Buried Obsession: Book 1 of the Obsession Trilogy Read online

  Buried Obsession

  Book 1 of the Obsession Trilogy

  Roxy Sinclaire

  Illustrated by

  Natasha Snow

  Edited by

  Elizabeth A. Lance

  Copyright © 2019 by Roxy Sinclaire

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Natasha Snow

  Edited by Elizabeth Anne Lance

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.

  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  About Roxy Sinclaire

  A taste of Tangled Obsession…

  Also by Roxy Sinclaire

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  Chapter One

  It was bright and early in the morning. The air was warm, filled with the sounds of cars and people moving around the streets. Camila was stuck in a bit of traffic on her way to Central Park. She sat in the back of the taxi with the window down, looking outside at the passing life. Internally, she was trying to calm herself down.

  You’ve done this plenty of times before, Camila, she told herself. This is your job.

  She was going to meet a man for an interview. And not just any man, but one of the most rich, influential, and handsome men in New York. Camila knew it was for her job, but just seeing a picture of the man had her heart pumping, and hearing she’d get to meet him in real life had left her dazed for weeks.

  Good thing she took her work seriously, or she wouldn’t be prepared for this at all.

  Camila wasn’t actually a reporter, she was a photographer. She worked for a blog, a “Humans of New York” style photoblog, that didn’t have a great many resources that they could afford to hire both photographers and reporters separately. But it still earned her quite a bit, and the blog was pretty popular, or they couldn’t have managed to get ahold of a man like Samuel Kane for an interview, one of the billionaires that lived in New York City.

  “Ma’am, we’re here.”

  The cab driver speaking brought her out of her reverie, and she focused her eyes outside. Sure enough, he’d let her out just at the edge of the park, and she riffled through her purse to pull out some bills. She checked the meter, then gave the man his money.

  “Thank you,” she said, holding her jacket, purse and camera in her arms as she stepped out of the cab and onto the sidewalk. She looked around and took in a deep breath, then let it out in a heavy sigh. “Now, to find the man I need.”

  Central Park was a pretty large area. Camila had been surprised when she heard it was where she’d be having the interview, instead of one of his many offices, or even his main office. Then she was told it was his idea to have the interview somewhere outside, and it made her curious of this man. She had stared at pictures of him long enough she was pretty sure she could find him easily in the crowd, and there was an agreed spot for them to meet. She’d been to Central Park before, so she knew exactly where to go.

  Because this was for work, Camila had made an effort to dress up. Usually, she was in t-shirts or flannel shirts, and thick, khaki shorts or pants with boots, pretty much anything she could go on a hike in, but today, she was wearing a short, peach dress that fit her small but curvy frame well. The dress had short sleeves and a modest neckline, falling to her knees, and she carried a long, beige trench coat in case she felt cold. Her blonde hair, which she usually wore up in a ponytail or a bun, was left down today, and it floated around in the breeze, tickling her face and neck.

  Camila was aiming to make a good impression. All for the sake of her job, of course.

  The only concession she didn’t make, was her camera. It was pretty big and bulky, with a huge lens to go with it, but of all the things she owned, it was her prized possession. She’d had the camera for three years already and she’d gone with it to all sorts of important adventures and job tasks, it took the best pictures, not to mention it had cost quite a pretty penny so she took its maintenance seriously.

  As she walked around, to get rid of some of her nervous energy, she brought the camera’s strap around her neck, then framed the camera with her hands. This was where she was most comfortable, looking at the world behind her camera, and she snapped a few shots of random things as she went to the appointed meeting place. She couldn’t use them for work, but she did have her own portfolio where she kept her own private pictures. When she was really tight for money, she’d look for sites to sell the photos, and it had been a surprise how well they sold. Then again, she’d come a long way from being a rookie photographer.

  As she got closer to the meeting point, she lowered her camera and looked around for Kane. They were meeting close to a big fountain, in an area covered in grass and trees. It was fall so the ground was littered with leaves in burnt fall colors. There were several benches spaced around so they would have plenty of privacy. The place was pretty quiet and tranquil, and even though it was a weekend, there weren’t so many people moving around that it would be disruptive to their interview. Which was good, because Camila liked to use a tape recorder instead of writing things down like some people still did. Then, she would listen to the recording afterwards and add her own comments before typing out an article.

  Where is he? Or am I early?

  Camila checked her wristwatch to confirm that she was pretty much on time. She was actually a minute early, but she didn’t know if the man she was meeting would be punctual or not.

  Then, she saw him. And, she was surprised.

