Society Girls: Camari Read online

  “I’m glad I could help you with that.”

  “You did that, and so much more.”

  I look away, because I feel the truth in what she’s telling me, and I fear I’ll see it in her eyes, too. I won’t remember this once Reina’s done with me, and so I can’t let myself believe it. I love Camari, but there’s no future for us, even if she’s finally letting go of her past.

  16

  Camari

  The silence is awkward as Lennon looks anywhere but at me, so I’m almost happy to see Ainsley enter the room. Almost.

  “I just wanted to give you an update. Reina and the baby are fine for now, although Kenny wants to keep her here for a few more days.”

  “Thank God,” I say, and mean it. Reina and I may have our differences, but I respect her, and I know it would kill Matt if anything happened to her.

  “I can give you guys a few more minutes to say goodbye, but then I need to take Lennon to have his mind wiped.”

  He looks at me. “Thanks for telling me everything, even though I won’t remember it.”

  “You’ll remember me, even though you’ll still be angry.”

  “Actually, he won’t.” Ainsley says, biting her lip. “Reina felt it would be best if we wiped all of his memories of you.”

  “No. You can’t do that!” I yell, sitting up so fast I almost fall over.

  “It’s better this way.”

  “I won’t let you do that,” Lennon tells her, standing up.

  “You have no choice.”

  “You’ll have to kill me before I let you take my memory of Camari from me.”

  “I can easily incapacitate you without killing you.”

  I use every bit of strength I have, and stand on shaky legs in front of him. “Let me talk to Reina.”

  “I’m sorry, Camari, but this is best.”

  “For who?”

  “He knows too much. I know you told him everything.”

  “Then you also know he said he wouldn’t tell.”

  “I can’t just take his word for it. It puts us all in too much danger.”

  She taps on her tablet, and Jade and Ellie enter the room. “Take him down the hall.”

  “No!” I yell, swaying on my feet as they advance. “Please don’t do this.”

  “Move out of the way, Camari,” Jade tells me as Ellie tries to grab Lennon.

  He dodges her momentarily, although there is no way out of here for him. “I will not allow you to take her from me. Take my conversation with her, but not the times before.”

  “It’s not your choice to make,” Ellie tells him. “Now this can be easy, or it can be hard.”

  She pulls a tranquilizer gun out, and because they all think I’m too weak to be a problem, she waves it in front of me. I am too weak, but the man I love is being threatened, and I find the strength to grab it from her, and shoot. She goes down, but so do I as Jade tackles me.

  Alarms start to sound as I try to hold onto the gun. I manage to get a shot off, hitting Ainsley in the leg. She starts to fall, but Kendrick catches her and lays her down. I have a clear shot on him, and his eyes widen.

  “Stop fighting her, Jade, before she accidentally pulls the trigger again,” he tells her, before looking at me. “Reina and you both need me to be alert, Camari.”

  “I love him, Kendrick, and I will not allow them to take all of his memories of me.”

  “I swear I won’t tell anyone what I’ve learned. I love her too much for that.”

  “I believe you,” Matt says, appearing in the doorway. “We will let you leave as you are, but we’ll be watching you.”

  “That is not your call to make,” Jade tells him, glaring at me.

  Audrey enters, and places her hand on his shoulder. “No, it’s mine, and I agree with Matt. I watched the tape of what was said in here, and he was telling the truth, both then and now.”

  “Reina said he had to be wiped.”

  “And then she gave me temporary control of the Society. She cannot continue with the stress of making the choices she has to make while she’s pregnant. It’s too much for her, and her baby, and she knows it. I have full authority to make decisions, and I’m making one.”

  “Camari knocked out Ellie, and Ainsley.”

  “Yes, and there will be consequences for her, but Lennon is free to go.”

  “Thank you, Audrey.”

  I look to him, but he looks away, and it hurts. I know he doesn’t trust me, and that’s no one’s fault but my own. I could blame Reina and Audrey for sending me undercover, but without that, I wouldn’t have met him at all. I can’t be sorry for meeting him, even as I mourn the loss of him in my life. I love this man, and I’ll do everything I can for him, even if he never wants to see me again. No matter what might happen to me.

  Lennon

  I just walked out of that room, without even thanking Camari for what she did. I didn’t even fucking look at her, and I feel like the lowest scum on the planet. If I had any doubts about her loving me, they just all got shot to hell when she shot her friends to save me. Yeah, they were only tranquilizers, but still, she fought for me. And I just walked away.

  “You dodged a bullet back there,” the guy riding the elevator back up with me says. His name is Theo, and he’s head of security for Corrigan & Co. I’ve seen his name pop up plenty of times, and heard Seriyah crush on him, but I’ve never actually met him until today.

  “I don’t want to forget Camari.”

  “They might make her forget you.”

  “They’d do that?” I ask, because I never even considered that happening.

  He shrugs. “You never know with those ladies. It’s best not to piss them off.”

  “I don’t want her to be hurt because of me.”

  “She looked pretty damn hurt when you walked out of the room.”

