Page 16

SEVEN

WEARING THIN

MAGNOLIA

W ith a sigh, I push my food around my plate, nodding as Camden drones on about the way the decorators fucked up the floor in his new office when they brought in the furniture.

“Torn, Magnolia. The ten thousand dollar rug Byron gifted me was torn right down the middle.”

And I’m supposed to care why?

I’m not sure I’d give a shit about this if we were actually in love and willingly mating. Hell, I don’t think I’d give one single fuck if I liked Camden on any level but we aren’t and I don’t, so I care even less.

Which I didn’t think was possible.

Then again, situations like this never cease to amaze me.

Almost every time we’re together I discover something else repulsive about the male sitting across from me.

Repulsive, offensive. Idiotic. Downright fucking rude.

He’s shallow and insensitive, narcissistic, and for someone on track to being a doctor and the dean of medicine, his IQ might be lower than an earthworm’s.

Camden is also a walking red flag who’s quick to anger, extremely close minded and judgmental, and I don’t think it’s in his DNA to be committed and faithful to anyone or anything but himself.

My father announced our arrangement at the end of last year, making a big scene at the final rugby game about the next generation of the Blackhurst Reynolds legacy, and I’m pretty sure Camden has slept with more people since that happened than he had before I was officially doomed.

Not that I care.

He can stick his dick anywhere he wants as long as it isn’t within ten thousand feet of me, I just figured he’d be more careful considering all of the attention he gets now.

Entitlement is a funny thing.

This asshole actually thinks he deserves to carry on our families’ hard earned legacies, that he should be able to run the empire, have all the money and power, and sleep with anyone he wants, all while I give him an heir to a throne I’d rather set on fire.

I think it’s because Evie’s the one who should actually be in charge, solely based on the fact that she’s a product of a Blackhurst and a Ridgeway, and he’s compensating.

Camden is older by four years, but he is what happens when someone like his dad isn’t careful about who he has affairs with because Carter was married and bound to Dolly for two years when my betrothed was dumped on their doorstep.

A minor indiscretion that gave him the son he knew he needed to keep things going, and it didn’t matter what that did to Dolly. It’s a miracle Evie was born after that, but heat is a bitch and sometimes we can’t help the way it plays out.

But the illegitimate love child of a Blackhurst, of the Blackhurst wasn’t going to be forgotten, and Carter forced his omega to adopt and raise him as her own after his biological mother conveniently disappeared.

Which is why I ended up with a life sentence.

Ideally, having a way to connect all three branches of the trifecta was preferred in order to strengthen the stupid empire created a million years ago.

It would be perfect if Carter had his devil spawn with Dolly then waited to see what happened on the Reynolds’ side of things, but because that wasn’t the case, it was pretty vital they ruin my life by legally binding it to his.

Camden will be linked to all three families and that’s all anyone cares about.

That and the fact that I do give him an heir.

And that means we have enough children to ensure he gets an alpha out of me, even better if they’re male because we’re still living in the dark ages, apparently, and females can’t run shit according to the current powers that be.

Well, except Donovan.

He’s an exception to every rule my dad and Carter try to follow, and that’s why I love that side of Eve’s family so much.

“Magnolia. Are you listening to me?”

I slowly lift my gaze from the poached egg I’ve massacred and blurt without thinking, “No.”

Camden frowns, trying to keep his cool despite the way I can see anger roll across his features. Thank god we’re in public. “Really?”

“Sorry.” I shrug one shoulder then go back to my plate of food he ordered for me. “I guess I’m a little distracted this morning.”

“It’s those monsters they have you working with, isn’t it?”

My eyes snap to his as I feel myself start to blush. “Pardon?”

“Your distraction.” He waves his fork around, motioning to my face before stuffing a piece of sausage into his mouth. “It’s working with those animals on Ward C.”

“They aren’t animals, Camden. They’re human beings, men who deserve to have a second chance. We’re trying to rehabilitate them because they should be given the opportunity to receive a treatment that could do that in hopes of?—“

He starts laughing, his head tilted to the side as he gives me a condescending look. “You’re adorable like this.”

