Justice Falling

by Audrey Carlan

  “Yes, it has.” She looked away.

  “So, Cami, I see you’re no longer a waitress.” His blue eyes undressed her, scanning her form from tip to toe. She wore the standard black pencil skirt and a fitted green shirt that brought out her eyes. It took every ounce of respect for my friendship with him not to react like a Neanderthal, thump my chest and swing her over my shoulder and carry her off to my bedroom where I could stake my claim officially.

  “Ty,” I warned. “This is a friend of mine. A very…close friend.” I slid an arm around her shoulders insinuating possession. I was pleasantly surprised when she snuggled into my side. It was the first time she’d willingly pressed closer to me. It felt beyond right. It was downright perfect.

  “Just making polite conversation,” he said glancing at my hold on Camille. I wanted to smash the corresponding smirk of his face with my fist.

  The conversation changed. Ty dominated the discussion, ranting on about a couple of companies Aspen was looking into purchasing. Normally I would have paid close attention. As Aspen’s lawyer, I made sure she made sound legal decisions. Entering into a possible business venture typically called for my expertise. Unfortunately, I was in no shape to participate. My focus was diverted to a stunning brunette currently acting strangely.

  Camille pushed her food around her plate. Sometimes she’d look up, gaze at Ty and bite her lip so hard I worried blood would appear. I wanted to sooth that ache, kiss away the pain she inflicted on her perfect pout. There was something between her and Ty, and I needed to find out what.

  In the middle of Ty’s description of a new company he was championing, Camille stood up as if the building caught fire. “I have to go.” Her voice was thick with emotion and cracked on the last word. She riffled through her purse and pulled out her wallet.

  “Oh no, honey, this is a business lunch.” Aspen waved her off. Camille nodded, putting away her wallet.

  “I’m sorry.” She looked into my eyes. Fear, sadness, and regret all warred for top billing in her gaze. Then she shot a glance at Ty and winced.

  He leaned back and with the most smarmy expression possible said, “It was really good seeing you again, sweetness. Maybe we can catch up sometime.”

  “I can’t take this.” Camille blurted and ran out of the restaurant. I moved to chase after her.

  “No!” Oliver stopped me with a hand on my chest. “Something stinks about this.” Oliver pointed between Ty and me. “I’m going to check on her. Make sure Aspen gets back to the office safely. Got it?”

  “Yes, but I--“

  “No buts. Take care of my girls.” He pointed to Aspen, kissed her cheek then patted her belly. Aspen cringed, clearly annoyed with her personal assistant. “I’ll see you at the office after I find out what the hell set a fire under our girl’s ass.”

  “That ass is sweet. I can attest to that.” Ty held his hands about a foot apart and thrust his hips.

  “Cock sucking wanker!” I pulled back my hand ready to pummel the bloody bastard. A huge arm grabbed my bicep, preventing me from hitting my mark…Ty’s smirking mug. A body-builder type patted me on the back.

  “You gonna start a fight with a pregnant woman at your table?” The beefy stranger gestured to Aspen. I looked at her surprised face. Her hands covered her round bump protectively.

  “Sorry. Thanks, mate.”

  “Respect!” The testosterone filled man fist pumped me. I’ll never understand the fist pump. Or is it bump? “What the fuck, man! You were going to hit me?” Ty yelled. He fluffed his suit coat, and buttoned it at the waist.

  “Don’t ever talk about my woman like that!” I growled making my intent very clear.

  “Your woman! Now she’s your woman? Just a half hour ago she was your friend.” Ty flicked the shoulders of his suit coat and ruffled a hand through his brown hair. “I’ve already had her, and it wasn’t worth the effort. You can have my sloppy seconds.”

  “I’m going to murder you,” I gritted through my teeth.

  Aspen put a hand on my chest and then Ty’s. She looked at Ty then back to me. “Enough. Tyler, it was…well not exactly pleasant meeting you. I think it’s time for you to go.” He frowned as she added, “Nate, walk me back to AIR Bright.”