  Wow.

  Kane hadn't seen her yet, but he was walking toward a bench just in front of her. She slowed her steps as her mind blanked out a little bit.

  For one, he was dressed casually in a long-sleeved t-shirt, dark slacks and casual shoes, and a scarf wrapped around his neck. The t-shirt was the perfect fit for his muscular frame, the straight slacks emphasizing just how long his legs were. Camila was pretty short herself, and she was sure if she stood right next to him, she’d probably come up to his shoulder or chest. Because of her height, she’d met plenty of tall people so she wasn’t conscious of her height, but this was different. New York was fairly vast, but she’d never seen someone so tall this close to her before.

  Her hands rose instinctively, and she took a picture of him without thinking twice about it. The sound of the camera’s click caught his attention. He blinked, and shifted his focus to her, their eyes meeting. Camila felt her breath catch in her throat.

  Hot…damn.

  Samuel Kane had trimmed, jet black hair, tanned skin and green eyes, but just stating his characteristics that way made him sound like
a lot of other people in the country. She had known all of this from his picture already, but he was really attractive, and the intensity in those green eyes had her heart pounding and her insides tightening. She felt like she could just swoon from him looking at her, but of course she didn’t, because she was a professional.

  “Um,” she started, trying to get her cool back. “Sorry for taking your picture so suddenly. I’m Camila Blake, you’re Samuel Kane? I came here to meet you for the interview.”

  His eyes widened a little and she thought she saw some recognition in them. Then, his eyes darkened as he pressed his lips flat together and looked away. Camila bit down on her lip, worried for a moment. If she didn’t know any better, she would have said he looked embarrassed, but this was Samuel Kane. He was probably annoyed with her, and that didn’t bode well for the interview if she’d already pissed him off.

  “Sorry,” she said quickly. “I shouldn’t have sprung that on you, but I do need some photos.”

  He arched an eyebrow, eyes meeting hers once more. “I am aware you would need photos for your photoblog, Camila Blake, but at the very least, I like to think I deserve a warning?”

  “You do. And I promise I’ll warn you before taking any more pictures.” She even let go of her camera and let it dangle around her neck. She gestured at the bench with a hand and did her best to give a natural smile. “May we sit so we can go ahead with the interview? Unless you’d prefer to do this standing?”

  He didn’t say another word, but he did move to the bench and sat down at one end of it. He crossed one leg over the other and looked forward. Camila didn’t know if she was being ignored, but she took it as her cue to stare at his face all she wanted.

  Damn, he’s really good looking. Then the rumors about him…could they be true? I would believe them, with looks like that, not to mention his wealth, women probably throw themselves at him left and right.

  “Miss Blake?”

  Camila startled a bit, surprised to find his eyes staring at her.

  “Ah,” she murmured, moving too quickly to sit beside him. “Sorry about that.”

  Her face was warm, and she just knew she was blushing. She wanted to leave him with a lasting impression, call it her pride as a woman or whatever, but she didn’t want his impression to be of someone so clumsy. She folded her coat over her lap, then pulled her tape recorder out.

  “I like to record my interviews,” she said, looking up at him. “Because my memory isn’t so good that I could follow it all, and I may not be able to write everything down, either. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “By all means, whatever makes you most comfortable,” Kane said.

  Even his voice is attractive, and especially this close, she thought.

  “Okay, then,” she said out loud, starting the recorder and placing it down between them. “Mr. Kane, may I please have your story? There are quite a few people interested in who Samuel Kane the man, and not the business mogul, really is.”

  His lips pursed as his eyes narrowed on her. “Well, to tell you the truth, there’s not much interesting about Samuel Kane the man.”

  “A lot of people would disagree with you,” she said with a smile. “Still, please only speak of whatever you’re comfortable with, no need to divulge any family secrets. But a bit about your background, maybe?”

  His reluctance was almost palpable. Camila could see just how badly this man didn’t want to talk about himself, and it made her wonder why he even agreed to this interview in the first place. Maybe because it was for a photoblog, so he wasn’t expecting any prying questions? Not that Camila had any. Or did he expect questions regarding his business life only? That wasn’t really what their blog was about, though, so he should have done some research.

  Kane was tight-lipped, and it took a bit of coaxing, before he finally opened his mouth and said what she was looking for.

  “There really isn’t that much,” he started. “I’m assuming you’ve done some research on me, but other than business, I don’t let details of my life outside the office leak out into the media. I’m not sure what you would like…”

  “Anything,” Camila said quickly. He looked so uncomfortable, like he would change his mind if she didn’t strike while the iron was hot, so she was eager to get something from him. Even something small would be more than anyone else had managed to get. “Maybe your family background, or even where you went to school. What you did before you ventured into business and such.”

