On your knees, Mr. Billionaire

008

Camille Laurent

~•~

I winced at the volume of his voice.

Okay, so I guess my grandparents didn’t tell him. “Surprise?”

Marcus scowled at me. “This is not a joking matter, Camille.”

“I’m not joking.”

“Mommy.” Caden tugged at my sleeve. “I think Uncle Marcus doesn’t like me.”

“He thinks you don’t like him.” I directed my words at my brother. “Say hi back.”

“Uh, yeah.” He shook his head, squatting down to Caden’s height. “Hi…” he trailed off, looking up at me.

“My name is Caden.” He supplied.

“Hi, Caden. Nice to meet you, buddy.”

Caden beamed. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

Jen was standing awkwardly behind them, just staring. “Jen, is it okay if you keep him busy for a few more minutes before you go?”

She seemed relieved to leave the room. “Of course. Come on, Caden. Let’s go to your room.”

As soon as Caden and Jen were back in Caden’s room, Marcus rose to his full height and crossed his arms. “Start explaining. Now.”

“Didn’t you say you were thirsty?” I tried to deflect, heading towards the kitchen.

Marcus placed a strong hand on my arm, halting me. “Camille.”

I sighed. There was no way I was getting out of this. “What’s there to explain? You saw him. You saw me. I’m sure you see the resemblance. He’s mine.”

He let go of my hand and looked back at the hallway they both disappeared into before he faced me again. “He also resembles a certain person I know.”

I looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“They have the same green eyes, Camille. Don’t insult my intelligence.”

I knew that. I’d been haunted by those green eyes for the past five years. “He’s not the only one with green eyes, Marcus. The gene isn’t that rare.”

“Yeah?” He stepped closer. “And how old is Caden?”

“None of your business.” I pushed him back. “Stop questioning me. I don’t want to talk about him.”

Marcus’s eyes softened then. “Come on, Camille. If the boy is his and he doesn’t know…”

“It’s my fault he didn’t believe me when I said I was pregnant!” I hissed. “I know you two are business partners, but if you tell him, I swear to God, Marcus, I’ll leave with Caden and never come back here.”

A muscle in his jaw ticked and I watched him as he forced himself to relax. “Fine. It’s not my business anyway.”

“Good that you know.”

He scoffed.

“Don’t tell anyone. Anyone at all.” I emphasized it because I didn’t want him to slip up and tell any of my family members.

“I won’t.” He assured me. “But I’d like him to meet my daughter.”

I eyed him warily. “Is your daughter close to your family?”

“Our family, Camille.” He corrected me exasperatedly. “And yes, of course, she is. She’s the only grandchild. Well, she was before Caden, of course.”

“Then it’s not a good idea. Children aren’t very good at keeping secrets.”

Marcus pursed his lips.

“But I do want to meet your daughter,” I added. I knew her and Caden would eventually meet, but I needed to postpone it for as long as I possibly could. “What’s her name?”

“Angela.” His lips stretched into a smile at that. “She’s a really good kid.”

A smile of my own touched my lips. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

~•~

By the next week, I was a lot more familiar with the hospital halls and already had my first surgery scheduled for that week. It felt surreal that I was finally in charge and didn’t need anyone to supervise me.

It was what I’d been working towards for the past ten years. I almost quit during the first years after Caden’s birth but my grandparents encouraged me to continue and here I was.

I still couldn’t believe it sometimes. When I got the offer from Mount Sinai, I was in shock. Then I remembered that it was in New York. I didn’t want to come back, but once again, my grandparents encouraged me and I was glad they did.

I was walking toward my desk when I heard someone call my name. “Camille?”

I turned around to see a blonde woman who looked like she was around my age staring at me with wide eyes. When I looked even closer, I recognized her. She was someone I met at one of the events my ex-husband used to drag me to.

“Camille.” She repeated. “That’s you.”

“Jocelyn?” I tried.

Her smile told me I was right. “Look at you.” She gestured to my white coat. “You’re a doctor now.”

I offered her a warm smile. “Yeah, how have you been?”

“I’m good. What about you? It’s been so long since we heard about you. You just disappeared.”

I laughed awkwardly. “I was preparing to be a surgeon.”

She nodded, more to herself than to me. “You do look impressive. Maybe I should have gone for a professional career as well.”

“I’m sure your business is doing very well, Jocelyn.”

Jocelyn’s family owned a major retail empire and she had just started taking over the last time I saw her more than six years ago. “Well, I won’t be humble.” She joked.

I laughed.

“I think it’s fate that I ran into you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” She nodded undeterred. “I came to personally invite a friend to my engagement party since he’s always so busy to be seen anywhere outside the hospital.”

That sounded like a lot of doctors I knew.

“Since I ran into you, I think you should come too.”

My eyes widened. “Oh Jocelyn, I don’t think—“

“Don’t be shy. Everyone has missed you. I’ll add your name to the guest list and I’ll send you a proper invitation.” She handed me her phone. “Type in your number.”

Resigned, I typed in my new number and handed her phone back to her, knowing I wasn’t going to win the fight.

“I have to go now, Camille. I’ll be looking forward to your presence.”

She was gone before I could respond.