“Her hatred seems to run deep.” Larry pulled out more pictures. “The pictures get worse.”
Cameron stared. There was a picture of Kaytlyn shooting a needle into her own arm, partially concealed by a bunch of pine trees. It was followed by a picture of Kaytlyn handing over money and taking a bag of what appeared to be cocaine. Maybe at a park?
“What?” Cameron exploded, jumping to his feet. “How could she possibly doctor something like this?” He knew some photographic experts might be able to do this, but it looked so real.
“She didn’t doctor it.” Kaytlyn’s voice squeaked, and her face was contorted in pain.
Cameron’s stomach dropped as he turned to her. No. He couldn’t believe that Kaytlyn would be shooting up or buying cocaine. There was no way to wrap his mind around the incredible woman he knew doing that to herself or breaking the law like that. He squinted at the picture. She looked much younger; maybe she’d had a problem before?
“It’s my sister,” Kaytlyn said quietly. “People always used to say how we looked like twins.”
Cameron sank back into his chair. “We can prove that, then.”
“Hopefully,” Larry said. “She’s also got signed affidavits from household staff, claiming they’ve seen Kaytlyn throwing fits and breaking things, threatening Jacob, et cetera.”
“But that’s all slander,” Cameron said, hating the hurt look in Kaytlyn’s eyes. Who on the staff would do that to Kaytlyn? Yet there were some who had been with Jacob for many years, and they might be more loyal to Jessica, the girl they’d raised, than to Kaytlyn, the outsider who came in and took everything over.
“It’s their word against ours. I’m sure we can get many character witnesses for Kaytlyn.” Larry gave her a kind smile. “There was also a reference to your father being abusive.”
Kaytlyn blinked and then looked away. “Emotionally, he was.”
“No one can blame you for that, but it gives more validation to the picture she’s trying to paint if you were abused as a child and ran from that, only to run to Jacob. Plus there’s the statistics of those who are abused not breaking the cycle.” Larry shrugged.
Cameron despised how this was digging at Kaytlyn, and he could only imagine how awful she was feeling. He wanted to move on, do something positive. “Is there anything we can do besides getting our own character witnesses and disproving these?” Cameron gestured to the pictures and papers on the desk.
“Yeah.” Larry turned his wizened gaze on Kaytlyn. “But Kaytlyn, first I want to promise you we’re going to fight all of this. We have a good chance. We’ve just got to make sure we have everything in line. She most likely has more ‘evidence’ that we haven’t seen, but our case is strong. I don’t want you to worry.”
Cameron wondered if Larry really believed that, or if he was just trying to make Kaytlyn feel better so she didn’t get overwhelmed and put stress on the baby. Yet there had to be a way to prove she hadn’t signed away her baby on purpose. Cameron would do anything to help her prove she was a fit mother and if she’d let him he’d help her raise the child.
“But most people believe anything Jessica and Peter say,” Kaytlyn pointed out. “And in this small town, more than likely the judge was also Jessica’s piano teacher.”
Cameron couldn’t help but grimace at that. It was a tight-knit town, but a lot of new blood and new money was pouring in, changing the populace to an extent.
“Jessica and Peter are very highly esteemed, but so was Jacob, and you can’t discount how polished and with-it you are and all the good you’ve done in the community,” Larry pointed out.
“Thank you.”
Cameron agreed. If anyone could look into Jessica’s eyes and not see evil, they weren’t looking hard enough. On the flip side, if they could look into Kaytlyn’s eyes and not see an angel, they weren’t living right. But that wouldn’t matter to a judge who was relying on only facts, not emotion.
“We’re going to be fine. If Jessica can find people on our staff willing to lie, you can bet I’ll find people on their staff willing to tell the truth.” Larry arched an eyebrow. “I already have a friend in the Idaho Senate who told me some truths about Peter, his women, and his type of politics. Not that he’s an anomaly in this day and age of dirty politics, but the judge still won’t like it. I also have another idea that will make our case even stronger, and I don’t think it’ll be that big of a deal.”
“Okay.” Kaytlyn looked to Cameron as if drawing strength from him. He wanted to squeeze her hand to encourage her, but he settled for smiling.