“Excuse me?” Adorable my ass. God, I hate him.

“Rooting for the underdog, trying to help those who really don’t deserve it.

Your energy would be put to better use at the hospital with me, but I can see this little pet project is something you’re committed to, so I won’t interfere.

” Then Camden leans toward me, taking my free hand in his and squeezing so I can’t recoil.

“But if it becomes an issue, if you working in that shithole becomes a problem between the two of us the way it is between my parents, I’ll yank you from that building and lock you up in my house so goddamn fast your head will spin. ”

Wow.

There’s a lot to unpack there.

Ignoring his ignorance and stupidity, trying to get past the fear racing through me over how quickly his switch flipped, I can’t help but focus on the comment about his parents.

The only reason the asylum is a problem for them is because Dolly hides there. It’s more Donovan’s baby than anything else, so she works the hours she does knowing she’s safe and can spend as little time with her chosen mate as possible while doing so.

She gave up trying to make it work between them years ago, settling for whatever their relationship is until Evie is taken care of, and in the meantime, Dolly only asked that Carter keep up appearances to spare their daughter the embarrassment of his bullshit.

Now, any time he can’t keep his end of the bargain, whenever he gets caught, Dolly lights him up, threatens to divorce him and pull Ridgeway funding from all three buildings, then adds it to her file of evidence for when she can free herself.

His parents are our future if I can’t get out of this contract, and the fact that Camden is either too stupid or too egotistical to think it has anything to do with the work we do at the asylum is mind blowing.

He’s right in saying I’m committed, though.

It’s only been a couple months but I’m so invested in the work Dr. Lowe and I are doing that I’m not sure anything short of Camden interfering would pull me from it.

Unless of course it was some if you leave the asylum, you don’t have to bond with this dickhead and can run away from this life to start over somewhere else kind of thing.

Work be damned, I’d run out of Blackhurst Ridge, hell, I’d skip town entirely in order to make that happen, and I’d do it as fast as humanly possible.

My stomach twists at the thought.

It’s not the first time I’ve had it.

I’ve entertained many a daydream where I just run away and leave all of this behind regardless of busting my ass to get here, but I never follow through.

Afraid of my father and the power he wields or not, there’s always something in the back of my mind telling me I shouldn’t act on those impulses.

I can’t act on them. I care about what we’re doing but there is a much deeper seated reason I couldn’t disappear from Ward C even if I tried, and the more time that passes, the more solid that feeling becomes.

It’s the reasoning behind it that’s lacking in clarity and considering my future is currently staring at me with a malicious grin while he picks spinach from his teeth, it better be goddamn good.

“I should go,” I say as Camden finally loosens his grip. “Today is a busy day.”

“You’ve barely touched your breakfast.”

I force a smile as I push away from the table. “I don’t have much of an appetite this morning.”

I also hate poached eggs, blood sausage, and papaya.

If Camden gave one single shit about anyone other than himself, he’d know that because I’ve hated all three since having them at his parent’s house when I was six.

He orders it for me every time I’m forced to meet him for breakfast here, the same place we always come to because they actually serve blood sausage, and I never eat anything but the avocado toast that comes with it.

Grabbing my bag, I watch in horror as he gets to his feet and meets me next to the table. “Are you going into heat soon?”

My stomach pitches as I physically feel all the color drain from my face.

I hate that he knows that.

Granted, I’m still about a month and a half away give or take, but I don’t talk to him about this, or anything meaningful because I don’t want him to know things like that about me.

One of the perks of being born into this stupid system of doctors is having access to a way of getting through my heat without the need for an alpha.

Also known as medically assisted. It was forced on me at first, my father insisting it was the only way for me in hopes of keeping me pure or some shit, probably for Camden well before my life sentence was announced but the only thing it did was scare me out of finding someone to get me through when it hit.

I still had sex, lost my virginity at the private school I attended when I was seventeen, and I had a decent amount of it right up until last year. But never when I was in heat.

The importance Byron Reynolds put on it scared me enough to make sure I never let that happen, not until I was with the alpha or alphas I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with, and I’ve been successful so far.