Bang (A Club Deep Story)(32)

Pamona leans forward, closer to the camera, and my heart skips a beat.

"Anyone who works with Calvin Badiary needs to stop immediately. Divest  yourself of any interests you have in his company. Cut yourself off  while you can still save yourself. He will ruin you, stain you, and drag  you down with him.

"Do not give my father anything. Leave him to his dark choices so he can  rot alone with them. That's the kind of monster he is. The kind who  cannot be trusted with anything."

Pamona looks right into the lens now, and I tense, feeling like she's looking through the screen, at me instead.

"I learned about my father's past from a man I used to think was just as  wicked. But now I see the truth. That man loved his mother and true  love makes people do crazy things." She smiles, then, and laughs a  little, shaking her head. "After all. Here I am making this video." Then  she straightens, serious once more, although a faint blush stains her  cheeks. "I hope you listen to me. I hope you take my advice, before it's  too late. For your own sake."

She reaches across to stop the video, but I continue staring at the last  frame, a frozen image of Pamona leaning across the desk, lips tilted in  a tight, desperate expression that I recognize.

I let my head fall into my hands. Groan faintly.

What did I do? I stole her, used her, tried to force her into helping  me, when all along, this is the woman I was dealing with. A woman so  pure and perfect that I don't deserve to touch her …          

     



 

"Is it good enough for you?"

I startle, bolting upright. I turn to find Pamona leaning in the doorway, arms crossed. Watching me watch her.

She's still here, thinks part of me, crazily. And then I'm moving  without thinking about it. Bolting from the chair and crossing the room  to wrap her in my arms. Pull her tight against me and bury my face in  her hair.

"Why did you do this?" I whisper against her hair.

She laughs. Tilts her chin up to catch my eye, smirking. "Did you even watch the video?"

I frown, confused, but she plants a kiss on the corner of my mouth, teasing.

"I said it right on the screen, Farrow." Her eyes bore into mine, dark and serious. "I love you. Of course I'd try to help you."

There's no way to describe the feeling that lights up my chest then.  Bright and hot as a flame, but without the pain. Not now. Now it's all  light and relief and how could she love me, but she does, those eyes of  hers are innocent and bright and hopeful, and that she loves me is all  that matters now.

I cup her chin in my palm, tilt her face up, and kiss her softly. She  wraps her arms around my neck, kissing me back. The rest of the world  falls away and all I can think about now is her.





Epilogue





"That's the last of them," Farrow calls from the hallway as he sets a box down on the entry table.

"Don't leave them in there," Betsy scolds from the kitchen. "Those are  the plates; we need them in the kitchen." Betsy exchanges a knowing  glance with me and chuckles indulgently. "Boys."

I smirk. "I know, right?"

We're setting up my new apartment in California, just a few blocks from  campus. It's cozy, smaller than I'm used to, but I love that about it.  It feels like a real home, not a fairy tale tower that I'm trapped in.

Especially when Farrow walks into the kitchen, a stack of boxes in his  arms, sweat staining the tight T-shirt he wore to help me move in. I  wait until he sets the plates down before I pull him into a quick  embrace, kissing his cheek. He, of course, takes advantage and kisses my  neck, grabbing my ass in a quick squeeze. I break away from him,  laughing, flushing, but Betsy has turned away from us to fiddle with the  stove. I catch a glimpse of a smirk on her mouth though, and relax.

She insisted on flying out with us to help move me in, "and to make sure  the poor girl doesn't starve to death," she added. I appreciate it,  especially considering how few times I've cooked for myself. She  promised to teach me this week though, so I should be good in the  future.

There's a knock at the door and my heart leaps again.

"Cece!" I cry out, racing for the front door.

My sister bursts through in a bundle of excitement, wrapping me up in a huge hug almost before she's across the threshold.

Cece has been a lifesaver, talking to the university for me, explaining  that I'd been unavoidably detained by a family emergency at home. I'll  be busy for the next month catching up on my classes, but my professors  have promised to let me make up the time, which is all I can really ask  for.

