Chapter Five
Normally, Cameron loved Monday mornings. He liked the fresh start to a new week, the clean slate. There was always so much to do, and he enjoyed the busyness of it.
This wasn’t a typical Monday.
For starters, he should have been at work, perched behind his desk in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the north side of the city.
He should have been working on security updates for the Neiman account while nursing his second cup of coffee.
He should have been pouring over tasks that had accumulated during the weekend and planning department meetings for after lunch.
Instead, he was draped across his boyfriend’s couch in a pair of boxers and a T-shirt, eating leftover Chinese takeout and hiding.
He’d naively assumed that the reporters would lose interest after the first couple of days, but they were a stubborn lot.
Granted, there weren’t as many as there had been over the weekend, and when he’d last checked, there hadn’t been a single news van on the street.
This led him to think that most of the people camped at the front gate were probably from gossip blogs and magazines .
According to Talon Andrews, this was a good thing.
When he and Asher had returned to the library after their hostile encounter with Luke, Cameron hadn’t been sure what they would find.
With Luke being in such a foul mood, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Talon had been in a similarly agitated state.
Yet, he had been as composed as ever, sipping his lukewarm coffee as he stared into the fireplace with a slightly bemused expression.
They’d talked a little more about things that would probably come up in the news, although there had been nothing else to mention about Cameron’s past. Talon had seemed pleased by this.
Asher had just smirked and shook his head as if he’d found the lack of skeletons in Cameron’s closet amusing rather than relieving.
After that, they had discussed topics Landon Dwyer was likely to cover on his web series, then brainstormed ideas to get Asher’s side of the story to the public in an “organic” way. It had been exhausting.
Stabbing at the reheated beef and broccoli with his chopsticks, Cameron glowered down into the box.
He didn’t know how he felt about the plan Talon and Asher had concocted, especially the role he would be required to play in it.
Oh, he thought it was a brilliant idea, and he could definitely see how it would benefit Asher.
He was just having a hard time getting excited about having cameras and microphones shoved into his face .
On the bright side, Talon had agreed that the book signing at the Mission Grove Public Library was a good way to get a sense of where Asher’s readers stood on the issue of him coming out.
Then, after a bit of back and forth, they had all decided that any proceeds from sales should be donated back to the library for repairs and renovations.
Once that had been settled, Cameron had been put in charge of finalizing the details with the caveat that Talon had final approval over any press they intended to invite.
Cameron had conceded at once, just relieved to have something else to focus on other than how quickly his life was spiraling out of control.
When the topic of public statements had come up again, Talon had remained steadfastly in favor of a single, exclusive interview with a reputable source.
He wouldn’t say which source he had in mind, only that he’d reach out to his contacts and get back to them before the end of the week.
Cameron understood, and for the most part, he agreed, but waiting while Landon and Kyle spewed their noxious lies was slowly driving him insane.
Setting aside the takeout box, he reached for his cell phone, figuring he might as well get started on plans for the book signing.
His fingers had just brushed against the case when his phone began to vibrate loudly over the tabletop, startling him and making him snatch his hand back as if it might bite him .
Laughing at himself, he leaned over and stared down at the screen, expecting to see his sister’s name, or maybe Nico’s. It was neither, but he still smiled when he recognized the number.
“Good morning, Amelia,” he answered.
“Good morning, Mr. Stone.” Her voice was pleasant but with an obvious edge. “How was your weekend?”
Cameron rolled his eyes. She only ever referred to him as “Mr. Stone” in front of clients or when she was annoyed with him. He doubted she’d have called him if she was with a client, so he had to assume he’d done something to piss her off.
“What did I do?”
“Nothing. I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re annoyed.”
“Well,” she said, drawing the word out on an exasperated sigh. “Pushing my way through reporters and screening dozens of phone calls about your romantic life isn’t what I’d consider a good time.”
Cameron echoed her sigh. “I’m sorry about all of that. Really, I am.”
Amelia Maxwell had been with him almost since the beginning, and she was the only reason he wasn’t losing his mind at being away from the office. She was smart and organized, and he had every confidence that she’d keep the business running like a well-oiled machine in his absence.
