One look at Cameron, and Leo stormed off. He grumbled, and through his grunts all I could understand was, "what the fuck is he doing here, why didn't anyone tell me?" His footsteps clobbered down the hall to his bedroom, and the door slammed shut.

I was rooted to the spot, my gaze fixed on Cameron. He walked in slowly, but not in a cautious way. More like he was remembering past times here, trying not to let memories overwhelm him. More like he knew better than to be here at all, but had no choice.

He stopped feet away from the couch and caught me glowering at him, but said nothing, dipping his chin to observe his shoes, instead.

Sapphire's manager was too busy digging through his briefcase to pay attention, but the stylist and Sapphire detected the tension in the room immediately. And not only because Leo had stomped out in a rush.

"Uh," Sapphire turned in her spot to peer at Cameron, "what's going on?"

I couldn't speak; I found no words. Nothing to say to this man standing feet from me, acting as if he didn't know me, hadn't been naked in my bed or holding hands with me as we strolled down NYC avenues. As if we didn't have a history, and it was of no consequence if it was about to be brought up now.

The manager piped up, swirled to see Cameron, then ever-so-slowly spun back to face me, his features drooping. "Ah, shit." Until that moment, I'd have thought he was too prudish to utter curses. Up close, he seemed so small and fragile and young, his suit too loose on his tiny frame. I doubted he was of a legal age to manage anyone. Now, a more adult-like tone escaped his mouth. "I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Sapphire's voice raised, but still sounded soft, pleasing. She kept glancing between Cameron and I, and while at first she came off as confused, she seemed to fill with sudden comprehension. "That my new assistant and Leo's girlfriend know each other?"

"They, um," started the stylist, drawing all gazes to her as she dropped her gigantic bag and sighed in relief, "they used to date. And he," she gestured vaguely at Cameron, "used to work for Leo." She'd remained near the doorway between the lobby and the living room, hesitant to enter further.

The manager curled into a ball on the sofa as Sapphire reverted to me, one finger tapping to her chin. She narrowed her gaze, studying me, but not unkindly. Nothing about her was unkind; I doubted she had a mean bone in her body.

"I see," she said, repositioning herself to be able to visualize both Cameron and I by turning her head this way and that. "This is a...development."

I finally found my voice, and it came out croaky, its edges sharpened towards Cameron. "You didn't tell me she was your new job."

We'd bumped into each other and had coffee, for fucks' sake. He wanted to be friends; didn't friends inform friends about their new careers? Their new bosses? He was with me for over an hour, and never, not once, did he bring up the fact that he was now working for Sapphire.

And then he showed up here, like this, with no warning?

Sapphire had no clue about it. Her manager, on the other hand, kept shuffling through paperwork as if to keep busy and pretend like he wasn't there at all. He'd been privy to Cameron, Leo, and I's past, but hadn't mentioned it to her.

"No one told me, obviously," said Sapphire, in a sound so close to a whisper, I barely caught it. But she made herself scarce, as if to allow Cameron and I to hash out our differences. She molded into the couch cushions and twirled a strand of curly hair around her finger, feigning disinterest but evidently listening.

I should have asked her and everyone else to leave, but I didn't have the patience or energy. All my focus was on Cameron. "Hm? Are you listening to me? Why didn't you say anything?"

Finally, Cameron acknowledged me. He raised his chin, and his gaze was devoid of emotion, his body language rigid and unwelcoming. "Didn't think it'd matter. Well," he scoffed, "until now."

I was shaking, so I shoved my hands behind my back to clasp them, to hide my feelings.

Sapphire glanced at me, worried, and jutted her chin at me. "You okay, Emma?"

I shook my head. "Fine. This is a...private affair, if you don't mind."

She shot to her feet instantly, as if she'd been waiting to be dismissed. "No protest on my part." She kicked at her manager's leg to draw him from his daze, then snapped at her stylist. "Come, I'm very curious about this balcony and its view." As she passed me, she squeezed my arm. "Take as long as you need. I'm sorry about this, and it will be discussed with my team." Holler if you need anything."