“I need you to get engaged,” Larry said.
Cameron’s smile disappeared. What was Larry thinking? She’d recently been widowed.
“Excuse me?” Kaytlyn put a hand to her chest and sat back. “Get engaged?”
“Jessica claims that you’re a drug user, and the employees are saying you’re unstable and prone to anger. She claims she and Peter can give the baby a stable home, a mother and a father.” He rolled his eyes. “If you can find the right man to be engaged to—someone solid, easygoing, with a good reputation—your overall case with everything from the businesses to the baby will be stronger. We’ll get all our ducks in a row with everything else, and Jessica will be begging us for a settlement much smaller than the fifty million of yours she thought she was going after before Jacob axed her completely, and she’ll never touch your child.” Larry smiled in encouragement. “Can you think of someone to get engaged to?”
Me! Cameron wanted to stand up, throw his hand in the air, and shout it. He was the right man. It was perfect. Was this the sign from heaven Jacob was going to send? They could get engaged and get married, Cameron could raise Kaytlyn’s baby as his own, and they could finally be together. The idea made him happier than he’d been in a long while.
Kaytlyn said nothing, but her eyes swung to Cameron, and he could read the longing and hope there just as surely as she could see it in his own. His heart thudded faster and faster, and he knew that no matter what Jessica and Peter threw at them, they could take it if they stuck together.
“Not you,” Larry said to Cameron, bringing all his dreams to a crushing halt as he easily guessed Cameron’s intentions.
“Why not?” Cameron rounded on him. “It has to be me. I would never trust anyone else with Kaytlyn, and I refuse to let anyone else close enough to her to pretend they’re engaged.”
Larry was shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Cameron. You saw the pictures she has of the two of you. She’s claiming all kinds of twisted things you two did to Jacob. She’s saying you two schemed up the marriage and forced poor Jacob into gifting his companies and rewriting the will so you could then wait for him to die and have everything of his, and steal she and Peter’s child in the process.”
“The lady is insane,” Cameron protested. “What judge is going to listen to that?” Not you, not you. Larry’s voice was harsh in his head. He didn’t think he could handle looking at Kaytlyn. What if she was okay with it not being him? What if she wanted to be engaged to some other yahoo? It had been hard enough watching her be married to Jacob, and they’d never even kissed each other or had any sort of romantic exchanges or intentions. Did she have someone in mind? Any man would jump at the chance to be close to Kaytlyn. Would she ditch Cameron like a used-up bullet casing and move on? His chest was so tight he could hardly catch a breath.
“I’ve been around a long time, and I’m not going to lie, I’ve seen some crazy stuff, but I feel good about our chances of winning. I’m not as concerned about the money, but I want to do everything I can to prevent them from getting the baby.”
Cameron had very recently thought he’d also do anything for Kaytlyn and the baby. Why did the thought of her being engaged to someone else seem to be too much? He’d dealt with her being married to Jacob. But Jacob had never touched her … kissed her. His stomach rolled.
“Kaytlyn, can you think of a close friend who has a good reputation, hopefully someone you’ve dated in the past, who would fak
e an engagement with you? It wouldn’t have to be a big deal, maybe some pictures that we send to the media, but it will kill Jessica’s angle with you and Cameron, and it will make you look more stable so her unfit mother nonsense is weaker too.”
Cameron forced himself to look at her and see what she was thinking. If she had somebody in mind, it might tear him apart. She stared at him as if afraid he would break; then she focused on Larry. “Yeah, there’s someone who might work.”
No! Cameron clenched his fists and exercised what he believed was superhuman self-control when he wanted to punch a hole through the wall. No, he wanted to punch a hole through the face of whatever guy Kaytlyn was thinking of. There’s someone who might work. He prayed that it wouldn’t work. Please, Lord. Please, Jacob. Help me.
“Great,” Larry said like it was no big deal, putting everything back in his laptop bag. “Let me know how it progresses. I’m going to dig into the doctor’s office who did the insemination and see if I can find an ally. We can’t really disprove the pictures of you two on the hikes, but we can get the ones taken from the drone thrown out. I’ll work on proving that it’s Kandy in the pictures with the drugs, and I’ll get character witnesses for you and some testimonials from Jessica’s household staff about how insane she truly is. I’ve already got some solid dirt on Peter but I’ll keep looking.” He stood.
