Hot Commodity (Banks / Kincaid Family #1)(54)

I don’t care if you’re thirty or eighty. You’re still my son, and I will not let you lie to my wife."

"Look, I’m not like I used to be," Cameron argued. "I promise you I’m better. Alcohol doesn’t rule my life. It doesn’t affect me like it did. I can stop. I have stopped."

"Except you haven’t," Chuck cocked back. "And it obviously does rule your life since it made you marry a perfectly innocent young woman."

Cameron’s jaw set. "We’re going to fix that."

Allison couldn’t take it anymore. She wiped at her eyes and then hoarsely said, "Excuse me. I-I’m sorry, I have to…" She hurried from the room before finishing her sentence.

Cameron cursed under his breath, slumped onto the sofa, and buried his face in his hands.

*

Olivia watched Cameron’s torn father glance after his departed wife and then toward his son. His eyes narrowed slightly when they settled on Cameron. Then he started to turn away as if it were too painful to look at his boy.

When he caught her watching him, he paused, his gaze warming. Instinctively, she knew he didn’t blame her for any of this, and it made her feel a guilty. Yes, Cameron had been drunk that night, but she’d been the one to press their nuptials.

"You’re his mistake, hmm?" Chuck murmured. Then he grinned and winked. "Well, you sure are a pretty mistake."

His smile faded a little as he glanced at the empty doorway through which his wife had fled. Then he nodded quietly to Olivia and hurried after Allison, calling her name.

Olivia looked at Cameron and was about to scold him for letting them down that way. But she saw the misery on every tense muscle in his body and quietly left him alone.





Fourteen



Olivia had been planning on slinking unnoticed up to her room and hiding until the whole family scene played itself out. But as soon as she stepped into the next parlor and started for the steps, she skidded to a stop.

Cameron’s parents stood huddled together, hugging, in her path.

They lifted their faces, and she knew she was trapped. Great. Here came the accusations and dirty names.

But Allison Banks merely sent her a bashful smile as she stepped away from her husband and reached for Olivia’s hand. "Please excuse my behavior," she gushed. "I didn’t mean to walk out without—"

"Don’t worry about it," Olivia cut in. "You don’t have to explain or apologize to me," she added hastily. She should be the one apologizing for trapping their son into an unwanted marriage.

"It’s just that Cameron went through such a hard time after...after…"

"After Sienna killed herself," Olivia finished bluntly.

Both Allison and Chuck lifted their eyebrows, startled. "He told you about that?"

Olivia frowned, not understanding why they seemed so surprised. "A little," she answered evasively. She wasn’t ready for them to know how Vivian had researched him.

Looking anxious, Cameron’s mother stepped closer. "Please. What did he say?"

"Just…" she shrugged, looking confused. "Just that he feels guilty about her death, like he should’ve done more."

Chuck closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. His wife took his arm and squeezed comfortingly, but she continued to eye Olivia as she spoke. "Having someone close to you commit suicide affects everyone differently," she murmured quietly. Cameron’s father slipped a comforting arm around his wife’s shoulders and pulled her close. As he kissed her hair, Allison lifted her face and sent Olivia a sad smile. "I cooked."

A strange pressure filled Olivia’s chest. She ached for Cameron’s mother with a sympathy that made her want to cry. A cold chill passed over her arms, but Olivia didn’t shiver. Frowning, she realized Roger Donovan’s death had turned her meek and passive. While seeing her husband kill himself had made Vivian become more aggressive and ruthless, Olivia had shied into a shell and let her mother control her.

Disgusted with her own weakness, she glanced at Cameron’s parents. They seemed nice, like the type of parents she’d always dreamed of having. She wondered if her temporary husband knew what a priceless gift he had in these two people. They loved him unconditionally. And yet he pushed them away.

She’d stayed in Pasadena for twenty-four years, dreaming for a mere glimpse of such devotion from her mother.

"So, where are you from, Olivia?" Chuck asked, looking determined to change the subject.

"Pasadena," she answered.

"California?"

She nodded, and Chuck whistled. "Long way from home."

She shrugged. "I don’t live there anymore. I-I’ll never go back." An uncomfortable moment of silence followed her adamant proclamation. Olivia’s face colored. She could tell they wanted to know the reason behind her strong announcement, but they were too polite to ask.

Chuck cleared his throat and smiled. "Where’re you headed next?"

"I…" She glanced at Cameron’s parents and went blank. "I have no idea," she confessed, struck with a moment of panic. Where was she going to go next? "Cameron said he’d help me, but…"

"You have no clue, hmm?" Instead of looking appalled, Chuck looked excited. Rubbing his hands together, he said, "Well, you’re in luck, little lady. It just so happens that my business is to help other people with their business. Now, what kind of skills do you have?"