  “Ah,” he nodded. “Well. Family background, huh… I won’t mention what school I went to, but I can start by saying that I enlisted a couple years after high school. I did go to college within that time, but I had to cut my studies short, in the end.”

  “You were in the army?” she said, surprised.

  “Yes, I was. For a number of years. Of course, I can't give you details on what happened while I served. On the family side…my parents weren’t entirely happy with my enlistment, but they went along with whatever I wanted to do. Sadly, they passed away several years ago, and I had two siblings to look after, so I came back. A younger brother and sister.”

  “They must have been devastated,” she murmured. “As I’m sure you were, too.”

  “It was a hard time for all of us…”

  Camila watched him in rapt attention as he spoke a little more about his family situation, and his time in the army. Even though she reacted to the words he said in all the appropriate ways, speaking up where needed, she wasn’t listening, at least not entirely. She was only taking in his words on the surface, but her mind was completely different.

  So glad I chose to go with the tape recorder! If I’d trusted my mind, or tried written notes, I would have tanked this interview…

  Camila knew she should act more professional, but she couldn’t help it. Maybe it was because she’d spent so long staring at his picture, but seeing him in real life made her even more fixated on this man. Samuel Kane was too attractive for his own good, or hers, and if this hadn't been an official meeting, she might have even tried…flirting a little bit.

  It had been a while since Camila tried flirting with anybody.

  Still, her body unconsciously gave her away. She would tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, her fingers lingering at her throat. She would cross her legs one way, then the other, causing her dress and the coat on her lap to raise up a bit and flash some thigh. Even when she noticed she kept doing it, she didn’t stop, her heart beating nervously the entire time.

  Only, it ended in disappointment for her, because while he kept his eyes on hers as he talked, occasionally looking away or getting lost in thought, he didn’t once look at the rest of her. Camila sighed as she picked up her camera, once she was out of questions for him and Kane had run out of things to say.

  “Now that the spoken part of it is over, may I please take a few photos?”

  “How do you want me?” he asked.

  Camila froze for a second, all sorts of thoughts going through her mind, before she metaphorically shook them off.

  “Um, just act natural. You can look at me, or look at the camera. Even away is good.”

  Kane leaned back on the bench, throwing his arm on the back of it. With his legs crossed, and him looking right at her with his other arm folded in his lap, he looked delectably relaxed. Camila sighed as she took several shots, even as her heart skipped a few beats.

  “Okay, now if you could please…” she continued to direct, asking him to shift in different poses so she could get several angle shots, each one practically stabbing her in the chest because it was so perfect.

  Anyway, what was I expecting? That someone like that could possibly be interested in me?

  Camila knew she was somewhat attractive. She didn’t turn many heads, but she’d been told plenty of times by men that she cleaned up well when she paid attention to her looks. Still, it was probably too fantastical to expect Samuel Kane to look twice at her with anything resembling attraction, or even the slightest inte
rest.

  “Thank you, Mr. Kane, I think I have enough,” she said after a few minutes. She looked at the camera’s screen, scrolling through some of the photos. They all looked perfect, and she couldn’t wait to get back to her computer so she could look at them all properly. “I’d like to thank you for cooperating with me on this interview. I hope I didn’t inconvenience you with the time, or make you uncomfortable with any of the questions.”

  “It’s all completely fine,” he said reassuringly. “I have no prior engagements for today, and as for the questions, I can only hope I gave you something useful?”

  “Very useful, thank you.”

  She shot him a smile, then let go of her camera, as she moved closer to the bench once more to pick up her coat and her purse.

  “Well, I guess this is it. I need to go back and write the article. Someone will be in contact with you before it’s published so you and your people can take a look at the content, and nothing will be going up on the blog without your express approval.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Kane said, standing up. “Though, I would really appreciate it if you would call me Samuel, Miss Blake. I’m afraid, even after all this time, hearing Mr. Kane reminds me too much of my late father.”

  “Oh,” she breathed out. “I’m sorry. Samuel.”

  “No worries. The loss of my parents is something I can't escape, after all.”

  Camila stood with her things in her arms, feeling a little awkward as she thought of how to back out of this. Just say goodbye and leave? Or would that be rude? This wasn’t the first interview she’d ever done, and usually she knew what she was doing, but she didn’t get to meet men this attractive so easily, either.