AN: And another chapter is here! Something is glitching with my Traffic option, so I'm not entirely sure how many people are actually reading this, but I hope more people will review! It's a bit of a reassurance, weird as it might sound. So, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 14
Dinner Party and Salsa"Why would you need to share me?" Cami whispered.
Richard's hands pulled her tightly against him. "There's a dinner tonight. So I'm told. We're both expected to be there and on our best behavior."
"He kidnaps me and is going to throw a dinner party?" She raised an eyebrow. If her mother had seen her she would have commented on the fact that she looked like Ranger at that moment. "Isn't he concerned that someone will recognize me?"
"I don't think they will." Richard admitted. He slid his arms around her. Holding her was just right in his mind. Despite his body's demands that he take her and make her his and make him hers he couldn't help but just hold her. "None of them are likely to be familiar with your family."
"Are you sure? We've got a lot of connections."
"I overheard him talking. He wasn't concerned about you being there. If he had any inclination that someone who knows your family would be there, you'd be locked up for the night."
"Maybe I should get in trouble so I can be locked up." She said sullenly. That was much more appealing than being paraded around a bunch of strangers by a man who kidnapped her and seemed to have a case of Jekyll and Hyde.
Richard's grip on her tightened almost painfully. "No."
"I was joking." Cami whispered. His grip didn't let up. Looking up at him, she cupped his face in her hands. "I promise. I was only joking. It was a poor one. I'm sorry."
He let out a sigh and rested his forehead against hers. "No. I'm sorry. You shouldn't be here. I can't figure out why he took you, but I'm going to get you back to your family. I don't care what it takes."
"You'll come with me, right?" She searched his face for an answer.
Richard stared at her, his face betraying no emotion. "I'll get you back to your family, no matter what it takes."
"Richard." Cami's voice softened. "Please tell me you'll be coming with me. You don't deserve what he's done to you. My family can help you. We've got ways…"
He let go of her. "I told you I'll get you back to your family."
"Richard!"
"Cami."
"God, you're stubborn!" She huffed, getting off the island.
"I'm doing what has to be done."
"Oh my god, you're just like—" One of her hands clamped over her mouth as her eyes widened at the sudden revelation.
"I'm just like who?"
"No one." She whispered unwilling to say it out loud.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "Cami."
"Rick."
"My mother used to call me that." Richard smiled.
"Oh, if you don't want me to call you that because it's special between you and your mother, I'll use your full name." Cami offered.
"I don't mind if you call me that." He came forward and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I like the way it sounds coming from you." Richard kissed her. "Who am I like?"
"No one!" Cami exclaimed and bolted from the kitchen. No way was she going there! Right now she had to go convince herself that she was wrong. Deny, deny, deny! That was going to be a good philosophy for a bit.
As she ran through the house, she turned a corner and ran straight into Christopher. She staggered back and fell onto her butt. He looked down at her and frowned. "It is unladylike to run in the house." He reached down and helped her up. "If you insist on running, take it to the gym and use a treadmill."
"Okay." She murmured trying to get around him. He caught her by the elbow and turned her to face him.
"We are having a dinner party tonight. You need to make yourself very presentable." Christopher instructed.
"Um…how presentable?" She asked tentatively. After this afternoon's actions, she was going to do what she could to make sure that Richard wasn't hurt again on her account.
"There are nice dresses in your closet." He answered. "I will send Maria to help you."
Cami nodded and when he released her, she walked briskly to her room. Yep, she thought, Christopher was definitely crazy. Holding firm to her resolve from earlier, she hurried into the bathroom and took a shower, making sure she was clean and ready for anything.
She was standing in her closet looking for a dress when Maria arrived. "Christopher will not be pleased if you take too long." Maria quickly chose a deep blue dress with a heart shaped neckline. It was strapless and simple and came down to her knees. Cami was silent as Maria helped her into it.
While Maria had her sit so she could do her hair and makeup she thought of her family. Actually, she thought of her family a lot. They would all be franticly worried about her. If there was a way to get a message to them so they could help her and Richard, she would take the chance. The problem was that she couldn't figure out where Christopher spent most of his days. She had considered the possibility of secret passageways. If he was archaic the way Rick suggested, then it was likely he might be interested in something like that. But if he was, Cami thought, then it was a matter of finding a way in. She let out a small sigh.
