Justice Falling (Falling #3)(23)

Oliver put up a hand to Hank without even looking at him. “Hold up, cowboy. Cami, this isn’t finished.”

“Oh, but it is. And I expect you to keep your word.” I reminded him, plastering on the biggest, fakest smile I could muster.

His eyes narrowed, and then his gaze turned gentle. What I saw next didn’t make me happy. As a matter of fact, it angered me. Pity. He looked at me quietly with a heaping dose of pity smeared across his pointed, perfect features. That was the one thing I never wanted to see on anyone’s face. I worked hard. Really hard to provide for myself and Tanner.

I glared at Oliver and finally he said, “I promise.” He turned on a heel and threw his hands in the air. “Nannies! You--” he pointed at Hank. “--and me, need to talk about our baby. We cannot be living off of ‘maybe’ your Mama will come to NYC and take care of our girl. Unacceptable.”

Hank’s eyes narrowed and the smile on his face turned into a smirk. Oh boy. “You spend a lot of time thinking ‘bout this? You seem to keep forgettin’ that this is my daughter with Aspen.”

“And I keep telling your sexy fine ass that Aspen was mine first. Therefore, her daughter is my daughter by proxy! Now, can we please get on to the important stuff? I have a list of prospective nannies to go over with you.” He pulled out his high-tech device from his breast pocket and tapped the screen a few times. “Work history, super-secret spy type personal investigations I had done on each one of them. I’m ready to go through them with you. Now’s as good a time as any?”

Hank’s hands pulled into fists, and he took a deep breath. “Buddy…”

“Of course you got time. This is our baby girl we’re talking about. Come now.” Oliver grabbed Hank’s bicep and tugged him toward his office. “Damn Hank, you’ve been hitting that gym hard. I’ll bet my Pen loves that.”

Hank shook his head but followed Oliver into his office and shut the door.

Finally, I sat in my seat, pulled out my compact from my desk drawer and refreshed my powder, covering the redness from the crying spell.

A sick, gut-wrenching feeling swept through me. What if Oliver didn’t keep my secret? Aspen would tell Hank, and the entire crew would find out about Tanner. It’s not that I was embarrassed of my boy. He was the perfect angel child. I adored him. He was intelligent way beyond his four years. His brown hair and blue eyes were his father’s, making him gorgeous. Everyone who had seen me with him said so. But the circumstances were not something to be proud of. I held a great deal of shame about finding out I was pregnant at eighteen and being a mistress to a married man. To top it off, I’d accepted ten grand and disappeared.

I should have been smarter and made sure Tyler used protection, but I was young, dumb, and thought I was in love. Now, almost twenty-three and a single mother, what would Nate think? I’m certain a man like him wouldn’t want to be shackled to a woman with a child. He’d want a perfect woman. One that wasn’t damaged goods with baggage, living in a tiny apartment barely above poverty level, with a roommate, who bared it all for cash twice a week. Now that he knew I’ve had a relationship with his best friend, he was not going to want anything to do with me.



***



My Camille, the sweet precious innocent woman whose taste I couldn’t and didn’t want to get off my tongue, had shagged my best mate. It wasn’t enough to know they’d bonked. I needed details. Thoughts of their bodies merging inspired wicked nausea to rise up my throat. The only way to rid myself of it was to confirm the truth.

After a few beats of tapping my knuckles against the desk and staring out at the landscape, I’d had it. I couldn’t take it anymore. I pulled out my phone and brought up the messages program.

To: Tyler Thornton

From: Nate Walker



How long ago did you see Camille?



Not even seconds later a reply popped up.

To: Nate Walker

From: Tyler Thornton



Her name is Camille?



Fucking tosser. I gripped the phone so tight I worried it would crack. Another text pinged.

To: Nate Walker

From: Tyler Thornton



Relax it was years ago. Popped her cherry. I broke her in real good. You’re free to have a go of her.



“Mother-f*cking piece of rubbish! I’ll f*cking kill you!” I roared at the phone then swung my arm back to lob it against the glass windows of my office. He took my sweet Camille’s virginity! Christ this couldn’t be any worse.

Collier ran in hollering. “Whoa, whoa! Brother mine. What has you in such a snit?” His brown eyes focused on mine and held. “Deep breaths.” After a few breaths I calmed and sunk down into the leather chair. “What is it?”

“You know Ty?”

Collier rolled his eyes, opened his jacket at the waist and sat with one ankle on top of his knee. Cool as a cucumber. Blondish brown hair fell in layers over his head framing inquisitive brown eyes. Reminded me of Mum, instantly relaxing my ire if only briefly.

“Yeah, I know your best mate. Bugger that he is.” He scowled. Collier had never liked Tyler Thornton. Always said he was a wanker. Now I believed him.

“He shagged Camille,” I said the words and swallowed the sour taste it brought to my mouth.