KARTER

AS MUCH AS I hated to admit it, some of my work had to be done in the office. I'd leveraged as much time at home as I could, especially when Cameron had days off. But today he was at home and I was stuck here. Since it couldn't be helped, I tried not to dwell on it.

It was Friday anyway, which meant that once I finished up and could go home, we'd be alone until Ty's daycare program ended in the evening. We hadn't really discussed yet what we wanted to do with our free time, but since I'd been dragging him out more lately, I figured he would appreciate an evening in. Which was completely fine with me.

I flipped through the folder of proofs from our most recent photo shoot, studying each one intently, but quickly. After all, I'd been doing this for years. Pulling three out that I didn't like for various reasons, I handed the folder back to the intern who'd delivered it to my office. Thankfully, Lucas had stopped doing that. Whether it was because he'd gotten the hint that I wanted nothing to do with him or because he was planning something more sinister I couldn't be sure.

I'd sent an organized timeline of the events with any evidence I had to Anthony, who was holding it for me. I still wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do with any of it. The idea of serving him with a harassment suit was tempting, but it would be an embarrassing ordeal for all of us. And I knew my mom would be pissed for making waves with her friend's son, and causing issues for the company.

If things carried on the way they were going, there wouldn't be any need to push things. If he'd given up then I could let it go. As long as he left Cameron alone, then whatever had happened in the past could stay there as far as I was concerned. I could only wait and see.

"Wow, Mr. Morrison!" The intern was a young omega woman with glasses and a trendy pixie cut. "The ones you took out were the same ones Ms. Caperin said probably wouldn't make the cut."

"Great minds think alike," I said, giving her a polite smile. She nodded eagerly.

"Is there anything you want me to grab for you before I head back over? Coffee or anything?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Alright! Well, have a good day, Mr. Morrison."

"You, too."

She bounced off, giving me a friendly wave as she exited. Leaning back in my chair, I tilted my head. I'd always avoided having an assistant on the grounds that I'd rather do everything myself than have to deal with some overly chipper, incompetent kiss-ass on a daily basis. But maybe it was time. It would relieve me of the simple, menial parts of my job, at the very least.

As I pondered the best way to go about hiring one, my phone lit up with a message. Since the vast majority of messages I received these days were from Cameron, I smiled a little as I picked it up off the desk to read it. But as my eyes moved over the words, anxiety seized my stomach.

What is this? Why would you hide this from me?

An image followed the words. It was a photo of the timeline I'd created for Anthony. It had everything that had happened between Lucas and I, complete with dates and extreme detail. Including the night I'd brought him into my apartment. And the fact that I suspected he'd planned the whole paparazzi date scenario because he knew I was seeing someone else and wanted to sabotage it. Which wasn't what I had told Cameron when he'd asked about the situation. I'd kept the paper in a desk drawer in the bedroom, assuming he would never see it.

My heart was racing in my chest, and sweat prickled under my arms. Even though my breath was coming out in short, harsh pants I fumbled with my phone, bringing up his contact and calling. The ringing in my ear was cut short, like he'd declined the call from his end.

I don't want to talk to you right now.

His next message confirmed it loud and clear.

Pushing back from my desk, I gripped the edge of it. Panic swirled in my mind as I struggled with what to do to fix the situation. I could explain myself better in person.

The drive home was a blur. I was lucky I didn't get into a car accident.

When I finally reached my door, jabbing the keypad to get inside, I found him sitting on the couch with his knees pulled up to his chest. He didn't look up at me when I entered, but I could see his expression was sour.

I stood frozen at the edge of the living room, my eyes locked on him. Shit. I should have practiced or at least considered what to say.

When he finally glanced up at me, he didn't say anything for what felt like hours. Until finally, he spoke.

"You lied to me."

My hand twitched at my side, like it instinctively wanted to reach out to him. But he could barely stand to look at me, let alone be touched by me.

"I didn't mean to."

"That's bull," he countered, giving me an incredulous look. "You purposely left all of this out when I asked about him. You told me you went to school with him."

"I did go to school with him."

"Yeah, and you also almost hooked up with him. Oh, and let me not forget this part, he's fucking stalking you!"

"I didn't want you to worry. I wanted to take care of it."

"Karter, didn't you think this was something I needed to know? Like, for one second did you ever consider that I would want to know that some guy is obsessed with my boyfriend and taking it out on me?"

"Taking it out on you?" I repeated, my brows furrowing together. "Why would you say that? He's just pissed that I keep turning him down. He wants me to be miserable."

Cameron stared at me for a few seconds. "You don't know, do you? Is that why it's not on your stupid list?"

