Chapter 63: Caught in the Middle

The following evening, having concluded the immediate fallout of the Sunstone restructuring, the sky above the financial district turned a bruised purple.

Jude had dismissed his chauffeur at the edge of the pedestrian avenue, intending to walk the remaining two blocks to the unmarked private dining club where Harper had booked their first blind date.

However, halfway down the block, the sky cracked open.

Unwilling to ruin his bespoke Savile Row tailoring before sitting across from Harper, Jude stepped through the doors of an artisanal espresso bar on the corner to escape the downpour.

Meanwhile, tucked away in one of the plush velvet booths near the back of the establishment, Victoria Vance was currently trapped in a nightmare.

Victoria had rushed to the cafe directly from the office, under the strict impression that she was meeting her overbearing mother, Beatrice Vance, for a quick familial legal consultation regarding an estate trust.

Instead, Beatrice had blatantly ambushed her with a forced blind date...

Sitting across from Victoria was Cameron Hayes.

He was a twenty-something political lobbying heir who had just returned from Oxford, dripping with the unearned arrogance of a man scheduled to inherit a billion-dollar bureaucratic firm.

He was wearing an incredibly garish, logo-heavy designer jacket that screamed of newly acquired wealth.

"I cannot express how thrilled I am to facilitate this introduction, Cameron," Beatrice Vance gushed, her eyes sparkling with greed. "Victoria spends too much time buried in legal contracts. She requires a man of your profound status to guide her into high society."

Victoria clenched her jaw so tightly her teeth ached.

She extended a hand. "Hello, Cameron. It’s a pleasure."

Cameron didn’t just shake her hand. He pulled it toward him, his eyes dragging up and down her attire.

"The pleasure is mine, Victoria," Cameron purred, his smile incredibly slick. "May I call you Tori?"

"I strongly prefer Victoria," she corrected instantly.

"Tori it is," Cameron ignored her entirely.

He reached across the cafe table and brushed a stray strand of hair behind Victoria’s ear. "You have such incredible features. It’s a tragedy you hide them in boardrooms."

"Cameron, I assure you, Victoria is disciplined. She’s focused on her career, so you won’t have to worry about any lingering romantic entanglements," Beatrice boasted, marketing her daughter like a piece of high-end real estate.

Victoria’s face burned with embarrassment. "Mother, please. That is inappropriate."

Cameron chuckled, leaning back and resting his arm across the booth. "I prefer a woman who knows her place, Beatrice. I have no doubt that I am the exact caliber of man Tori has been waiting for."

"Well, I’ve booked the chef’s table at Le Bernardin for the two of you this evening," Cameron announced, exchanging a glance with Beatrice. "Shall we depart?"

"Oh, look at the time! I have a prior engagement," Beatrice said, standing up to leave the "young couple" alone.

"You two enjoy yourselves. Do not keep Cameron waiting, Victoria."

Victoria stood up, grabbing her handbag. "Actually, Mother, I am needed back at Lawson Capital. I’ll walk out with you."

Beatrice’s expression darkened.

She grabbed Victoria’s arm, pulling her aside out of earshot.

"What is wrong with you?" Beatrice hissed sternly. "Cameron Hayes is the heir to a billion-dollar political dynasty! You are not getting any younger, Victoria. Stop wasting your life doing paperwork for that Wall Street predator and secure a husband who can actually elevate this family’s status!"

"Mother, he is incredibly inappropriate. I am not having dinner with him," Victoria fired back.

"You will do exactly as I say!" Beatrice snapped, pushing Victoria back toward the booth. "I am leaving. Do not embarrass this family."

With a dramatic huff, Beatrice spun on her heel and stormed toward the exit of the espresso bar.

As she pushed the doors open, she failed to notice the silhouette of Jude Lawson stepping inside to escape the rain.

Back at the booth, Cameron Hayes stood up, a victorious smirk on his face.

"It seems your mother has made her expectations clear, Tori," Cameron sneered.

He reached out and tightly grabbed Victoria’s wrist. "My chauffeured Bentley is waiting at the curb. Let’s go. I’ll treat you to a lifestyle you could never afford on a corporate salary."

But before she could even tense her muscles, a hand clamped down onto Cameron Hayes’s shoulder like a vice.

"Darling, is my espresso ready yet?" a calm voice echoed through the cafe. "You’ve kept me waiting."

Victoria gasped, her head snapping up.

Standing right beside the booth was the CEO of Lawson Capital.

Stepping into the theatrical role of a possessive lover, Jude pried Cameron’s fingers off Victoria’s wrist.

Victoria was stunned by the billionaire’s sudden intervention.

Realizing Jude was providing her with a bulletproof alibi, she immediately leaned into the play.

"I... I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Jude," Victoria breathed, stepping to his side and resting her hand against his chest.

Cameron Hayes stumbled back slightly from the force of Jude’s grip, his face twisting in confusion.

He quickly sized Jude up.

Because Jude favored discretion Cameron failed to recognize the CEO standing in front of him.

Assuming Jude was just some mid-level corporate drone, Cameron sneered in disdain.

"Tori, who the hell is this?" Cameron demanded, puffing out his chest.

Jude let out a dark chuckle. "I am Victoria’s partner. I believe the more pressing question is: who exactly are you, and why are you touching my lawyer?"

"This is Cameron Hayes," Victoria supplied. "My mother orchestrated a misunderstanding. She was unaware that I was already... taken."

"I see," Jude said. "Then I suggest you run along, Cameron. The adults have prior engagements."

