Derek threw up his hands.“Help me out here, Simon. You talk to him.”
Simon shook his head. “Not helping on this one, Derek. Staying away from airplanes is Cameron’s thing. Other guys in our unit came home with much more fucked up ways of dealing with it. If he says no, I’m letting it be.”
Cameron shot Simon a nod of thanks. They’d been through hell together, and Cam knew his friend had his own reasons for notreturning to the States—airplanes had nothing to do with it. “We’re just going to get through this. We let her babysit for two weeks, and then it’s done.”
Max raised an eyebrow, but Cameron ignored him.
“We’re moving on,” he said. “Ms. McAllister had a bunch of photos that looked like all of us cozying up with clients. Most were on the job, but a few weren’t. The press doesn’t always getit right. Sometimes they catch us during off hours, but we need to watch that. Not just while she’s here. In the future, too.”
He looked at Simon and Max. They nodded.
“But there was one photo you all need to see.” Cameron pulled the sheet from his briefcase and set it on the table.
Derek grabbed it. “What the fuck?” he said.
“I know,” said Cameron. “Take it easy.”
Max leanedover to get a look at the paper crushed in Derek’s hand. “Is that Laurie?”
“It is,” said Cameron. “I checked out the address on the top of the papers. It comes from a social media account, last name Toleafoa. Samoan, right, Derek?”
Derek’s jaw clenched tightly, and his lips formed a tight snarl. He gave a curt nod.
“It’s Derek’s name on the caption, not Laurie’s. Scrolling throughthis guy’s other posts, I’m pretty sure his only interest in Laurie is that she’s with Derek, not the other way around.”
Derek closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “I won’t let her go through that again,” he said softly.
“None of us will, Derek,” said Simon, clapping his friend on the shoulder.
Cameron nodded. “Right. And you know I wouldn’t play down the risk if I thoughtthere was one.”
Derek opened his eyes and met Cameron’s. The hard look softened a little. “Okay. But I still think this is messed up. Even if this guy didn’t recognize Laurie, someone else could.”
“Exactly,” said Cameron. “This is why I brought the photo this morning. My father and his board sent Ms. McAllister here to adjust our image, but here is the real reason we need to take thisPR thing seriously.” He gestured to the photo. “More media interest in what we do, including on our off hours, means more photos like this. Or worse. And we can’t have that. Our clients require absolute discretion for their safety.”
For once, Max looked serious. He glanced at Derek and then turned back to Cameron. “You’re right,” he said quietly.
Simon nodded. “And not just this week.”
“Right,” said Cameron.
He leaned back in his chair and let the others digest the information. Derek picked up the photo again and studied it. He looked at Cameron.
“Do I want to take this home and look it up?”
Cameron frowned. “I’m pretty sure you don’t.”
Derek nodded. “I thought so.”
“One of us will watch it for you,” said Simon.
Derek took one last look at the photoand passed it back to Cameron. “Okay. Let’s move on.”
* * *
Jackson spent the morning in her hotel room, on a video conference call with the board. Then she set to rereading Blackmore Inc.’s annual report. She had read it on the plane ride over, but now that she had met Cameron Blackmore, her original plans weren’t going to work.
She had assumed he was just another self-centered assholewith an overinflated sense of entitlement. She hadn’t necessarily revised the self-centered asshole part, but he was a lot more serious about his business than she had expected. Ignoring the board’s push for a more prestigious image felt like ascrew youto Harlan Blackmore rather than a lack of self-control among the men. In fact, the more she studied the company’s information, the more she wasconvinced of just how careful and calculating Cameron was.
