9. Cambrie #3
It was easier to leave him tonight of all nights.
After saying goodnight to the rest of the staff, Staten and I loaded the half-sleeping children into his truck and headed back to the estate.
The rain started to come down halfway there, and when I happened to turn and check on Rogue and Piaget, I found them both slumped over in their seats.
When we finally got back to the house, he grabbed both kids and carried them inside, while I gathered my purse and the pans we’d used to take the food.
I assumed after Staten tucked the kids in that he went to his bedroom because it had been well over ten minutes, and he hadn’t returned.
Once I got everything put away, I started to my own bedroom to grab something to sleep in so I could head up to join him.
I’d gone through my panty drawer three times and even checked the rest of them, but all of my underwear was gone, and I was left with some brand-new Victoria’s Secret shit that I didn’t purchase myself.
“The hell,” I mumbled, pausing when I listened to the doorbell begin to chime throughout the house.
“Who the hell is that?” I wondered, stepping out of my room and padding down the hall to the front of the house. “You have got to be kidding me,” I grumbled after looking through the peephole and finding Nadia on the other side.
This bitch really didn’t know when to give some shit up. Flinging the door open, my hot glare only seemed to amuse her as her face shifted into a satisfied smirk. I noticed the business file in her hand but thought nothing of it as she tapped it against her thigh.
“Why are you here?”
“Oh, don’t worry. This won’t take long. I just need to run something by Staten.
You’ll be happy to know I have a flight booked for tonight that will take me back home until the school year officially ends for Tavi and Saga.
I’ll be back to get them myself, and I plan on taking them on a cruise for the summer. ”
“Sounds like a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy yourself.”
“Who was at the—” The minute he realized who was here, Staten’s entire mood shifted. “The fuck is wrong with you? You think this shit a fucking game?” he growled, stomping toward the door. Nadia hadn’t budged. She remained on the porch, now more rigid than ever when he got in her face.
“I know that you’re the kind of man who needs a paper trail. Some kind of proof when someone isn’t being honest or forthcoming. I’ve always been both. I want you to remember that, right along with that part about you not knowing shit about this girl and allowing her into our children’s lives.”
“This shit getting sad and old, Nadia. I honestly thought you was better than that. Up until now, we ain’t had a problem with co-parenting.”
“Up until now, I could trust your judgment, but clearly, I can’t!
Not with her! Now, you don’t believe me .
. . ask your precious Cambrie about what else she used to do for a living.
I bet she left a few nuggets of information out.
If you want to know yourself though, they’re all right here in this file.
” Nadia held up the folder and pressed it into his chest.
“The fuck is this? What are you even talking about?” Staten sneered, and my veins were suddenly glacier cold.
Seeing the smugness on her face as she tucked her arms across her chest, I prepared myself for the inevitable.
Staten flipped the file open, and right on top was my risqué cover for Player’s Paradise .
I had a six-page spread in that magazine, making it one of their top-selling issues.
In a red G-string ensemble and black heels with gold accessories, it was sexy but leaving very little of me to the imagination.
I was never fully nude, but there was no hiding all the body I served on a daily.
“Cam, what’s this?” Staten queried, flipping through the images that had been collected.
I’d been in several issues over a two-year span to pay for college, and there were still residuals I collected to this day.
It wasn’t something I too much let get to me because not a lot of people knew it existed.
Now Nadia was making sure that it was front and center for any and everyone to judge.
The only opinion I cared about belonged to the man in front of me though.
“It’s me. About six or seven years ago, I had to pay for school. My daddy couldn’t afford it, and the job I had didn’t cover everything I needed. This was an opportunity for me,” I explained, watching him lift his gaze to mine.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything about it?” he prodded, although he couldn’t peel his eyes off the images in front of him.
“Because it was nobody’s business. It’s a legit magazine though, and I got paid well.
Well enough to pay off my tuition so that I could graduate, and I still get a check every few months from residuals.
It was a means to an end, that’s it. So if you were hoping to come in here and shame me .
. . sorry to disappoint you.” I tilted my head at Nadia.