I gave her a quick but tight smile before reverting to Cameron. The balcony door opened, then closed, and I didn't need to check to make sure everyone had gone outside, leaving us alone to hash this out.

Leo should have been with us, but I understood why he wasn't. For him to billow off like that, he must have been beyond pissed.

So was I.

"You didn't think," I said, my voice like venom pouring from my mouth. It hurt; my throat hurt, my lungs hurt, everything hurt. This was blindsiding and betrayal at its finest. "Didn't think it'd be worth warning us? Didn't think it was something to mention to your employer, too, who's just as surprised as we are? And didn't think to answer my texts, either? This is rude, Cameron. Rude, and not like you."

"Is it?" One of his eyebrows arched, and he folded his arms over his chest. Once I'd have found that gesture intimidating, were he wearing his suit and flaunting his big, chiseled arms like he had the night we met. But here he didn't intimidate me at all. I pitied him, if anything. Lying and scheming to get close to us, to shock us. It didn't matter that his arms were bare and bulging, tempting me to touch them; I wanted to scratch them until they bled. "You don't know me well enough to say that. Leo, on the other hand..." He turned his head towards the hallway Leo had disappeared down. "He wouldn't have come if he knew, and Sapphire needs this."

"He would have come if you'd been honest with him. This?" I blew out my breath, hoping its toxicity would reach Cameron and burn his skin. "It feels like an ambush. And don't act like you had nothing to do with this and didn't know. You're on her team, so you organized this, didn't you? As her PA?"

He snorted, stuffing his hands in his jeans pocket. "Of course I did."

"You didn't say a word to her. Or to us. You knew I'd be here, too. But you kept quiet; why? You risked your new job; why?" He opened his mouth to speak, but I sliced a hand through the air, stopping him. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Cameron? Shouldn't you have given us, given your boss a heads' up?"

I half expected him to yell at me—I was yelling at him, after all—but all he did was shrug, like nothing mattered to him. "Of course I knew, and of course I kept quiet. And I was kind of hoping you would too, that you both would. That we could brush this all off and pretend like it never happened."

My mouth opened wide, but no sound came out, at first. Then came a light screech that I somehow managed to mute before it erupted as a scream. "Pretend like you didn't work for Leo for over a decade? Pretend like you and I didn't date and were falling in love with each other?" I might have cried if I weren't so infuriated. For him to dismiss us like that, to act like we'd never existed, all for the sake of a job...it was humiliating. "Rude, like I said. Granted, this was all last-minute, but you could have texted or called, Cameron."

"It was last-minute," he said, his expressionless face switching to a frown. "Typical Leo, of course."

I pointed my finger at him, wagging it. "Don't you dare insult him right now. You're the one in the spotlight, you're the one who fucked up. Seriously, what's wrong with you? Is it all because of my text? Because I accused you of something that, let's be real, is looking more and more like you did?"

He snarled, his upper lip baring his bright white teeth. "It was a dumb accusation, and I didn't want to answer it. Yes, it pissed me off, and that's why I didn't say anything. Because apparently, there's still drama and distrust here. I hoped you'd both play along and pretend not to know me, but...I was wrong to assume."

"Wait," I lowered my arm, my hands shaking, "you're saying you didn't do it? You didn't sell our fake-dating story to Sfuria to spite us?" I crossed my arms tight to my torso, sensing my heart throbbing a million miles a minute in my rib-cage. "I don't believe you. Especially not now, not after this lie."

"Are you for real, Emma?" He thrust his fingers through his hair, grimacing. "Why the fuck would I go around telling some dumbass reporter that you aren't together? What do I stand to gain by that, huh? The satisfaction of tearing you apart? Please." He gripped his sides as if digging his claws in. "It's none of my business, not anymore. Would someone who's tipping off a journalist beg for your forgiveness in a coffee-shop while you're running away from paparazzi? Think, Emma. You accuse me of not thinking but right now, you're the delusional one."