As for our father, he's been in hiding ever since the video I made  crossed the desk of every single one of his business partners. Farrow  had spent the last few years making a detailed list of anyone remotely  connected to Dad, and that more than paid off in letting us spread the  word of his crooked dealings. Cece thinks that's why I was detained.  That I was busy finding out about Dad and dealing with his shady  business.

Luckily, now that Farrow and I have erased every post from either of us  on the auction site, Cece will never know the truth. She'll never know  what I went through, or what Dad was willing to do to her.

"How are you doing?" Cece asks, frowning at me.

I smooth her hair from her forehead, smiling at her. "Just great. Seriously. It's a relief now that it's all over."

"I just can't believe … " She stops dead, gaping at something over my shoulder.

I turn around to find Farrow leaning in the doorway, smirking at the two  of us. I laugh and gesture him over. "Farrow, this is my sister. Cece,  this is Farrow."         

     



 

"Farrow, huh?" She eyes him up and down with a widening grin. "Damn, not  a bad job considering how impossible Dad made it for you to date,  Pamona."

I snort, and Farrow laughs too, and then all three of us are laughing.  Farrow's hugging Cece, asking her about her studies, about how she likes  it here in California, and suddenly, my chest hurts.

I could burst with happiness right now.

Cece lingers long enough to help me unpack a little, all the while  grilling Farrow and me. When she asks how we met, we just exchange a  long look, both of us laughing, and then I tell Cece, "He was my savior  in a bad situation," and she narrows her eyes like she wants to ask  more, but I'll make up a better story for her in time.

In the meantime, Farrow and I can laugh at the joke privately, knowing  how strange our story is, how unique. Nobody can say they went through  exactly what we did to meet, that's for sure.

Cece heads home late that evening, though only after questioning how  often Farrow will be visiting me-"it had better be often, if you're  serious about my sister," she added, and I couldn't help laughing at her  defensive attitude. Farrow assured her he'd be seeing me at least once a  week-it's not like the airfare bothers him. But privately, he's already  told me he's hunting for a condo to buy in the area. He says he can't  stand to be away from me for very long.

After Cece leaves, and Betsy after her, I close the door behind them,  sagging against it. It's been a long day-a happy one, but a long one,  with all the unpacking and organizing I had to do. Still, the apartment  is starting to look like a real home now, and I couldn't be happier.

But of course, we're finally alone now, and neither of us really want to end the day. Not yet.

Farrow crosses the room to catch me in his arms and kiss me hard, and I kiss him back, arms around his neck.

"What are you thinking about?" he murmurs, trailing his lips down the side of my neck.

"How much I'm going to miss you in between visits," I admit, biting my lip.

He leans back to catch my eye, tsking. "I told you, Pamona, I'll be here  every weekend. And if there's ever an emergency, and you need me  sooner … " He kisses the corner of my mouth, my cheek, my jawline. "In the  meantime, I have your drawing to keep me company in my office."

I sigh and relax into his embrace. "How long until the condo purchase goes through, you think?"

He laughs low in his throat. "If you're worried about me, you can always  send me some naughty photos on the weekdays. Keep me distracted." He  catches my eye with a knowing grin.

I nip at his lower lip, then kiss him harder. "What about you? Are you going to keep me busy with dirty pics too?"

In response, he scoops me up in his arms and carries me into the living  room. "And to think, just a month ago you were my innocent little  virgin. Now you're asking me for nude photos." He tosses me onto the  couch, and I squeal as I land. But he's already leaping on top of me,  pinning me down.

"I'm not your virgin anymore," I point out, squirming beneath him.  Arching my hips up to press my hips against his, feeling the hard press  of his cock between us.

He groans a little, low in his throat, and I grin and wrap my legs  around his waist, arching against him harder. "I disagree," he says,  leaning down to bite my neck. "You might not be innocent anymore, but  you'll always be my naughty virgin."