by Claire Adams
"Be right back," he said making a beeline for the bathroom.
When he returned, he lay down next to me and pulled the covers up over us both before pulling me to him. I lay there ,wondering what to say as he rested his chin on my head and slowly stroked my hair.
"That was intense," he said. "You sure you're okay? You haven't said a word."
"I'm speechless," I said tilting my head to look up at him. "You're something else."
"Alex, what happened to your parents?" he asked out of the blue. "You started to tell me, but you shut down, and I really want to know. I mean, if you want to tell me."
"Oh man, that's something I hate talking about," I admitted. "It's a total downer, I'm not kidding. I never met my father. When I was nursing my mother, I tried to ask her about him, but all she ever said was that he was an asshole rich kid. I’m sure that he probably had his good points, but she was an angry woman who resented her entire life."
"I'm not pushing," he said backing off a bit. I appreciated the space, but something made me want to tell him the whole sordid story.
"My mom was a poor girl from the South Side," I began. "And my dad was a rich Gold Coast kid with a nasty drug problem. That should probably say it all."
"I see," Cam nodded as he squeezed me a little tighter.
"No, I don't think you do," I said bristling at the possibility of pity. "She fell for him. He loved her and drugs, in that order. They started using together, she got pregnant and had me. They neglected me and Social Services intervened. Years later, she got clean and had a career as a nurse, but she never let go of the anger and resentment she felt. She had wanted the kind of life my father’s money could have bought, and when she didn’t get it, she was furious."
“What about your dad?” he asked. “Didn’t you ever want to meet him or his family?”
“His family disowned him after he got my mother pregnant, and he overdosed in an abandoned building on the North Side a few years after I was born,” I shrugged. “It took me a long time to make peace with the fact that he didn’t care about us enough to get clean.”
"What about family?" Cam asked.
"What about it?" I said defensively. "Her family was poor and struggling and his didn't want anything to do with a bastard child of a drug abuser. I became a ward of the state at two, bounced around from foster home to foster home until I was placed with my mother, but by the time I was sixteen, I’d filed to become an emancipated minor. I took the money from the state and got a room in a boarding house and finished high school. I was smart and made sure I got a full ride when I applied to college, I failed the first year, but then I figured out how to access the resources I needed and asked for another chance. I'll graduate in June and be on my own with a good job. End of story."
"Don't you want to know more about your family?" he asked as he twirled a lock of hair around one of his fingers.
"Not really," I said. "My mother's family has made it clear that they have no interest in me, and my father's family has kept a safe distance for many years, even though they really could have pulled me out of the system at any time. I blame them the most; they could have changed things, but they chose not to. That's the reality of rich folks: they can do a lot, but they choose to ignore everything."
"Is that what you think about rich people, or just your father's family?" Cam asked.
"I think there are probably a lot of rich people with good intentions," I said. "But you know what they say about the road to hell."
"Wow, that's tough," he said shaking his head. "What would you do if your father's family came and tried to help you now?"
"I'd tell them to go to hell," I said without missing beat. "They aren't my family and I certainly don't need their money now. Money just screws everything up."
"I see," he said as he went silent. "All money? Or just your father's money?"
"Pretty much all money," I said. "It does something to people. I don't know, it's just my feeling. I mean, look at your friend, Violet."
"She's not my friend," he said. "I told you, I don't know her. I'd never met her before she accosted me at the hospital. I know her father through a friend."
"I'm know, I'm sorry," I said backing away from the accusation. "I'm just saying that she and her friends all come from money and they are some of the nastiest girls I've ever met. They're just mean and vicious to everyone, and they're so concerned with keeping up appearances."
"But that can't be representative of all people with money," he said pushing his point.
"Why? What are you trying to tell me?" I said defensively. "I'm just saying it's been my experience that people with money tend not to be very nice or caring."
"Maybe you just haven't met the right people," he murmured as he pulled me closer and kissed me. "You never know."
I lay there in his arms long after he'd drifted off to sleep. It felt good to be this close to someone, but it also scared me. I fell asleep telling myself not to be so afraid.
Billionaire On Fire Volume 3
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Cam
I waited until Alex was asleep to leave. I wanted to stay, but after hearing Alex's thoughts on people with money, I knew I couldn't tell her about CSC or anything related to the money I was making in that venture. Besides, I had left Tesla home alone and needed to get back to her. I looked around for something to write on and ended up pulling a sheet out of one of Alex's notebooks. I thought about what to write for a few minutes and settled on:
Alex - Thank you for the great evening. Had to get home to let the dog out. I'll call you later. -C.
I read it over thinking it sounded too impersonal, but I figured I'd get a chance to explain later. As I was walking to the truck, my phone rang. It was Leo.
"Cam, I need to talk to you," Leo said sounding a little anxious.
"I'll drop by in an hour," I said.
"Make it quicker if you can," Leo replied before hanging up.