I rolled my shoulders and bit the insides of my cheeks. Yeah, I knew it was far-fetched to accuse him, but it was a hunch I had to follow, to make sure.

"I have no obligation to help you with this reporter situation, but," his arms dropped to his sides, his fingers twitching, "if you must accuse someone, look within Leo's current staff. Who do you think has access to the kind of shit this reporter dude is talking about? Oh yeah," he caught my rising eyebrows, "I read his crap. It's all trash, and I want to beat the man up myself because I still care about both of you. But I guarantee you...it's someone super close to you both who's helping this guy out, feeding him lies."

My jaw couldn't get any lower. The longer I listened to his nonsense, the more I realized it wasn't nonsense at all. Who else but someone in constant close contact with us would have access to all the super private details this reporter had been sharing? The falsified pictures were another story. But the latest articles he'd released disclosed a lot about Leo and I's evening rituals, and the fact that we spent a lot of time separately, which wasn't a lie.

Only someone in Leo's staff would know that, though.

As much as I appreciated the information, I needed to recenter, to get back on topic. "You lied to your boss." I took a deep breath. "And you've upset both Leo and I by showing up here without warning."

Cameron chewed on his lower lip and squinted as he dropped his gaze to the floor. "I really didn't think it'd be a big deal. I thought he hated me, and would pretend he'd never known me; that's what he does when he hates someone. And you," he flinched, "I kind of hoped you'd go along with whatever he did. I," he looked up, a glint of knowledge in his dark eyes, "should have remembered you're your own person, and you do whatever you want."

"He doesn't hate you." I glanced at the hallway, picturing Leo sulking, fuming on the edge of his bed. "He was finally working on moving past your differences, like me. Though he had no intention of seeing you any time soon, or rekindling your friendship." I eyed the sofa, desperate to sit down, because my legs shook so hard I had trouble staying upright. The anger crashed down, dissipating, leaving me in a mess of feelings. "And then, you and I were pictured inside the coffee-shop, when we hugged."

He gasped. "What? I didn't—" He covered his mouth and his eyebrows lurched up.

"Yeah. You didn't see that one? Well, Leo did. It's the reason I suspected you in the first place. No one in that shop was paying us any attention, and it was too easy. You could have paid someone to snap that picture. But," I raised my hand before he could reply, "I know now it wasn't you. A strange coincidence for sure. But anyway, Leo saw the picture. Before I was able to tell him I bumped into you."

Cameron gasped again, dropping his hand. "Fuck, Emma." He swept his hand over his forehead, then down the back of his neck. "Another piece of advice? Don't ever lie to Leo. Ever. Don't hide things from him, especially shit like that. He'll know, he'll always find out."

I blinked at him, unsure why he was telling me this, why he'd do anything to help my relationship with Leo.

Smells fishy.

Was it legitimate counsel? Or some veiled threat?

"He's followed constantly, which means you are, too. And those monsters will expose anything and everything you do; case in point here, with you and I meeting up. They could have shared any moment we were together, but they posted the hug. The innocent, two second hug that I bet meant nothing to you." He cringed, then shook it off. "Remember this, okay? Please."

Speaking of Leo reminded me how he'd thundered off, and as his girlfriend, I probably needed to go check on him. I'd made my case with Cameron, and clarified that he'd made this new working relationship beyond difficult.

"Thanks, I guess." I found my balance, putting one foot in front of the other, and passed by Cameron, as far as possible to not be within range to slap him or smell his cologne. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some damage control to do."

I hurried down the corridor and knocked on the bedroom door before opening it, creeping inside. I sealed it behind me. "Leo, are you—"

I froze once I'd twisted towards Leo.

Anything, I'd have expected anything but this. He should have been slumped on the mattress, or punching holes into the walls, or searching for a weapon to use against Cameron.

Instead, he was lying on the bed, completely naked, stroking his cock.

"Huh?"

"Hey," he said, not slowing down at the sight of me dumbfounded near the threshold. "Perfect timing. A quickie, to help me unwind? I need something to calm me down, and you know how sex with you always does the trick."

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