Breaker's Point Bad Boy Billionaires Boxset (41 page)

G
riffin sat
on the edge of the hotel bed and fought with the shirt sleeve. He was beginning to heal, but the speed at which it was happening was far too slow for his liking.

The phone next to the bed rang and without thinking he dived across the plush satin cover to grab it. Pain ripped through his chest, causing him to groan and roll across the covers.

The phone continued to ring, but it was an effort just to breathe. Griffin dug his hands into the blanket and forced himself upright, his jaw tight as he gritted his teeth.

"Too lazy now to answer your own phone?" Stuart asked as he sauntered into the room and scooped the receiver up from the cradle. "Yeah," Stuart said into the receiver.

Griffin watched his brother's expression carefully as he tried to suck in a deep breath past the pain radiating out from his ribs.

"Sorry, don't know a Camille Thompson. We told you we don't want any groupies or reporters getting up here," Stuart said before he hung up.

It took Griffin a second to recognise the name.

"Shit, Stuart, why did you hang up?"

"Because we have far more important things to worry about and…"

"Camille is a friend of mine. Pass me the phone; I'll call her back." Griffin reached out for the phone but the look Stuart gave him was far from friendly.

"Look, the only reason I'm still here and not at home with Ellie is because Riley asked me to stay. He's worried about you. He seems to think you're going to do something stupid and get yourself hurt out of some warped sense of loyalty to your friends."

"Well I don't need a babysitter, Stuart, so feel free to leave any time you want. I've learned my lesson where Elijah is concerned and I won't be going to see him on my own again in a hurry."

"You won't be going to see him again full stop," Stuart said, his voice rising with anger. "How stupid do you have to be? I mean, I've always known you were an idiot, but I believed you at least had some semblance of self-preservation going on."

Griffin rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet, snapping the phone from Stuart's grip before he had a chance to react.

"As I said, anytime you want to go home, Stu, the door is right there. Don't let it hit you on the ass on your way out."

"You just don't care, do you? You're a reckless, pathetic fool who can’t see what this is going to do to you and those you care about. It'll catch up to you one of these days, Griffin, and when it does I hope I'm there to see the smirk wiped off your face." Stuart stormed out of the room, leaving Griffin to drop down onto the end of the bed.

The constant bickering was beginning to wear on him, but there was just something so utterly infuriating about his brother that it made him want to keep up the fight. Of course, it didn't help that Stuart was so easily riled; it didn't take much for him to completely lose his cool and, for the life of him, Griffin couldn't figure out why he was constantly being set off.

Scooping the phone up, Griffin pressed it to his ear and dialled down to reception. The phone was answered on the second ring by a pleasant man who was more than happy to send up the young woman waiting at reception.

Griffin reset the phone and stared down at the crisp white shirt he wore. It didn't feel normal or natural on his skin, but Riley had insisted that he present a clean-cut image if he was to succeed in pulling Black Special back from the brink of destruction.

It was all about appearances, if Riley was to be believed, and Griffin had no reason to doubt his older brother. He'd always had an uncanny knack at making money appear out of thin air, and if anyone could change Black Special's fortunes, it was definitely Riley.

A loud rap on the hotel door dragged Griffin's thoughts away from the future of his band. He made his way around the edge of the bed and over to the door, pulling it open and smiling widely at Cami, who was standing on the other side.

Her expression, however, was far from friendly as she pushed past him into the room.

"Who the hell do you think you are, using me as your alibi?" she demanded the second she stepped into the room.

"What are you talking about? And keep your voice down before someone hears you," Griffin said, trying to keep his own temper in check. He'd done nothing but think about her from the moment they met; in fact, he was wearing most of his bruises because of her but she had the audacity to burst into his hotel room and demand things from him.

"A Detective DeMarco paid me a visit this morning and she knew things, things she could only have known if you'd spoken to her," Cami said, her voice high and panicked. "What the hell have you gotten me into, Griffin? I can't afford to have the cops sniffing around and asking questions, I…" She cut herself off before she could say anything else.

