"No, I don't think you do," I said, bristling at the possibility of pity. "She fell for him. He loved her and drugs, in that order. They started using together, she got pregnant and had me. They neglected me, and Social Services intervened. Years later, she got clean and had a career as a nurse, but she never let go of the anger and resentment she felt. She had wanted the kind of life my father’s money could have bought, and when she didn’t get it, she was furious."
“What about your dad?” he asked. “Didn’t you ever want to meet him or his family?”
“His family disowned him after he got my mother pregnant, and he overdosed in an abandoned building on the North Side a few years after I was born.” I shrugged. “It took me a long time to make peace with the fact that he didn’t care about us enough to get clean.”
"What about family?" Cam asked.
"What about it?" I said defensively. "Her family was poor and struggling and his didn't want anything to do with a bastard child of a drug abuser. I became a ward of the state at two, bounced around from foster home to foster home until I was placed with my mother, but by the time I was sixteen, I’d filed to become an emancipated minor. I took the money from the state and got a room in a boarding house and finished high school. I was smart and made sure I got a full ride when I applied to college. I failed the first year, but then I figured out how to access the resources I needed and asked for another chance. I'll graduate in June and be on my own with a good job. End of story."
"Don't you want to know more about your family?" he asked as he twirled a lock of hair around one of his fingers.
"Not really," I said. "My mother's family has made it clear that they have
no interest in me, and my father's family has kept a safe distance for many years, even though they really could have pulled me out of the system at any time. I blame them the most; they could have changed things, but they chose not to. That's the reality of rich folks: they can do a lot, but they choose to ignore everything."
"Is that what you think about rich people or just your father's family?" Cam asked.
"I think there are probably a lot of rich people with good intentions," I said. "But you know what they say about the road to hell."
"Wow, that's tough," he said, shaking his head. "What would you do if your father's family came and tried to help you now?"
"I'd tell them to go to hell," I said without missing beat. "They aren't my family and I certainly don't need their money now. Money just screws everything up."
"I see," he said as he went silent. "All money? Or just your father's money?"
"Pretty much all money," I said. "It does something to people. I don't know, it's just my feeling. I mean, look at your friend, Violet."
"She's not my friend," he said. "I told you, I don't know her. I'd never met her before she accosted me at the hospital. I know her father through a friend."
"I'm know, I'm sorry," I said, backing away from the accusation. "I'm just saying that she and her friends all come from money and they are some of the nastiest girls I've ever met. They're just mean and vicious to everyone, and they're so concerned with keeping up appearances."
"But that can't be representative of all people with money," he said, pushing his point.
"Why? What are you trying to tell me?" I said defensively. "I'm just saying it's been my experience that people with money tend not to be very nice or caring."
"Maybe you just haven't met the right people," he murmured as he pulled me closer and kissed me. "You never know."
I lay there in his arms long after he'd drifted off to sleep. It felt good to be this close to someone, but it also scared me. I fell asleep telling myself not to be so afraid.
Billionaire on Fire Volume 3
Chapter Seventeen
Cam
I waited until Alex was asleep to leave. I wanted to stay, but after hearing Alex's thoughts on people with money, I knew I couldn't tell her about CSC or anything related to the money I was making in that venture. Besides, I had left Tesla home alone and needed to get back to her. I looked around for something to write on and ended up pulling a sheet out of one of Alex's notebooks. I thought about what to write for a few minutes and settled on:
Alex - Thank you for the great evening. Had to get home to let the dog out. I'll call you later. -C.
I read it over thinking it sounded too impersonal, but I figured I'd get a chance to explain later. As I was walking to the truck, my phone rang. It was Leo.
"Cam, I need to talk to you," Leo said, sounding a little anxious.
"I'll drop by in an hour," I said.
"Make it quicker if you can," Leo replied before hanging up.
I stopped by the house and let Tesla out while I showered and changed. I wondered what Leo wanted and worried that his news wasn't going to be good. My thoughts shifted to Alex and all the things she'd revealed the night before. There was something different about her; something that attracted me in a way that I hadn't been attracted to any other woman since Quinn died, but there was also a huge barrier in our way and I had no idea how to lower it and let her in.