hadn’t slept well, so she was still a bit groggy. She glanced at the clock on the living room wall and blinked. “It’s not even seven a.m., are they even open?” She rubbed her eyes sleepily.
Samuel’s lips quirked up. “They are. Now, go get your beautiful self ready to go, okay?”
Camila nodded and started from the room, but then stopped. “Mom is still sleeping I think, but if you want some coffee—”
“I’m fine, I’ll wait here.” He gestured to the couch.
“Okay,” Camila agreed, leaving the room. It didn’t take her long to put on a pair of jeans and a green sweater. She ran a brush through her hair, leaving it down because she was in a hurry. She slid her feet into her ankle boots and returned to the living room.
Seeing her, Samuel stood up. The look on his face told her she’d chosen well. “You look beautiful.” He smiled and held out his hand. “Do you have a coat? It’s a bit cold out.”
Camila nodded and grabbed her coat from the closet and then took his hand. “Thank you,” she murmured belatedly, remembering his compliment.
He looked at her curiously. “For what?”
“For saying I look beautiful even though I know I’m a mess.”
He chuckled and brought her hand up, kissing the back of it. He wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her down to the car, helping her in.
“Are you alright? Did you sleep well?” Samuel asked, putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking spot. His brow was scrunched with concern, and it warmed her heart.
“Not too well,” Camila said honestly. “It was a long night worrying about all this. I don’t even know if I’ll be any better with police protection.”
“I believe you are doing the right thing, filing this protection order. Don’t you?”
“Let’s just go to the police. It’ll be something good to have, anyway. At least I can call the police and get him arrested if he tries something. That…wouldn’t bother you, right?”
She looked tentatively at Samuel, but his serious expression didn’t change. She was worried about the strain all of this was putting on his relationship with his siblings. It couldn’t be easy dating her when Adrien wouldn’t let her go. She thought about breaking things off, to make things easier for Samuel, but he made her so happy, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was selfish, she knew, and she frowned, her eyes filling with tears at her thoughts.
“Sweetheart, don’t cry. I am glad you are doing this. Don’t worry about Adrien being my brother,” he said, his voice firm, as he reached over and wiped away one of her tears. “Adrien’s behavior is unacceptable. He is going to be judged by the law. I will not protect him from this. He is insisting on being irrational, and will not listen to reason.”
Samuel held her hand as he drove them to the nearest police station. When they arrived, he guided her into the office and helped her make her statement to the police so they could start the process to get the protection order.
If she was being honest with herself, Camila couldn’t be sure if Adrien would go along with the order. She recalled from several of their talks in the beginning weeks of their relationship all the trouble Adrien had caused Samuel, and how Adrien had gotten away scot free for things every time. Adrien would probably be fearless in front of the law as well as his brother. He seemed to her like the kind of man that wouldn’t back down if it was something he really wanted. In this case that something was her.
Camila was a bit frightened by that thought. She didn’t want him anywhere near her, but if he violated the protection order anyway, it would be better if he actually did try something with her where there were witnesses to it. That way he would end up in police custody.
When they were done with the whole process, she walked out of the police station with her chest feeling tight. Samuel followed her out the door, and then moved to her side, his hand gentle against her back as he guided her back to the car. She had to admit, with this done, her heart had calmed a bit, but not completely. It wasn’t until they reached the door to the car that she froze just before getting inside as something occurred to her.
“Ah!” she cried out, a bit distressed.
“What is it?” Samuel asked immediately, frowning.
“I just remembered! Your sister! This order means I probably shouldn’t be going to your place since Adrien might be there!”
Crap!
How had she not thought about this problem earlier? Then again, she had been too worried about Adrien’s threats to be thinking straight. But what was she going to do with the current situation as it was?
She and Brianna had become great friends since she’d been spending quite a bit of time at the Kane mansion. Brianna it seemed, actually liked spending time with her, and Camila enjoyed her company too. Well, Camila did live a mostly lonely life. Outside of work, she didn’t really have friends she could talk to or hang out with, other than her own mom, so having Brianna like her enough to open up to her had made her happy. She really didn’t want to give that up just because of Adrien.