“I hope that was your last little lame attempt at coming for me. It wasn’t a secret, just something I don’t go around bragging about. ”
“Hmm, I wonder why. What is the difference between you and a stripper though?” she teased, tapping at her chin and pretending to be deep in thought.
“The difference is I got paid a hell of a lot more, and I don’t have to get naked in front of men I don’t know every single night.
This provides a fantasy, one that paid for me to go to school and get not one but two degrees.
I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but my experience was very lucrative and professional.
I took advantage of an opportunity to better my future.
So if you were hoping to uncover some secret scandal or something, you’re wrong, sweetie.
I posed, went to class, and went about my life. ”
“Nadia, leave,” Staten ordered with his hand resting on the handle to one of the front doors.
“But—”
“I said go.” He didn’t bother looking at her any further before slamming the door in her face.
A moment of silence landed between us. Unsure of what to say, I folded my arms over my chest and bounced from one foot to the other.
Staten studied me closely, narrowing both eyes before he brought the folder to the forefront again and flipped it open.
I expected him to be pissed and start going off, but instead, something else bounced around his eyes.
Curiosity for sure. Pausing just an inch or so in front of me, he angled his head to admire the full page shot of me stretched out across a chaise, holding a rose just under my nose in nothing but a black see-through number and strappy Dolce and Gabbana heels.
“This shit kind of sexy.”
Taken aback by his response, our gazes synced after he lifted his from the photos.
“Really?” I whispered, hiking a brow.
“Yeah. You didn’t have to hide ’em from me though.
I just don’t like the world being able to view what’s mine.
” He dropped the folder at his side and stepped to me.
“But, I kind of like knowing they can look but never touch. Just don’t let Brick find out about this shit.
The nigga fuck around and dedicate a whole wall to yo’ pinups and then I’ll have to murk his ass. ”
Giggling, I lowered my head, but he tipped my chin upward while hovering over me.
“Don’t ever feel like you gotta hide shit from me, Cam. We locked in.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“Piaget and Rogue are out. I came down here to check on you and see what was taking so long.”
“I was putting the food up and getting something to sleep in. I’m going to shower now.”
“Bet. Let me check the rest of the house and lock everything down. I’ll see you in a minute.
” His supple mouth crashed into mine before our tongues tangoed in a nasty dance and he cuffed one of my ass cheeks.
Immediately, my pussy leaked like a faucet.
Moaning against his lips, I nudged him back gently and searched his hooded eyes.
“I’ll see you upstairs.”
Once I was showered and oiled up, I emerged in the doorway from Staten’s private bathroom.
Laid up in bed with his chest out under the comforter, he tapped away on the keyboard to his MacBook as I appeared.
Immediately, I caught his dick pitching a tent under the sheets as he eyed my thick thighs in the little underwear and baby tee I wore.
My hair was wet from washing it in the shower, and my face was bare with just moisturizer glowing against my skin.
Being a natural beauty and accepting my flaws was something my mother instilled in me at an early age.
“All of my underwear seems to have disappeared, and all I have are these bikini-style panties left in their place,” I complained, rubbing lotion together between my hands and looking down at myself.
Simpering, Staten kept his eyes on the computer screen. The panties I had now hugged my pussy just right and left my ass cheeks on display, which I know he was a major fan of. When the kids were asleep and I moved through the house in that shit, he was ready to give it to me any time, any place.
“You tripping. Probably just overlooking them,” he replied, swiping a hand down his beard and squinting at the screen.
“Trust me, I would know. I went through all the laundry, my drawers, and even started going through Tavi and Piaget’s drawers, thinking maybe it got mixed up with their stuff, but I don’t wash my clothes with theirs.
They are definitely missing.” I moved toward the bed and pulled the covers down on the other side.
“And these new panties all have tags on them, Staten!” I swatted him with my hand, which left him falling over laughing.
“I don’t know what you talking about, mama.”
“Oh, I think you do! You took my panties!” I grabbed a pillow and swung on him.
“Aye, I’m working!” He snatched the pillow and threw it to the foot of the bed.