It seemed odd, she thought, that she would be kidnapped and treated like a guest…with restrictions. She had heard stories of her mother getting kidnapped and she usually had the crap kicked out of her. Some of the stories her uncles had shared about her father told her that he had been beaten up pretty bad if he had been caught by the enemy. But the worst thing to happen to her was being slapped. It had happened once. She was not planning on repeating that again. Rick had been right when he commented on the fact that her parents had never raised a hand to her in anger.
She had grown up being told to think for herself. To have her own mind and not let people form opinions for her. Her parents had punished them when it was needed, which on occasion was more frequently than she'd like to admit. They had punished them in ways that were appropriate to the crime, she reflected. It was good punishment. Of course, now that she was the only one living at home, she was watched more. It had been better when CJ was living there too. They would have each other's backs. She had covered for CJ when he was sneaking out on a date that he wasn't supposed to be on. Although, now that she thought about it, he had been punished for that one since Elise had come home from her first mission and was still on edge from it. Her parents weren't aware that she had seen what happened but she had and it gave her a little more understanding than she dared to admit.
But the one thing she knew her parents were absolutely firm on was not to let anyone try and bend her to their wills. So far Christopher had effectively done so by making it difficult for her to eat. She knew tonight was going to be tough. With her mother's love for food, and the fact that Maria was a wonderful cook, she was going to have her work cut out for her. If nothing else she could focus on Rick and hopefully get through the dinner. She didn't want to have him interrupt if she made problems and Chris decided to punish her for them. Rick didn't deserve what would happen.
Her cheeks flushed ever so slightly at the thought of Rick and what he had done to her in the kitchen. Oh boy. He didn't seem fazed by the fact that she was a virgin. In fact it seemed like he was more determined to make her solely his at that news. She knew she was young but she also knew that love struck when it had to. They'd only known each other a week, but she couldn't help the way she felt. They might not know everything about each other, but she wanted to learn everything about him, emotionally, intelligently, physically. Her father had admitted to falling for her mother the moment he saw her walk into the diner. Even though he gave the attitude of killing any man who touched his girls, Cami knew he wanted them to find what he and Stephanie had. But what would he think, she wondered, about his youngest child finding it so soon in her life? She hoped he would be understanding, even though a small voice in the back of her head said it was unlikely at first, especially since Rick was five years older than herself.
"There now." Maria interrupted. "You're finished."
Cami looked at herself in the mirror and was surprised by the final look. She looked very beautiful. Her eyes, which always stood out against her skin, looked like sapphires. Her hair was piled on top of her head with several strands pulled free that curled up, caressing her neck softly.
"Oh my." She said softly.
"Now you must head downstairs and behave." Maria said looking at her seriously. "It will keep you alive."
Cami met Maria's eyes and both held an understanding in them. Cami nodded and silently made her way down to the large dining room. As she walked she told herself to pretend this was one of the dinner functions her parents had taken her to. She could be charming and polite and elegant. It was the chameleon inside her, Stephanie liked to tease. She got it from her father. She could show people what they expected without giving her real self away.
Entering the dining room her neck immediately began tingling. Her fingers reached up and touched her neck as her eyes fell on Rick. Her mouth watered the moment she saw him. In a semi-formal wear he was luscious. He was sexy just in casual clothes, but putting him the current clothes he was wearing…he looked dangerously sexy. She suddenly wanted to get her hands on him and drag the beast out of him.
It took all her willpower to stay exactly where she was. When his eyes met hers she could see his eyes turn into emeralds at the sight of her. She gave him a small smile.
"Camille, you look lovely." Christopher walked over and kissed her cheek. "Come, I want to introduce you to some of my associates."
Let's go Chameleon, she thought as she was led towards a group of men.
"Drake, this is Camille, she is a guest of mine for the duration." Chris introduced.
Drake took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. "Camille, you're a lovely vision for a bunch of middle aged men."
"Oh, sir, you're still young yet." Camille replied with a smile.
"What a delightful thing to hear." Drake laughed.
