Caleb

Chapter Thirty Six

I fucking knew it.

"Holy shit." Marcus said with a mouth full of food.

"What is it?" Lainey asked, cocking her head to side out of curiosity and studying Marcus and Caleb's shocked expressions.

"You two look like you just saw a ghost." James added.

Caleb restarted the footage and held his phone out to James and Lainey.

He watched Lainey as she studied the footage with her brows down and serious, then quickly raise up in shock as she slapped her hand over her mouth with gasp.

"Fucking bitch. I knew it." James muttered with disgust in his voice.

"When was this?" Lainey asked with her eyes wide.

"About a week before we got here." Caleb said, checking the date on the top corner of the video.

"This changes things." Caleb said, quietly strategizing in his head.

Marcus nodded in agreement with Caleb's words knowing that Lainey was no longer safe in the house with Camila if she was involved with Manny.

"Staying under the same roof with Camila is now out of the question." Caleb stated firmly.

"She'd never hurt me though." Lainey said in disbelief. "Sure we don't have the closest relationship, but she'd never...she couldn't have been involved with..."

Lainey's voice trailed as her sharp little mind slowly wrapped around the fact that her own family had conspired against her.

Caleb grabbed the leg of Lainey's chair and scooted it across the floor with ease until it was flush with his, allowing him to wrap an arm around her and squeeze her tight.

Don't be scared Lainey, I'm right here.

She instinctively pressed herself against Caleb's side and started breathing deeply, trying to keep her emotions under control.

"That's my girl. Nice big breaths for me." he whispered in her ear, praising her the amount of strength and control she was showing after receiving such a massive blow to the foundation of her family.

"You know what this means right?" James said.

All heads turned toward James, waiting for him to continue.

"It means Camila is the beneficiary if anything happens to Ricardo and Lainey, which is probably why Manny is sleeping with her. She's his in."

"But most wills won't be executed  if it looks like there's foul play from a beneficiary." Marcus added.

"Which is why they tampered with Lainey's meds, hoping it would look like her medical condition caused her death." James said with growing anger in his voice.

Caleb felt Lainey's breathing pick up and she tensed her whole body against his.

This isn't the time or place to have this conversation. Lainey can't handle this here.

"Let's head back to the house and get Ricardo alone to discuss all of this. We'll need Declan and Axel on the phone as well to let them know the situation has changed so we can figure out the best way to go about all of this and figure out next steps."

Giving Lainey a squeeze, Caleb placed a kiss on her forehead and saw James reach out and grab one of her hands in a show of support.

"We got you Lainey. Nothing to be afraid of. We're going to handle this." Caleb whispered into her ear.