  “I know.”

  “We not friends, but I’m going to give you some advice anyway; if you love her, don’t let her get away. I let anger, hurt, and jealousy steal the woman I love from me for years, and even now, it’s a fight to get her back. We found each other again, but she’s acting like I’m the one who did her wrong, and I’m too chicken to ask her about it, for fear she may be right. So yeah, hold on to Camari if she’s the one for you, because maybe you’re not seeing everything, or if you are, you’re giving it more importance than your love for her.”

  “Thanks,” I tell him, because that’s all I get past the lump in my throat.

  He’s right. I know he’s right, because I’ve felt wrong ever since I walked out on her. Her lies about who she was don’t matter as much as knowing she loves me. I don’t think she’d lie to me again, because she gave me all of her secrets, and even if we need to rebuild trust, we can do it.

  “I don’t suppose you could take me back down?”

  “No, but just make sure you’re ready when she’s out of here.”

  “I will,” I tell him as the elevator doors open, and he motions for me to leave.

  I get in my car, and go home to change before work. I was worried about being late, but Audrey told me not to worry about it. I know their reach extends far and wide, but I also know we’re short-handed at work, so I’m glad to be making it in for at least part of my shift. Not to mention, I still have my memory, and all of my body parts.

  When I walk into work, I see my boss sitting at my station. He signs off the phone when I walk over, and he motions me into his office. “Good to see you, Lennon. Sorry to hear that your mom was so sick.”

  Huh? “My mother is fine, Sir.”

  “It must’ve been a shock to hear she’d fallen ill. It’s probably hard to even remember how you got to her house.”

  Ah, that’s what this is about. He’s checking to see if the mind wipe worked. “I remember everything that happened today.”

  “I…you do?”

  “Yes, and it’s nothing I’ll soon forget, although I don’t want to ever talk about it.”

  He visibly relaxes. “Good. Go
od. You’re a good worker, Lennon, and I’d hate to see you suffer, or lose your job because of things you shouldn’t be worrying about.”

  My job really was in danger—nice. “I’m not worried, and I’ll drop my investigation, but you threatening my job just pisses me off.”

  “Do you think they care if you’re pissed off?”

  “Yeah, actually, I do.”

  I walk out of his office, because I have nothing more to say to him. Maybe he can nail me for insubordination, but I don’t think he’ll try. He doesn’t need to know that it was only because of one extraordinary woman that I still have my memories. Matt and Audrey stepped in, but I know without a shadow of a doubt, that they wouldn’t have if Camari hadn’t saved me first. I don’t know how I can ever repay her for what she did, but if I can show her that I love her, and forgive her, maybe that will be enough.

  17

  Camari

  Being isolated from almost everyone for the past few days hasn’t been easy or fun. Audrey comes by at least twice a day to check on me, and tell me nothing’s been decided yet. Kendrick comes by just as often to check that I’m eating, and threatening me with a feeding tube if I stop. And my psychologist comes by once a day to try and get me to talk. They all want something from me, but right now I have nothing to give. I didn’t think about the consequences of what I was doing when my friends went after Lennon, but I can’t say I wouldn’t do the exact same thing again, and that’s the problem. I’m not sorry, and I can’t pretend that I am.

  When my door opens, I brace myself for another round of questions, but what I’m not expecting is for Matt to be wheeling Reina into my room. Seeing her in a wheelchair, and looking so pale, makes me want to burst into tears.

  “I’m so sorry,” I tell her, meaning it.

  “As am I.”

  “I’m going to leave you alone, because my wife insists on it, but if you upset her, I swear to God, Camari, I will end you,” Matt tells me, and I know he means it.

  “Matteo, stop. You will not harm her or anyone else if they upset me. Kenny said the baby and I are fine, so stop hovering and go do your man stuff.”

  “I’ll be right outside the door.”

  “Of course you will,” she says, rolling her eyes.

  “He’s just worried about you. I’ve been worried, too.”

  “I was worried for myself, and my little one, but we’re both stronger than we may seem.”

  “I’ve never doubted your strength.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “You’re not just here for a social call, so go ahead, and kick me out.”

  “If I kick you out, how are we going to work on getting past my hate of you getting a ring before me?”

  Oh God. “I thought his mind was being wiped.”

  “It was supposed to be.”

  “I couldn’t let him forget me.”

  “You hurt two of your friends, fought with one more, and threatened the doctor who was working to save us both.”

  “You would let Matt forget you?”

  “No, and neither would Ellie, Jade, Ainsley, or Matisse allow their men to forget them.”

  “Shit. I didn’t even think of Matisse. She probably wants to kill me.”

  “She was upset, as were the others, but when I put it to them the way I just put it to you, they all admitted they’d do the same thing.”

  “Oh.”

  “I need your assurance that you won’t try to harm one of us again, and that you understand if you do, I’ll be forced to do more than fire you.”

  “I understand.”

  “You’re going to need to start talking to the doctors and Audrey. I know you understand you need help, and they can all help you.”