I stopped by the house and let Tesla out while I showered and changed. I wondered what Leo wanted and worried that his news wasn't going to be good. My thoughts shifted to Alex and all the things she'd revealed the night before. There was something different about her; something that attracted me in a way that I hadn't been attracted to any other woman since Quinn died, but there was also a huge barrier in our way and I had no idea how to lower it and let her in.
An hour later, I walked through the front door at CSC and greeted Becky with a smile and a bag of fresh donuts.
"You're going to ruin my diet, Cam," she smiled as she accepted the gift and tipped her head toward Leo's office. "He's in a state this morning. I have no idea what's going on, though. He won't talk to me."
I nodded and walked down the hallway toward Leo's office. I could hear his voice through the closed door, which was not good. I knocked and entered.
"Gotta go. Call you later," he said as he abruptly disconnected from the call he was on and looked at me. "We have a problem."
"What is it now?" I asked.
"Metzler wants us to be present at his announcement," Leo said. "He said he wants to show that he's got the support of a wide range of business owners in the community, and if we're going to sign a contract to provide security, then we need to be there."
"Absolutely not," I said shaking my head. "If you want to be there, that's fine, but I'm not doing a dog and pony show for that guy."
"Cam, when is this going to stop?" Leo asked holding his hands out as if to surrender. "I can't run this business on fumes. You need to decide what you want to do about it and either get in or get out. We are at a point where we need the publicity if we're going to attract more business!"
"I don't want my name in the papers!" I shouted. "Dammit, Leo! You know that! Why do we have to keep going around and around about this shit?"
"Because you won't give in and let me run the damn business!" Leo yelled. "I've done things your way since we started this company, but now it's time for you to shit or get off the pot! I need
to actually run the business!"
"So, what are you proposing?" I asked. "You want me to sign things over to you and walk away? You just want to take control and run it?"
"No, I want you to come out of hiding!" Leo pleaded. "Jesus Christ, Cam! It's been ten years! It's time to move on with your life! This whole secrecy thing is part of what's keeping you trapped in a life that belongs in the past."
"Oh, I see; you want me to let go so you can run the business," I said eyeing him suspiciously. "It's convenient for you, isn't it? You tell me to let go so you can get what you want. Brilliant."
"Fuck off, Connor," Leo said. "I'm not telling you anything you don't already know."
"Nice, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" I shot back.
"Cam, listen to me," Leo said dropping his voice and pleading with me. "You have to let go, man. She's gone and she's never coming back. It doesn't mean that you have to live in limbo. Let go. Start over and live your life. Quinn would be heartbroken if she knew that you had shut yourself off like this for so long."
I looked at Leo for a long time as I felt the emotions I'd held back begin to rise to the surface. He'd tapped a place in me that I'd let scar over -- or at least I thought I had. Now the scar was being sliced open and the pain of it felt like it might be more than I could bear.
"I don't know how to do this, Leo," I said as I dropped into a chair and held my head in my hands. "I don't know how to let go."
Leo walked around the desk and clasped my shoulder without saying a word. He stood there as I fought to maintain control and when I'd finally found a way to cut through the pain on my own, he stood up and walked back to his desk.
"We need to do this, Cam," he said. "I don't think you understand the consequences of not doing this."
"And what are those, exactly?" I asked knowing that he was going to make another attempt at persuading me.
"We're going to go bankrupt if we don't land Metzler's business," Leo said quietly. "I've been trying to figure out a way to make it all work, but the reality is that without Metzler, we can't keep going."
"How did that happen?" I said feeling the panic rising. "How did this become so perilous?"
"I don't want to go into the details right now, but our output is greater than our income," he said. "It has been for a while now, and we're riding the line."
"Dammit, Leo! I trusted you to run this business and tell me when we were in trouble!" I shouted. Now I was angry. Leo hadn't been telling me what was going on, and more importantly, I hadn't been paying attention.
"I've tried, but you're always in and out so quickly and you never want to talk about the nuts and bolts of what it takes to run this business!" he shouted back. "You go play fireman and do what you love doing and leave me to take care of all the work!"
"That's totally unfair," I protested. "I've done more than my fair share of the work around here."
"Yeah, as long as it doesn't involve you having to do anything that forces you to interact with people," he countered. "Cam, you put the money up and that was definitely a big deal, but for the last five years, I've done all the legwork to keep this company running while you've been a silent partner. I can't do this anymore. You need to come out of the shadows and start actually being part of the business or you need to find someone else to do the work. I can't."
"Leo..." I began as he waved me off.
"Don't, Cam. Just don't," he said dropping heavily into his chair and running his hand through his hair. "I'm tired. I need a partner. A real partner, not just a guy who drops in occasionally and asks how we're doing."
"I get it," I said as I looked at my friend. Leo had aged considerably over the past few years and for the first time, I could see the toll that the stress of running CSC had taken on him. "Let me think about it?"
"You have until Monday," he said. "After that, I'm either going to say yes to Metzler or submit my letter of resignation. It's entirely your call, Cam."
"Duly noted," I nodded as I got up and walked to the door. I turned and looked at Leo, and added, "Leo, I'm sorry."
