Fallout (Friction #2)

Chapter One

“ New information in connection to the Mitchell Faraday case—”

Click .

“Bestselling author Asher Dare connected to Mitchell Faraday. Sources—”

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“Author Asher Dare—”

Click .

“Asher Dare—”

Click .

“Author of the popular Marshall Kane Mystery franchise—”

With a frustrated sigh, Cameron Stone turned off the television and tossed the remote onto the leather cushion beside him. It had been two hours since they’d sent their guests home. Two hours since he’d traded in his Halloween costume for a pair of sweats and a T-shirt.

Two hours since everything had gone to hell.

As promised, the security team had taken care of coordinating with the valets out front and setting up a barricade at the gate to keep back the media.

Still, someone had needed to explain to guests why they were being asked to leave the Halloween party early, and neither he nor Asher had known what to tell them .

Going into a long monologue about Asher’s past didn’t seem like the best idea.

Everyone would find out soon enough about his involvement in the very public Mitchell Faraday from over a decade ago.

The names Kyle Anders and Landon Dwyer would become household names—at least for their fifteen minutes of fame.

Cameron gritted his teeth and exhaled sharply through his nose.

Landon Dwyer was a swine, but at least he understood the guy’s motivations.

As a celebrity gossip blogger, digging up people’s pasts and spreading rumors about them was practically in the job title.

As for Kyle Anders, Cameron didn’t get him at all.

Kyle had lived through the same abuse and suffered the same atrocities as Asher at the hands of Mitchell Faraday.

He knew better than anyone how painful those memories were.

Instead of their shared past eliciting even a modicum of empathy, however, he’d shown up after fifteen years demanding money in exchange for his silence.

When Asher had refused to be blackmailed, Cameron had known the fallout was inevitable. He just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

Thankfully, Asher’s agent had stepped in to take charge when both he and Asher had floundered for what to say.

She’d given guests just enough information to get them moving and keep them calm without actually revealing anything too private.

It had been pretty damn impressive, and not for the first time, Cameron had been glad to have Becca Taggard on their side.

Once they’d gotten everyone to their vehicles, he and Asher had watched through the security feed as complete bedlam unfolded at the gates.

It was surreal to see the news vans lined along the otherwise quiet street, but it was the reporters scurrying around like ants at a picnic that had really unsettled him.

The worst had been the way they’d leaned over the barricades, thrusting recorders toward the procession of cars as they yelled their questions and snapped their pictures.

He’d held his breath as he had watched his parents’ maroon SUV roll through the gates.

It had taken a lot of begging to get them to leave in the first place, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if his mother had issued a few choice words to the cameras.

In the end, the worst that had happened was his sister’s insane best friend, Maddie, sticking her middle finger out of the back window as they passed.

“This is fucking insane.” The cushion beside Cameron dipped when Nico dropped down on the sofa. “I mean, I expected a few reporters or whatever, but nothing like this.”

Cameron glanced at his best friend and nodded. His protests had been feeble at best when Nico had insisted on staying while everyone else was being ushered out to their cars. It was selfish, and he knew that, but having Nico there made him feel a little less alone.

“I didn’t expect so much attention, either,” he agreed.

“This?” Rounding the back of the sofa, Luke McKibbon waved a hand toward the front of the house as he lowered himself to the cushion on Cameron’s other side. “If this turns out to be anything like the trial, that out there is only the beginning.”

“You don’t think that will happen, do you?” Cameron sat up straighter, his heart beating a little faster, panic simmering just below the surface at the picture Luke painted. “I mean, this isn’t anything like that, right?”

For starters, there was no court case to drag on for months. There were no new allegations of abuse or misconduct. If Asher wasn’t so well-known, no one would even care. At least, that’s what Cameron told himself.

Luke had ditched the twigs and flowers that had constituted the entirety of his woodland nymph costume.

Now dressed in a pair of black sweats with an oversized gray T-shirt he’d raided from one of the guest closets, he looked younger, more innocent, and far less vibrant than Cameron had ever seen him.

“I don’t know.” Luke shook his head. “I hope not, but it was a big case, and Asher wasn’t even famous back then. I have no idea what will happen now.”

