by Low, JA
“I don’t remember ordering anything.” Biting my lip, I am feeling uneasy in my own home. This is all a bit weird, even for Harris.
“Go, have a shower, freshen up, and we will open them for you,” Kimberly tells me.
That seems like a fantastic idea.
* * *
After running a hot shower and soaking my body, I feel a little better and come out to a table filled with expensive gifts.
There is row upon row of diamonds from Cartier, Tiffany, etc. Designer bags from Chanel and Hermes. Shoes from Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choo. Sexy lingerie from Agent Provocateur.
What the actual fuck!
“Send it all back.” The anger I am feeling is filling every inch of my body.
How dare he?
“This bag alone is worth one hundred thousand dollars,” Harper says as she looks at a limited-edition Hermes bag.
“Have it.”
Harper screws up her face at my suggestion. “I’ll buy my own, thanks. But I thought if you sold it all, you could donate the money to charity in his name, something that would suit him. Like, I don’t know, endangered African cockroaches or something of that nature.” For the first time since stepping into my apartment, I burst out laughing.
Harper looks at me strangely as if I’ve lost my mind.
“That’s brilliant, Harps.” I am still unable to control myself. The laughter is coming thick and fast.
“I’ll get some of the interns to sell all this stuff, and find a well-deserving charity for the money.” Kimberly smiles.
“Thanks, guys.” My friends wrap their arms around me. “I don’t know what I would do without you guys.”
“You can’t get rid of us,” Harper tells me. “You are stuck with us for life.”
I’m so happy to be home.
18
Nate
Camryn: I’m finally home.
Camryn’s text message comes through as I slide out of my pool from doing some laps to unwind. Wrapping my towel around my waist, I sit in one of my pool chairs and open my phone, then hit call, because in all honesty, I want to hear her voice.
“Hey.” She sounds tired.
“You made it home safely.”
“Yeah. I’m exhausted and freezing, but it’s good to be back in my own space again.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve just gotten out of the pool.”
Camryn groans. “No, that doesn’t help or make me feel any better.” She gives me a weak laugh.
“You okay?” Feeling like something is up, I wait, and she’s quiet for a moment. The hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention as an uneasy feeling falls over me. “You can talk to me.”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “It’s Harris.” Hearing that bastard’s name is like a knife through my chest.
“What about him?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“I can’t talk to you about it.”
“Why not?”
Is he there?
Has he been there?
Camryn wouldn’t mess around with him knowing he’s engaged to someone else. The man is a charismatic asshole, and I know he could worm his way back in.
Fuck, no! I am working myself up. Calm down!
“I know how much you hate him.”
Keep it together, Nate. Keep it together.
“He’s a dick. I want to punch the smug look off his face every time I see him,” I add.
“I…” she hesitates again. “I don’t want Sam to do something stupid. He feels the same way about him that you do. I know how protective Sam can be.”
Huh. What the fuck has happened?
Why would she need protection?
Fuck me, I’m fuming.
What the fuck has Harris done?
“Are you safe?” I’m concerned for Camryn’s safety.
“Yes. Of course, I am. Shit! Sorry… I didn’t mean to worry you,” she says, quickly, putting me slightly more at ease. “I have a porter and security here at home and work. They’ve dealt with it.”
Dealt with what?
“What’s going on, Camryn?” Dammit, I am losing my patience with her.
“While I was away, Harris came to my apartment multiple times. He’s caused a scene, and he’s been banned. The same thing happened at work, too.” That motherfucker! I ball my hands into a fist, and I close my eyes in an attempt to calm myself down. “I came home to all these extravagant gifts.”
I’ve never wanted to harm anyone as much as I want to harm Harris Edwards right now.
“I can be back in New York by the morning?”
There’s silence on the end of the phone, then she whispers, “Nate…”
“I mean it, Camryn.”
“That’s sweet, but you have too much going on to drop everything for me. Plus, I wouldn’t want you to.”
“I look after my friends, Camryn.”
“I know you do, Nate. I’m safe, I promise. And if I don’t feel safe, you will be the first person I call. Okay?”
“My apartment is free. I’ll text you the address and code. I’ll let them know you’re on my list.” Only my inner circle has access to my apartment, people I trust, like Sam. I don’t bring women there, ever. I mean, I have clubs for that. It’s my sanctuary. My place. But I think Camryn needs it more than I do right now.
“Nate, no. That’s too much.”
“Camryn!” I say her name, sternly. “I mean it. If anything happens to make you feel uncomfortable, and you can’t get hold of Kimberly, Sam, or Harper, then use it.”
“Thank you,” she eventually gives in. “That’s too kind.”
“Like I said… I look after my friends, and you’re in my circle now, sorry,” I apologize, lightening the mood a little.
“I’ve made the Nate Lewis inner circle.” She pretends to fake cry. “This is such a special day for me. I never thought this day would come,” she continues carrying on, and it makes me laugh. “This is a dream come true.”
“Fuck you!” I laugh at her antics.