"Save it, Cam," he said shaking his head. "Just figure out what we're going to do and figure it out fast."
I nodded and walked out of the office wondering how I was going to make this decision.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Alex
When I woke up and found Cam's note on my pillow, at first I was hurt that he'd left without waking me up, but as I stood in the shower and felt the hot water flowing down over my body, I tried to see it in a positive light. He'd said he'd call, and so far he'd been a man of his word. I'd just have to trust that.
After a shower and two cups of coffee, I called Liz to check up on her. She didn't answer her phone, but since she normally didn't answer before nine in the morning, I didn't worry. I texted her and told her that I'd meet her at the train and then got ready for class. By the time I was ready to head out the door, Liz had texted, "Cya at the train!"
When I caught up with her, she was sitting on a bench leafing through her notes. Unlike the day before, Liz looked rested and healthy.
"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked as I sat down next to her.
"Much better," she smiled. "I'm not sure what happened to me yesterday. I just felt like crap, but there's nothing that fifteen hours of sleep won't fix! You go out with Mr. Hot Pants last night?"
"Is that what you've named him?" I laughed as Liz grinned. "Yeah, he took me to Grace and then came back to my place."
"Holy shit, lady!" she exclaimed. "That's the place where it takes months to get a reservation! He must have some serious connections!"
"Nah, he said a friend had the reservation and couldn't make it, so he passed it on," I said trying to get her to quiet down as people waiting on the platform stared at us. The train came a few minutes later and we hopped on.
"Did he spend the night?" Liz whispered as she elbowed me.
"No, he left before I woke up," I whispered back. "Had to let the dog out."
"Sure, sure," she grinned. "But was it good? I mean, is he worth it all?"
"Liz! What kind of question is that?" I giggled knowing exactly what kind of question it was. I nodded and flashed her a big smile.
"Good, then my work here is done," she said with a satisfied nod. "Now on to more important things. About the practice exam, how do you think you did?"
"I'm not sure, I think I made a mess of the middle part, but the rest seemed pretty straight forward," I said taking the cue that it was time to move from boys to more important topics. "How about you?"
"I have no idea," she shrugged. "It could have been the best test of my life or the worst, it's all a blur."
"Maybe you should tell Professor Jackson that you were sick?" I suggested. "She'd understand and maybe she'd give you a chance to retake it if you didn't do well."
"Nah, I'm good," she said looking out the window. "I'll take my chances. It's only a practice exam, anyway. If I did bad, then I can figure out what needs to be improved."
As we walked into the classroom, Professor Jackson motioned us over to her desk and said, "I want to have a word with you both after class."
As we headed to our seats and prepared for the lecture, I looked at Liz and she shrugged. The whole class I was on pins and needles as I wondered what Professor Jackson needed to talk with us about, and by the time class ended, I was convinced that I'd failed the practice exam and that she was going to tell us we were out of the program.
After everyone had left the classroom, Professor Jackson shut the door and returned to the front of the room to retrieve our exams.
"Ladies, I'm concerned about these exams," she said as she handed them to us. "I've had a report that you two were seen cheating on during the exam."
"What?" I gasped. "I didn't cheat!"
"Neither did I," Liz said quietly as she scanned the sheets and looked at the score.
"I was hesitant to believe the report given the source," she said with a wry smile that let me know the source w
as Violet Metzler. "But when I graded the exams and came up with the scores, I have to admit that it looked suspicious."
"Why? What did we do?" I asked as I flipped through my own exam noting the questions that I'd gotten wrong.
"Because when I graded the exams, your two exams were the only ones that looked absolutely identical," she said pointing to the scores. "You got the same scores and you also got the same questions wrong."
"But that's because we study together," I said as I tried to remain calm. "We go over everything together, so it would make sense that we made the same types of errors."
"That may be the case, but I have to inform the program of the accusation," she said with a regretful look. "It's department policy when a matter like this is reported. I'm sorry, ladies."
"We're being accused of cheating because Violet Metzler has a bone to pick with me?" Liz blurted out. "That seems like shaky grounds for an investigation."
"It goes further than that, Ms. Baker," Professor Jackson said. "There have been reports of your questionable behavior at the hospital, and so we need to investigate that as well."
"I was sick," Liz said flatly. "It had nothing to do with Alex, so I don't see why she should get pulled into this mess."
"Like I said, Miss Baker, it's program policy," she said as she began gathering her things. "It's not personal."
"Right," Liz said sarcastically as she turned and marched out the door.
"Professor Jackson, we didn't cheat," I said quietly. "I know I can't prove that, but I can assure you that neither Liz nor I have ever cheated before and that we didn't do it this time."
"I believe you, Ms. Pierce," Professor Jackson said. "However, since the complaint was filed through the program not privately voiced with me, I have no choice but to follow protocol and do what is required. I am sorry."
"What will happen now?" I asked.
"The department will collect the evidence, talk with the involved parties and then render a decision," she said. "It shouldn't take more than a month, so you'll still be eligible for graduation if you're determined not to have broken any rules."