by Holly Renee
My want for her to have more than this life had afforded her.
It was the only thing I thought about as I distractedly grabbed the papers from the manager and walked back out of the kitchen. She glanced up at me just as I pushed through the door, and I swear that one look was enough to cut me. It was enough to make me bleed open and bare everything in front of her.
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it as I tried to catch my breath.
She was so damn beautiful, even when she was mad at me, and I knew that I wouldn’t get a chance with a girl like her again. Josie was my lucky shot. She was my one real chance at something pure and good and beautiful, and I would never have her.
Not now. Not when neither of us had any real control over our lives.
And I couldn’t help daydreaming about what it could be like after this chapter. When Josie moved away and I took over my dad’s business. Would she ever come back? Would she ever give me another chance after she had already given me so many already?
I shook my head and pushed off the door. I couldn’t afford daydreams like that. I couldn’t afford to wish and wonder and hope.
Because even if I wasn’t being forced to push Josie away, she would be leaving. I was staying here and she would leave, and I knew that would be the end of us.
Even if no one else had a hand in it, the two of us would end.
Sometimes people were only meant to be in your life for a short fleeting moment, and I had to believe that was what Josie was. But these small moments, these small things I loved about her, they weren’t small in any way.
And I knew the effect of her would never be small. But I tried to convince myself that it somehow made what we had even more precious. These fleeting moments, rushed encounters, and broken hearts. Everything about us had been quick and unrealistic.
We were never meant to be more than we were, but God, I was so glad that we had been.
Even if it was over now. Even if she hated me.
I watched my feet as one footstep after the other led me away from her, and I focused on each and every one of those steps to force myself not to turn around. I was so focused that I barely noticed the door to one of the conference rooms near my father’s office was cracked open just slightly, and it wasn’t until I heard Cami’s voice float through that crack that I stopped in my tracks.
"What do you expect me to do? I’ve done everything you wanted from me. I’ve been exactly what you wanted." Her voice was desperate and broken, and I knew that if I looked inside that door I would probably see her father being the asshole he was.
And I didn’t know if I could handle him today. I didn’t know if I could fake another smile to that man after everything I knew he had done.
He was a regular at the country club, a lucrative regular who was a huge contributor to the success of my father’s business, and I knew that I shouldn’t do anything here. Keep business and pleasure separate. It was something my father had always instilled in me, but I couldn’t walk away from that door knowing Cami was in there with him.
I couldn’t just hurt them both and walk away. Because despite what I tried to convince myself, I did love both Josie and Cami. Not in the same way, not even close. But Cami had been my friend for a long time. She had been one of my closest friends, and even though I knew that she had done shitty things to Josie, I couldn’t just abandon her.
I took a couple steps back and looked through the crack in the door. But she was all I could see. She was standing there at one end of the large conference table that took up the room, and her fingers were digging into the wood as she argued.
"Please don’t do this."
I could just barely see movement on the opposite side of the table, and it wasn’t until he laced his fingers into her blonde hair that it hit me that her father wasn’t the other person in the room.
He pulled her toward him with a roughness that told me he was as eager for her as she seemed to be for him, and I had never seen that look on her face before. She had never looked at me like I was the one who could change everything for her. I had been a temporary solution, but the way she was looking at him was like he could make every part of her life that she hated disappear.
This man what her knight in shining armor, and I could barely breathe as I watched Mr. Vos lean forward and capture Cami’s mouth with his.
What the fuck?
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t begin to understand what was happening right in front of me.
I took a step back to make sure he couldn’t see me just as he spoke. "This is getting reckless, Camille. We can’t keep doing this."
I fumbled for my phone in my pocket as his talking stopped, and as I peeked around the corner, they were kissing again. Cami was holding onto the lapels of his jacket like she never wanted to let go, and even though I hated her for what she was doing, I still felt guilty as I lifted my phone and hit Record.
My hand was steady as I recorded the two of them. It was perfectly clear on camera who they were. He was a man that no one in this town could ever mistake as anyone else, and she was a girl who had no business being anywhere near him.
She was a girl who had fucking lied to me and made me be a part of helping cover this sick little affair that the two of them were having. An affair that she knew I would hate. Because I hated him.
She knew that.
She fucking knew it better than most people.
But she was still here, clinging to him like he was the only thing in this world that could save her. She clung to him like she had no idea the monster he was.
Like she hadn’t helped my sister cope with the destruction he and his son had caused.
She had looked her in the face, the both of us in the face, and acted like she had hated the man as much as we did. She acted like she actually gave a shit about what Lucas and Mr. Vos had done and all the while she was leaving my house and going back to him.
Acid filled my throat as I watched them through my phone.
Fuck Cami and fuck Mr. Vos.
Any loyalty or fucked-up relationship I had with Cami was so fucking over. I could barely stand to look at her or the way she pressed her body against his.
