Page 8 of Cruel Heir

“Because of the way your virgin ass was saying that. Geez, Eloisa,” he uttered without glancing at me. Instead, his eyes were focused on the menu that the waiter handed to him.

I gave my order without looking at the menu so that the waiter could leave at once. “Okay, first off, I’m not a virgin,” I told Nick once we were alone again.

“I don’t want to know that!” he hissed, covering his ears.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Secondly, it was just a kiss, and I’m not sure what—”

Nick’s judging gaze stopped me mid-sentence. “Yeah, I knew something like this was going to happen,” he stated.

I sighed. “There wasn’t— I mean, I didn’t expect it, but he was just so different, and I—”

“Eloisa, as much as I want to believe you about that, he’s a Carson. We all know that they’re greedy vultures, so how sure are you that Keith wasn’t getting closer to you for his politics?”

Now, that was something that I hadn’t thought of before. I was just so overwhelmed inside the romantic bubble that I created, desperately wanting to keep my life out of Bilbao separated from my life here. I assumed that the same thing happened with Keith as well.

“His father kicked him away. I highly doubt that,” I responded, refusing to believe what my brother said.

“Yeah, but he’s back – that’s confirmed,” Nick argued.

I couldn’t reply. I felt sad and hurt. My emotions must be evident, as my brother patted my hand on the table.

“What I’m trying to say is,” he continued, “Just stay away from him. It’s not because business is involved or because that’s what Father wants you to do. Stay away from him because I know his type, Eloisa. Keith Carson will hurt you.”

I took a deep breath and nodded understandingly. “I will not let this bother me. It’ll be as if he never existed,” I uttered, trying to reassure my brother.

He only smiled in return. The waiter came back with our food, and we ate in silence for a moment.

“How’s everything going back in town?” I asked after a couple of bites.

“Not so bad, not so good. I’m leaving in three days, so it’s better for me.” Nick shook his hands around, mocking joy. “However, Keith did kill a presumable traitor on Friday just before he came back to Bilbao. It was a power play or something.”

My heart sank further. Maybe Nick was right about it all, and the only thing I needed to be worried about was myself.

“I didn’t know that,” I mumbled.

Nick perhaps heard the discomfort in my voice as he was quick to change the topic to his college. But the damage had already been done – Keith Carson occupied my mind.

Oh, Keith, what in the holy hell are you up to?

*****

Keith

My father was not as awful as he had been the last time I left.Or maybe I was too busy visiting the factories. I barely had time to interact with anyone since my previous encounter with Isabel.

I decided to leave the latter thought alone. The baby wouldn’t be here any time soon, and I would take care of this thing. After our conversation, Isabel kept to herself and stayed away from everything. The only time I saw her in the past two days was when she was leaving for her doctor’s appointment.

Isabel was afraid, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I didn’t want to cause her trouble, so I decided to back off and let her know about it. A few feet away from the master’s bedroom, though, Beth stepped in front of me.

“She’s not well,” the tiny blonde said.

I couldn’t help but glare down at her. “This will only take a minute.” I was annoyed, so I moved her to the side and opened the door quickly.

Beth followed me clumsily. “I’m sorry, Lady Carson, I tried—”

“I just want to talk,” I told Isabel.

I saw her sitting on the bed. Her messy hair hung around her face; her face was pale. If someone did not know she was expecting, they would think she was ill.

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