"What are you talking about? Did Lucas say something to you?"

He stood up, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket and shoving it into my hands. While I unfolded it, he was scrolling through something on his phone. It was the eviction notice from his old apartment.

"What does this have to do with anything?" I asked.

"See that?" He said, pointing down at the bottom of the paper, where the name of the company was displayed.

"So?"

"So, this." He handed me his phone. It was on a web page about the company on the notice. The company was owned by Cromwell Corp. My hand trembled. I was totally speechless. "That's his company, right?"

"It's his parents' company," I said. "But if he told them he wanted it, for whatever reason, they would do it. He's completely spoiled. How long have you known about this?"

"I wasn't hiding it from you, if that's what you're implying," he responded bitingly. "I didn't know if it had anything to do with him or not and I didn't want to accuse him without proof. But I would have figured it out a lot fucking sooner if I'd known he was obsessed with you."

I dropped my weight onto the couch, letting the paper fall beside me. "Cameron, I had no idea. I swear."

My mind was racing with the new knowledge. I knew Lucas wasn't used to being told no, but I'd never considered that he would go that far.

"Look, I don't care if you knew or not. You've been keeping all this from me and for what?!" His voice raised a bit, surprising me. I'd never heard a snap of temper in his voice before. He was really upset with me. "Because you think I'm some helpless little omega that can't handle some bad news? You have to shield me from everything?"

"No," I denied. "That's not it."

"In case you suddenly forgot who I am," he continued as if he hadn't heard me. "I've been through more shit in my life than you ever will, rich boy."

"Rich boy?" I repeated, a shocked laugh tumbling out of my mouth. It was probably the worst thing I could have done, but I hadn't expected him to say something like that.

"You think this is funny?" He snapped. He was definitely seething now. Maybe coming home hadn't been the best option.

"No!" I said quickly, shaking my head. "Cameron, listen to me. You've got it all wrong."

"Explain it to me then," he invited, crossing his arms over his chest. "Tell me why you decided that lying to my face was a better idea than being honest with me."

My muscles clenched. I wanted to be anywhere but there. I didn't want to explain my feelings about the situation. I'd tried being honest with my mother, and she'd only ridiculed me. But as much as I dreaded that, the idea of lying to Cameron again was worse.

"I can explain," I started. "But you have to understand where I'm coming from, too. I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I would never intentionally hurt you."

His face softened, fractionally. So he was at least somewhat willing to hear me out. That helped ease my nerves a bit.

"I know that."

"I did keep all this from you, but it wasn't because of what you're saying. I don't think of you as weak or helpless, Cameron. You know that."

"I didn't think so, but then I don't get why you wouldn't tell me any of this? Did you think I'd care about you almost hooking up with some guy you work with before you even met me?"

"No! I know you aren't unreasonable."

"Then what is it!?" He demanded.

"I thought you would laugh at me!" The words burst out of me even though I hadn't been quite ready to admit them. He'd been in a defensive stance, clearly ready to hurl some other question or accusation at me. But upon hearing my excuse, his arms dropped. He blinked at me in confusion.

"What do you mean, laugh at you?"

I cleared my throat, glancing down into my lap. "You don't find it ridiculous? That I'm a grown man, an alpha, getting pushed around by a coworker?"

"Pushed around?" He repeated, giving me an incredulous look. "This isn't some grade school spat over who gets the swings on the playground. Why haven't you reported him? To HR, at least."

"I tried telling my mother," I said.

"And she didn't care!?"

"She told me I was being ridiculous, and that I need to get along with him."

"Karter…" He sighed, scrubbing his palms over his face, like he needed to clear his head from so much newly acquired knowledge. "That's crazy. He's the one in the wrong."

"I know that," I insisted. "But still, I wanted to handle this on my own. That's why I didn't tell you. I don't want you to think of me as… Weak," I finished.

Another spark of anxiety bloomed in my stomach, settling heavy like thick tar. I hadn't even wanted to say the word to him. Saying it out loud was like giving it life. If he hadn't realized it yet, saying the word would remind him that weak was the thing I wasn't supposed to be. No omega would ever want a weak alpha.

"I couldn't think of you like that," he said. His voice had softened, and it seemed like most of his temper had drained out. "Seriously. Ever. All you've done since we met is take care of me and Ty." He took a few steps toward me, gazing down at me where I sat.

"That's all I've wanted to do since we met."

"And you've done an incredible job," he said. He planted a knee on either side of me, settling his rear onto my thighs. "I've never felt so safe and so protected as I feel with you."

My stomach fluttered, my nerves slowly dissipating as he hooked his hands behind my neck. Had he really forgiven me so easily?