Cameron offered his hand to Larry. Though he was concerned and upset at this turn of events, he knew Larry was giving them the best legal advice he could.
“Keep your security guys on their toes,” Larry cautioned him. “I wouldn’t put it past Peter or Jessica to be using all of this as a smoke screen while they plan something more sinister.”
Cameron nodded his agreement. They were both certifiably psychotic. He couldn’t believe that anyone would fall for Jessica or Peter’s fake exterior, but many people did.
Larry walked out the office door. Cameron didn’t even know how to approach Kaytlyn right now. Could he beg her to let him be her fiancé? Who cared what stupid Jessica claimed? They could bring in witness after witness of how mentally stable Jacob was right until the end and how Cameron had never behaved in a manner besides security guard and a friend to Kaytlyn. Yet … he couldn’t put her at risk to lose her baby to those people. He’d have to keep dealing with whatever came at him. No matter how bad it hurt.
“Cam?” Her soft voice pulled him around.
He met her gaze and knew he’d do anything for her. “Yeah?”
“It’s going to be okay.”
Cameron didn’t think so, but it was sweet that she could reassure him despite the mess she was in. He could walk away, and she couldn’t—except they both knew he never would walk away from her. He pushed a hand through his hair. “So you have …” He cleared his throat and muttered, “Someone in mind?”
She pressed her lips together and picked up her phone. “Trey’s an old friend. He’ll help me if he can.”
That was the last thing Cameron wanted to hear. He was supposed to help her, not some loser from her past. Trey. He considered where he’d heard that name before, and he remembered a golden boy YouTube joker coming to visit right before Kaytlyn had married Jacob. He’d taken her on a hike and to dinner. The guy had an easy smile and seemed to just enjoy life. He wasn’t going to enjoy it when Cameron pummeled him.
Kaytlyn was messaging somebody on her phone. Was it Trey? How long had she dated the guy? How much did she like him? Where was Trey when she was sick every morning? Could the smiley guy truly waltz in here and take away Cameron’s happiness?
“So what’s the plan?” he managed to ask. He tried to take comfort that Larry had said the fake engagement was no big deal, but it felt like a very big deal to him.
“The pilot is in California taking his kids to Disneyland.” Her brow pulled together. “Are you up for a road trip? I’d love to get away from all of this for a few days.” She gestured back to her desk. The incriminating pictures and paperwork were gone, but both of them could still see them and what they represented: a nightmarish legal battle over insane claims that should never be proved.
Cameron would love to break away from this mansion, and he’d love to spend hours alone with her in a car. He’d have his security team follow in another vehicle. But letting her travel so she could get fake engaged to some guy? This had the makings of a nightmare.
Chapter Nine
Kaytlyn slept through most of the eleven-hour drive to Colorado, which was just as well, because Cameron had gone all stoic and military on her again. They stopped and stayed the night in Boulder, getting two connecting suites at the St. Julien. Kaytlyn didn’t sleep well. She should’ve waited for the pilot to get back from his family vacation, but she really wanted to escape the mansion. She wanted to be far from Peter and Jessica’s stupid allegations, from whoever on her staff had accused her of being unstable, and especially from the knowledge that she had signed her baby away. How could Jessica have betrayed her like that? She had to focus on how they were going to fight for her baby because other wise she’d break down.
She’d tried to call her old boyfriend, Trey Nelson, several times, and he hadn’t answered. She’d finally gotten through to his best friend, Gavin Strong, and learned that Trey was in their hometown of Lonepeak for the long weekend, doing bike rides and seminars for guests of Gavin’s lodge, Angel Falls Retreat. She’d see soon enough if he was up for the ploy, as they were almost there.
