Once we’re seated at a table overlooking the Strip, I take in our surroundings. The décor is eclectic, and fun, while still being classy. It’s not even close to my normal hangouts, but it’s where I want to be. Kind of. Now that I’m here, I’m not so sure.
I pull at my tie a little, feeling out of place, even though I have the money to buy Camari and me whatever we want off the menu. I make a good living, but I don’t live beyond my means, and I don’t like to charge unnecessary things, like fancy meals. I meant it when I said I’ve been saving up for a few months, even though I didn’t know who my date would be when I planned it.
“Everything looks good,” I say, trying to break the tension I can still feel from her.
“It does,” she agrees.
Someone comes to take our drink order, and suggest wines. I don’t know shit about what might be best, so I tell the woman to pick something for us. That seems to be a good answer since she smiles, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Camari! I didn’t know you were working in the States now.”
I see her freeze, as she turns to the man who has walked up to our table. He has what sounds like an Italian accent, and I can tell his clothes are more expensive than my truck.
“Hello, Antonio.”
“I’m here all week, and I’d love to reconnect,” he tells her, brushing her shoulder with the back of his hand.
“I’m afraid not.”
He looks over to me, and sneers. “Pity. It appears as though you’ve downgraded where your clientele is concerned, though, so maybe I should be glad you can’t fit me in. I’d hate to be exposed if you’re not taking care of yourself. Which, from your obvious weight gain, it doesn’t look like you are.”
“You need to walk away right now,” I tell him, not sure what’s going on, but getting pissed off nonetheless.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll tack on some extra unpaid time for you due to my interruption,” he tells me, then looks back at her. “You were always so accommodating.”
“Please go away,” she tells him, and there’s no way to miss the tears in her eyes.
I’m two seconds from laying this asshole flat out, when he nods, and moves along. “What the hell was that?”
“I have a past, Lennon.”
“It sounded like he was calling you a prostitute.”
“We preferred ‘escort’. I’ll explain if you’ll let me.”
I flinch like she’s hit me, and my mouth drops open. I don’t have time to say what’s on my mind, because another man approaches the table, fawning all over my date.
“Camari! Why didn’t you call ahead? We would’ve seated you in a better table.”
“This table is fine,” she says, and now she looks more panicked than sad.
“Nonsense! As one of Reina’s girls, you command the best, and only the best! Your group hasn’t been in for months, and we’ve missed you here.”
The fuck? “Months?” I ask him, ignoring how white Camari has gone.
“Yes. It’s been almost a year since Camari first came here with her friends, I think, has it not?”
“Cam?” I ask, my stomach dropping.
“You know I work for Reina,” she says to me, before turning back to the man. “This table is perfect, and I know the food will be as wonderful as it always is.”
He takes the obvious cue she’s giving him to leave, and walks away. I don’t even know how to control the anger coursing through my book right now, but I try. “Care to recommend something, since you’re obviously a regular here?”
“I’ve been here a few times, but I wouldn’t say I’m a regular. I can explain about working for Reina longer than I told you I did,” she says, but I don’t want to hear it.
“I have been looking forward to this for a long time, so please just keep your lying mouth shut. I didn’t save up for this to have it completely ruined, although you’re coming damn close. Brava.”
“You won’t be paying.”
“The fuck I won’t!”
“They consider it free publicity that the women from the Foundation eat here, and they won’t bring over a bill.”
“Listen closely, Camari, because this is the last thing I am ever going to say to you. I do not give a fuck about how everyone is in love and obsessed with the Corrigans. They may run this city, but they don’t run me. For you, I tried to believe they’re the good and honest people everyone thinks they are, but I was wrong, and you’re living proof of that. I can’t believe I fell for you, but now all I feel is disgust. Order whatever the hell you want, and know I will be paying for it.”
The wine is delivered to our table, and I’m not surprised when Camari only orders a salad for dinner. Her lies have been exposed, and I’ve been exposed as a fool. I keep my word, and don’t say one word to her while I eat a steak I barely taste. When no check arrives, I call over the man who came to our table earlier, and demand one. He looks to her, and she nods, which makes the bill magically appear a minute later.
I’ve heard people say that silence is golden, but the silence between Camari and I as I drive home is black and charred. Lies. Every damn moment with her was a lie, and I let myself fall for every single one. My heart is broken, but resolve to bring down Reina Corrigan is stronger than ever.
13
Camari
Numb. That’s all I feel right now. Well, almost all—shame is making an appearance, too. Lennon parks the truck in his driveway, and gets out without even a glance my way. I stupidly wait for him to open my door, but when he looks me in the eye, and raises his key fob, I scramble out on my own, stumbling a little even though I only had a few sips of the wine the sommelier picked for us.
He doesn’t offer to help me, and he doesn’t look back after locking the truck. I stand there, staring at his door, and hoping against hope that he’ll open it and let me in. Not just back into his house, but back into his heart, too. I know it’s futile, but I wait for long minutes, just hoping, until the little bit of pride I have left makes me walk next door.
