20
Camilla
I looked between Merritt’s PR team member and Merritt, befuddled by the woman’s hostility. She kept glaring at me, and it was becoming uncomfortable. I had agreed to go to the police station with Merritt and see if I could identify the hacker, scared to even think that it had to do with someone I knew.
When Marissa said that the hacker could be my ex-boyfriend, I dismissed that option as plain ridiculous, but now that I was considering it, I wasn’t so sure anymore. I had a fair share of boyfriends in the past, and thinking that some of them might want to harm me in this way… It was horrible just taking that possibility into consideration.
Then again, what if that was one of Merritt’s enemies? He surely had a few of them. It was a given for politicians. What if someone wanted to harm me because they couldn’t stand Merritt?
A shiver ran down my spine. If that was true—if the person behind this was someone who was against Merritt—then they could go to any lengths to harm him.
I hadn’t realized that by entering a relationship with a high-profile politician I was putting myself at risk. And not only that. I felt terrible that Merritt was compromised in all of this. It was devastating knowing that just because one person wanted to make a change to better, they had to encounter many obstacles on their way.
Then again, maybe this wasn’t the case now, and the hacker was someone else.
“What are you thinking about?” Merritt asked me, putting his hand on my knee. I smiled at the gesture, the warmth from his hand seeping onto my skin.
We were in Merritt’s town car on our way to the police. The partition window hid us from Merritt’s driver, so we had our privacy.
“I’m wondering who that hacker could be. All possibilities are almost equally scary.”
“Do you really think that it could be one of your exes?”
My insides churned in response, and I tucked my hair behind my ears. “I don’t know. Maybe. At first, when Marissa said it, I thought there was no way, but now… I don’t know. I mean, sure, some of them acted like jerks before we broke up and all, but it’s hard to believe that any of them would do such a thing to hurt me. I don’t know.”
“Or maybe it could be someone who did this because of me. I’ve been thinking. I have gained a plenty of enemies during these last few years.”
“But what would they gain with this? Ruin your career?”
“Most likely. And if that’s the case…” He turned so that he was facing me and caught my hands in his. “I’m so sorry that you have to go through this because of me.”
“It’s not your fault, Merritt.”
“But in a way, it is.”
“You can’t be held responsible for some bad person’s actions.”
“Still, I want you safe and happy. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.” He moved his hand through my hair, his gaze soft. “I care about you.”
“I know. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“If the hacker turns out to be someone who is my enemy… Does that change something between us?”
Something tugged at my heartstrings when I saw vulnerability in his eyes. He was worried that he was going to lose me.
“Before you answer me, I want you to know that I won’t be selfish. I’ll understand if you don’t want to be involved with me if that’s the case. If you feel the relationship with me would be too much to handle, then you’re free to—”
I interrupted him by kissing him, my hands cupping his face. All the accumulated tension and worries since the moment I saw that article poured out of me through my kiss, snuggling to him. I kissed him desperately, urgently, roughly, almost bruising my lips in the process.
I could hardly breathe, but that was okay, because this was all I needed right now. This mind-numbing passion, this need that was coursing through every inch of me and making me blind and deaf to anything else.
“I’m not going anywhere, Merritt. This doesn’t change anything. Even if you have a dozen of enemies, I don’t care. I’ll be with you through it all.”
“Thank you, Camilla. Once more, you show me how amazing you are. Once more, you’re reminding me why I fell in love with you.”
My heart stopped, and I gaped at him. “You fell in love with me?”
A big smile adorned his features. “Yes. Irrevocably.”
My smile was as big as his before I showered his whole faces with kisses.
His phone rang, breaking though our bubble, and we leaned away from each other, both of us breathing heavily. He didn’t answer his phone immediately, staring at me like he couldn’t get enough of me.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “It’s Carter.”
Ouch. “We knew this was coming.”
He answered. “Man listen… I’m sorry.”
Merritt put him on speaker so we could both hear him. “You better be sorry, you’re sleeping with my little sister you fuckface! And it’s all over social media! She, in bed, is all over social media!”
“Yeah, she was hacked. Listen, we meant to tell you, but this happened first. This isn’t how we meant for you to find out I promise you.”
“Duh. If it was, you did a hell of a job.”
I spoke up, “Carter, it’s okay. We’re okay. Please understand we never meant for this to happen.”
“Cami, tell me the truth, do you love this dumbass?”
“I do.”
“Fine. You have to deal with Mom and Dad though. I am not calling them.”
“Carter, thank you!”
“Whatever, and Merritt?”
“Yeah man?”
“You owe me a god damned drink. You told me my sister was a good lay!”
Merritt and I both laughed. “Done,” he said into the phone. “But man we gotta go, my PR head is calling.”