Griffin stared at her curiously. Without a doubt she was hiding something from him, but he had no idea what it could be. The only thing he knew for certain was that he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"I haven't said anything to DeMarco. I kept you out of it. She came and asked me some questions the day you dropped me off at the hospital, but that was it. I swear I didn't give you as an alibi. In fact, she didn't even ask me for one."

Cami flopped onto the end of the bed and buried her face into her hands. Her voice sounded muffled between her fingers.

"Then why the hell was she asking me about you and whether or not you spent the night at my house?"

Griffin felt his back stiffen; why was DeMarco so interested about where he spent the night? Why was it any of her business? Surely if she wanted to know the answer she could have approached him herself and asked directly.

This creeping around behind his back made him uneasy, as though she was trying to cut off all avenues for him before she faced him once more with her version of the truth.

"What did you tell her?" Griffin asked, knowing the answer before Cami ever said it.

"I told her the truth: that you dropped me off safely at home and then left." She looked up at him, fear reflected in her large green eyes.

"Who the hell is this?" Stuart demanded, stepping into the room.

Griffin watched as Cami jumped, her eyes growing even wider as she took in Stuart's hostile stance.

But then something changed in her; an emotion washed through her eyes, and Griffin watched it happen. She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin defiantly to meet Stuart's hard gaze.

"This is Camille, the friend I was telling you about," Griffin said, watching the slight shift in Stuart's stance.

"Well I don't want to be the bad guy here, but we have a lot of work to do and if Camille wouldn't mind coming back to pay you a visit some other time, we could get back to the business at hand." Stuart darted a hostile glance in Griffin's direction before walking towards Cami.

She shrugged away from Stuart and stood up, everything about her body language screaming she would defend herself if she felt it to be necessary.

"I would mind, actually. I don't know who the hell you think you are but I'm here to discuss business with Griffin and it can't wait." Cami's voice was strong and Griffin admired the way she stood up to his brother's bullying tactics.

"I'm Stuart, Griffin's older brother," Stuart said, the words dropping into the silence in the room.

Colour flooded up Cami's neck and into her face, and for a second Griffin could see she was rendered utterly speechless.

"Well you clearly didn't pick up any of the legendary Reynolds brother charm. I mean, Griffin has his flaws, but at least he's not downright rude," she said, recovering faster than Griffin could ever have anticipated.

Griffin covered his mouth with his hand in an attempt to stifle a grin as he watched Stuart's expression flicker between anger and confusion. When his face finally did change, it wasn't what Griffin was expecting.

A wide grin spread across Stuart's features and he started to laugh. This wasn't the overly serious, stick-up-his butt Stuart that Griffin knew and had grown to love. This was a man with a sense of humour.

As children, before the beginning of their rivalry and the argument that had completely destroyed their relationship, there was a time when Griffin had glimpsed the happier, more carefree side of Stuart. A side that had the ability to be effortlessly charming.

And as Griffin stood staring at his brother now, it was as though he had been transported back to that time, before everything went wrong between them.

"I'm sorry, Camille, I have been rude. It's just that after my brother took a beating, well, our family has been trying to get to the bottom of who did it and that requires our immediate attention."

Cami nodded and chewed her lip. Griffin knew from the look on her face hat Stuart's sudden change in demeanour left her feeling confused. He honestly couldn't blame her, especially since it confused him just as much.

"Stu, if you give us a few minutes?" Griffin asked, keeping his voice deliberately neutral.

Stuart glanced in his direction, his expression instantly shifting back to a hostile glare that left Griffin with no illusions that his softening towards Cami extended towards him.

"Fine," Stuart said, turning his back on Griffin as he made his way to the door. "Riley will be back soon," he added as he disappeared into the other room. "Nice to meet you, Camille."

Griffin waited for Stuart to slide the door closed after him before he turned his attention back to Cami.

