“Stop,” I say, shoving against him. “Stop.” He leans in to kiss me and oh God, Rick said don’t let him kiss me. And I don’t want him to kiss me. I turn my head. “I don’t feel well.”
“I’ll make you feel better.” His hand cups my backside and squeezes. The air charges and that’s exactly what I expect Rick to do: charge. Desperation fills me and I lift a knee that lands in his groin. He grunts and doubles over. “What the fuck, Candace?” he growls, holding his groin and glaring at me. “What the fuck?”
“I’m sick. I told you that.”
He straightens and scowls. “So you kneed me? Really, Candace?”
“Would you rather me have thrown up on you? And trying to feel me up at a charity event isn’t any more presidential than when you—” I stop myself before I say “fucked your campaign manager.”
“Than when I what?” he snaps.
“Cursed at me,” I say quickly. “I’m sick. I needed air and you were groping me like a teenager, not a future president. Unless you plan to be one of the ones who settles between every woman’s legs like it’s your right.”
“What? Why would you even say that? You’re sick and talking crazy. Holy hell. You’re not pregnant, are you? Because if you are—”
“I’m sick and you attacked me, which means I’m crazy and pregnant? Are you really serious right now?”
“I didn’t attack you.”
“Who are you right now?” I demand. “And for the record, I’m not pregnant. I’m on birth control.”
“There’s still a chance. You need to take a test.”
“So glad you’re worried about me,” I snap, crossing my arms in front of me. If Rick didn’t already know something was up with me and Gabriel, he knows now. “Of course, though. I’ll take the test. To put your mind at ease.”
“Holy hell,” Gabriel murmurs and then steps in front of me, his hands coming down on my arms, his touch having now become darn near revolting. “A baby is a good thing.”
Spoken in front of Rick Savage. The man has no idea how hard he’s trying to end up dead. Or how much I need to speak to the other man in the vicinity right now. And I do with my response. “We aren’t married, Gabriel,” I say, “and I’m not ready for kids,” I remind him.
“I’m just telling you that I wouldn’t be unhappy. We’d just have to rush the wedding.”
And there it is. The reason he’s all about me being pregnant. He needs to control my father, and he feels like I need to be locked down before he acts against him. Bastard.
“I’m sorry, buttercup,” he adds.
Buttercup.
I thought that was an endearment. Now I see it as a pet’s name. That’s what I am: his pet.
Candy is different.
It’s about pleasure. It’s about Rick finding me sexy, making me feel sexy. My God, I’m comparing my fiancé to my ex-fiancé, but why is this new? I’ve compared every man to Rick.
“The pressure is wearing on me,” Gabriel continues. “I took it out on you. I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
God, I hope not. I hope Rick really has a plan to get rid of him that doesn’t include killing him, of course. Rick being a hired killer is hard to get my head around.
“Don’t you have a speech to give?” I ask, trying to end this encounter with Gabriel before it becomes an encounter with Rick and Gabriel at the same time. “We need to get back downstairs.”
“Right.” He glances at his watch. “We need to get back down there. Are you coming? I’d like to have you by my side. I’m always better with you by my side.”
A statement he makes often. It used to please me, but now I know that it’s just another way to call me his pet. “I’m okay right now. Let’s go before that changes or someone thinks we’re up to no good.”
He gives a wicked laugh and starts walking, dragging his fake sick fiancée with him. And I am fake sick. I’m also his fake fiancée. Rick knows. He knows and he’s going to want answers. And I have until I leave this party to decide if I’m going to trust him. The problem is that I’m not sure what I decide here and now matters. That man vowed to make me fall for him and I did. He’s my kryptonite. If he wants to make me trust him, he’ll come at me like the bull he is, and he won’t stop coming until he has what he wants. And I’m not sure yet what that is. Maybe it’s me, but even if it is, for how long?
***
Savage
I grab the balcony and hold tight, because that’s the only way I’m going to stop myself from beating Gabriel’s ass, right here, right now, in this hotel. I imagine my hands on his neck. I imagine the many ways I could kill him and how much better this world would be without him. I wouldn’t regret getting rid of him, but I already know that’s going to be a problem for Candace. She’s got morals. I lost mine the day I left her behind.