by J. L. Lora
He scoffed. "That wasn't about me. That was about you and your gambling addict husband. You squandered your money and needed me as your cash cow."
"I've invested too much in your life. I bore your father's philandering and humiliations so the three of you could grow up in a stable home with both your parents. And look at you…You've made your own money, your own name. You are famous, admired. Because of us, you’re practically King of New York.”
Victoria took a look around the room and released a breath.
“I wasn't going to allow you to throw all your potential away on a criminal's daughter. A girl who destroyed her future by getting pregnant when she wasn’t even eighteen. She and her little fast-ass friend were probably looking for some fools to get them out of their situation. A child was a sure way to tie you down."
Cam grew hot with every word she uttered until he couldn’t take it anymore. "First, Adrianna is not like that. She has her own business and doesn’t need my money. She went to college and graduated. Second, you are my mother, Victoria. Bronwyn is your grandchild. She carries your blood. You didn't even care if she struggled. What if Adrianna had not been able to give her what she needed? You shouldn’t have been threatened by Bron. You’re my mother. I would have always taken care of you."
"We don't know if that's truly your child, Cameron," Victoria bit out.
Cam reached for his pocket. "Yes, you do. You saw her. She's mine. It's written all over her face. I'm there. Luciana's there and so is Chase. All your children, mother. You can see all of us at one time or another in the way she acts, smiles, walks. She's beautiful, brilliant and good.”
He swallowed and kept his voice low. “She's never been touched by you and I am happy because all she has of you is what nature gave her. Go ahead continue in your denial." He pulled out a sealed envelope and flashed it in front of her. "Keep lying to yourself. Because even if you couldn't see us in her, there are ways you could've found out. I never needed this but you do."
He thrust the envelope at her. It fell on the floor between them. The words “Eastern Maryland Diagnostics” were in the top left corner. Victoria's eyes bulged out and she took a small step back.
"You better pick it up or I will suggest that one of the social column writers does," Cam searched the room for the first available writer.
He caught Adrianna's worried gaze. She headed toward him. He nodded to Chase who made his way to Luciana and Bron. When he turned back, Victoria had not moved and the envelope was still in the floor between them.
"Pick. It. Up," he said to Victoria, just as Adrianna reached him.
Victoria bent and picked up the envelope. She held it in front of her and Adrianna’s gaze flew to his. "Open it." Cam barked low at her.
"Cam…this isn't the time…" Adrianna said.
"The hell it isn’t. I want her to open it," he insisted, but Victoria shook her head. "Either you open it, or I'll find someone that will. Tomorrow, it will be all over page six how my parents are addicts that used me to fund their addictions, while keeping my daughter from me.”
His mother glared at him but tore the flap of the envelope. She pulled out the paper and began to read. Cam turned his back on her, grabbed Adrianna's hand and walked away.
"When did you get the results?" Adrianna asked while they walked.
"Three days ago," he answered, bracing himself for a fight.
She was silent for a while before she said, "You didn’t tell me."
He squeezed her hand tighter and turned towards her and pointed at his heart. "It wasn’t anything I didn’t already know. I never needed that paper to tell me Bron’s mine."
•••
Adrianna stood there in the middle of the room, staring at Cam. She was dumbfounded and couldn't think of what to say that wouldn't cause her to disgrace herself by openly bawling in front of all the people who came to see his work. She blinked away the tears gathering and bit the inside of her cheek to keep her eyes dry. Her heart squeezed with all the emotions that were currently balled into a knot in her throat.
His complete acceptance that Bronwyn was his child without needing proof or doubts hit her with a deluge of so many emotions. It was a gradient that went from happy to giddy, followed by delirious. Because she didn't dare do anything else, she tugged at his hand and brought him to her. She inched closer and pressed her lips to his, whispering what she’d longed to say. "I love you."
His body went rigid and she almost smiled at the shock, then the light that shone in his eyes as the meaning of her words seemed to surge within him.
"You do?" he asked, sounding so incredulous it almost broke her. Deep down, he was still that insecure boy that didn't think he was loved.
"I never stopped," Adrianna answered, her fingers trailing his face.
The smile began in his eyes before his lips curved and stretched into a contagious grin. His arms went around her and he whispered in her ear, "I love you, too. I need you to let me show you how much."
She swatted him in the stomach lightly. "What am I going to do with you?"
He tucked an errant lock of her hair behind her ear. "You're already doing it…But there is one more thing…"
"Mom! Daddy!" Bronwyn called out from behind him.
Cam laughed. "Her timing is impeccable."
Before she could say anything, Barron approached them. "I couldn't help but hear this beautiful little angel call you Daddy, Cam. I think our interview has just taken a different turn. Seems like you've got more than painting going on?"
Adrianna tensed. This wasn't something she and Cam had discussed yet, but they couldn't hide from anymore.