"You said we had business to discuss. I thought you made yourself pretty clear the other night that there was nothing between us except for the secret we all have to keep," Griffin said, making his way back over to sit on the end of the bed. Lifting his hand, he started to fasten his cufflinks into place, still watching Cami from the corner of his eye.

She glared at him, her fists clenched tightly by her sides, her breaths coming out in long, deep gasps, causing her chest to heave against the cream blouse she wore. The thought of crossing the room and dragging her body against his was enough to make Griffin's jeans suddenly feel very uncomfortable.

He knew what lay beneath the blouse: the creamy expanse of her beautiful breasts that begged to be touched, caressed, tasted. Griffin groaned beneath his breath as Cami crossed the room and stood in front of him, utterly unaware of the effect she was having on his body and his struggle to keep from tossing her onto the bed and kissing her senseless.

"Fine, if that's how you want to play it then I want money. No. I need money."

Cami's words were enough to kill all of the amorous thoughts Griffin had been having. He snapped his head up to stare at her and shook his head.

There had to be a mistake; there was no way she had just asked him for money.

"Pardon me?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"You heard me. I said I need money. You want me to keep a dangerous secret, and in order to do that you're going to have to pay me."

Griffin shook his head again and laughed. It was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. There was no way Cami was attempting to blackmail him; if so, she was doing a very poor job of it.

"I don't think so, Cami. You're as culpable in all of this as I am. I'm not going to give you a penny, and I know you're not going to go to the cops." Griffin knew he sounded far more confident than he actually felt.

Cami smiled, but it was a cold smile with no hint of the woman he had met that first night in the bar. And it certainly held no hint of the woman he had almost taken right on her living room couch.

"Griffin, you couldn't be more wrong. This is not just about me and you said yourself that I'm a witness. I need protection. The only way I'm going to get that is with enough money to get out of here and start a new life somewhere else with Sophie."

The thought of never seeing her again hurt far more than Griffin was prepared to admit to her or anyone else.

"I'll protect you." The words came out of his mouth before he even really had a chance to think about what he was saying.

It was a crazy thing to promise in the first place, and yet Griffin couldn't see another way out of it. Cami was right; she was a witness, and after what Elijah had done to him and threatened to do to Cami, Griffin knew just how much danger she was truly in.

She shook her head and laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't protect me and I'm not asking you to. All I need is enough money to get out of here and set up my life somewhere else, where whoever killed Steve can't find me."

"And what makes you think that I have money to give you?" Griffin asked, watching her expression carefully.

"You're a member of Black Special. You have money."

Griffin stood and crossed the room to where she stood. She didn't flinch as she stared up into his face, and Griffin couldn't stop himself from reaching out to her, his palm cupping the side of her face.

Cami reacted exactly as he'd hoped she would; her eyes fluttered shut as she pressed her cheek against his touch.

Griffin brushed his thumb over her cheekbones, the feel of her soft skin beneath his callused fingers causing him to dip his head towards hers.

"Don't do this. Don't create this wedge between us. I can keep you safe, if you'll let me…"

Stuart poked his head in the door of the bedroom once more and jerked his thumb back in the direction from where he’d just entered.

"They're here waiting for you," Stuart said, shooting Cami a curious glance. "Is everything all right in here?" He pulled the door open wide enough to reveal the circus of reporters milling around in the sitting room area of the suite Riley had booked them into.

Cami's face went pale just as the sound of clicking camera shutters filled the air. The barrage of flashes was almost blinding, but it was something Griffin was used to.

"Everything is fine," Griffin said, but Cami's panic and discomfort gnawed away at him.

Griffin plastered a fake smile on his face as Cami sprang away from him like she'd been burned.

Cami whirled on her heel and practically ran for the door. Griffin let her go. Part of him wondered whether she was just like all the other women he'd ever met, and yet there was something different about her. She was hiding something, and Griffin couldn't figure out what it was all about.