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No, she knew it had. It had called to her as a young woman, drew her, made him more dangerous, more exciting than a boy her own age. Cam was the dark prince, the sensualist, the dangerous bad boy, and the wildness she kept locked inside her had always known that.
Chills were sweeping over her body, premonitions of knowledge racing through her, as she jerked to her feet, ignoring the wine that sloshed over her hand. She finished the last quarter glass in one drink and fought back a scream of rage.
She knew that was what happened. Cam was so totally certain of himself, so dominant and fierce, and he had been so when he was younger as well.
Oh, God, the hell he would have gone through.
The wineglass clattered on the table as she tried to set it down, while fighting to hold back her tears. If he came downstairs and saw her upset, he would demand to know why. And she couldn’t let him know what she suspected. He had fought so hard to hide it, to preserve his own sense of strength.
She covered her lips with shaking fingers and inhaled roughly. She could be wrong, but she knew she wasn’t. And she knew the only way to find out for certain was to call Tim Bridges or her father and demand to know.
She couldn’t call from here. There was too great a chance of Cam coming in during the conversation. She would call tomorrow, while she was locked in her office, and she would find out what her father had hidden from her.
And there was no doubt he’d hidden it. He had warned her away from Cam every time he so much as suspected she was watching him, or had been in contact with him. He had been firm, demanding. She was to stay away from Cameron Falladay, because men like that could only destroy a woman.
Learning a truth her father knew, that Cam would never want her to know, would destroy Cam. It would have back then, and she was terrified it would now. Some scars never healed, and she knew scars that went as deep as something like that would always strip a man to the bone.
She was so immersed in her thoughts, so torn by the pain roiling inside her at that moment, that the sound of her cell phone ringing nearly had her jumping out of her skin.
Jerking it from the coffee table, she flipped it open quickly and brought it to her ear.
“Jaci Wright. ” She inhaled slowly as she answered.
“Jaci, it’s Moriah. ” The other girl sounded panicked, terrified. “Annalee called. ”
Jaci grew still, her eyes going quickly to the stairs.
“What does she want?”
“She saw us talking at the party,” Moriah whispered fearfully.
“We knew she would. ” Jaci kept her voice low, calm. “Has she threatened you?”
“She wants me to have you meet me tomorrow evening at a hotel downtown. I’m to tell you that there are some clients that will only be in for a few hours and that you have to be there. She and Richard will be there instead. ”
Jaci inhaled deeply. There wasn’t a chance in hell.
“Call her back, Moriah. Tell them I don’t meet potential clients like that. I’ll meet with them at your apartment instead. We need control. You know how to set up the video equipment, and you can do that in advance. They know you’re scared, they won’t suspect we’re doing this. ”
“What if they refuse?” Moriah’s voice shook with fear.
“Then there will be no meeting,” Jaci told her patiently. “Settle down, Moriah. It’s coming together. Tell them I’m paranoid, they’ll believe that. Everyone knows I always meet potential clients in safe atmospheres. Now, call them back and tell them I’ve agreed to meet them at a restaurant or other public area. When they refuse, you suggest your apartment. Act as though you’re trying to be helpful. ” Jaci could feel her palms sweating now. “Let’s get them where we need them and then I’ll take care of the rest of it. ”
Moriah knew electronics. She knew how to set up the video camera they had bought and how to make certain both sound and video covered the right room when Jaci met with Richard and Annalee.
She could hear the other girl breathing harshly, thinking, trying to calm herself. The Robertses had the power to make Moriah lose all sense of calm or confidence.
“We can do this,” Moriah finally said. “This will work, won’t it, Jaci?”
“It’s going to work perfectly,” Jaci promised her. “We’ll record them admitting to what they’ve done. People like Richard and Annalee love to brag when they have the upper hand. Look how smart we are. Look how good we were. Richard especially. He can’t resist it. We’ll use that against them now. ”
It was coming together. She would take care of the Robertses, then she could concentrate on Cam and this relationship. She knew what he needed, and in a way, now she understood why he needed it. Once she talked to her father, she would have the details she needed, and then she could make this relationship work.
“What about the twins?” Moriah asked. “How will you get away from them?”
“I’ll just borrow Courtney’s car for a meeting. Tell the Robertses that I said I’ll be bringing a friend if it’s an evening appointment. ” There wasn’t a chance Cam would let her out alone in the evening if he so much as had an itch of suspicion. And he would have. “Tell them the best time is an afternoon meeting. Three would be perfect. Play them, Moriah. Tell them you can’t make me suspicious, and that demanding anything more would do so. Play on their paranoia. ”
“Jaci, what if they don’t believe me?” Moriah’s breathing was fast and hard, her voice just a shade whining, when Jaci wouldn’t have expected that from her.
