Page 59 of Royal Omega

“Conrad,” I say without turning around. “You’re going to come and help.”

There’s a long pause, during which I can practically hear my heart pounding, begging him to trust me enough to come along.

“All right,” he says in a low voice.

I can feel his eyes on me as we walk toward the van. It’s so intense that I can feel myself getting warm, slick building between my legs. My heat is close, there’s no question about that, and maybe it’s not the smartest thing to invite Conrad to join me in an enclosed, private space, but we need to talk, and I don’t want to wait until later to do it.

As soon as the door closes behind him, I blurt out, “I think my mother set us up.”

It’s dark in here, with only the light from the glow of a small, flickering tv screen, and some flashing buttons. But even in this low light, I can see the look of skepticism on Conrad’s face. “Set us up how?” he asks.

“She never liked you.” I close my eyes, shaking my head. “I mean... it’s on her, not you, but she didn’t think you were good enough or some shit. I think she decided that we shouldn’t be together.”

He studies me for a moment, his eyes dark in the low light of the van. I can’t tell what he’s thinking. It’s killing me that I can’t tell.

I turn my back to him and start unbuttoning my dress. I’ll have to change quickly, and multi-tasking seems like the best way to do it, even if it means being more vulnerable in front of Conrad than I would like.

“What are you saying, Carissa?” he asks finally.

Glancing over my shoulder, I reply, “I’m saying that I didn’t leave you. I didn’t disappear on you, and I definitely didn’t want you to go to Iceland. But you know whowouldwant that?”

“Your mother?” Conrad says doubtfully.

“You don’t believe me.”

Conrad shrugs, leaning back against the door of the van. “I think there’s ample reason to believe that you did, in fact, do something to ruin my life. I’m not willing to just accept a new theory without proof.”

I finish unbuttoning the dress and slide it down over my waist. “If I had my phone, I would show you the emails I wrote to you. Tons of them. The calls I sent.”

“And why didn’t they go through, exactly?” Conrad asks, sounding like he doesn’t believe a word of what I’m saying.

Irritated, I spin around to face him. “I don’t know, she must have set up something on your email so they bounced back, or she had one of her cronies do something to my account. She’s perfectly capable of it. I didn’t even know your parents had died. I don’t know how she managed to keep that from me, but she did.”

Conrad’s gaze drops to my breasts. Fair enough; I’m standing in front of him in a bra and panties. Cursing inwardly, I reach for my bag and pull out my change of clothes. Of course the buttons are all fastened on the dry dress, so I have to unbutton them before I can pull it on.

“If you think she’s so capable of manipulation, why didn’t you think of this before?” he asks.

“I should have,” I reply, fumbling awkwardly with the buttons. “I should have fucking thought of it. But for years, I thought it was you who left me. Just, without a word, you were gone. Finding out that you thought I did the same thing to you... it seemed so impossible. It felt like... maybe you were just tormenting me? Pretending that I did something mean to you to make yourself feel better about abandoning me?”

Conrad growls and advances on me, stepping into my space. The darkness in his gaze surprises me, and my fingers slip, dropping the dress to the floor. “Hear this, Carissa Castle. Back then, I would never have abandoned you. Not for anything. Not for anyone.”

I blink, staring up at him through unshed tears. “How can you have loved me so much and yet refuse to trust me?”

He grabs hold of my shoulders, gripping me tightly. “Because you aren’t who I thought you were, Carissa. You aren’t that person. You’re someone else. Someone dangerous. Someone I can’t let myself trust again. Because if I do...” He stops talking, his breathing ragged as he stares down at me. My whole being is aching for him.

“What would happen?” I whisper, my voice cracking with emotion. I lay my hands on his chest, feeling his heart pound in time with mine. “What would happen if you trusted me?”

“I would be ruined, Carissa. Can’t you understand that? You would fucking ruin me.”

And then, with a curse, he leans down and kisses me.

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