Cami was nothing but a whore, and she had used me so perfectly in her fucked-up lies. I had been the one to help her keep her affair with Mr. Vos a secret. I was the one who had allowed her to lie to everyone while thinking she was this perfect girl with the perfect life that everyone else wanted.
But she was none of those things.
Mr. Vos gripped her thigh in his hand and lifted it to bring it around his body. Neither one of them noticed as I quietly slid the door open and slipped inside, and I could tell that neither of them cared about anything other than each other as I pushed the door back just to the latch.
I watched them for a few more moments before I forced the door closed behind me with a loud thud.
Mr. Vos dropped his hands from Cami so quickly you would have thought she was burning him, and I was so damn happy that I was still recording when his gaze met mine and the look of shock and terror filled his hazel eyes that matched Josie’s.
This was her pathetic excuse for a father. This was the man who had threatened to take everything from her because she wasn’t exactly who he wanted her to be.
And look at him. He expected perfection from a girl who had just lost her mother, and here he stood with his body wrapped around someone who was the exact same age.
Someone who was underage. She was underage, and she most certainly wasn’t his wife.
"What the fuck are you doing?" His voice held so much power even as he was being quiet and trying not to be overheard.
But that power in his voice was nothing but bravado.
I clicked Stop Recording and tucked my phone deep into my pocket before I answered him. "It looks like I’m getting a free show on the clock." I leaned back against the door and crossed my arms. He tracked the movement, and I loved the way he fidgeted as he watched m
e.
I had caught Mr. Vos with his pants down, and now he feared me. It was a heady and dangerous feeling, and I let myself bask in it for a few moments before looking over at Cami.
She had a pathetic look on her face as if she wanted to say something to me. As if she wanted to explain what I had just saw, but both of us knew that nothing she could say would ever make this better.
She had chosen her side. She had chosen it and made me look like a fool. A fool who had believed she was sleeping with a fucking teacher this entire time.
Cami was a good liar, and she had hidden her lies so well in almost truths that I had never questioned her. Because why would I?
Why would this gorgeous girl ever lie about sleeping with a married man?
But now I knew.
"Delete that video now, Beckham."
My gaze snapped back to Mr. Vos, and I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to think he could actually tell me what to do. After everything this man had done, his audacity was astounding.
"Let me tell you how this is going to go." I drummed my fingers against my arm.
"This isn’t his fault." Cami rushed out before I could continue. "Joseph had nothing to do with this. I made a move on him because I’ve been infatuated with him forever." She pushed her hair out of her face as her gaze bounced between me and him.
"Do you ever stop lying, Cami? Do you ever stop being anything other than a malicious bitch?"
"That’s enough." Mr. Vos came to her rescue and watching him be so fucking weak tasted so sweet on my tongue.
"Let me tell you what’s enough." I pushed off the door and stepped toward him. I didn’t cower at the way this man still somehow made me feel smaller than him. I held the power now. I could destroy him so quickly, and we both knew it. "Stop fucking with Josie."
His back went ramrod straight as her name passed my lips.
"Beck, what are you talking about?"
I ignored Cami’s question and stared right at him. He and I both knew exactly what I was talking about. We both knew how fucked up he was.
"You’re going to sign over the deed to her mother’s house now. Not when she turns eighteen, and you’re going to give her all of her money."
He straightened his suit jacket and tucked his hand in the front pocket of his slacks. He seemed so nonchalant, so unworried by my demands, and I knew that this was the businessman that I had always heard of standing in front of me. His emotions disappeared, and what was left was nothing short of ruthless.
But I didn’t care.
"Or what? You’re going to blackmail me?" He shook his head before looking back at me. "And what exactly are you going to want after that? How long do you think you can keep this little charade up?"
"I want nothing else." I tapped my fingers against my pocket. "You give Josie what she wants, what is hers, and I’ll hand over the video."
"Just like that?" He didn’t believe a word I was saying, and I knew it was because if he was in my shoes, he would use the video for far worse. But I wanted to be nothing like him. I had already hurt Josie once by trying to stoop to their level, and I knew how insane that was. I wouldn’t do it again.
I would make sure that he didn’t hurt her like he had planned, then I would step away. I would give him the video just like I promised, then I wouldn’t think about the two of them ever again.
"I know this is a hard concept for you to understand, but I love Josie." I looked him in the eye and made sure he heard what I was saying to him. I wanted to make sure that he knew that I loved her when he didn’t. "I will do whatever it takes to make sure that she’s happy."
I could tell he wanted to argue with me, but I refused to let him.
"Even if that means destroying you. How do you think your wife will feel when she sees this video? Cami’s dad? Your investors?"
"Beck, you wouldn’t." Cami stepped toward me, but then thought better of it as I let my gaze snap to her.
"I will." I nodded and made sure she could see the truth in my eyes. "You’ve done nothing but lie to me and I’m done protecting you. It’s time for me to protect Josie, even if she’ll never forgive me after what he made me do. I’ll protect her regardless."