"And I could never, ever think of you as weak for something like this, Karter. He's harassing you, and he's taking advantage of the fact that you feel embarrassed about it. He's a complete scumbag."

Relief seeped through the thick layer of shame that I hadn't completely realized I had held inside me for all of this.

"So you don't think I'm an idiot for letting it get this far?"

"No, I do think you're an idiot for letting it get this far," he corrected me. "But I don't think you're weak. And it isn't your fault."

I snorted a little, letting my hands drift up to rest on either side of his slim waist. "I guess I'll take it."

"And if you ever lie to me about anything, or hide something like this from me again, I'm going to be very, very upset."

"I won't," I swore. Even if I was tempted, the uncertainty and the guilt I'd felt had been enough of a lesson. "I will be completely honest with you, no matter what."

He squeezed my neck, hugging into my body for a moment before pulling back. "Why did you even make that list anyway?"

I explained the visit I'd made to my friend, and how he'd asked me to compile all the events that had occurred so far.

"So you're actually going to file a lawsuit against him?" He asked, after listening intently.

"I'm not sure yet," I admitted. "I'm on the fence, but… After finding out about the eviction thing today… It seems insane to let him get away with it."

Cameron nodded slowly, frowning. "But nothing else has happened since the hotel thing?"

"He hasn't reached out to me at all." I cleared my throat, wishing I could let this part go. "There's something else. Something I didn't put on the paper, but I talked about it with Anthony."

"Something else Lucas did?" He asked, eyebrows raising.

"Well, it's… Unproven," I said. "It's just a theory I had, but there's no evidence. Anthony said we could possibly get evidence if we could get a subpoena approved by the court, and that would really help the case, but…" I felt like a moron trailing my sentences off and hesitating so much but it was just supremely difficult to say. "I have reason to suspect he's the one who filed that report with CPS."

I watched my words settle over him like a haunted fog. Emotions sparked in his eyes, one after another, until he went sort of limp on me. I pressed my hands onto his back, gently nudging him toward me so he could rest against my chest.

"You really think he would go that far? He doesn't even know me."

"Like I said, I can't prove it. But you said you don't have any enemies and you don't know who could have done it. I can't help but suspect him."

"That's so… Disgusting. It's vile. What if they really had taken Ty?" He said, his voice cracking a bit on the last syllable. A wave of protectiveness swamped me and I held him tighter, stroking a hand down his smooth back.

"That's never going to happen."

"No, I know," he said. "I'm okay. It's just such an awful thought. I can't believe he would do that just because he's upset that we're together."

"It's not really that," I said. "I don't think he's in love with me or anything that dramatic. He's just pissed that I bruised his ego by turning him down."

"That's just immature and sad. And it's ridiculous because it's not even personal. I mean, anyone with eyes can see he's incredibly gorgeous and totally successful. If he would just stop focusing on all the negative stuff like who doesn't like him or whatever, then he'd be a lot better off."

"Yeah, well, he's not exactly the most reasonable person in the world. Something like that probably wouldn't occur to him."

"Is that why you didn't hook up with him that night?" He wondered. "You just find his personality that bad? And don't even try to lie and say he's not attractive because I will definitely know you're lying."

I chuckled a little at his serious tone. "I do find his personality unacceptable, but that wasn't even really the problem. I just started feeling like I was ready to settle down, like I wanted something more serious. And I knew for sure he wasn't the person for me."

"Oh."

When I shifted, putting a bit of distance between us so I could look into Cameron's face, his cheeks had a pretty blush over them.

"Ah, there's another thing I should mention," I said, as soon as the thought occurred to me. It was not a pleasant thought by any stretch of the definition.

"I don't think I can handle anything else," he groaned. "What is it?"

"The party that my mother invited us to, it's basically a guarantee that Lucas will be there. As I mentioned, his parents and my parents are good friends and they almost always attend."

He sighed, dropping his forehead back onto my shoulder. "As long as he stays the hell away from Ty, I can handle it."

"He won't do anything in front of everyone," I said. "He's too sneaky for that. But we'll make sure."

"Actually…" He raised his head again, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It might end up being a good thing. I think I just got an idea. But we should talk to your lawyer friend about it first."

Intrigued, I tilted my head. "What did you have in mind?"

It was a relatively simple plan, but somewhat genius in its simplicity. And he was right that it could end up being incredibly helpful for us.

As the day of the party drew closer, there still wasn't another peep from Lucas. But whether it was because he'd given up or because there was something worse on the way, we couldn't be sure. But we were both in total agreement that we wouldn't let anything come between us again or put Ty in danger.