Chapter 7

"Camilla, your aunt is on line one for you," Mags says through the speaker on the phone in my office.

"Thanks, Mags, tell her I'll call her later," I respond, not looking up from the file I'm doing my best to focus on. It's been three hours since that kiss Lynch planted on me, and I can't seem to do anything but think of it. His mouth on mine. The way he kisses. Need, unlike anything I've ever felt, well not in the past years without him, rushed right through and sunk deep into my core.

"She says it's imperative that she speak to you," Mags states. The tone in her voice becoming uncertain.

Mags had seen Lynch when we first got to the office. If I wasn't already freaking out on the inside as it were, I'd have found her expression comical. I introduced her to Lynch, and he added the fact he was my husband. He also informed my boss of this when they were introduced, but the two of them already knew each other. This I didn't know, but they spoke for a few minutes, and Lynch informed him that he would be hanging around the office for a while. Dan surprised me further by telling him to make himself comfortable.

"Talk to her," Lynch speaks up for the first time since we came into this room.

"What?" I shoot a glare in his direction. I don't want to talk to my aunt with him here. Honestly, I don't know what I want right now. Mostly, I want to get my work done and then get over to the courthouse. I have two cases going in front of the judge, and I need to be on my game.

"Talk to your aunt. See what she's going on about," Lynch remarks, leaning forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together.

"I'm not talking to her right now," I snap and put my pen down.

"Why not?" He cocks a brow.

"Why is none of your business." Total lie, and I know it. I want to bury my head in the sand, which he's not allowing.He's not going to let any of this go.

"Baby, you either talk to her or I do, and I'll tell you now, Cams, you do not want that," he states warningly.

"Babe, I'm gonna have to agree with your man in there." Mag snickers over the line, and I nearly forgot she was there. "So, do I take a message or transfer her to you?"

Sighing, I shake my head and pick the phone up. "Transfer her to me, Mags."

"You got it," she says.

A second later, I pressed a button to answer my aunt's call. "Hey, Helena, I'm busy right now with work. Can I call you back later?"

"What you can do, Camilla Lane, is tell me what is going on with you and Ezra. Why on earth did you break things off with him last night?" she snaps, getting right to the reason for her call.

"I'm not discussing this with you," I mutter, looking in Lynch's direction through narrow slits.

"You are forever ending things with men who are worth being with," she accuses. "It's time you grow up, Camilla, and find a man to marry. Ezra would benefit not just you but this family with his name alone."

"Aunt Helena, I'm not going to be with some man just because of his name. You know this. Now, I'm at work and I don't have time to discuss my choice of ending things with Ezra," I say a bit snippily.

"Young lady, you best make time to speak with me. This is important. Ezra is completely beside himself you broke things off with him."

"I just bet he is," I mutter. "I'll speak with you later."

"Most definitely, and you can also explain to me what you're doing seeing that dreadful ex of yours."

"How would you know I saw Lynch?" I demand. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up.

"Ezra told me," she clips out. "Is he the reason you ended things? If that's the case, you have lost your mind."

"I'm not discussing any of this with you, Helena. It's none of your concern, and I'm busy right now." I clench the phone in my hand, and it's all I can do not to snap at my aunt. I love her. She's the only family I have left. I'm just trying to remember she's simply looking out for my well-being.

In the back of my mind, though, I want to demand she tell me where the pictures she gave me so many years ago came from. But instead of asking, I bite my tongue to keep from saying a word. I'm at work, and this is not the place for conversations that are meant to be had in private.

"This evening,Fournier's, we'll finish discussing this then." She hangs up before I can decline dinner.

Sighing heavily, I slam the phone back in its cradle and gaze at Lynch once again. "I hope you're happy," I snap and return my attention to my work, not giving him a chance to say another word.

Or so I tried. Lynch doesn't allow me to do this, though. Rather he moves from where he planted his ass earlier and comes to stand next to me, twisting my chair until I'm facing him. Only then does he kneel down, come between my legs, eyes dark and filled with lust as his hands slide up either side of my skirt.