“Yeah, but you guys were on your own back then.” Nico leaned forward, resting his elbows on his denim-clad knees. “This time, Asher can pay for an entire team to take care of this. Like that PR guy. He says he has some ideas, right?”

Luke turned toward Nico, leaning slightly to the side to look at him around Cameron. “He might be able to put a spin on it, control the story, but he can’t get rid of the media.”

“Maybe he can minimize the coverage, though.”

Luke scoffed. “Maybe, but I doubt it. The more media coverage, the more opportunities to get Asher’s side of the story to the public.”

“Do you have to be so cynical?” Nico demanded.

“I’m not being cynical. Just realistic.” Luke tilted his chin up and glared back at Nico, full of self-righteous defiance. “I’ve lived through this once before, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Nico’s voice rose with every word, and a vein in his forehead had started to throb. “Christ, you are fucking impossible!”

“Me?” Shoving up from the sofa, Luke jabbed his index finger at Nico’s face. “You just can’t stand it that I might actually know more about something than you. I have never met a bigger jacka—”

“Okay!” Cameron called loudly, interrupting what he was sure would have been a very colorful examination of everything Luke found distasteful about Nico. “Guys, come on, not now. This isn’t helping. ”

Luke dropped both hands to his sides and sighed. “Right. Sorry.”

“Yeah,” Nico mumbled, hanging his head and rounding his shoulders. “Sorry, Cam.”

Resuming his seat beside Cameron, Luke clasped his hands together between his knees with a shrug. “Have you heard from Talon Andrews? Is he still in Chicago?”

Cameron rocked his head from side to side while he chewed his bottom lip. He hadn’t personally spoken to the representative from Platinum360 Public Relations, but he did know that the man was back in Dallas.

“Becca called him earlier after everything went sideways.” He glanced at the clock over the mantle, sighing when he noticed it was already after midnight.

“I guess things wrapped up with that musician faster than he’d anticipated, and he was able to catch a flight back earlier today.

We’re meeting with him tomorrow afternoon. ”

“Wow, she works fast.” Settling back into the plush, leather cushions, Nico drew his fingers through his hair, pushing the long, inky strands away from his face.

Luke sniffed, and his sea-green eyes narrowed. “What’s so special about this guy anyway?”

Shifting in his seat, Cameron glanced over his shoulder toward the corner of the den where Asher was deep in conversation with the head of his security team. “Becca says Talon Andrews is the best, and she wants him working on this. That’s all I really know. ”

Nico sank deeper into the sofa, tilted his head back, and closed his eyes. He looked almost as drained as Cameron felt. “So, what do we do now?”

A hollowness formed in Cameron’s stomach as his gaze danced to Asher again. He didn’t have any answers. Every cell in his body wanted to wrap Asher in a bubble and protect him from what was coming. As it stood, there really wasn’t much he could do besides wait, and he hated feeling so damn useless.

“For now,” he said, his voice quiet, dull, “we do whatever Asher needs us to do.”

“I can’t believe this is happening again,” Luke murmured, his tone devoid of its usual sarcasm. “I really hope this isn’t like last time.”

“It won’t be.” The well of information would dry up quickly, the public’s attention would wane, and everything would go back to normal. Cameron had to believe that. “Everything is going to be fine.”

~

“There are two guards on the gate, and two more patrolling the perimeter.” Ozias Benton, head of security for the party, held the tablet up for Asher to see. “Those red dots? Those are my guys.”

Asher stared at the screen without really seeing it.

It seemed impossible that just a couple of hours ago, he’d been laughing, drinking, and trying his damnedest to coax Cameron upstairs and out of his clothes.

Now, he was just trying to keep his head above water when every minute felt like he was drowning.

From the moment Oz had informed him that the sidewalk in front of his house was crawling with reporters, he hadn’t stopped moving.

He hadn’t even wanted to step away long enough to shower, afraid that his entire life might crumble around him while he bathed.

He’d ditched the blond Tarzan wig and the loincloth, but without a lot of hot water, there wasn’t much he could do about the baby oil.

His black V-neck clung to his back and shoulders uncomfortably, and there were dark patches on his faded jeans where the oil had soaked through the denim. He just couldn’t find it in himself to care.

“Mr. Dare?”