“All right, just for a moment,” I relented, sliding out of the back seat of the car and then holding open the hotel door for her.
She made a real show of it once we were inside. She insisted on ordering drinks, though I didn’t touch mine. I didn’t drink anything other than water this close to a race, but she didn’t seem to care. She sipped on her cocktail and then leaned close with an easy smile.
“This isn’t so bad, right?”
A chill ran down my spine. I should’ve realized earlier that her easy smile was something more manipulative.
I shrugged. “What is it you wanted to talk about? I’ve really got to get back.”
I wanted to text Andie and tell her it would be a little longer than I’d expected, but I wasn’t going to text her when I was sitting this close to Caroline. I’d already been able to tell she suspected something when I mentioned my manager in the car.
“I just know you’re under a lot of stress right now, and I want to make sure you’ve thought everything through—breaking off the betrothal, I mean.”
She played with the rim of her glass, slowly swirling her fingertip along the edge. It gave off a piercing ring, just barely noticeable. I reached forward and gripped her hand to force her to stop.
She laughed. “Sorry, old habit.”
I let go of her hand and sat back. “I’m going to be very honest with you, Caroline. I’m not ready to get married. Half of my stress is thanks to my mother insisting that we push forward with the betrothal without my consent. You don’t want to marry a man who’s not in love with you, do you?”
Her smile fell like I’d just wounded her. “We could fall in love.”
My gut clenched with the amount of sincerity in her voice. She really thought we could work out. How had I missed that before? That subtle desperation in her voice?
“I’m not—I won’t ever—be in love with you,” I said. Clear and concise.
She inhaled sharply, as if my blade had finally pierced her skin. All at once, she leaned back in her chair and dropped the innocent mask. It was like watching a snake shed its skin, the way her smile twisted into something sour and her kind eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“Right, well just remember that I offered the easy way. Tell me, Frederick: do you love Andie, or do you love the fact that she’s been spreading her legs for you every five seconds?”
I scraped my chair away from the table and stood. “Leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with my decision.”
“No Frederick, I don’t think I will.” She was so calm then, running her finger along the rim of the glass once again. The high-pitched sound was back, forcing my hands into fists by my side. “The moment you picked her over me, you made that impossible.”
“What do you want?” I growled.
She picked her hand up off the glass and reached for the end of my tie, feeling the material between her fingers. “What I’ve always wanted.”
Her gaze flashed up to lock with mine.
“You.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Andie
I STAYED UP late waiting for Freddie. I tried his phone a few times and even left a message with Georgie (she’d loaded her number in after our tour of the village), but she hadn’t heard from him either. I was close to calling the police or alerting the officials, but he finally texted me back just before midnight.
Freddie: I promised you I would handle this situation, and I will. Get some sleep, we’ll talk tomorrow. XX
I clutched my phone to my chest and read as deeply into his message as those two little Xs would allow. He still wanted me; Caroline hadn’t convinced him otherwise.
I went to bed and dreamt of Caroline’s contorted smile staring back at me in the mirror. I woke up three times throughout the night, jarring myself out of nightmares that never seemed to end. By the time I was awake for good, it was thirty minutes before my alarm was due to sound. I turned it off and wiped the sleep from my eyes. I didn’t bother brushing my teeth or looking in the mirror. I went straight out into the living room to brew some coffee so it’d be ready by the time Kinsley and Becca finally forced themselves out bed. I was halfway to the kitchen counter when I saw a few newspaper pages lying just inside the doorway. They were scattered as though someone had stuffed them beneath the door one at a time. I walked toward it hesitantly and paused when I saw the headline that ran in bold font across the top of the page closest to me. It was just as she had threatened.
Olympic-Sized Affair Leaves Archibald in Hot Water
Fiancée-to-be Devastated to Learn he is “Fostering” International Relations
My knees buckled and I collapsed there, pulling the newspaper onto my lap. Caroline had slipped a note on top, just below the headline.