Page 58 of The Princess Trap
If he was surprised to find the blankets turned down—as if waiting for him to appear and slip inside—he didn’t say anything. He just lay there. He was going to let her speak first. He was going to let her dictate the tone of this midnight meeting.
So, since she was being weak and all, she said, “Tell me about Kathryn.”
He paused. Then she felt movement beside her as he… shrugged? Maybe. That would fit the vague tone of his voice as he said, “We slept together. Repeatedly. It was fun, until it wasn’t.”
“You got bored of her?”
“Yes,” he said dryly. “Like a child with a toy. I gotboredof an entire woman. That sounds just like me.”
She smiled into the dark. “Sorry. You are a prince.”
“Hardly.”
“Definitely,” she said firmly. “Don’t let anyone convince you that your birthright is in question.”
When he replied, he sounded surprised but pleased. Like an early sunrise, unexpected warmth slowly dawning. “Cherry Pie,” he said. “Have you come over all monarchist?”
“Well, no. But as long as you weirdos aren’t running the country—”
“Charming, I’m sure.”
“—I see no reason for anyone to deny the reality of who you are. Your existence is just as valid as your brother’s and your sister’s.”
For a moment, he was quiet. She started to worry that, in the midst of her unexpected passion on this topic, she’d said the wrong thing. But then his hand came groping towards hers in the dark, bumping against her hip, her shoulder, her forearm. She helped him out and slid her palm into his. He squeezed. He didn’t let go.
“Kathryn and I had a disagreement with regard to the, ah, future of our arrangement. She wanted something moreserious. I didn’t. We argued. It wasn’t over—not in my mind, anyway. But clearly it was in hers. She invited me over, initiated our usual… activities. Encouraged me to be particularly vocal throughout, not that I noticed at the time. It was only after, when I came home, that I found out she’d recorded the whole thing. Live. It’s all the rage on social media. There wasn’t much to see in the video, but there was plenty to hear, and she’d added a few helpful comments. Enough to convince the world of my… perversions.”
If that last word sparked an inappropriate flare of curiosity in Cherry’s gut, it was overpowered by the wave of outrage she felt as she processed that information. “What the fuck? That’s horrible. Really fucking horrible. When was this?”
“About eight months ago. Most of the attention died down recently, but…” Ruben laughed. The sound was bitter. “It’ll certainly stay with me for a while.”
“I see. Is that why, when we were caught together…”
He sighed. “I don’t know. I thought I’d gotten over it. Weathered the storm and whatever. But when I saw that camera I felt like I was choking.”
“Jesus. I’m sorry.” Cherry bit her lip, her stomach twisting. “Kathryn sounds like a fucking delight.”
Ruben squeezed her hand. “I can feel you fuming over there.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said brightly.
“I have a theory,” he said, his voice mild, “that under the right circumstances, you would be capable of murder. Ishould add that this aspect of your personality is one I appreciate.”
She huffed out a laugh. “Good to know. I can count on your support at my trial then?”
“Cherry.” She could hear the smile in his voice, saw him in her mind’s eye shaking his head. “Listen. As easy as it would be to let you think that I’m the victim... I’m not. I deserve everything Kathryn did to me.”
She frowned. His words made no sense, but his voice was steady. She sensed his unease in the way his hand curled around hers, the way the mattress shifted as he fidgeted. He was serious. He really believed that he deserved it. As if anyone could ever deserve it.
“Ruben,” she said, her voice soft. This was a tone reserved for delicate things, the injured and afraid, but she used it with a man as big as a mountain because he needed it.
People are many things at once; that’s the beauty of humanity.
“I’m assuming,” she said carefully, “That byperversionsyou mean—”
“Kinks,” he interrupted, his voice clipped. “And bisexuality. And… no, I think that’s it.”
Cherry swallowed, her chest tightening as she imagined what that would be like. To have your private self exposed to a nation already slavering to tear you apart. She was starting to think that back in England, when he’d dragged her into his mess, when he’d trapped her and tied her to him… he’d somehow been trying to protect her. Wasn’t that a novel fucking idea?