Cam looked at his daughter then back at Barron. "As you know, I keep parts of my life very private, Barron. But this is the one thing I want the whole world to know about me. This is my daughter. Her name is Bronwyn."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Adrianna’s hands shook and her fingers twirled around the tip of her ponytail. Her throat grew dryer the closer they got to the door. Chase and Luciana had offered to take Bron to Chelsea Piers for bowling and laser tag, so her parents could talk. She and Cam were alone for the evening and the time for the truth had finally come. She owed him that. He’d been amazing to Bron. He had been patient, which was not a word she ever would have associated with Cam. But he had given her time, had accepted Bron without questions and with love.
Love flourished in her heart. He told the press about their child, which was the equivalent of shouting it from the roof. The way he’d said Bron was his daughter with so much pride still made it hard for her to breathe. The ride home next to him, pressed to his side, had been pure torture. His scent, musk with spicy tones, hung around her like a curtain. Heat pooled in her belly and between her legs. She pressed them together, trying to alleviate the flutter in her core. The need pulsated through her body and she almost came off the seat when he’d grabbed her hand to help her out of the car.
She wasn’t going to last this way. She needed to calm down because tonight she had to tell him the truth. Even if it hurt like hell and he didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. It was only fair. But she couldn’t think past his massive shoulders or how good he looked in his gray shirt or how his big hands wrapped around the door knob. The click of the lock reverberated through her whole body.
Her inner muscles clenched and the moan flew out of her mouth.
He whipped around to face her, trapping her in his gaze and she could have sworn the same fire inside her burnt in him.
His fingers reached for her arm and he guided her inside the house. The door slammed shut and in her next breath, she was pressed against it. She wanted to tell him to slow down so they could talk first. But his mouth crashed against hers. His lips moving over hers with hungry intent and hers, having been starved for so long, welcomed the invasion of his tongue, parting. She wanted all of him, his mouth, his hands, his body, the cock nestled between her legs. Thank god for the five-inch heels th
at had her eye to eye, mouth to mouth, hips to hips with him.
She bucked her hips, getting full contact with his erection and pressing closer for friction. Heat spread over her body and her blood rushed to her head. He groaned against her lips, her knees giving out. His hands steadied her, settling at her hips. But he didn’t pull away. Instead, he rubbed himself against her until she gasped. His tongue plunged into her mouth and she spread her legs wider, pushing forward.
“Tell me you want me.” He flicked his hips against hers.
There wouldn’t be any talking tonight either. The talk could wait. The world could wait. “I want you, Cam,” she breathed out.
“I want you too. So much, Adri.”
“Then take me. I can’t wait anymore.”
Her words came out louder than she meant them to, rougher than she wanted them to. She wasn’t sorry. Not when he turned those cat eyes on her or when he reached under her dress and tugged at her panties.
“I can smell you, Adri. Is it still the same? Sweet spices and flowers. I need to know it’s still you.”
He squatted in front of her, sliding her panties down her thighs, past her knees. She leaned her head back, resting it against the door.
Her panties tickled down her freshly waxed legs. She was grateful for the Buff and Glow treatment she’d gotten at the spa but when his lips pressed against her thighs, her head reared forward, and reason flew out the door.
Cam lifted one of her limbs and rested it on his shoulder. His head disappearing under her dress, his mouth paving a wet trail up. He sucked in a gulp of air.
“Fuck fuck fuck, Adri,” he said and followed it with a long slow lap of his tongue. “Peaches and glory.”
The tickling sensation built, breaking out fresh waves of need in her body. “Again,” she panted, helpless to the rush.
His tongue flicked again, a slow brush from the bottom to the top of her swollen petals that made her chest expand. Her hands grasped a chunk of his hair, holding him in place. She pushed her hips forward, urging him. She needed more tongue, more friction, more Cam.
His fingers pressed against her, opening her, and she almost came off the wall, but he held her hips with his forearms at her thighs. His chuckle vibrated against her skin but he wouldn’t look at her. She could barely make out the outline of his head, the low light of the foyer bathed over their skin and he was almost anonymous. And that’s not what she wanted. She wanted to see him. She needed to witness his undoing of her. She couldn’t let it be like the past when she only fantasized about him when she was with others. She didn’t want to press her lips together or have to swallow his name.
But he spread her for his mouth and began to lick over her clit in rhythmic and cadenced laps and swirls. The air became trapped in her body and expanded her with each flick. She dropped her hands from his hair, her eyes frantically searching for something to hold on to. Adrianna was trying to brace herself but he wouldn’t let her. He slid two fingers inside her and sucked her nubbin into his mouth, strangling a gasp so loud it echoed off the walls.
She shattered, her legs finally giving out, and she slid—more like melted like a rag doll—against the door.
Cam rose, his body gliding up against hers. The smile on his lips triumphant but tight at the corners. His breath a little labored and the massive reason nestled in the apex of her legs.
She wanted to say so much but her words had gone away. He attacked her mouth, his hips rocking against her, unleashing a fresh surge of desire. The craving he’d just satisfied stormed through her once more. She was wet and wanting him, again.
She returned his kiss with hunger and her eager hands fumbled with his belt. She needed him free, in her palm, in the pussy that clenched and released, greedy for his cock.