  I stood seething as I watched my best friend walk out confidently into the city streets. Women everywhere checked him out as he went, and now I knew he’d had my woman. My precious Camille. Christ!

  Chapter 6

  Tears raced down my cheeks as I stood in the elevator at AIR Bright. I’d give anything to avoid going back to work, but I needed this job. The money I made working for Jensen Construction was fair, but not enough for us to live on alone. At least not yet. I was low man on the totem pole, only a receptionist. That wage did not pay my half of the rent, daycare on the days Jin couldn’t watch Tanner, or food and medical coverage living in New York City. It was just enough to take me off government assistance. Hence, the reason I still worked at Gems. I hoped I’d get a good raise and more responsibility along with medical coverage when I had my six month review. When that happened, I would quit Gems for good.

  “Cami! Hold the door!” Oliver’s voice echoed off the walls in the building’s lobby. Instead of holding the doors, I hit the “Close” button repeatedly, mashing my thumb into the round disk. I should have known one of them would come after me. At least it wasn’t Nate.

  The doors closed before Oliver reached them, and I let out a sigh of relief. I stood silently in the corner as it stopped a few times to let people get on and off before reaching Jensen Construction’s floor. It was just enough time to calm myself using the meditative breathing tactic I learned during Lamaze class when I was pregnant with Tanner. After seeing Tyler, incredibly attractive, his suit fitting like it was tailored to highlight his long, lean body to perfection, yet still the worst possible jerk, almost sent me into a full-blown anxiety attack. When the doors opened, I was shocked to see Oliver leaning against the opposite wall, feet crossed at the ankle, hands in the pockets of his designer suit.

  “How did you…?”

  Oliver grinned his pristine metro-sexual features adding to his mirth. “Private elevator. Benefit of being BFF with the building owner.”

  I passed him entering the office. With practiced ease, I slid into my desk chair, put away my purse in the bottom drawer, adjusted my hands over my desk and looked at Oliver.

  He sat his hip on my desk, tapped his fingers against the surface and scrutinized my face. “So, you just going to sit there and pretend you didn’t just run out of lunch as if your hair was on fire?”

  “I apologize. I wasn’t feeling much like myself. I’ll apologize to Mrs. Jensen, too.”

  “Mrs. Jensen? You’re serious? You’re worried about my girl?”

  My lip shook. I held in my emotions. “Yes.” It came out in a whisper, but I meant it to sound strong and confident.

  “You really are as sweet as a gumdrop on Sunday morning in the sticks.” He took a deep breath. “What in the world had you in such a tizzy?”

  I shrugged.

  “Oh, no.” He pointed his finger and swung it into a circle in front of my face. “You are not getting out of this convo. We were having a good time, ‘bout to get our Tasty Thai on, then sexy Brit shows up with equally steamy Tyler and you freak out. Bat-shit crazy.” He pinched his lips then continued his rant. “And I’m not leaving here until you tell me why!”

  My mouth opened and closed. I didn’t know where to even start. Thoughts of Nate and Tyler were spinning a vortex of regret and fear through my mind, blurring the edges of my vision with unwelcomed tears. Regret that I’d ever been with Tyler and the unwelcome realization that he hadn’t changed one bit in the last five years. Worse was the fear that dug into my heart like an icepick. He’d tell Nate about our past. It made me feel dirty, as disgusting as bugs crawling all over my skin.

  Oliver took one look at my face, grabbed my hand, pulled me out of my chair, and yanked me into a hug. I didn’t know how to
react. I hadn’t been hugged by anyone other than Jin in years. The tears returned and slid down my cheeks wetting his designer suit as I gripped his back. He stroked my hair, pushed me away from his body holding each bicep. “Sweetie, you can trust me. Whatever it is. I’ve got your back.”

  “I had a relationship with Tyler. Years ago.”

  “Honey, I think everyone at the table gathered that.” He moved his hands up and down my arms. It felt nice, calming. Normal even. I’d never had a male friend. Hell, I didn’t have any real friends besides Jin. I had mutual acquaintances at the diner and at Gems with the other girls.

