The Mogul and the Muscle: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy(67)

“When? How long has she known?”

“It was around the time that guy tried to attack her in the parking garage.”

I ground my teeth together and glanced away. Why the fuck hadn’t she told me?

“Look, Jude, I know her. Doing something like that is very out of character for her. She really regretted it.”

I didn’t say anything. Just nodded. I was too busy trying to process this new piece of information. See where it fit. How it changed things.

But mostly I was fucking furious that she hadn’t told me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make things worse,” she said. “I just figured—”

“Not your fault,” I said. “She should have told me.”

Emily nodded, then walked up the porch stairs and went inside.

I took a few deep breaths to get my shit under control. I couldn’t afford to be compromised right now. Had to stay focused. Stay sharp.

Although I didn’t like the idea that a video of Cameron—my fucking Cameron—having sex with another man existed, that wasn’t what had my guts twisted in a knot. It wasn’t even that it cast further suspicion on her ex, nor that it introduced the question of why he’d choose to keep it quiet if his intent was to hurt her.

What really got me was wondering why. Why hadn’t she trusted me enough to tell me?

I still had a job to do, and I was going to see it through. But I was also going to find out why the hell she’d kept this from me—and what else she was hiding.





29





Cameron





Derek and I finished up our call with my PR team. We had a plan of action for handling any negative spin as a result of the break-in at headquarters. We were taking a proactive approach, releasing a statement in an attempt to get ahead of things.

But at this point, bad press wasn’t my biggest worry. Not by a long shot.

This morning’s events had left me shaken. But more than that, I was frustrated. Stressed. And angry.

I was pissed at whoever was doing this to me. Pissed at the people they’d hired. Pissed that I couldn’t be in my office, working on forecasts and planning for next year. I wanted to get back to normal.

I wanted my fucking life back.

Emily was in the kitchen waiting for Derek when we came out of my office. She pointed to her phone and mouthed we’ll talk later before heading for the front. I grabbed my phone and checked my messages.

Emily: I didn’t realize Jude didn’t know about the sex tape. I’m so sorry.

A sickening sense of dread poured through my stomach. Oh god. He knew.

It had been stupid of me to hope he’d never have to know, but damn it, I’d held onto that hope like a little kid clinging to belief in Santa Claus. It felt like Jude finding out the video existed would be as bad him actually seeing it. And I’d been desperate to avoid that.

Fuck.

I found him on the back terrace. He leaned forward against the railing, facing the water. The blue waves of the bay sparkled in the sunlight and the marine breeze had cut the humidity. Under any other circumstances, it would have been a gloriously beautiful afternoon.

Any hope I’d had that he wasn’t angry with me burned away to ash as I took in his posture. I already knew him so well. The man I’d thought was a brick-wall—so adept at hiding his emotions—communicated volumes with every little movement and gesture. With the way he stood with one foot crossed over the other—seemingly casual but ready to whip around in an instant. With the way he leaned his forearms on the railing, his head lowered. I could see that he was angry in the way his shoulders bunched, his thick muscle knotting.

“Jude, I know I should have told you about Aldrich, but—”

“But?” he asked, cutting me off. He turned to face me. “Yes, you should have. Full stop.”

“You’re not going to give me a chance to explain myself?”

“No, I am going to give you the chance to explain yourself,” he said, his voice ice cold. “But first, I’m going to explain something to you. You hired me to do a job. And in order to do my job, I need all the relevant information. Without that, things get missed. People get hurt. Now I need you to listen to me very carefully, Cameron. What else haven’t you told me?”

“Nothing.”

His expression didn’t change. He was back to stone-cold bodyguard. Worse than stone-cold bodyguard. His eyes were like razors digging into my soul.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

“I asked you repeatedly if there was anything else I needed to be aware of. You’re a smart woman. You can’t tell me you didn’t realize the fact that your ex has an unauthorized video of the two of you having sex is something I should know.”

I clenched my teeth, my defenses going up at the way he’d phrased that. Not sex tape. He’d specifically said a video of the two of you having sex. Like he needed to emphasize what it was. What I’d done.

“What good would it have done if I had? Given you one more checkmark on the list of reasons my ex is a prick? We already knew that.”

“What else are you hiding?”

“I told you, I’m not hiding anything.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about your workshop?” he asked.