Her fingers closed around him. He was so hot, so thick, so long she quivered. “Cam, oh, Cam.”
Her fingers slid along his length, her mouth watered just thinking that he would be inside her soon. She needed him and couldn’t wait.
“You remember what I like?”
“It’s going to be torture,” he rasped against her mouth.
“I know. But please…”
He didn’t make her beg. She got on her tiptoes and he took his cock in his hand and rubbed the head up and down her slit.
Her head fell back, her teeth closed around her bottom lip, and the guttural scream tore out of her mouth. Then his head settled at her neck, and he hoisted her so her legs rested on his hips.
“Adri, my Adri.”
He recited her name, his cock slipping in slow, inch by divine inch inside her. He filled her, stretched her, until she almost couldn’t stand it. He stopped, letting her adjust to him. The pressure in her chest built. How the hell could he be so calm and patient? She rocked her hips, driving the urgency but he stilled her again.
She mumbled a protest. Something not in any particular language.
His hand wove around her ponytail and he pulled until her whole neck was exposed. He nipped at it, then kissed it.
“Be a good girl and let me take care of you,” he bit out so rough her whole body went still and holy shit, if she wasn’t wetter than she’d ever been.
She’d always loved those moments when he took control of her, of her body.
He thrusted, sending all his solid, hot dick deep inside her pussy. Her gaze went hazy and she sucked a gulp of air. He retreated and shoved inside again and she gripped his shoulders, digging her nails but she couldn’t stop. Not when he began to move fast, pounding into her so hard his balls slapping against her core. The climax ripped through her, rendering her so helpless with barely enough strength to wrap her arms around him and let him plaster her into the wall. He continued pumping into her, as she pulsated until he muffled a groan against her skin and collapsed against her.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
He smoothed his T-shirt down his body and treaded down the stairs in quick steps. The cold hardwood bit into the soles of his feet, making him miss the warmth of Adri’s body from just minutes ago. They’d dragged themselves upstairs and barely made it through the door before he was inside her, surrounded by her warm pussy. She was tighter around him than the baseball glove he’d barely taken off in ten years.
Cameron smiled. He had made her his again, claimed her with every pound of his hips. He hurried along. He needed to get back to her but first he had to check on Bron. Even though Lux had texted them that Bron was okay and would sleep with her aunt, Adri wanted to come down and check. He had a feeling that if Bron asked her to stay, Adri wouldn’t come back to his bed tonight. He couldn’t risk that, so he came down instead.
He had plans for them tonight. Big, thick, messy and moaning plans.
Chase stepped out of Lux’s room and close the door behind him. He put a finger to his lips, spotting Cam. “She’s knocked out. I carried her up and Lux laid next her.”
“Okay,” Cam said. “Thank you.” He also sent a million silent prayers to his lucky stars. He turned to head back, his mind already in Adrianna.
“Wait,” his brother called out.
Cam shook his head. Whatever Chase had to say would have to wait until the morning because the semi-hard on pressing against his sweatpants was intent on making a beeline for a heavenly cove. Chase probably wanted to tease him and he didn’t have time for that. Nothing was getting in the way of him and Adri anymore.
“Cam.”
It was the bite in his brother’s voice that stopped him at the foot of the stairs. He turned around and Chase came to meet him there.
“I hate to do this right now because I know you’re finally getting time alone with Adri, but remember that girl I used to see? The one that worked for the Associated Press?”
Cam scratched the back of his head. “Can this wait—"
“She texted me. She had a tip. The two rag papers are running stories about you and Bron.”
Cam’s heart sledgehammered into his sternum. “What?”
>
Chase shook his head. “Barron Lyons is not the only one that overheard your story today. The headlines talk about how the Ace of the Emperors has a love child he kept from the media.”
“Fuck.” This wasn’t good. They didn’t need a media shit storm when they were trying to get a house, make plans for a life together, and he hated to think of any of this affecting Bron. The New York media was vicious and unrelenting.
“She told me The Big Apple Post is pursuing an interview with mother—”
“No, she needs to keep her mouth shut.” God only knew what his mother would tell the press about Adri and Bron and he wouldn’t fucking allow that. “Chase, I need you to do me a favor. Go to see Marilyn and make sure she doesn’t grant them an interview. Please do it now. I’ll go talk to Adri. As long as they don’t have names, that should buy us some time.”
Chase nodded. “We should have some time still. They don’t have photos and mother probably took a pill so she is not awake.”
“Double check and wait for her to wake up. Tell her I will cut her off without any pity if she talks to anyone. Make sure Walter knows that too. I will stop paying the house bills and make sure they get kicked out onto the street.”
“Maybe you should send Adri and Bron back to Baltimore right away, so they’re not here for the bullshit tomorrow,” Chase said.
Cam’s stomach knotted. He didn’t want to be away from them. Would Adrianna think he was trying to shake them away? And what about Bron? He should have known shit would just go wrong. It always did when he had two good hours.
But he had to protect them now even if things got a little hairy. “I think you’re right. I’ll go talk to her. Please head over to the house and make sure no one talks to the press.”
