at the security that line the wall. What must it be like to be Natasha or Adrian and constantly be followed by security? It’s Saturday night and Adrian, Tash and I have just had a nice Italian meal and are now in a cocktail bar.
“I’m just telling you this.” Natasha smiles tipsily at me as she sips her Margarita. “You need to get back on the horse and start dating again.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m off men forever.” I glance at Adrian. “No offence, Adrian, but you don’t count.” I smirk.
He smirks and clinks our glasses. “I know, I’m like the anti-man man.”
I giggle into my drink. I’ve just told them that Seb has been asking me out and they are urging me to go on a date with him.
I shake my head in disgust. I’m probably way too drunk to be having this conversation. “Cameron has ruined me for life. How can I ever trust another man?”
Natasha cringes. “Cameron is a good man. He’s just a strong man who doesn’t back down.”
I roll my eyes as I sip my drink.
“If he and Joshua honestly think they’re in the right, they will fight to the death to prove it,” she adds.
“Remember that time you and Cameron had that big fall out?” Adrian asks Natasha.
I frown, confused. Cameron and Natasha always seem so tight, I can’t ever imagine that happening.
“We did.” She nods. “We’ve had lots of arguments in the past. He didn’t speak to me for a long time because of the way I treated Joshua.”
“How did you treat Joshua?”
She widens her eyes and exhales deeply. “God, where do I start? Joshua and I had the most unconventional start to our relationship, and he was a dominating ass.”
“Like Cameron,” I mutter dryly.
“Yes.” She raises her glass. “Exactly like Cameron. Anyway, we broke up and Joshua was heartbroken. Cameron took exception to it and decided he was against me, too.”
I frown.
“The thing is with these two, Ash, is that they’ll be loyal to each other till the death. You couldn’t get two brothers closer than they are. Unfortunately for us, they are also strong, dominant men.”
I sip my drink as I watch her.
“If they think with all of their hearts that they’re right, they won’t give up. They’ll fight to get what they want, and God help the person who stands in their way.”
“How is taking my child the right thing to do?” I ask with a shake of my head.
“Well, they didn’t really know you.” Adrian frowns. “Cameron had said that if something ever happened to Owen and he had been neglectful, he would never have been able to forgive himself.”
“Why didn’t he just ask me if I was alright?”
Natasha narrows her eyes as she thinks. “They have a big trigger with paternity.”
“Why?” I frown.
She shrugs. “Ask Cameron about it, it’s not my place to say. But when it all came out that you’d lied about Owen’s paternity, it set alarm bells ringing for the two of them. You’re not completely innocent in this, either.”
“And don’t forget about TC,” Adrian adds.
“Oh God, yes.” Natasha shakes her head in disgust. “Joshua was bribed once with footage of him and a prostitute for millions of dollars.”
My eyes widen. “What?” I shriek.
She shakes her head. “That’s why he couldn’t stand the thought of you being put into that same sleazy basket at the club. He couldn’t stand the thought of Owen ever going through that shame as a teenager if it came out later.”
“Why didn’t he just say that?” I practically shout.
“Because he’s a proud man. He’s not going to bring up his insecurities,” she answers.
I shake my head as I sip my drink.
“Cameron is a good man, Ashley,” Natasha replies. “No matter what he’s done in the past, he honestly thought he was looking out for Owen’s best interests at the time.”
I sit for a moment as I think about what they’ve said.
“Speak of the devil.” Adrian smiles.
I look up and see Joshua walking through the crowd with Cameron following behind him.
Our eyes lock.
The look he gives me sends shivers down my spine.
I want you, I’m taking you, and I’m going to fuck you into submission. Is what it’s silently screaming.
Goosebumps scatter. He hasn’t looked at me that way for a long time, and I had honestly forgotten its power.
I swallow the lump in my throat as I watch him approach us through the crowds.
Dear God, Cameron Stanton is here, and the way he is looking at me tells me that I’m