Page 1 of Cameron's Contract
CHAPTER 1
DUKKHA.
This Buddhist term loosely translates into the word suffering, a feeling of being unsettled, or off kilter.
To be free of dukkha, one is advised to behave decently, not act on impulse, and function mindfully. The opposite of this best described me right now, with my grip tight around the Bugatti Veyron’s wheel, feeling impulsive and full of rage, with no intention of any decency.
I was going to fucking kill someone.
And the only way to end this suffering was to get Mia back—my lover, my beautiful, sweet submissive—who was driving my BMW ahead of us way too fast.
Barely twenty-one, and the most beautiful woman I’d ever known, her sweet nature miraculously remained untouched despite all she’d been through.
Shay’s focus roamed from his laptop balanced on his knees, where he tracked the car, to back on the road. His intense concentration was a change from his usual humorous self, but, as my head of security and proven techno genius, he knew I was on tilt. My woman was driving into danger, and if that small red blip was correct we were about to lose her.
As an ex-SEAL, Shay wasn’t a stranger to all this drama, though he did squirm when our speed hit a hundred.
I loosened my necktie, self-hate welling in my gut.
“Which one’s the air conditioner?” Shay’s hand hovered over the dashboard. “This looks like a flight panel.”
I turned the air up for him, and weaved around the car in front.
My focus remained on not hitting any of the other cars, but evening traffic barely lightened up.
A promise had been broken.
I’d told Mia I’d protect her from the wolves and never again would anyone hurt her. Yet here she was heading into danger, willing to face off with an old enemy, and all this was to protect me. I knew this with certainty.
It started with that sinister appearance of Adrian Herron a few days ago outside Badgley Mischka. Mia refused to talk about it. My miscalculation came in not pushing her to open up about it. Now I knew without a doubt it had been him. This bastard had murdered her mother and then left a fourteen-year-old Mia to carry the guilt. Her past had caught up and I’d not seen it coming.
An innocent morning shift working at Charlie’s Soup Kitchen had put Mia in jeopardy, and despite having my driver Leo watch her from inside the cafeteria, and Shay’s team guarding the property from outside, Adrian’s younger brother Decker had infiltrated my charity café, cloaked as a staff member. He’d gotten to Mia, and intimidated her into silence.
Decker Herron had snatched Mia’s collar off her, right there in Charlie’s Soup Kitchen, leaving the scar on the nape of her neck to prove it. I’d been so full of jealousy I’d missed the most importance piece of evidence. The kind that would have elicited questions and prevented Mia from ever leaving my Beverly Hills home and trying to deal with this herself. I’d believed her lie about how she’d sustained that small abrasion.
“Let’s call it in.” Shay glanced over at me. “Please, Cam.”
“I’m handling it—”
“This should be me. My men—”
“Mia is my woman—”
“You’re too invested, Cam. You’re emotional right now. Understandably, but still. Will you please slow down!”
“And risk losing her?”
“It’s a good idea to turn up alive.”
I eased up on the gas, not least because my dashboard blinked to indicate a cop car was fifty feet ahead.
“Your team as well as Leo were meant to be watching her,” I snapped. “No one noticed Mia enter Charlie’s wearing a choker, yet when she left—”
“We fucked up.” He tapped the laptop in frustration. “They’re meant to make a note of every detail, including what she’s wearing, incase…”
“She goes missing?”
“I don’t know what happened. I’m sorry. Men will be fired. I can promise you that.”
