CHAPTER THREECAMILLAâMy Dad phoned you? I am so sorry about that. I promise I will speak to himâ I said for the second time, feeling unease and a slight hint of embarrassment.I had not expected my dad to take the idea of me working for his competitor lying low but calling the man?âDonât worry, I already handled it. I am only phoning you to be sure Daddy has not succeeded in changing your mindââMy mind is not changed. I want to work for youâ I counteredNathan paused for a second before he continued speaking.âThen you are to resume your duties tomorrow. Do not think I will go easy on you because you are some rich heiress and neither will my people⊠in fact, they are going to eat you up by the time you are introduced to themâ He warnedWas he worried about me? I thought to myself and then shook my head to clear out such thoughts.He was just telling me what to expect nothing more.âI donât expect anyone to go easy on me; I am going to prove myselfâ I reassured him.âThatâs good to
CHAPTER FOURNATHANâI want everyone to meet Camilla Rodrigues; she will be working here as from today till I say otherwise.â I announced when I was sure I had had everyone gatheredThere was a round of murmurs which I had sure been expecting before they all began clapping to acknowledge what I had said.This was one of the reasons I had made her my personal assistant⊠to keep her away from the ravenous wolves in my company and to also keep her close to me.She was something of a study and she intrigued me]âThank you very much, Mr Clark.â She preened, smiling from ear to ear. âI am going to be doing my best and I hope to work exceedingly well with each and every one of youâ She announced.Another round of applause before I sent them all to their duties.âCamillaâ I nodded at herâMr ClarkââNathanâ I corrected her again.She blushed, hiding her face awayâNathanâ She whispered.I stared at her for longer than necessary not admitting to myself that I was committing her face to memory.
FIVECAMILLAI sighed in relief, my knees weak as I sagged into my chair.Okay, today was going well so far except for theâŠCoffee, I joltedHe had asked for CoffeeI scrambled to my feet, reaching into the drawer and pulling out the special brew he had mentioned. I had not asked him if he liked his coffee black but I could tell he did.It did not take long for me to get the coffee up and I walked slowly back to his office, pausing at the door and taking another deep breath.I rapped once, waiting for his response.âCome on inâ The deep rumble of his voice came through.I pushed the door open, pausing for a second when I saw that he had put on glasses.Nerd, I thought to myself, resisting the urge to stare.He was a sexy nerd with those glasses perched atop his nose and the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to reveal corded muscles.âI did not ask if you wanted your coffee blackâ I explained as he accepted the cup from my hand.Our fingers touched and I bit back a yelp.âI like it black
SIXNATHANI was furious⊠I knew Ben had been a very wild card the moment I had decided to accept money from him for investments but to think he would dare.Of course, after all these years⊠I still had to prove myself to all of them.Rich snobs with nothing on their hands than money to spend and parties to attend. I still had to prove to them that I was worthy to walk toe to toe with them.It was upsetting enough after the untimely death of my wife and the reading of the will where she had given the company, there had been protests and investment pulled out because no one wanted to deal with a gold digger.They all though I had had something to do with her death and even her family contested the will in court but it would seem that my wife⊠bless her soul had made sure to make it loophole free. There was nothing they could do but accept the fact that I was going to be the new director and owner of the company.It had taken me years to get it off the ground and we were even now still
SEVEN CAMILLA Benjamin Cooper had mentioned something about taking his deal and investment to Jason Rodrigues in a bit to falter Nathan. Of course he had not idea he had been yelling vulgar words to the child of the said man and I would be damned if I allowed my father accept or even work with such a person. I grabbed my phone and placed a call to his direct line which he picked up on the second ring. âWhat is the matter, angel? I am in a meeting right now with a client.â He murmured into the phone. âIs this client by any chance Benjamin Cooper?â I asked âAre you keeping tabs on me for your new boss, little dove?â I could hear the mirth and also the question in my fatherâs voice. He wanted an explanation as to how I knew about his meeting and if he could trust me now that I was working for his competitor. âHe used to invest with Nat⊠Mr Clark. I donât know if he mentioned it?â âHe did and he says Clark walked him out rudely because of something minor?â âDadâ I yelled. âHe is
EIGHT NATHAN It was indeed juicy news because by the time I awoke, I had received twelve phone calls, all from Christian about what he termed âtrendy newsâ. âTell me that is not why you called me so many timesâ I growled into the phone. âEasy, tiger⊠what are we going to do about it?â âWe will do absolutely nothing, Christian. Now if that is all⊠I am going back to bedâ Apparently, the man who had taken our pictures had gone to the press with it and it was now making waves on the internet much to my amusement. They have to get a life one of these days, I thought to myself as I hurriedly dressed for work. I would not fault Camilla if she decided not to show up to work today because of the news and I only wondered what her father would say. No doubt he would tell her that he had told her so and this is what she gets for not listening to him. I could hear the annoying voice of Jason Rodrigues informing her of how much bad news I was and how he had warned her to stay as far away f
