“Don’t say a word.”
And, for once, Cameron actually obeyed an order Franklin gave him.
Chapter Five
Cameron’s expensive new shoes crunched against the gravel in the drive as he strode up to Arslan’s front door.Franklin was just a step behind him all the way.Even with rage racing through his blood, Cameron couldn’t help but be acutely aware of the guy’s presence, of his scent, of every single bloody detail of him.
Franklin smelled angry, too—as ifhehad something to be mad about.As if Cameron was the one who had let him down.Pushing aside the bitter taste that idea left in the back of his mouth, Cameron stormed toward the stairs.
As his foot landed on the first tread, Franklin rushed forward and grabbed Cameron’s arm.He pulled at him, trying to drag him in the direction of the nearest door.
If there’d been any way in hell Cameron could have believed that a human could ever be strong enough to drag a lion anywhere that lion didn’t want to go, he might have had some excuse.
But there were no excuses.As Franklin slammed the door behind them, Cameron was acutely aware of the fact that he was only in the dining room because he had chosen to be—because he wanted to be.Even after everything, he still wanted to be by Franklin’s side.Another wave of anger pounded into Cameron with the knowledge.So bloody pathetic!
“What the hell were you thinking?”Franklin demanded as he hit the light switch.
The bulbs in the elaborate fixture overhead flickered into life.Cameron no longer needed a lion’s night vision to see Franklin glaring at him.
Meeting Franklin’s eyes, Cameron studiously ignored the part of him that just wanted to run away and hide from it all, like a silly little cub who wasn’t ready to act like a fully-grown lion.
Another part of him, a stupid part of him, wanted to apologise, to act as ifhewas the one who’d done something wrong—anything to keep the peace with his mate.
But, by far the strongest piece of him, that piece which had survived for the last few years in the clubs and alleyways where those other parts of him would have sobbed and perished, pushed its way to the forefront of his brain before any other segment of his personality had a chance to utter a single syllable.
“I am not answerable to you!”
“The hell you’re not,” Franklin shouted back.
Cameron stepped forward, closing the gap between them until he loomed over Franklin.
Tilting his head back to bridge the difference in their heights, Franklin didn’t back down.He didn’t even seem to notice the threat before him.
“What could possibly have possessed you to—?”
Cameron didn’t let him get any further.“I didn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know,” he snarled, as he turned away to pace.
Franklin faltered then.“What?”
“I didn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know,” Cameron repeated, as he stalked forward and closed the gap between them again.“But that’s not exactly news to you, is it?”
“What?”It seemed to be Franklin’s new favourite word.
“At least one of them knew what I was long before I walked into that restaurant tonight, didn’t he?”Cameron demanded, refusing to let either of them hide from the truth for a moment longer.“Was it Charles’s idea I should be part of your oh-so-precious deal, or was it yours from the start?”
Franklin stared up at Cameron in apparent confusion, as some sort of survival instinct finally seemed to speak up inside him and make him retreat.He backed up so far, he reversed into the big mahogany table that filled the centre of the room.There was nowhere for him to go then, not unless he planned to scramble up onto the top of the well-polished surface and climb over it.
Bewilderment filled Franklin’s eyes and screamed his ignorance of the facts, but Cameron couldn’t worry about that.If he let himself care about that, then he might have to admit that he cared about Franklin, and he couldn’t do that—not now.
“You’re no better than the rest of them!”he spat.“Rich men with thick wallets… You think everyone’s for sale, don’t you?”Cameron didn’t give him time to answer.“Well, I’m not!”
Not anymore!Cameron barely held the last words back.He leaned forward, until Franklin was forced to arch back over the table.
“Charles…” Franklin began.
“Charles made it quite clear what I needed to do to seal the deal for you,” Cameron spat.Franklin’s going to make millions out of this.You should be flattered your arse is worth that much.The words scrolled around and around inside Cameron’s head.Each time he heard them, he felt the Charles’s hands move against him.
“Was that why you came to the club that first night, because he’d seen me there?Because you thought I’d be able to seal your deal if I was your whore,” Cameron demanded.
