Page 5 of Already At Risk
“Sometimes she grumbles about having to leave for the weekends with her dad, but I’m not sure she’d want to give them up, either.” I cocked my head to the side, considering. “She wants to see him, but she doesn’t love having to leave. If that makes sense?”
Cameron nodded, his voice understanding. “It does.”
“Abrams doesn’t give two shits about his daughter,” Noah added, but Cameron kept his attention on me, dark brown eyes flicking around my face, looking for something. A reaction? I wasn’t sure. “He only began showing up for things in the last few weeks, when he started this whole mess. It’s like he’s playing a game.”
“And what does he get by winning?” Cameron asked me, almost like Noah wasn’t in the room.
“Control,” I said. I’d been thinking about this question since I learned what Korey was trying to do. “He regains some semblance of control in our lives. He didn’t like losing it. All of his other reasons are just excuses, and I suspect he knows it. But he’s trying to spin it to sound like it’s in Chloe’s best interests. He’s saying that she’ll be close to his hometown, so his parents are nearby, along with the rest of his extended family, a big network of support. That the schools are better there. That they have great skating programs for her. That his work schedule is more predictable and less intense. All this shit, just because he knows if he controls Chloe and brings her intohisworld, he’ll control me, too.”
“He’s a narcissist,” Blake grunted from my other side.
Cameron nodded thoughtfully before leaning back in his chair. “Noah and Blake.” His eyes flicked to my brothers for the first time since we’d entered the room. “Could you please give me a moment alone with your sister?”
Both my brothers hesitated. I felt their eyes shift to me, looking for some kind of implication that I was okay with the idea of being left to my own devices. It wasn’t until I nodded that they pushed out of their chairs and strode from Cameron’s office. The door clicked behind them, but I still felt their presence, lingering.
Sure enough, when I peeked over my shoulder and through the slim window that ran the length of the door, Noah and Blake could be seen leaning in the hallway just outside, arms crossed, looks of concern on their faces.
“Noah’s a great guy, and I’ve always liked him,” Cameron said without much preamble. He leaned forward across his desk, pinning me with a sincere look. “And I’m sure I’d feel the same about Blake if I got to know him. But your ex-husband is claiming that you rely entirely on others to support Chloe, and having your brothers too involved in this process is not going to make it any easier to combat his narrative.”
“Doesn’t that make him a hypocrite?” I wrinkled my nose. “Hissupport system being nearby is in Chloe’s best interests, but havingminebe involved in her life means I’m not a good mom?”
“He’s absolutely a hypocrite,” Cameron said calmly. “I’m not denying that at all. I’m just looking out for the optics of the situation so we can set you up for success.”
“I understand,” I said, and I did. Truth was, Ididrely on my brothers too much; I knew that. Being a trauma surgeon meant that my day-to-day was unpredictable and often long—incredibly long. I was lucky enough to have Noah, who immediately stepped up to help with childcare after my divorce from Korey. During the off-season of his football career, Noah welcomed Chloe to spend so many days and nights at his apartment. And then, when his girlfriend recently gave birth to a baby girl, making Noah too busy as a dad to call in for uncle duty, Blake had shown up in Boston to take over. I knew there were other reasons why Blake moved to the East Coast, but it didn’t matter. He was here, and I couldn’t thank him enough. “I’ll talk to them.”
“I can say something, too,” Mr. Bryant said. “If you think it would help them to hear it from me.”
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t want to subject you to that.”
Blake and Noah were not going to take the concept ofbacking offwell, but they’d do it if it meant there were better chances for Chloe.
He shrugged. “I’m a lawyer. I’m no stranger to having difficult conversations.” His eye contact suddenly intensified, and I realized that his declaration about difficult conversations was actually more of a warning. “But I don’t have to beyourlawyer.”
I blinked.
And then blinked again.
“If it would make you more comfortable for me to pass along your case, I can,” he added.
“Why would that make me more comfortable?”
He raised a brow. “You really want to keep playing pretend? During the night that we spent together, I didn’t exactly get theimpression that you were the kind of woman who did that. Outside of the fact that you lied about your name, that is.”
My jaw dropped, both in surprise and automatic defense, and Cameron seemed satisfied by my reaction. I must have made it clear that I remembered exactly who he was. That Ihadbeen playing pretend. Something I’d only been doing becausehewas.
As mortified as I was, I also felt relief. Hehadn’tforgotten me.
But we needed to clear some things up.
“We did notspend the nighttogether.” I lowered my voice in case my brothers could hear our conversation through the door. Construction companies these days used cheap-ass materials. “We shared a few drinks, that was all. Are there rules about lawyers sharing drinks with prospective clients?”
Cameron’s gaze flared at my words, my choice to reduce the evening to drinks. But I didn’t need him to know that I’d been thinking about that night, replaying the hot touches and heavy breathing in my head for weeks now, wondering if I’d done the right thing by pushing him away. I didn’t need him to know that it was the closest I’d come to a man in so very long, and itdidsomething to me. Whereas to him, it was probably just another night at the bar. A man as good-looking and educated as Cameron Bryant probably had his pick of the litter when it came to last call at the bar.
“There aren’t any rules against it,” he answered, no longer seeming amused. “Especially if they don’t…do it again.”
I nodded and clasped my hands in my lap. “Then I think we are fine to proceed as is, Mr. Bryant.”
He perused my face for a moment. Finally, he replied, “Okay, Dr. London.”