Trey was a nice guy, he’d always been a good friend, and most of all, she trusted him. She knew that if there was any way to make it work, he would do it. They’d dated seriously during their senior year of high school, and every time he got close to Sun Valley over the past ten years, he’d come by and see her, take her on a bike ride or a hike or out to dinner. She’d actually gone out with him about a week before she’d gotten pregnant. Trey was also well loved on the internet, to the point that even if people were upset at her getting engaged so quickly, they’d forgive her if she was engaged to someone amazing like Trey.
After driving through the dry parts of Idaho, Utah, and western Colorado, they were finally back to mountains and greenery. Kaytlyn loved her Colorado home. She wanted to go see her mother and sister while she was here, but her last bitter fight with her father kept playing through her mind.
Kaytlyn rarely saw her family, keeping in touch with her youngest sister through texts that constantly begged her to leave home and come live with her. Sadly, Krysta didn’t respond beyond one-word answers. Occasionally, Kaytlyn would call her mother, but the words she’d hear over the phone were even less verbose than Krysta’s texts.
Kaytlyn had left home at eighteen and gotten as far away as she could until she ran out of fuel for her beater car and only had enough to feed herself for a few days. She’d been hoping to get to the Oregon coast, but as she hit Twin Falls, Idaho, she’d seen an advertisement for Sun Valley and thought it looked like home—or at least a home without her controlling father. She’d taken the detour, driven into Sun Valley on fumes and a prayer, started working in the first restaurant that hired her, and not long after that she met Jacob. She knew some psychiatrist would say she’d latched on to Jacob because of her lack of a father figure. Whatever. She’d dealt with a father figure for long enough. Jacob had been her best friend, business partner, and her equal, not her father.
Three years ago, she and Jacob had meetings in Vail, so they’d driven to Lonepeak valley to say hello to her family. When she and Jacob had stopped at the run-down family home and ranch, the visit had started semi-cordially. Though she could see the questions in her parents’ eyes about her and Jacob’s relationship. Then Jacob had made the mistake of offering to give them some money for the ranch and for her sister Kandy’s drug rehab. Her father had gone ballistic, calling Kaytlyn a sellout hooker and Jacob a predator. Kaytlyn was certain the men would come to blows, but luckily Jacob was mature enough to walk away. She’d tried to get Krysta to leave with her, but her little sister had only been sevent
een at the time and her dad wouldn’t let her go.
She hadn’t been back. She could just imagine what her father would say about her now, pregnant and alone. At least she had Cameron. She sighed. Or she thought she had Cameron. He’d been dealing so well with the last few months of their odd relationship. He’d been amazing as her protector while she was married to another man, but now the thought of her engaged to someone else was shredding him from the inside out, and she didn’t know how to approach the subject. The engagement would hopefully just be some pictures, not a big deal like Larry said. She wished she knew how to approach the subject and get him talking to her about it.
They pulled into her beautiful valley, and she sighed. It was picture perfect. Downtown was decorated with tree-lined, wide streets and quant little shops, all cookie cutter with individual light posts and a faux wrought-iron railing on the second story. Houses and farms like the one her parents lived on were spread throughout the valley, and on the far side loomed the huge lodge, villas, spa, and ski resort, all run by the Strong family.
“Where to?” Cameron asked.
She pointed. “The ski resort up there. That’s where he’ll be.”
Cameron grunted and kept driving. “Who is this joker, anyway?”
“My friend, Trey Nelson.”
“Mountain bike and ski trickster?”
So he already knew who Trey was and had been stewing about it. “Yeah.” She looked out the window before admitting, “You’ve seen him at the house before. He stops by to visit and take me out when he’s near Sun Valley.”
“You’re sure he’s a … good guy?”
Kaytlyn wished she could see past his sunglasses and his tough exterior, get a glimpse into those blue eyes she loved so much. She appreciated how much he cared. He was so protective and yet tender. She really needed him right now. “Trey’s a good guy. I’ve known him my whole life.”
“And do you want to be engaged to him?”
Kaytlyn sighed. No, she wanted to be engaged to Cameron. Did she tell him that? Would that break down his stoic wall? It really wasn’t fair for her to say that, though, and then force him to watch her pretend to be engaged to Trey. “He’ll be the best choice.”
Her Loyal Protector: A Strong Family Romance Companion Novel Page 7