NINECAMILLAI should not have said what I said, I berated myself for the third time that day, staring at Nathanâs office door.I wondered if I should apologize for what I had said. I knew the topic about my father was sore and I should have kept mute about it butâŠHe was infuriating if I was to say the truth. Talking about my father like he was some mortal enemy of his and there was no way I could have kept quiet at that, boss or not.I sighed, knocking on the door in front of me with the cup of coffee in my hand.âCome inâ He ordered.I scampered into the office with my eyes searching out his. He did not raise his head up nor acknowledge my presence while I dropped the cup gingerly on his table.âI want to apologize for what I said⊠it was insensitive of me and I know I caused whatever is going on right nowâ I blurted, feeling my heart pounding in my chest.I did not know if he was going to say anything but I finally got him to raise his head, his dark eyes surveying me. I felt tens
CAMILLAI sighed at my reflection in the mirror for the umpteenth time, staring critically at the dress I was picking for our date.It was sequin blue and most definitely too formal to go to the tracks.The thing is I had never been on dates before that did not involve family events and occasion and parties where I had to be the prime and proper daughter, smile at the men my father introduce me to and try to listen to them boast about a lot of things.That was why I was having problems picking out a proper outing dress. It was definitely too late to hit the mall for something other than heels and dresses and so I decided to settle for pants.No one could go wrong with pants and a plain tee accompanied by sneakers.I was soon dressed and began to pack my hair up before I recalled Nathanâs stern warning about liking my head down.I blushed again at this, shaking my head. He was just messing with me so why did that somehow do something entirely different to my system.I have had men come
CAMILLAAfter the previous day encounter and the kiss⊠I wasnât sure I wanted to be on the same team with Nathan.In all honesty, I wasnât sure exactly what I wanted.My lips still tingled from the memory of Nathanâs kiss, and yet, the feeling did NOT settle in the way I expected. It wasnât the passionate rush of desire or the warmth of something more. No, it was an unsettled ache, a reminder that whatever this was between us was anything but simple.I stared at the ceiling, my mind spinning in a hundred different directions. My thoughts kept circling back to that kiss.Why had he gone and kissed me?The last thing I needed was to get caught up in Nathanâs mess, in whatever internal struggle he was going through. I could not afford to lose myself in him. Not again. He had kissed me, and now I had to decide whether to let it go or pull back before things went any further.I dragged myself out of bed, staring at the clockâ7:00 AM. My meeting with Nathan was at 9:00, but I had a hundred t
NATHANI was stalling.Her apartment had grown quiet except for the rhythmic ticking of a clock on the wall, but I stayed seated at her table, watching her stack dishes in the sink. My car was fixed. My excuse to linger here was gone. Yet I couldnât bring myself to leave.She moved with a confidence that was uniquely Camilla. She wasnât trying to impress anyoneâŠleast of all meâŠbut damn, she did. I traced the curve of her spine with my eyes as she walked back into the living room, her bare feet soft against the floorboards.I should have been thinking about Eleanor. About Trish. About Alicent. About the cold-blooded satisfaction I would feel when the truth about Eleanorâs death finally saw the light of day. But all I could think about was how Camilla and how I should be apologizing to her.âYouâre awfully quiet,â she said, sitting across from me, tilting her head to study me.âI have been accused of worse.âShe rolled her eyes. âYou are always like this. Mysterious and brooding. You wou
CAMILLA âGood morning.â I started at him, unsure of exactly what I was looking at. Then it hit me: the smell. Warm and savory, the scent of something cooking drifted through the airâŠeggs, maybe toast. It was so out of place⊠he was out of place here. I moved, the motion sending a fresh wave of pain through my skull and a queasiness to my stomach. I groaned again, slower this time, trying to steady myself. âMorning,â I mumbled hoarsely, my voice barely more than a croak. He was standing by the stove, his back to me, a pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. His shirt was untucked, the fabric clinging to his broad shoulders in a way that made him seem even larger than usual. In my tiny kitchen, he looked impossibly big, like he didnât belong there, yet somehowâŠhe fit. âWhat are you doing?â I asked, my voice weak but laced with confusion. Nathan glanced over his shoulder, his profile catching the morning light. His hair was a little messy, like he hadnât bothered t
