Page 618 of Manhattan Bossholes

I was impressed with myself for focusing on my job considering how shattered I was.

“Hey, hey. Don’t worry about how we’re going to spin the story yet. Sandrine and I can brainstorm some ideas. For now, just focus on you.”

Lucy studied me for a moment, then pulled me into her arms. The tears started flowing the minute my head hit her shoulder.

“It’s okay, we’ll figure it out,” she cooed as she rubbed my back. “No one will be the wiser.”

Then it hit me. Lucy didn’t know what Cameron had said to me once we were alone. She thought I was reacting to his livestream tantrum, not the fact that he’d ripped my heart from my chest, thrown it on the ground, and crushed it beneath one of his Italian leather shoes.

I was so lost, I didn’t even know if I should tell her the entire truth of what had happened between us. Or what I thought had happened. Given how quick Cameron had brushed it off, maybe it really had been nothing more than sex. Everything that had felt sweet and real and meaningful…all of that had been fakery for the cameras, apparently.

CamLicity had been a job, nothing more. For that matter, it was still my job. I needed to keep my focus on that, otherwise I feared I’d go curl up in my bed and refuse to get up for a few weeks.

Lucy pulled away and gave me a little smile. “Don’t worry, public support is on your side. You’ll come out of this just fine. Who knows, you might end up with a couple of brand deals!”

I forced myself to fake a smile because I didn’t want to make Lucy feel bad. But I didn’t want public support, or brand deals.

It killed me that despite everything he’d just put me through, I still wanted Cameron.

21

CAMERON

I’d said I was going back to the office, but as I stalked back to my car, I realized it was the last place I wanted to be. I didn’t want to deal with my employees pretending they hadn’t just watched me freak the fuck out in front of the world.

I tried to tell myself it was just a blip that would pass, but I’d seen our numbers. People were fascinated with CamLicity, and this scandal would be even juicier to fixate on.

Jimmy held the car door open for me. Did he watch the debacle unfold online? No, the man was in his early sixties. He probably only used his phone for calls and solitaire.

I needed to think fast. Where could I go to forget about the world for a little bit?

“Take me to Tyler’s place, please,” I said to Jimmy as he slid into the driver’s seat.

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes on the drive across town, trying not to think about what had just happened. No, what I’d just done. I needed to take ownership of my tirade. Had I been justifiably angry? Sure. But did my reaction go too far? Well, yeah.

The Veritique alerts on my phone were nonstop, but I wasn’t about to check them. A reflexive part of me thought about Felicity every time the chimes sounded, because I’d made a Pavlovian connection between the alerts and the woman who caused them to go off.

I was damn sure Felicity wanted nothing to do with me at the moment. Or perhaps ever. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her shocked face. Her disbelief as I explained that what had happened between us was over. I’d been so caught up in my anger that I hadn’t exactly been gentle as I’d ended things with her. But still, she had to understand, and agree, that our relationship had gotten out of hand. Better to end it now, before someone really got hurt.

For some reason, I needed to keep reminding myself of that fact.

Jimmy eased up to the curb by Tyler’s place, and I hopped out before he had a chance to open the door for me. I climbed the narrow staircase to his apartment hoping he’d be awake enough to have a conversation with me. I knocked on the door wondering what version of my friend was going to greet me.

The door cracked and someone peered out. “Yeah?”

“Who are you?” I demanded.

“Who are you?” he asked defensively. He checked me out from head to toe. “You a lawyer or something?”

“Tyler,” I called out in a loud voice. “What’s going on?”

He appeared behind the guy and flung the door open. “Bro, come in! What is up?”

The stranger in question was none other than Tyler’s buddy from his gig at Frankie’s Tavern. Jerry. Seeing him was exactly what I didn’t need. Especially with his pupils blown like that, showing he was definitely on something. Maybe a couple different somethings.

Fuck. I wasn’t in the mood to negotiate whatever was going on with the two of them. I desperately hoped it was nothing more than an acoustic jam session, but that didn’t seem likely.

“Hi Ty, I guess I should ask you the same question,” I said as I moved past Jerry and into the main room. “I didn’t realize you had company.”