  “I’ve actually been thinking about what I need.”

  “I’m going to try and stay in the background of things until the baby is born, but I can assure you, if we can give it to you, we will.”

  “I need to apologize to the people here I hurt, and then I need to go home, Rei. I need to face the demons I ran from, and finally move past them.”

  “I’ll allow them to stop by, and I’ll arrange travel home for you once you’re ready to leave. Do you want someone to go with you?”

  “No. I need to go alone.”

  “You’ll go on one of our jets, and take one our yachts to the island.”

  “That I will do.”

  “Kenny has to give you the okay, and I want you to keep in phone contact with me.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I take a breath, and ask her what I need to know. “Is Lennon okay?”

  “He’s working and getting ready for his softball championship game next week.”

  “He’s good, then.”

  “He’s been here every day, asking to see you.”

  “What?”

  “Because you wouldn’t talk to anyone who was trying to help you, we didn’t think we should let him in.”

  I nod. “I understand. I haven’t been in a good place, but I wouldn’t harm myself if he broke up with me. He already did that, remember?”

  “The flowers in this room are from him.”

  I open my mouth, but nothing comes out for a minute. I look around the room at the flowers that seem to appear every time I fall asleep. “I thought they were from you.”

  “Again, we weren’t sure if we should tell you, but Matt promised Lennon he’d put them in here.”

  “I want to see him, but I want to be whole when I do.”

  “If he doesn’t make you feel whole, he’s not the one for you.”

  “I’ve never felt more alive, or more ‘right’ than when I’m with him, but there’s that piece of my that will never be okay until I do what I have to.”

  “What would you like us to tell him.”

  “The truth. He deserves the truth. I need to go home, but I’ll be back. I should call him, and tell him that myself, but this is hard enough without involving him yet.”

  “I understand. I’ll call him.”

  “You’re really okay?”

  “I am. I just need to remember to be just Reina sometimes, and ask for help.”

  “When I’m back, I’ll do anything I can to help you.”

  “Thank you. Now, get some rest so you can go do what you need to.”

  “Yes, boss.”

  She smiles, and rolls herself over to the door. Matt looks at us both before nodding to me, and then they’re gone, leaving me to my thoughts. And if I’m being honest, my fears. I need to go home, but that doesn’t mean I’m not afraid of what I have to do, because I’m absolutely terrified.

  Lennon

  My boss has been giving me a wide berth after I told him off, and frankly, I’ve enjoyed being left alone. I haven’t been able to see Camari, even though Matt promised to give her my flowers while she recovers, and we’ve just lost our celebrity coaches for the softball championship, so yeah, I’ve got too much on my mind to worry about office politics. Which makes being called into his office right now more annoying than I can ever admit.

  “Hello, Lennon. Please close the door, and have a seat.”

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, once I do as he says.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just noticed that you have quite a bit of time off you haven’t used yet.”

  Is he kidding? “You want me to take a vacation?”

  “Yes.” Apparently not.

  “Any idea of where I should go if I take you up on this generous offer of yours?”

  “Greece is nice this time of year,” comes the answer from the phone on his desk.

  “Reina?”

  “Hello, Lennon.”

  “Wait, Greece? Camari?”

  “Take me off speakerphone, please.”

  I pick up the receiver immediately. “It’s just me.”

  “She’s going to face her family, and she thinks she needs to do it alone. I believe she needs to stand up to them on her own, but she needs someone to supp
ort her after she makes her peace.”

  “I suppose you have a flight picked out for me?”

  “Yes. I’d prefer to send you on one of our jets, but with the Sheriff after us, I don’t want it to look like I bribed you. I will have a boat waiting to take you from Athens, though.”

  “Okay. I just have to get my clothes, and passport.”

  “A bag with those things has just been dropped at the front desk for you. We also booked your flight using your lowest interest credit card. A printout is in the bag, too.”

  “I’m not even going to ask.”

  “Sometimes it’s better not to.”

  “Thank you, Reina.”

  “You can thank me by taking care of her. I can’t even say I’m sorry for sending her undercover with you, because she needs you now.”

  “I’m not sorry now, either.”

  I mean it. I wasn’t allowed to go back to Camari once I realized I needed to, but I’ve spent these last few days taking stock of everything that happened. I talked to my parents, and I talked to Sal. They helped reinforce for me that what I have with her is real. My parents told me I better get her back, and Sal told me he lied, too. He’s never planned on going to work for Matt, because he has a life elsewhere, but he was willing to let me believe it, because it was all for the greater good. I don’t like deception, but I’m coming to understand it’s sometimes necessary.

  My boss tells me the rest of my shift is already covered, so I log off my phone, grab the bag they left me, and head to the airport. Once I’m in the air, I finally think about how crazy all of this is, and how this will be my life from now on. I may never get used to it, but being with Camari will be worth all the subterfuge. We still have things to work out, but I’m not worried about that. I just need to support her, and bring her home. I won’t be saving her, because she can do that for herself, but I’m going to be there to hold her once she’s done.