CAMILLAIt was useless feeling sorry for myself, I thought.The lighting in the club was low as I stepped in with my friend, Bella.âNot badâ I murmured.âTold youâ She responded triumphantly. âThis is what you need to get over him. Nathan Clark is an asshole and should dump him in the dust where he belongsâI wanted to correct her that he wasnât an asshole, he was merely disturbed but I did not.I was not here to sympathize with him or even think about him. I was here to have fun and that is what I am going to do.I was putting on a red dress and it complimented my eyes way more than I thought it would.âCome on, we should get a drinkâ Bella pulled me to the bar.The bartender winked at both of us and then asked what we would likeIt was at the tip of my tongue to say nothing but I was at a club, wasnât I?âSex on the beachâ I announced.Bella turned to me, surprise in her eyes. I was pretty sure she thought she would have to force me to drink.âI would have the sameâ She told the ma
NATHANThere was nothing to say as I dropped Camilla off at her home.I waited until I was sure she had gotten in before I headed in the direction of my mother in lawâs house.I pushed in Christianâs number, my teeth gritting as it rang.I was furious.I did not want to admit I was more furious at myself than anything.âHow did your date go?â Christianâs asked as soon as the phone line clicked.âSend me the name of the witnessâ I grunted.âWhat is wrong?ââSend the name, dammitââYou need to calm down, Nathan. Where are you going?ââTo settle this once and for allâ I told him. âNow send the damned number to meâI hung up before he had the chance to say anything or convince me to back away because I would not.I drove way above the speed limit, stopping only when I had gotten to the mansionâs gate.It brought back memories of family dinners where I had to defend Eleanor over and over again. Where snide remarks about the reason I was with her reached my ears and she said nothing about
CAMILLAâI did not think I was ever going to see you again, Camillaâ Sarah smiled as soon as I entered the restaurant.She wagged a finger in Nathanâs direction, shaking her head at him.âWith the kind of food you sell? I will be coming in here for a very long timeâ I smiled back.Nathan and I took our seats and waited.She had a queue as usual and I could not help the smile as I glanced around.âYou would have watched your father kill meâ Nathan commented.âI admit that would have made me feel better for a bitâ I told him.He appeared shocked but I could tell from the way his eyes twinkled with delight that he thought it hilarious.I had not expected he would go over to my parentâs house especially seeing as I wasnât there in the first place.My father however had called me when he arrived with a gun to his head and asked if I wanted to see him. I had hesitated just for the fun of itâI deserved thatââYes you didâ I agreed.âThank you for coming here with meâI nodded once.Sarah dr
NATHANI was pacing like a fucking clown.I was expecting Camilla at the office today to discuss the project that we were involved in together and I could not help the restlessness coursing through my body.I wasnât one to be this nervous about anything.âDeep breathsâ I told myself, trying to go along with my instructions but to no avail.So much so that when my receptionist announced her presence, I had worked myself into a frenzy.My breath caught in my throat as she walked in, her eyes taking the room before settling on me with stark clarity.What had I been thinking? I thought.Starved of attention?Who was the blithering idiot now?âYou look wellâ She commented, taking the seat in front of me.âYou look beautifulâ I murmured.She paused, her eyes meeting mine.Sparks flew, that was for sure.âHow do you feel?â She asked instead.âMuch better. Thank you for attending to me yesterday. For even accepting the phone call from meââOf course, I am not a demon even though I do hate you
CAMILLAI stared at my ringing phone with Nathan displayed boldly as the callers ID.What the fuck did he want?I however put it to my ear, my heart jumping at the sound of his voiceâCamilla, I know you can hear meâ He raspedâWhat do you want?â I asked.âTo talkâ He answered.His voice appeared tortured⊠like there was something wrong with him and for a minute I was concerned before my head overrode my stupidity.âConcerning the project-â I beganâNot concerning the-â He sighed, his voice trailing off.âI need youâ He muttered softly that if I had not been paying attention, I would have missed that simple statement.âMr Clarkâ I stopped when I heard his labored breathing.âIs something wrong with you?ââNo, its nothing⊠I just need to speak with youââNathan, what is the matter? You sound distressedâHe chuckled and then I heard him cough in the backgroundâYou are not concerned about me now, are you?ââThis is not a joke, what is wrong with you?â I asked again, feeling panicky.He
CAMILLAMy father drove us straight to the house and I did not argue nor say anything when we arrived and my mother enveloped me in a hug.âOh babyâ She crooned.âI am okayâ I reassured herâCome on inâI inhaled the familiar scent of home, my muscles relaxing.âI am going to bedâ I announced.Their words fell over themselves as they agreed immediately to my request.My eyes closed as soon as I fell on the bed. I did not want to think of anything, I did not want to begin to analyze the anger in my heart directed at one person in particular.When I finally opened my eyes, it was noon.I made my way downstairs and was met with the searching eyes of both my parents.âAre you okay, baby?â My mother asked.I took a seat beside them.âI am not some fragile child you have to be worried about always, motherâ I said.âYou are my child and I have every reason to be worried about youâ she countered.âI am going to be fineâ I told her.My father said nothing but I turned to him anyways.âI have d