“Maybe I might take you up on the offer of your apartment. I want to snoop through your drawers,” she bellows with laughter down the line.
“Do you seriously think I would keep the good stuff at my home?” I challenge her.
“You probably have like a safe room somewhere in your home. You know, like Batman. It hides all your deepest and darkest secrets.”
Camryn’s not too far from the truth. I do have a safe room. All my homes have a safe room. You don’t own the world’s most exclusive sex clubs, which are frequented by the world’s high fliers and leave all that information lying around. I could bring down many of the world’s biggest corporations with the information I have on my guests.
“You can ask me anything, Camryn. I’m an open book.”
“You might regret that.”
“Can’t regret anything about you.” My sincerity catches both of us off guard, and I sigh.
“What’s your favorite color?” Camryn changes the tone of our conversation.
“Black.”
“That’s not a color.”
“Fine… blue. The color of the ocean at the resort. It’s calming.”
“Just had to rub it in that you’re on a tropical island, didn’t you?” She chuckles. “What is your favorite food?”
This is hard. I like all food, so I have to think for a second or two. “Fresh seafood.”
“Nate…” she growls at me. “Stop fucking rubbing it in.”
“What do you like?”
“Cadbury chocolate buttons. The English kind because American chocolate tastes so different.”
Well, that’s not at all what I thought she was going to say.
“I do have to agree, nothing is like the chocolate from home.”
“What the…” Camryn squeals. “You’re fucking English?”
“Um, yeah. How do you not know this?”
“Because you went to school in Connecticut, that’s why.”
�
�My parents moved to Connecticut for a bit, then moved back to Europe after a couple of years. I didn’t want to go back because I was happy there. So, I went to boarding school with Sam, then college with him.”
“Well, there you go. I thought you had that accent because you’d spent so much time in Europe.” She chuckles.
“I have. The past ten years, I’ve been running around Europe building up the clubs we have there. The Europeans are a little more accepting of sex clubs than the Americans.”
“Where were you born?” she asks.
“Kensington.”
“Of course, you were.” I can hear her practically rolling her eyes at me.
“And you?”
“Devon, but didn’t stay long. You know, gold-digging mother and all.” She laughs, but I can hear the sad undertones. “We traveled everywhere growing up. Thankfully, one of her husbands saw fit to put Ivy and me into boarding school, which gave us a sense of stability, but she never came and picked us up for holidays. Not even Christmas. Thankfully, the nuns at our convent took pity on us, and we would spend our holidays there.”
“Oh, that explains a lot.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were a catholic schoolgirl, raised by nuns. Those girls are always the kinkiest.” Camryn’s laughing again.
“I didn’t want to end up like some of those cranky old nuns.”
“You know, I’m getting all hot and bothered thinking about you in your schoolgirl uniform.”
“Are you now, Mr. Lewis.” My dick begins to strain against the seam of my pants. “Are you into a bit of naughty schoolgirl role-playing?”
“With you, yes.”
“Duly noted, Mr. Lewis.” She’s killing me just by calling me that. “Might see what we can do in a couple of weeks when I’m down there.”
“Can’t wait.”
“I better get going…” Camryn lets out a yawn, “… I’m shattered.”
“Stay safe.”
“I will. I promise. Night, Nate.”
“Night.”
The phone line goes dead.
Looking down at the darkened screen, I know what I have to do to protect her. Searching through my phone, I look for Jackson Connolly’s number. He’s Dirty Texas’ security guy. His brother is in the band, he’s also one of my loyal clients, and his security company also looks after my clubs in the states. I trust him. The man is ex-military.
“Nate, my man. How are ya?” Jackson asks.
“Great. I need a favor…” Jackson stays silent, waiting to see what I’m going to ask. “You know Camryn Starr?”
“Yes, she was at Vanessa and Christian’s wedding.”
“You know the story about her ex then?”
“I’ve heard the girls talking about it.”
“She’s just arrived home and looks like he’s been stalking her.”
“What?”
“She told me he’s been banned from her building and her workplace for causing a scene.”
“That fucking dick,” he growls.
“I’d like to have extra security around her. But, Jackson, it needs to be discreet.”
“Of course,” he agrees. “I have a question, though. How do you know all this?”
Fuck! The line goes silent for a couple of beats.
“She told me.”
“Hmmm, interesting,” he adds.
“She’s a friend,” I quickly add.
“I’m sure she is.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Instantly I get my back up, but Jackson simply bursts out laughing.
“You’re so fucking busted, dude. You’ve been messing around with her, haven’t you?”
“No.” I am trying to sound convincing, but I think I am failing miserably.
“Bullshit! Plus, I saw her enter your room and leave early the next morning when we were at the castle.”
Shit. Of course, he did. The man was looking after security at the castle.
“Fine. Yes. We hooked up during the wedding.”
“Knew it.” I can see his grin in my mind. “But you do know she also hooked up with someone else after you left. Just want to be really clear about that. Don’t want you to get love hearts in your eyes or nothing.”
“I know.”
“And you’re okay with it?” he pushes.