“How can I make it up to you? ”
“Vacation time in the spring. One week.”
Cameron nearly choked at the idea of managing without her for an entire week, but he accepted at once. “Done.”
“ Paid vacation.”
“Naturally.” In fact, he could do even better than that. “One-week paid vacation charged to the company account. How’s that sound?”
Instantly, her tone changed, and the smile came through clearly in her voice. “Wonderful. Now, how are you holding up, Cameron?”
“I’m fine.” He wasn’t, but complaining wouldn’t change anything. “What’s happening at the office? I’m going to try to make it in later this week, but is there anything I should be aware of before then?”
“Burgundy is not your color.”
Cameron pulled the phone away, stared at it for a moment, then brought it back to his ear. “Excuse me?”
“I just thought you should know.”
She was a fucking riot. “Thanks,” he drawled. “I’ll take it into consideration. Anything I should know about work ?”
“I’ve had a few calls from clients concerned about recent news coverage. I made a list of the ones I think you should contact personally.”
He’d been afraid of that, but it wasn’t exactly unexpected since his name had been cropping up almost as often as Asher’s. “Okay, thanks. Go ahead and email me the list.”
“Already done.”
“Perfect. Anything else?”
“Only that I’m still waiting to hear back from Braxton and Nash. I was planning to follow up this afternoon unless you want me to wait.”
He’d been hesitant to work with the attorneys at first, in large part because the case they’d brought to his desk had reminded him too much of the Mitchell Faraday trial.
In fact, he’d initially refused to take the job.
Eventually, however, he’d realized that Blaine Braxton and Ethan Nash weren’t trying to get some sleazy crook off on a technicality.
They truly believed in their client’s innocence, and they wanted Cameron’s help to prove it.
He’d worked with law firms before, and he knew better than to appear overly eager. So, he’d held his composure, even dismissing them with a clichéd, “I’ll be in touch,” but he’d known he would take the job before they had left his office.
Of course, he didn’t need the contract with Braxton and Nash, and he certainly didn’t need the money.
Having his company associated with one of the top law firms in the state, however, could potentially elevate Stone Digital Solutions to a level of prestige he had only dreamed about.
It meant he could expand into a bigger office space, higher more analysts, and take on more clients .
After three days of weighing the pros and cons, he’d called Ethan Nash on Thursday morning to express his interest in working with the firm.
In return, Ethan had requested the standard proposal, which Amelia had sent to his office the same day.
While the entire legal system was notorious for being exceedingly unhurried, they should have at least received confirmation of receipt by now.
“Let’s give them one more day. If you haven’t heard from their office by this afternoon, follow up tomorrow morning.”
The distinctive clack of a keyboard drifted over the line. “Will there be anything else?”
“That’s it for now.” At least, those were his most pressing concerns. “There’s been extra security assigned to the building, but if you have any problems, call me.”
“I can handle a few reporters, Cameron.”
He could practically hear her eyes roll. “I know you can, but just humor me, okay?”
“I promise to call you if there’s a problem,” she recited.
“Thank you. So, unless something comes up between now and then, I’ll check in tomorrow.”
“I look forward to it.”
Chuckling, he disconnected the call and looked up, just as the couch cushion near his feet dipped. He probably should have been used to it by now, but the weary look on Asher’s face broke his damn heart .
“Hey,” he greeted, his smile a little brighter than necessary.
Asher didn’t smile back. “Everything okay?” he asked with an air of someone preparing for the worst. “Did something happen?”
“No, nothing happened. I was just checking in with Amelia.” He hesitated before continuing, knowing his next words were not going to go over well. “I need to go home.”
As anticipated, Asher stiffened, his spine straight and rigid. “Why?”
“Because I need clothes. My own clothes,” he added, speaking over Asher when he started to argue. “I need to check my mail, water my plants, and since I can’t go into the office right now, I definitely need my laptop.”
There were at least three available computers in the house that he could use, but there was information downloaded on his laptop that he couldn’t access from a server.