Cole Cameron's Revenge

"The only thing I have that he wants is my son." She held out her hand. "Thank you anyway."

Bookman rose and shook her hand. "Goodbye, Mrs. Cameron. If you should change your mind about that protective prenup-"

"I'll call. Thank you again. Goodbye."

The elevator was waiting. Faith stepped inside and pressed the button for the lobby floor. Her hand shook as she did it. Cole had won. She'd known he would, she just hadn't wanted to admit it.

The lobby was cool. She could see waves of heat rising through the huge glass windows. She paused, unwillingly to face either the heat or the reality of what awaited her, Cole and dinner and the acquiescence he'd expected all along.

There was a coffee bar on the opposite side of the lobby and she headed for it instead of the door. Her head was pounding. She'd skipped lunch. Breakfast, too, now that she thought about it. A couple of aspirin, a large cup of black coffee. maybe even something sugary and caloric might make her feel up to the drive home.

She ordered a doughnut and coffee. Paper plate in one hand, paper cup in the other, she sank into a chair at a corner table. She took a sip of coffee, looked at the doughnut...

Bile rose in her throat. She shoved the doughnut away, drank some more coffee and then pushed it away, too. She propped her elbows on the little table and rubbed her hands over her eyes.

What now?

Now, Cole got what he wanted, that was what. Her child, who already acted as if she were an afterthought in his affections. And he got her. Not that he wanted her as a man should want a wife. He'd made that clear. He wanted her in other ways.

Her pulse began to race.

No matter what he believed about her, he wanted her in his bed. He'd said it, admitted it in the way he'd touched her, kissed her.

Is there anything of yours you'd want to keep from Mr. Cameron?

"The only thing I have that he wants is my son," she'd said, but it wasn't true. Cole wanted her sexually. Not to make love to. To humiliate. To subjugate. To use.

We could draw up a prenup that would protect you.

Faith sat very still. After a long moment, she blotted her lips with a napkin. She got to her feet, collected her trash, carried it to the receptacle and dumped it in.

The elevator ride up to the floor that housed Bookman, Rigby and Goldman seemed interminable but, eventually, the doors slid open. She stepped from the car and went through the double doors to the reception desk. The woman behind it looked up, raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Did you forget something, Mrs. Cameron?"

"No. It's just-I'd like to see Mr. Bookman again."

The receptionist looked doubtful. "Well, I'll ring his secretary, but I don't know..."

"He said to call if I wanted to reconsider a suggestion he made. If I could just see him for a minute or two..."

Moments later, Faith stood in the attorney's office. "I've reconsidered," she said. "I'd like you to draw up a prenuptial agreement for me."

Elmore Bookman sat down at his desk. "That's an excellent plan, my dear. If you'll give me the name and address of Mr. Cameron's attorneys..."

"What for?"

"So I can arrange to meet with them. We'll need to get some idea of his total worth... Why are you shaking your head, Mrs. Cameron?"

Faith knotted her hands together in her lap. "I don't want that kind of agreement. I want the other one you mentioned, the one designed to protect me from-from having Mr. Cameron gain access to-to my personal property."

The lawyer sat back and folded his hands on his desk. "I see."

Faith could tell that he didn't. He looked puzzled. Well, why wouldn't he be? She'd made it clear that she had nothing to safeguard. No money. No property.

"There is something I have that Mr. Cameron wants."

"In that case, let me get my secretary in here. She can set up an appointment so you and I can discuss-"

"I was hoping you could write the document now, Mr. Bookman. It will only have one clause."

"Just one?"

"That's right." Was the air draining out of this room? Faith felt as if it were. She took a couple of shallow breaths. "I want you to make it clear that I will have sole custody of my son, should Mr. Cameron dissolve the marriage for any reason. In exchange for that, I'll agree to function as his wife in all possible ways except-except -"

"Yes?"

"...in all possible ways except that I won't be intimate with him." Faith saw the stunned look on the lawyer's face, felt the heat rising in her own, but her voice, at least, was steady. "I want it written into a prenuptial agreement, Mr. Bookman. I will never, not as long as I live, have Cole Cameron in my bed."

CHAPTER NINE

AT DUSK, Cole stood on the balcony of his suite at the Liberty Inn and looked out over the water to the jack pines that lined the curving shoreline.