Today, while at the apartment, I dressed in another skirt. This one is scarlet red. Ironically, Lynch's favorite color. I paired it with a black button up blouse that has quarter sleeves. The whole outfit screams fuck me especially once I matched it with a pair of black stiletto heels with a red stripe curving around the edge of it, making them alone look enticing. I love it, and I'm pretty sure with the look Lynch gave me when I walked out of my bedroom, he loved it as well.

"What are you doing?" I demand, though my voice cracks marginally.

"I'm getting your attention," he announces, stroking his thumbs along my thighs.

"There's other ways to do it." I swallow nervously, unsure of what his intent is, but visions of him doing something very naughty fill my head. I feel myself growing wet at the very thought.

"Yeah, but this is more fun." The raspiness of his tone gives me a shiver. A good one. One I like, though it makes me nervous.

"Lynch," I whisper, feeling my chest rising with each breath I take.

"Yeah, Cams." There's no question in his voice. He breaks eye contact and looks to my lap, hands sliding on the outside of my thighs to slip beneath the hem. "Been wanting under this skirt since you first walked out in it. Hell, been wanting a taste of you again since I saw you waltz into the clubhouse. My cock stays hard for you constantly. Remembering the way your sleek, tight pussy sucks me in. The way you taste . . . fuck me . . . if I don't get a taste of you soon, I'm going to lose my mind."

Before I can plead with him to do just that, he draws away from me, gets to his feet, leans in, and presses his lips to mine, tongue diving into my mouth with domination. There's no easing into this kiss. It's hard, rough, and so damn good I don't want him to end it, which is exactly what he does a moment later, leaving me breathless.

"Get your work done, Cams, we'll finish this at home this evening. With it being Friday and me not working weekends, I don't have any plans. Well, not really.

"I'm supposed to meet my aunt at Fournier's for dinner," I blurt, not thinking about it.

"Then we'll go to Fournier's for dinner. After that, we'll go home, and finish our talk from this morning. Finish getting shit straight between us. Once we do so, we'll go to the bedroom, where I intend to reacquaint myself with every inch of your sweet body.

My body screams at me, wishing he'd do that right now. The silk thong I'm wearing is already drenched, and if I had a spare, I'd change them. Unfortunately, I don't, and that means I'm going to have to go through the rest of the day with wet panties. Definitely not something I enjoy doing. It's distracting, mainly because of the man that caused them to be this way to start with.

Talk about one hell of a tease, the way he'd gone to his knees between my thighs only to get right back up. If only he knew the fantasies I've had of him in this very room. How I wish he'd take control of me, bend me over the desk, and make me scream for him. Well, not scream, I don't need anyone else in this office to know what I'm doing in here.

"Get back to work, baby, focus so you can be ready for court this afternoon," he states, He retakes his seat across the room, pulling his phone out and looking down at the screen.

"Easy for you to say," I mutter and drop my gaze back to the file in front of me.

Damn him. This isn't going to be easy for me in the least.

"Camilla Lane, how dare you bring that man here?" Helena snaps, glaring over my shoulder as I take a seat at the table. A seat, I might add, Lynch holds out for me.

"Aunt Helena, don't you dare stare," I state firmly as Lynch takes his seat next to me, arm going across the back of my chair.

"After what he did to you, you're willing to lose everything you've worked for?" Helena questions, glancing between the two of us. She's more than upset. She's furious, and I have no doubt she will make a scene if given the opportunity. This I won't allow her to do.

"I suggest you keep things civil."

I give Lynch a side glance as his arm at the back of my chair comes to touch my shoulder, his hand settling, and his fingers squeeze marginally.

"Civil? There's nothing civil about you." Helena sneers. "How dare you come near my niece after everything you put her through."

"Aunt Helena," I snap sharply. "That's uncalled for. You don't know the full story . . ."

"I don't need to know the full story," she interrupts me by saying. "He is nothing but trouble, and I knew it from day one. Now, he's ruining a perfectly good relationship you and Ezra were forming."

"I ended things with Ezra because I didn't feel anything for him."