Thirty minutes late they were all sitting down to their respective seats at the large dining room. Her parents would be proud of the show she had just put on, she thought smugly as she looked across from her at Rick. He inclined his head as he reached for his glass of wine. Sipping it he eyed her as though trying to figure out an enigma.
She would have preferred to have Rick sitting next to her, but she knew Christopher would not allow that to happen. As their meals were placed before them, she looked at hers nervously. She felt something nudge her foot. Looking up, she saw Rick giving her a reassuring look. Cami knew as long as he was there, she would get through this mess.
As they ate, she tried to pick up on something that might give her a clue as to Chris's businesses. Mostly it was talk about families and vacations. Frustration was beginning to bubble inside her. She needed something, but it seemed that all that was going to happen while she was around was family talk.
"Tell me, Camille," Drake was sitting on her left, "How long will you be staying with Christopher?"
"Oh, I haven't decided yet. I'm having too much fun." She smiled through the lie. She saw Chris's face out of the corner of her eye and saw the smile of satisfaction on her face. Inwardly she was ready to jump down the table and claw his eyes out.
"We'll be doing business with him for quite some time, so perhaps you and I will get the chance to spend some time together." Drake said easily.
"Well, that sounds wonderful!" Cami exclaimed with a grin. She could see Richard's knuckles turning white around his fork.
"Christopher," Drake called down the table. "This young woman is a delight. She reminds me of Elena!"
Elena. Richard had mentioned her earlier in the day, Cami remembered. Was that the name of their sister, she wondered. And if it was, could it be possible that Christopher had taken her for the sole purpose of replacing her?
"There are definite similarities." Christopher agreed. "Gentlemen, now that we've finished eating, we should move on to discuss our business." He rose. Everyone rose with him. He walked over to Richard and Cami. "You're finished here tonight." He said quietly.
"Brother," Richard replied quietly, "seeing as how both of us behaved without incident, perhaps you'd consider opening the Entertainment Room for us. We need something more to do than read. Visual stimulation would be nice."
"Of course." Christopher said. "It'll be open for you in a moment. I trust that I won't hear from either of you for the rest of the night." He turned and walked away.
"Camille, it was wonderful to make your acquaintance." Drake grinned and kissed her cheek, missing the deadly glare he was receiving from Richard.
"It was a pleasure!" She beamed at him.
When everyone was gone, she turned and looked at Richard. "You've got an ugly green monster sitting on your shoulder."
"I don't want him touching you." Richard said. "You were extremely smooth and polished tonight." He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and led her to the entertainment room.
"Of course. I am a chameleon." She said deadpanned. At his glance, she explained, "My mother says I'm like my father. I can give off what I want people to see and keep the other parts from surfacing."
"And how often do you have to do that?" He asked.
"More often than anyone would believe." She confessed. "My parents aren't aware that I don't have many friends at school. Most of them are the honorary cousins I have."
Richard stopped outside a door and looked down at her. "How could you not have a lot of friends?" She seemed too likeable for people to not want to be friends with her.
As he opened the door, she said, "Because most of people I go to school with want to know what I can do for them."
They walked into the room. There was a large flat screen TV on one wall and a music player on the other. A large plush couch stood in the middle of the room. It was cozy. It looked like the most comfortable room here.
"They want you to buy their friendship." Richard said bluntly.
"Yep."
"And you're not willing to do that?"
"If they can't like me for who I am rather than how rich my parents are then they aren't worth my time." She said flippantly walking around the room inspecting it.
Richard nodded as he walked over to the music player. He flipped through several CDs before finding one he liked. Slipping it into the player he turned back to Cami. "Good for you. Now, I have another question for you."
"Okay."
"Do you know how to Salsa?"
Cami's head fell back as she laughed. "Rick, my father's Cuban. Of course I can Salsa."
"Good." He stalked over to her and caught her hand. The music started playing and in moments their hips were moving together, their bodies losing themselves in the beat. Their hands began roaming slowly, but the more they danced to the music, the more they explored. Richard kissed her gently at first but it quickly became more urgent as she returned everything he gave.
Forced to come up for air, they both took heavy breaths as they held each other. Cami looked him in the eyes and whispered, "Rick, will you make love to me?"