"Fine." Mr. Vos ran his fingers through his hair. "I’ll do what you demand, but I want that video, and I want proof that you’re not keeping it anywhere else. I want a legal agreement."
"That’s fine. You give Josie what’s hers then I’ll let you keep your dirty little secret."
"Don’t talk about me like I’m not standing right here." Cami stepped toward Mr. Vos, and I almost winced at the look on her face as he stepped away from her.
"I need to get out of here." He didn’t even spare Cami a glance as he headed toward the door, and I could see the heartbreak in her eyes.
And even though I knew she made the bed that she lied in, I still felt sorry for her.
She had lied to me and everyone else, and I somehow still felt sorry for her.
"Beck, please." She sounded so broken as I looked up at her, and I wondered what she truly thought was going to happen. Did she think she would somehow end up with Mr. Vos? Did she think he was her ticket to a happily ever after?
"How dare you?" I took a step back and put distance between us. "You’ve been lying to me for how damn long? How long has this been going on?"
She twisted the ring on her finger as she stared up at me. Mr. Vos's hand was on the door, and I knew that he was waiting for her response. "I didn’t mean for it to happen."
"How long?" I demanded an answer from her.
"Since sophomore year."
Mr. Vos ran his hand down his face, but I didn't give a shit what he thought.
"This whole time you had me believe that you were with Mr. Weston but you were with him. After everything he has done, you were with him."
Cami searched Mr. Vos's face for something, but I had no idea what she was looking for. I had no idea what she thought he would give her. "You don’t know him like I do. You think you do, but you don’t." She shook her head, and I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince me or herself. "He’s not the monster you think he is."
But he was. He was every bit of what I had painted him in my mind. Cami was the one who didn’t know the man who was leaving her standing there like she meant nothing to him.
"You can’t share the video, Beck." She reached forward and grabbed my hand in hers. "You know what my dad will do."
Cami knew how to manipulate me as easily as she did everyone else, and even though I knew that was what she was doing, it was working. Because I knew that her father would die if he ever found out. He would lose his fucking mind.
But Cami had made that choice. Not me.
And I couldn’t protect her from her own fucked-up decisions anymore.
"I won’t share it as long as Mr. Vos holds up to his end of the bargain." I pulled my hand away from hers and looked between the two of them.
"You barely know her." Her desperate voice stopped me in my tracks. "I’ve been your friend for as long as I can remember, and you barely know her. How can you choose her over me?"
My heart was thundering in my chest, and I didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t know how she could even ask such a question after the way she had betrayed me.
I didn’t know how she could expect anything out of me.
"I love her, and I will do whatever I have to, to protect her."
The door opened, and Mr. Vos let out a deep curse.
"What the hell is going on?"
My gaze snapped to Josie's, and from the way she was looking around the room, I knew that she had just overheard far too much.
"Dad?" Josie looked to her father, and I swear I had never seen so much hurt cross her face. I had never seen her look at him the way she was looking at him now. Like she was desperate for him to me, more than he was.
"Nothing's happening." He reached out for her hand, and she quickly jerked it out of his touch. "I think it's time the two of us head home."
"You're sleeping with Cami?" She looked back and forth between them, and I couldn't imagine what was going through her head. After everything she had been through, that was the last thing she needed. This was the last thing she could take.
"Don't be absurd." Mr. Vos's face was filled with rage, and I knew that he hated this. He hated that he couldn't talk his way out of this situation that he had put himself in.
"I heard you." She glanced over at me before looking back at her father. "I heard what Beck said."
"This isn't the place to have this conversation." His gaze bounced to the door, and I knew that he was unraveling. Whatever plan he had with Cami was backfiring on him. For such a smart businessman, he was acting like a complete and total idiot.
"Where exactly do you think we should have this conversation?" Josie's voice was rising. "Should we talk about it with your wife, or maybe Cami's dad? Would those be better options?"
I moved closer to Josie and her gaze snapped to mine.
"We are not doing this." He shook his head, but I didn't care what he had to say.
"The video is yours." I nodded to Josie. "Make him sign over your mother's house and money."
"And what about you?" She looked so hurt, so full of questions. "You finally have the power to destroy him and you're just going to hand it over?"
"Yes."
There was an instant relief in her eyes at my answer as if she hadn't believed it before that moment. As if she actually thought I would choose revenge over her, and I hated that I ever made her believe that. I had caused that doubt in her, and I would do whatever it took to take it back.
"Josephine, let's go. We can talk about this in the car."
But Josie wasn't looking at him. She was still looking at me. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Josie."
She jerked her head around in his direction, and I stepped closer to her still. I felt so overprotective of her, so eager to get her behind me where he couldn't touch her even if he tried, but I knew that she was capable of protecting herself.
And she needed this.
"I am not going anywhere with you," she repeated herself. "If I were you, I would leave."