Page 156 of Lush

“Wasn’t our kiss good?”

I swallowed. “Was there a reason you had to pull that?”

“You’re going to be my wife,” Conrad said. “What do you think we’re going to do on the wedding day?”

“About that?—”

“Look, look.” Conrad raised his hands. “I haven’t been the most charming version of myself. I understand. You’re not a bad-looking woman, Laurene. But let’s just keep any of that pushback and back talk to a minimum in our…arrangement.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

He exhaled angrily, like I was exhausting him.

“I’m going to have it all. A mansion, a high-paying job, abeautiful wife—and I’m going to hate every second of it.” His lip twisted up. “I’ll hate waking up in that house to greet my nosy neighbors, hate driving to my soul-sucking job, and especially hate going home to you every night. You’ll leave me leftovers in the fridge and kiss me good-night before bed, and I will stay up every night wondering how to escape this fucking limbo.”

I straightened.

“But guess what?” He got super close, and I smelled alcohol on his breath. “We’ll do it. I’ve…made some mistakes. But that’s being fixed. This is my life, and I’m staying here. Because if we don’t act together, that fucks up everything I’ve done and am trying to fix. And, Laurene, I don’t let anyone fuck up my plans.”

A cold sweat broke out along my spine. “Then don’t do it.”

He cocked his head. “What?”

I breathed slowly. “You just said it yourself. You don’t want this. Why don’t you just walk away?”

Wasn’t this exactly what we needed? Was Reese right? Would it really be that easy?

“You think I can?” he asked. “Laurene, sweetheart, this isn’t about you. It’s not even about me.”

I frowned. “Then what is it about?”

“That is all I have.”

“What does that mean?” I asked carefully.

He shrugged. “It means the money, the power, the family name—it’s all tied to this. You, me, the pretty little life our parents arranged for us. I thought I didn’t want it. But I do. I change my mind, and I can fix things and if I can’t, somebody has to take the fall.”

Go ahead, tell him.

“You know, Conrad, I’m starting to understand why you’re so desperate to keep this engagement.”

He squinted, but said nothing.

I leaned in, keeping my voice calm. “You’ve been stealing Reese’s ideas. And you’ve been getting away with it.”

For the first time, I saw a flicker of something in his eyes—a little tension, a slight tightening of his jaw.

“How did you find out?”

“Why? You and Reese could work together and be something?—”

“I don’tneedhis ideas. Hell, I don’t even need him. The only reason he’s still right there for now is because it’ll look bad if I throw him on his ass. Is that all you know?”

I held my ground, refusing to let him break me. “You think I’m just going to sit back and let you ruin him?”

“Why are you worried about my brother? Is it?—”

He recoiled, his eyes wide with shock as he figured it all out.

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