CHAMELEON

SEVEN.

Cameron tugged at the hemline of her dress with a sigh. The bright red looked beautiful against her pale skin and dark hair, but she hated playing dress-up. She also hated spending the entire day in stilettos. With a mother's instincts, Patricia stepped into the room behind Cameron and locked eyes with her in the mirror. She lovingly smoothed the short sleeves of the dress out, leaving her hands resting on her daughter's shoulders.

"I know it's going to be a difficult week for you," she said calmly, "You'll be able to see Sadie again next weekend. Then we'll be under the radar for a little while."

"I've already seen her a few times," Cameron admitted.

"What about that new boy of hers?"

Cameron smiled and touched her mom's hand gently, watching as she dropped them back to her sides. It was no longer time for them to connect and gossip. They had work to do.

"Your father and I will be waiting for you in the car," Patricia said with a kiss to the back of her head and she was off.

Cameron watched them leave the room and went back into the main bedroom where her sister was lounging on the oversized bed.

"How do I look?" Cameron asked while she spun in a circle for approval.

Charlotte gave her a thumbs up and went back to her cellphone, enjoying her moments of freedom. Cameron couldn't blame her for it. With one final touch to the back of her thigh to make sure her prosthetic makeup was in place, she picked up her purse and went to the front door of the suite. She knocked three times.

Agent Boyce opened it with his usual I-mean-business face. Cameron couldn't fight back a smile at the sight of him. He was the closest thing to extended family she had.

"Good morning," she told him happily.

He nodded in response.

"Agent Simmons will escort you to your car. He is ready now," Boyce gestured to a person behind him that Cameron couldn't see.

"Just me?" the voice asked back. Cameron bristled at the sound, feeling goosebumps run up her arms. That voice sounded eerily familiar.

"I follow," Boyce said bluntly. Cameron enjoyed his firm tone, knowing that her sister would be safely escorted out of the hotel and into a cab before Simmons joined her. The dedication Boyce had shown to their family over his time with them was enough of a confidence boost for her to step outside of the room.

She shuffled around him to take a look at her escort and felt the need the run back inside screaming.

Holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck, she internally chanted. She was staring right at Brett. And he didn't seem surprised. Ignoring the way her body was trembling, Brett simply gestured for Cameron to lead the way. On very shaky feet, she did just that and started walking down the hallway towards the elevator.

How was this happening? What did he know? Cameron wouldn't believe that Sadie completely blew her cover. Had he known about her before he met her? Was she working herself into a trap? She felt her shoulders caving in as every flight instinct screamed inside of her. She should have never gone to Lust. How would it look if John Marshall's daughter was spotted inside a sex club?

Brett brushed past her to push the elevator button and noticed how she almost jumped out of her skin at the near touch. He was also displeased at the fact that she didn't smell like her usual light tinge of lavender. Instead, she was sickly sweet. He watched her closely until the elevator doors opened, bringing him back to the fact that he was on the job. And knowing that his little subbie was somebody that needed protection wasn't helping him clear his head.

He stepped inside and faced forwards, watching her do the same until the doors were closed and Boyce was no longer in their line of sight. He took in her appearance from the back with a frown. She was dressed just as perfectly as she had been the day before, though now her legs and arms were showing. He pushed down the idea of reaching out to touch her milky skin, and his feelings of longing were squashed when he noticed a scar on the back of her right leg. He hadn't noticed it before. Based on the way he had not only studied her body but pictured it hundreds of times since he was confident that it must not have been there before.

From behind her, Brett could tell that she was frantically looking around the elevator for some kind of camera. He couldn't help but want to ease her worries. He did, however, control himself from wrapping her in his arms until her fears washed away.

"No cameras," he told her.

She spun around immediately, her finger gently touching her ear.

He shook his head. No, sneaky subbie, nobody can hear you either.

"You have about twenty floors," he suggested.

She sucked in a deep breath, her innocent façade drifting away. He could almost measure the ways her personality sank back into her, her eyes tightening as her lips pursed.

"You said you worked in law enforcement," she barked at him. "Not very specific, were you?"

"I didn't know that I needed to be," he said calmly.

He never lost his temper on the job. It also wasn't something he normally had problems controlling, especially when he was acting as a dominant. However, he knew that he had to keep tighter control than usual in order to keep his composure around the girl while he watched her lies unravel. Though, technically, he hadn't really asked a question close enough to 'are you a politician's daughter?' to really consider this a lie.

"You didn't know?"

"I didn't know, pet."

He watched her exhale a long sigh of relief.

Didn't know, she echoed to herself. Didn't. But now he did. Now, Brett was the only person besides Sadie that knew that Cameron was John Marshall's daughter. What else did he know, she feared? Had he seen Charlotte? Was he going to figure her out?

"We will talk about this," was all he had time to say before they were on the main floor.

She walked out of the elevator certain of many things. First, she didn't have time to worry about Brett. She was going to be spending the rest of the day sitting beside her mother in front of hundreds of cameras as her father participated in a debate, and could not afford to look like anything other than a perfect daughter. Second, that Brett had not given her a choice about discussing her secret.