I strip off my clothes and shoes, leaving them in a pile on the floor, as I make my way to the exercise room I set up. Lennon’s words about being disgusted by me play over and over again as I run on the treadmill. I’m barefoot and clad only in a strapless bra, and thong, but it doesn’t matter. I run and run for hours, until my legs give out and I fall.
Knowing I need to call Reina, but also realizing there’s no way I can make it to my bag in the living room, so I press on my left forearm, and activate my comm unit.
“Lennon knows I’ve worked for the Foundation for longer than just recently. I’ll explain everything later, but he knows.”
I hear the flurry of messages coming in to me from everyone, but I don’t have the energy to respond. I worked out hard today, and tomorrow, I’ll work out even harder. Right now, I just need to sleep.
Lennon
It’s been a week since Camari’s deception was exposed to me, and I’m more determined than ever to find out what’s really going on with the Corrigan & Co. Foundation. The day after everything went down, two vans showed up. One was a small moving van, taking a few boxes from the house, and the other was a minivan with a family of five, who looked to be moving in. I tried to be a good neighbor and talk to them, but all they’d say was that a guardian angel gave them the house.
I don’t know if that “angel” is Reina, or Camari, but I can’t begrudge these people their house, even if I hate myself for missing the beautiful liar who used to live there. Yeah, I miss her even though I don’t want to, and it sucks.
“Lennon? Is that really you?”
I turn, and look to my right, seeing my past collide with my present in a way I never expected it to. “Sal?”
“Yeah, man! I can’t believe in all of Vegas, I run into you sitting on a bench at an outdoor mall!” he tells me with a laugh.
“I had some shopping to do, and some thinking as well.”
“Do you want to grab lunch, and catch up?�
��
“I’d love to.”
We walk over to one of the restaurants here at Downtown Summerlin, and snag a table in a quiet area of the place. Once we’ve given our orders, I turn to the friend I lost because of the Corrigan family, and ask what I’ve always needed to know.
“What did Jane Corrigan do to make you all leave?”
He looks puzzled by my question for a moment, and then resigned. “Of course, no one told you. We were just kids.”
“Told me what?”
“It’s still hard to talk about, but my dad…”
“Was the best coach ever! And the coolest guy!”
“No, Lenny, he wasn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was a good coach, but as a person, he was a sadistic, perverted fuck.”
No. This can’t be right! My friend was forced to move because a power-hungry family had his father fired. They didn’t even live here, but it was Jane Corrigan’s name I heard my mother say when she didn’t know I was listening. She took him from me, and I’ve never forgotten—or forgiven.
“What?”
“Dad was doing things to women, and kids. Bad things that I still can’t fathom, even now as an adult. Jane Corrigan found out, stopped him, and took care of Mom and me after that.”
“Took care of you?”
“I can’t say more without permission, but if you want, we can head to the Foundation, and I can see if Jane’s around, and will tell you herself.”
“She doesn’t run things anymore.”
“No, but she’s still involved.”
“I thought they took you from me, and I’ve hated them for it ever since.”
“Damn. I had no idea. Everyone thought it was better if we made a clean break, but I should’ve tried to contact you. I thought about it, but when you’re a kid, it’s sometimes harder to keep in touch with someone you miss, than cut everything off so you don’t have to relive the loss over and over again.”
“I kind of get that, but it’s hard to be the one left behind,” I admit.
“I thought you’d just move on, since you were never at a loss for friends.”
“I guess I did eventually, but you were my best friend, and your family was like a second family to me. I had no idea your dad was like that.”
“I thank God for that, because if he’d done something to you, or one of the other kids we knew, it would’ve killed me.”
I can see that, too, and it makes me happy to know his dad didn’t hurt our friends, even as I feel bad for the kids and women he did hurt. “I’ve had a vendetta against anything and everything having to do with the Corrigans. When their company moved here, I vowed I would expose them, because I thought they were bad.”
“Shit, man. They are so totally not bad.”
“I can’t really get into it, but I’ve seen some unusual things with them at my work, and I’ve tried to investigate them, but I keep hitting a brick wall. I gave up for a little while, but I recently decided to look into them again. I can’t find anyone to help me, though. It’s like they’re untouchable. No one wants to say anything bad about them.”
“For good reason. Let’s eat, and head over there. I hate that you’ve wasted your time going after them, and I want you to know they’re the best people anyone could ever be associated with. I’m actually back because I’m thinking of going to work for Matt.”
“Wow. Okay. I guess I may have to eat all those awful words I’ve said about them over the years.”
It doesn’t change the fact Camari lied to me, but maybe talking to Jane and Reina will make me understand why she had to do it. I don’t know if I can forgive her for what she said and did, but my heart is begging me to try. It’s the reason I never called the Sheriff to tell him I’d help him after all. I just can’t bring myself to go that far. At least not yet.