  “Was it a bad breakup?” I was grateful he spoke. I had no idea how to start. Thank God, Hank was still out and he wasn’t seeing this.

  “Yeah, Oliver. It was real bad.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Did he hurt you?”

  “Not in the way you think. He didn’t hit me, though he wasn’t a gentleman.” He nodded and waited patiently. I looked around the office. Everything was quiet. People were still at lunch. “If I tell you, you have to promise me…”

  Oliver gripped my hands tightly. “Cami…not a word. I’ll breathe not a word.”

  “Even Mrs. Jensen?” He looked down, guilt covering his serene face. Then he took a deep breath and nodded. “Tyler and I have a history. We were only together for a short time. I got pregnant.”

  Oliver’s eyes widened the size of silver dollars.

  “He told me to get rid of it and gave me ten thousand dollars to make the problem go away.”

  Oliver gasped. “That two-bit, skanky shark, preying on a sweet young thing. You must have been so scared.”

  I nodded. “Without going into details, I found out he’d been cheating on his wife with me. Got me pregnant and wanted me to get rid of it. He gave me money and pushed me out the door.”

  “Sweetie, I’m so sorry you had to do that, go through that. I can’t imagine having to have an abortion, and do it all alone.” He wiped the tears from my eyes. I shook my head.

  “You don’t understand…” My voice cracked, and I swallowed the giant lump that had been built with years of fear and loathing of Tanner’s father.

  “What don’t I understand?” His soft brown eyes filled with sympathy and indignation. Oliver was a gentle soul. A genuine human being with a huge heart. I could see why everyone loved him. It was hard not to.

  “I didn’t do it,” I whispered and sucked in a sob.

  “Didn’t do what?’ His face held confusion as he studied me and held my hands.

  “I didn’t have an abortion.”

  Oliver’s mouth dropped open, his brows raised in high triangles. “I have a son.” He blinked as if he’d just woken up. “Tanner. He’s four.”

  “Holy Mother of God. Fuckin’ hell. I did not expect that.”

  I pulled away from him and crossed my arms, hugging myself.

  “Does he know?”

  I shook my head.

  “Does Nate know?”

  Again, head shake.

  “Does anyone know, Cami?”

  “It’s nobody’s business!” I fired back.

  “You’ve been raising a child…that rich skanky shark’s child, for four years alone! In New York Mother Fucking City?”

  “Yes,” I spat. “Keep your voice down. It’s nobody’s business but mine. I didn’t plan on ever seeing him again. He made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me. Called me a whore and claimed the baby wasn’t his! I was eighteen years old; I had no idea what to do. I took the money. I’ve been raising my boy alone ever since.”

  Oliver shook his head back and forth. “This is too much, Cami. You should be getting support from that bastard. How are you able to live?”

  “That. Is. Not. Your. Concern.” I bit out each word slowly. I hoped he’d hear me and feel the words deep down to his shiny wing-tipped shoes.

  He took a deep breath just as the door opened and Hank strode in. “Hey, Buddy, how goes it?”

  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. Anot
her 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-fucking piece of rubbish! I’ll fucking 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.

  “Holy shite. Really? I’m sorry mate. I thought she was single?”

  I shook my head. “Happened ages ago. Years. Still he’s stuck his prick in my woman.”

  “Your woman?” Collier questioned, shock and doubt written across his face.

  “Yeah. I thought maybe…”

  Collier leaned forward putting his elbows on his knees. “And now what? You found out that she’s had relations with him years ago and you don’t want her anymore?”

  “No…maybe, Christ! I don’t know.”

  “That’s cold, brother. Just the other day you were ready to woo this girl. Now because she’s had a bad shag years ago, you’re moving on?”

  “No, I don’t want to, but what choice do I have? Fucking Ty has been with her. How the hell am I going to be with her knowing my best mate’s been in my woman?” I turned to look at the view of the city through my office window. The sun was setting over the horizon. Skyscrapers cut into the hues of color like knives stuck in the ground and pointing at the sky.