"Listen here, pal," Cameron sneered, gesturing to his own logo-covered jacket. "I don’t care if you two are dating. You are clearly out of your depth. I am the heir to Hayes Political Consulting. I can provide Tori with a standard of living that would take you three lifetimes to achieve. She isn’t married to you yet. I’m willing to compete for her."

Victoria looked at Cameron.

"Cameron," Victoria said. "Are you certain that you want to compare financial portfolios with this man?"

The absurdity of the situation almost made Victoria laugh out loud...

"I am entirely certain," Cameron scoffed. "Hayes Political Consulting generates over a billion dollars in annual revenue. I am set to inherit the managing director seat next quarter. By the time I am thirty, my personal net worth will eclipse ten figures. Meanwhile, your boyfriend looks like he struggles to pay his mortgage."

"Cameron, I am not trying to wound your fragile ego," Victoria replied. "As Senior Legal Counsel, I draft hostile acquisition contracts worth fifty times that amount before my morning coffee."

Cameron’s face hardened. "You are just an employee, Victoria. You don’t actually own any of that capital. At the end of the day, you are a woman who will inevitably require a wealthy husband to secure your legacy. If you choose to marry a mid-level corporate pauper over me, you will deeply regret it."

"He is not a pauper," Victoria stated, her patience exhausted. "You are standing in front of Jude Lawson."

Cameron threw his head back and burst into a fit of mocking laughter.

"Jude Lawson?!" Cameron gasped, pointing a finger at Jude’s chest. "Are you out of your mind? You seriously expect me to believe that the mysterious Wall Street billionaire who just bought out the Pentagon is standing in a local espresso bar? You are pathetic, Victoria. At least invent a believable lie to protect your pauper’s ego!"

Throughout the entire exchange, Jude had remained silent.

He didn’t bother offering a verbal rebuttal, nor did he feel the slightest urge to prove his identity to a parasite.

He merely stared at Cameron.

"You can believe whatever you wish," Jude finally spoke. "But you are leaving this establishment immediately."

"You heard him, Cameron. There is no chance of an alliance between our families," Victoria said. "Run back to my mother and tell her the blind date was a failure."

"Fine," Cameron spat. "Enjoy your miserable, middle-class life, Victoria. You are going to regret insulting me."

Without another word, Cameron spun on his heel and stormed out of the espresso bar, pushing the doors open and stepping out into the rain.

"Drive," Cameron snapped at his driver, wiping the rain from his jacket.

Wait...

Cameron frowned, staring out the tinted window as the city lights blurred past.

Suddenly feeling a strange sense of unease, Cameron pulled his smartphone from his pocket and dialed his father’s direct line.

"Cameron, I am in the middle of a federal audit. Make it quick," his father answered.

"Dad, you were in the DoD briefing room this morning with Jude Lawson, correct?" Cameron asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "What does the man actually look like?"

"Why on earth do you care?" his father sighed in irritation. "He is terrifying, Cameron. A sociopath wrapped in corporate silk. He’s incredibly tall, mid-twenties."

"What does he wear?" Cameron pressed, his stomach beginning to churn. "Does he wear designer labels?"

His father scoffed into the receiver. "Labels? The man operates far above petty branding. He wears bespoke Savile Row suits. Today it was a dark charcoal cut. And if you ever see a black Koenigsegg Jesko flanked by armed mercenaries, you walk in the opposite direction. Now stop wasting my time."

The line went dead.

Cameron Hayes froze. His blood turned to ice in his veins.

He turned his head to look out the rear window of the Bentley.

Idling across the street from the espresso bar was a pitch-black Koenigsegg Jesko.

Standing next to the hypercar was a mercenary in tactical gear, his eyes scanning the perimeter.

Cameron dropped his phone onto the floorboards.

Victoria wasn’t lying... She hadn’t invented a pathetic excuse.

"Oh my god," Cameron whispered, burying his face in his trembling hands.

His family’s lobbying firm relied on DoD sub-contracts... contracts that Jude Lawson now exclusively controlled. Cameron hadn’t just ruined a blind date; he had just signed his family’s death warrant.

Victoria exhaled a long breath of relief.

"Thank you, Mr. Lawson," Victoria murmured, a smile gracing her lips. "If you hadn’t intervened, I would have likely breached decorum and shattered a coffee mug over his head."

Jude offered a dry smirk. He glanced down at his arm. "You may release your grip now."

Victoria gasped, suddenly aware that she was still clinging to the CEO’s bicep.

Her cheeks instantly flushed a brilliant crimson. She quickly snatched her hands back, taking a step away.

"I apologize, sir," Victoria stammered, adjusting her blazer. "I didn’t mean to overstep. What brings you to this district, anyway? Are you reviewing the real estate zoning laws for the new acquisition?"

Before Jude could answer, the doors of the cafe pushed open, accompanied by a gust of rainy wind.

Harper stepped inside. She shook the rain from her coat, her eyes scanning the interior.

She spotted Jude almost instantly, but her gaze narrowed as it landed on the stunning Senior Legal Counsel standing flush against him.

Harper walked across the cafe.

"Victoria," Harper greeted.

"President Harper," Victoria replied. She assumed Harper was here to discuss an emergency studio acquisition. "I wasn’t aware we had a meeting scheduled. Do you require legal counsel for a contract?"

Harper stepped to Jude’s side, slipping her arm through his.

"No contracts tonight, Victoria," Harper said, offering the lawyer a smile. "Jude and I are off the clock. We are here for our first date."

Victoria Vance’s jaw dropped slightly.