Camari
“This isn’t fair!” I yell, failing to hide how panicked I am. Kendrick just told me he’s put in an order to Ainsley, completely restricting me from working out, both here at the C&C building gyms, and also at the one where we live.
“Matisse found you passed out next to the treadmill in the gym at the apartments this morning.”
“I was just tired. I shouldn’t have worked out when I was tired.”
“I want to believe you, but you’ve given me push back about your weight gain, and I cannot in good conscience ignore this.”
I walk out of his office, because I have nothing more to say to him. I need to exercise, and I’m going to lose the weight he made me put on. He may not agree with it, but it’s going to happen, one way or another.
I grab a yogurt from one of the stations in the cafeteria, because I don’t want anyone to comment on how I’m not eating, and sit down with my friends for the rest of our morning break. “You doing okay?” Matisse asks, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes.
“I’m fine, just a little tired.”
“You know you scared the shit out of me, right?”
“I was just sleeping,” I insist, even though I don’t remember passing out.
“That’s what beds are for.”
“Cut her some slack, Teesy, she’s had her heart broken,” Nev says, and I shoot her a grateful smile.
No one brings up my passing out, or Lennon, for the rest of our morning break time, which I’m grateful for. When it’s time to head back to classes, I hang back. “I think I might take a nap. Can you let Isa know I’ll get notes, and make up my lesson later?”
“Sure,” Matisse says, smiling at me now. “Go rest.”
I wait for them all to leave, and then I make my way to the gym on this floor. I know I can’t get in, so I pretend to be searching through my purse until one of the guys who works for Matt opens the door. I don’t know who he is, or what department he’s in, but he’s saving me whether he knows it or not.
“Thank goodness you opened the door, because I can’t find my card.” The card I have is fake, as my arm implant opens everything for me, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“You should go downstairs, and get another one,” he says, blocking the door.
I put on my sexiest call girl smile, and purr at him, rubbing my hand over his chest for good measure. “I promise I will after my workout.”
“Okay. I guess it’s not a big deal,” he says, giving in, just like I knew he would. I may have put on a few pounds, but I still know how to work what I’ve got.
“It’s totally not,” I agree, kissing him on the cheek.
He’s smiling as he walks away, and so am I. I need to work out, and I’m not going to stop just because I’m a little tired. I can’t risk going into the locker room, because I’d have to use my arm to open my locker, which would let Ainsley know I’m here. Since I’m in leggings already, I simply remove my top, leaving me in the sports bra I put on today. My flats go too, and I’m running barefoot again within minutes.
I start out slow, because I don’t want to tire out too soon. I need to burn all the calories I can if I’m going to fit in my perfect sized clothes again. Also, there are a few other people in here with me, and if they think I’m going hard for too long, they might say something.
An hour later, the room is cleared out, and I up both my incline, and my speed. Sweat is pouring off me, and I know the calories are going along with it. I feel good for the first time in over a week, knowing I can get back to who I was, even if that means I’ve still been left behind by Lennon. He’s just a man, and as long as I keep reminding myself of that, maybe I’ll start to actually believe it.
Now all I feel is disgust.
Now all I feel is disgust.
Now all I feel is disgust.
His words repeat over and over in my head as I run faster, and harder. I know it’s been hours, but no one else has come in yet. I’m free to speed up, and push myself. I know my heart is beating fast, but that’s a good thing. It means my body is doing what it’s supposed to.
I lose track of time, lost in my workout,
until I start to shake. Something’s wrong. I don’t know what it is, but something’s wrong with me. I try to reach for the machine to slow it down, but my arm is shaking too hard for me to push the button. I can’t even get off the machine as I start to fall, and things go hazy around me. Maybe I should’ve listened to Kendrick, but now it’s too late. I hit my head as I go down, and the last thing I remember is seeing the door slammed open as the darkness overtakes me.
14
Lennon
After lunch, I follow Sal to the Corrigan & Co. building nearby. I’m not sure they’ll let me in this time, but he must’ve called ahead for clearance, because the guard at the gate waves my car through. I didn’t get stopped the time I came to see Matt, but after Camari got outed to me, and I started believing they were evil again, I didn’t expect to be welcomed back.
The lobby isn’t full of people, but the receptionists are all fielding phone calls when we approach the massive desk. Sal gives our names, we’re told to pose for the cameras mounted in front of us, and badges are issued. The elevator we’re direct to has no buttons, even though the last one I was on here did, but since my old friend doesn’t look worried, I force myself to remain calm as well.
The doors open in front of the Foundation lobby, and I see Alex Corrigan sitting behind the reception desk here. I’m not surprised, because one of the few things I’d found out about this place is that the multi-billionaire wife of Miles Corrigan works behind that desk every day.
She smiles at Sal, but I get a glare from the redheaded beauty. No ginger bonding for us, apparently. I smile at her anyway. “Hi, I’m Lennon.”
“I know who you are,” she replies, coolly.
Sal looks between us, noticing the tension. “Is there something I should know about between you?”
Society Girls: Camari Page 10
