Chapter Twenty-Two
Lorelei
W e are sitting at the large conference room table, and I am focused on my laptop as I type. We finished one meeting, and the next will start after a while. Hands start massaging my neck and I groan as I drop my head and relax. I notice right away that it’s Clay, but I don’t stop him.
“Feel good?” Clay chuckles.
“Sounds like it does,” Cam remarks.
“Bite me, Cam,” I sigh. I gasp and jump up when he actually stands and advances on me.
“What’s wrong?” Cam asks with a grin.
“Psycho,” I say. He narrows his eyes and backs me into a corner. “Cam. Cameron. There’s…”
Cam grabs my face and kisses me, and I can’t help but melt. When he pulls away, I smack his arm. “We told him, Lori,” Cam says. “Cute seeing you blush, though.”
“I’m uncomfortable,” I laugh nervously.
“You’re going to be more uncomfortable if you smart off to me again,” Cam warns.
“That’s one way to get your sister to stop being a brat,” Clay laughs. “Just fuck her real good.”
“Don’t feed into their psychosis, Clay. You’ll end up just like them,” I say.
“Sounds like if being like them will land me inside you. I think I’ll take that chance,” he says coolly. Cam laughs and hugs me when my face flushes again.
“Imagine that. Little Lori with three cocks stuffed in her,” Cam whispers in my ear.
“Cam,” I sigh.
“Just think about it,” he says quietly. “Remy and I talked, and he’s wanted to fuck you for years. We both want to see him fuck you.”
“Cam,” I say as I pull away.
“Yes?” He grins.
“Really?”
“Yep. Oh… We are staying at his house,” Cam says. I sigh heavily, and Clay laughs.
“Jesus,” I sigh. “Whatever. The next meeting is starting.”
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Cam says.
“Like what? Like someone who is sick of finding out everything last?” I snap. “Like someone who is scared of more people dying because someone wants to hurt me?”
People start coming into the room, and Cam backs off to let me sit back with my laptop.
As they get started, I focus on taking notes.
The meeting is with Clay and his board members, so I don’t really know why we are here.
I don’t know what to take notes on, so I note everything.
Every word. Every joke. It keeps my mind off things, and I am thankful for that.
When the meeting is over but everyone is still chatting, I see a message from Dad pop up on my laptop.
Dad
Hey, kid. See you are online.
Hey! Yeah. You have internet?
Yeah. I got Wi-Fi up here so we could reach out to people. How’s Florida?
We are actually in Seattle. Little switch-a-roo
Ah! Sneaky. They know who tried to kill you?
No one has said, but I think it was a friend of mine from the club. He was supposed to go up and sit with you and Mom, but kinda disappeared. It’s the only thing that makes sense. I don’t know why he’d want to shoot me, though.
He? Rob?
No. Omar.
Ah. Well, maybe not. He could have just decided to leave.
Maybe. How’s Mom?
She’s good. Watching her shows.
Sounds about right! Meeting is over so I’ve got to go. I love you, Dad!
Love you too, kid. Be safe.
“Everything okay?” Cam asks. I look up and see that it’s just Clay, Cam, and Remy in the room now.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah, I’m okay. I was chatting with Dad. They have Wi-Fi now apparently,” I say.
“No, they don’t,” Cam says.
“Well, he was messaging me, so they must have it now,” I shrug. “Why are you all staring at me?”
“I’m sorry that we didn’t talk to you before we made decisions,” Cam says carefully.
“No, don’t be,” I sigh. “I shouldn’t have snapped. I’m just… I don’t get why Omar would want to kill me not too long after hugging me and telling me he was sorry about Tris drying. Could someone be that evil?”
“Yeah,” Clay says. “They’d have to be completely devoid of emotion. They wouldn’t know what it is, but they could mimic it to manipulate others.”
“I just wish I knew what Tris was thinking before she died,” I sigh.
“That would make investigations too easy if you knew exactly what they were thinking,” Clay chuckles. “Let’s grab dinner and go to the house.”
“Why are we staying with you?” I ask bluntly when we stand.
“Because I have a ten-foot privacy wall and an equally tall iron fence,” Clay says. “My property is the safest place for you… Despite what Cameron is making it out to be, this is primarily for your safety.”
“Oh,” I say. “I am guessing Cam is accurate to some degree, though?”
“Do you want him to be?” Clay asks, raising an eyebrow at me. My cheeks flush again, and he smiles. “I’ll take that as your answer.”
“Why exactly did we sit in on your board meeting?” I ask, changing gears.
“We’ve been considering partnering with Holden Technology for a while now. We wanted to get a feel for everything. I thought you knew this?” Cam asks.
“I… You know, I think that was mentioned. I guess I just didn’t connect it,” I say. “Well, I took notes of… well, everything. I’ll condense it down to not every single spoken word later.”
“Let’s go get something to eat,” Clay says.
“Oh, I could definitely eat again,” Cam says, looking me up and down. When my cheeks flush and he chuckles, I punch him in the arm.
“Ow! Brat!” he laughs as he rubs his arm.
“Knock it off.” I frown.
“Teasing you is so much fun, though,” he says.
“Mhmm. Let’s go,” I sigh.