"That's because you refuse to give any other man a chance because of him." Curling her lip in disgust, she nods toward Lynch before glaring at me. "You need to think smart, girl, think long and hard about what he's going to end up doing, and I'll tell you what that is, he'll destroy you."

"I think we're done here," I announce, getting to my feet.

"Baby, sit back down," Lynch remarks calmly, but I don't miss the hardness in his tone or the way he's narrowing his gaze on my aunt. "Tell me, Helena, who'd you get to take those pictures?"

I slowly retake my seat, eyes locked on my aunt, surprised by Lynch's question.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Helena says, jutting her chin out and looking down her nose at Lynch.

I get my family came from money, but my dad and mom, they raised me to respect a dollar. To never look down on anyone, and until now, I never really paid attention to how my aunt would do this. Thinking about it, it dawns on me that no matter where we go together, if she doesn't like someone, she looks down on them as if she were better than them.

"Don't lie, Helena. I already had those pictures traced back to the owner of them. That owner being you. So, tell me who took them and who played with the images and put the image of one of the old stray's faces over Camilla's?"

Helena looks surprised for all of a second before she shields this by getting angry. "How dare you accuse me of something I didn't have anything to do with."

"Like I said, don't lie," Lynch states, leaning forward, and pressing a finger to the table in a poking motion as if he needed to do this to make his point. "I know what you've been keeping from Camilla all these years. Didn't then, but today, I found out."

"Found out what?" I ask, confused by what he's saying to my aunt. What could she be hiding from me?

"Your parents will, Cams. Fuse got a copy of it and sent it to me. It's also in your email," he answers, not taking his gaze off my aunt. "Your aunt only had access to a small amount that was put aside for your care in the event that something happened to them while you were still underage. The rest of the money was left to you in a trust that you could access when you turned thirty, that is, unless you married someone, and then you could touch it five years into the marriage. Your dad even stipulated in the will that if you and I were to marry, you could have it sooner. He knew I wanted to marry you. Knew I was biding my time. Said in the will, which by the way, he changed a month before the accident, that I had his blessing and I needed to take good care of his daughter. Also, it states that the man you marry is to be in charge of his and your mother's holdings to the businesses they're invested in so that you could follow your dreams of being a lawyer and didn't have to worry about anything else."

Oh my God.

My parents knew I didn't have any interest in their financial holdings. They invested and held positions at a technical logistics company. My aunt has been taking care of the holdings as I was told it was hers to handle since she was my dad's sister.

"That is not true," Helena snaps, but I notice the way her face has grown pale.

"Oh, it's true, alright, because there was also a letter with the will. One you paid the lawyers to keep to themselves and get rid of, unfortunately for you, that lawyer is smart enough to make a copy, that letter was written to me. I read it while Camilla was in court today, so I know exactly what you're playing at, so don't for one second think you can play me for a fool."

My mind is whirling with all of the information coming at me. None of this I knew. I trusted my aunt. She was the only family I had left. I thought she loved me. Loved my parents.

"Why?" I manage to croak out, tears filling my eyes, though I blink them back, refusing to let them fall. "Why would you play me?"

Aunt Helena's gaze comes to me, and she stares at me, nostrils flaring. "Your father had no right to change his will. It was set up the way it needed to be until he came into your life," she spits out the last part as she gets to her feet. "Everything was going great until you got mixed up with him. I had to step in, intervene somehow, and then marry you to a man who fits our station. Who would help in keeping the good name we have."

"Can't marry someone when she's still married to me," Lynch announces, shrugging.

Narrowing her gaze to little slits, Helena looks at me. "I thought I taught you better than this. You are stupid if you think he's not going to take you for everything you have. He's a man who has nothing. He will take all of it and leave you with nothing." She doesn't wait for a response. She stomps away from the table, leaving me reeling by all this information.

Lynch wouldn't lie about something like this. I know in my gut he wouldn't. I trust that, so I know it to be true. Still, he said it was emailed to me, so I'll take a look at it for myself.

A waiter comes to the table at that moment, and Lynch orders for the both of us. Thankfully, what he orders is something I like, so I don't say anything. I sit and process everything I've heard and let it sink in.