“Yeah fine, later lovebirds.”
With a chuckle, I moved off his lap and sat down on the seat next to him. He switched the call.
“I’ve put you on speaker, Marissa. Camilla is here too. Anything new?”
“Actually, yes. We’ve just received a call from the police. They have found the culprit.”
Merritt and I glanced at each other in surprise. “They have?”
“Yes. The editor from the tabloid cracked and revealed the name of this person. They tracked the man and brought him to the police station. He admitted to all of it.”
“Thank God,” he muttered and took my hand in his, giving me a reassuring squeeze. “That’s great news. But who is he?”
“Apparently the new bill that you had just gotten onto the floor had made you some serious enemies, Merritt. According to the investigator, the man said his business was suffering from the stricter regulations. He wanted revenge, so he stalked you for quite some time, trying to dig up anything he could use against you. So when Camilla entered the picture, it was the perfect opportunity for him to act.”
I shuddered, and Merritt brought my hand to his lips to kiss it. I couldn’t believe someone could hate Merritt so much to drag me into all of that. He hacked my phone, for Christ’s sake! I didn’t even want to think what else he could have done if the police hadn’t found him.
“But why did he hack Camilla’s phone? Why did he sell them to the tabloid?”
“It seems that this man was hopeful that by the public seeing you dating an aide people would think less of you and your own party would turn on you. It was a possible outcome, however, it only backfired on him because just the opposite happened.”
Confusion settled on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Just before I called you, we received a call from the president Benner.” The president of Merritt’s party.
“Yes?”
“He told me that they aren’t turning on you. Not at all. Your party is actually congratulating you on settling down and turning off your whole Playboy persona.”
My jaw dropped, and I met his gaze. He was equally astonished.
“I can’t believe this,” he said. “Is this for real? They are actually approving of my relationship with Camilla?”
“Yes. President Benner said, and I quote, I wish them all the best and many, many more years together.”
Merritt shook his head, laughing. “That man. He always nagged to me about not settling down. I should have known this situation would be to his liking.”
“So, we can use this chance to turn this into your favor and tell the public that you’ve finally found the woman of your dreams.”
Merritt placed his hand on my cheek, gazing at me with adoration, and pecked a kiss on my forehead.
“We can do that.”
“How about that man?” I asked. “What is going to happen to him?”
“Since a high-profile politician is involved in this, he will be kept in custody until his trial without bail. I assume he will spend many years in prison even though he’s admitted to it.”
“That’s good to hear,” I said, feeling relieved.
“I’ll prepare the statements for you, Merritt,” Marissa said. “You’re probably going to have a few press conferences this week, but you know how this goes.”
“Yeah, I know. The public will be breathing down my neck the next few weeks, but everyone will forget this once the dust settles. It’s just the way it goes.”
“You know it. Then...”
Merritt raised his eyebrows. “Yes?”
“I just wanted to apologize to Camilla. It’s just that our public relations team thought it would be best for Merritt to break up with you, but we were wrong. I’m sorry for being rude to you this morning.”
The astonishment on Merritt’s face told me that he hadn’t expected something like this from her.
“That’s okay, Marissa,” I told her. “You were just doing what you thought was best for Merritt. I understand that.”
“Yeah. Well, okay then. Talk to you later, Merritt.”
“Bye, Marissa.”
“Bye,” I added before Merritt ended the call and looked at me.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Sometimes it feels overwhelming thinking about the pressure that the famous people feel, but I guess that’s just a part of the baggage they have to carry as celebrities.”
“Which is why I will ask you this one more time. Are you sure you’re ready to be with me? To go through every storm and endure every obstacle?”
I returned his smile. “Of course. I’m ready to be with you no matter what. Because, after all, I fell in love with you. So I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
He beamed. “You fell in love with me?”
“Yes. Irrevocably,” I repeated his words.
“My Camilla.” He grabbed my cheeks. “You have no idea how happy I am with you.”
His lips were passionate on mine, taking all of me, just like I took all of him. All the worries from this day melted away, and joy spread through me. This mess was over, and we had each other. Now, more than ever, I wanted to fight for him and our happiness. We could do it. Together.
“Sir?” we heard the driver’s voice coming from the speaker. “We arrived at the police station.”
“Well, since they found the hacker, we don’t need to be here anymore,” he told me. “What do you think about some time alone?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I erupted into a fit of chuckles.
“Sure. How about my place?”
He nodded. “William, turn the car and take Camilla and I back to her apartment.” He told him my address.
“Yes, sir.”
His lips landed on mine again, his hands tracing my waist. “Now this is just a prelude of what will happen later in your place,” he whispered into my ear and kissed it, his hand going under my skirt and cupping my pussy over my panties.