“Of course. We’re friends. We are both adults. We both understood what it was.” I can feel Jackson assessing me through the phone if that’s possible. “Camryn isn’t like the other girls.”
“And you like that?” Jackson questions.
“She caught me off guard. Yes.”
“Interesting,” he adds. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to your woman.”
“She’s not my woman,” I argue.
“And yet, you’re trying to save her from a shithead of an ex-boyfriend.”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
Then he’s gone.
He’s hung up on me.
Shit!
19
Camryn
It’s been great being back at work for the past couple of days, getting into the swing of things. We have the first big gala of the society season coming up in a couple of months, the Rose Gala, which is hosted by Sam and Harper’s parents. We have been organizing the event for the past couple of years. It really solidified us with the society women of New York when the first one was such an amazing success.
That changed everything for us business-wise, and we haven’t looked back since. We donated over five hundred thousand dollars from the sale of all the presents Harris bought me to the Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches at the Bronx Zoo, in his name, of course. This seriously still makes me laugh. They were going to send Harris a shiny certificate of donation. I mean his donation is, after all, a tax deduction—he should be thanking me.
I haven’t run into Harris since I’ve been back, but he’s been prancing around town at every single event with his shiny new fiancée on his arm. He hated those events when I was with him, hated mingling with the people, sucking up to the old boys’ club. Harris disliked it all, yet now, he’s reveling in it. Go figure! Whatever floats his boat because he’s not my problem anymore.
As the days go on, and the more I speak to Nate, which is every single night, the further from my mind Harris becomes. I know it won’t be long until hearing his name, or seeing his picture in the news, doesn’t instantly make my stomach churn.
I’m in the middle of making dinner when my phone begins to ring. Looking down at the screen, it’s my sister. Quickly, I call her back, realizing my phone has been on silent, and I’ve missed a shit-ton of calls.
“Hey, what’s happening?”
“Axel slept with Penny,” Ivy curses down the phone.
Wait! What? There’s no way Axel would have slept with Olivia’s sister. No way! He’s not that vindictive. Penny certainly is but not Axel.
“I’ll send you the photo Penny sent, Liv.” My phone beeps, so I pull it away from my ear and click on the message. There it is in color, Penny wrapped in a sheet with a sleeping Axel half-naked beside her. I always knew Penny was a bitch, and I’ve long suspected she’s been fucking around with her sister’s fiancé. I didn’t know for sure, but they do hang out a lot in London partying together. The photographs I’ve seen online are pretty damning. Penny would have seen an opportunity to fuck over her sister, and Axel was probably thinking with his dick like most guys I know.
“We’re heading to Olivia’s parents’ place in Mustique. She needs to get out of town.”
“Is she okay?” Concerned for my friend, I know Olivia and Axel’s non-relationship has been complicated, but still, she doesn’t deserve this.
“She’s devastated. Penny is the devil,” Ivy hisses, and I have to agree. “I need to get her far, far away, so she can regroup.”
I don’t blame her, the change of scenery will do her good.
“Give her a huge hug for me and let he
r know I’m here if she needs me.”
“Thanks. Sorry to dump this on you at the moment. How’s things?” Ivy adds.
“Good. Harris seems to have forgotten about me. Work’s super busy. I’m off to the Caribbean next week for work.”
“With Nate?” Ivy asks.
“Yes. And a bunch of other employees.”
“Okay.” She doesn’t sound at all convinced.
“I’m there for work.”
My sister laughs. “Ah-huh… well, have fun. I’ll be in touch when we get there.” The phone goes dead.
Shit! The smell of my dinner burning pulls me from my thoughts.
I rush into the kitchen and ugh, it’s ruined. There’s no rescuing that charcoaled mess.
Think I’ll order takeout.
* * *
Grabbing a glass of wine and my Chinese takeout, I sit in front of my television, but my mind’s still thinking about Olivia. Picking up my phone, I call Nate.
“Hey, beautiful,” he answers, which for some reason makes me feel giddy.
Maybe you need to slow down on the wine, Camryn.
“Hey, yourself.”
“How was your day?” I like that Nate listens about my day in the same way I like hearing about his.
“Need to have a rant. Do you have a sec?”
“Yeah, of course. I’m in my villa looking at budgets. So, I could use the break and distraction.”
“Your friend, Axel Taylor, is the world’s biggest dick.”
Nate’s silence on the end of the phone speaks volumes—he’s confused. “Did you just say Axel Taylor has the biggest dick?” he questions me.
I don’t know, does he? Maybe. I don’t think I’ve ever asked Liv. Oh, but Vanessa has told me Christian has a massive cock, and they’re twins, so the likelihood is high. Anyway, what were we talking about?
“I don’t know. But he is the world's biggest dickhead.”
“Oh, I see.” Nate laughs. “What happened?”
“You know how Olivia and Axel have been hooking up?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you know how I told you over New Years things blew up, and Eddie, her fiancé, rocked up throwing her under the bus...” He agrees. “Well, Penny just sent Olivia a picture of her in bed with Axel.”