“They’re your rivals,” she said, relief beginning to spread through her. “You swear that you’re innocent?”
“I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with either of them disappearing,” he said, shaking his head. “Thomas is just trying to stir up trouble, the Kappas are famous for that, along with a lot of other things.”
For the first time since her stepfather had told her what she was going to be doing, Rose felt the guilt lifting from her shoulders. Now she could tell Chet that Malcolm and his friends weren’t involved. She was done spying, done lying to him, and for the first time since they’d met, she could just be herself. The nightmare was over, she’d done what Chet had asked, her sister would be safe, and she could get on with her life.
A part of her wondered if she could get away with never telling Malcolm the truth about why she was there, but her conscience told her differently, and she knew that before they could move on, she’d have to tell him. It wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation; there was little doubt that he would be mad, and rightfully so, but she just hoped that he would forgive her when she explained.
Looking over at him, she opened her mouth to start the conversation, but he already looked exhausted. She didn’t want to add to it. There was no hurry, the truth would still be there in the morning. Then they could truly have the fresh start that they’d talked about, no secrets between them, no lies standing in their way, everything would work out, and for the first time in her life, she might actually be happy.
“I’m so glad, I didn’t think it was true,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “You just don’t seem like the kind of guy who could be tangled up in something like that.”
“Let’s go home and forget about the whole thing,” Malcolm said, squeezing her hand. “It’s been a long day, I just want to crawl into bed and sleep for a week.”
CHAPTER 15
***MALCOLM***
Malcolm still felt that strange tension coming from Rose as they walked toward the truck, but he chalked it up to a very long day and Thomas’s attempts to get to him. The worst part was that it had worked. He knew that he needed to talk to Rose, tell her the truth about what he was, but he’d never taken a risk like that before, and he wanted to make completely sure she was the right one before he did. The problem was that the weird vibe he kept getting from her was keeping him from taking that leap, leaving them in some strange middle ground, and he wasn’t quite sure what he needed to take that next step.
When Thomas stepped out from between two cars into their path, he knew it wasn’t more harassment from his enemy, but he could see by the look on the other man’s face that they were in for some more. Rose stiffened beside him, and he put his arm around her and pulled her closer, but tried to keep walking, hoping Thomas would just go away. He let them pass by, a look of smug amusement on his face, then started to follow them, whistling a happy song.
It was all he could do not to turn and smash his fist into Thomas’s face, but he took one step after another, wishing he’dparked the truck closer. “Memory is a funny thing, sometimes you remember something right away and sometimes it takes a while,” he finally said. “I was sure that I’d met Rose before, and wouldn’t you know it, I have. It just took all this time for me to remember who she is.”
He heard Rose gasp and looked over at her, surprised to find that her face had gone pale. “What’s he talking about?” he asked, warning bells going off in his head.
“Oh, so she didn’t tell you?” Thomas asked. “That’s interesting, and makes this even more amusing. Why don’t you tell him, sweetheart? Tell him who your stepfather is. I’m sure he’ll find it just as amusing as I do.”
“Malcolm, I was going to tell you,” Rose said, making his heart sink. “I didn’t have any choice. It wasn’t my idea to spy on you, he made me. Please let me explain.”
“Oh my God, this is even better than I thought it would be,” Thomas said, laughing. “Not only are you dating the daughter of your enemy, he sent her here to spy on you. I couldn’t have set you up better myself. Wait until everyone hears about this, you’re going to be so humiliated, you won’t be able to show your face in public.”
He grabbed Rose by the arm and pulled her away from Thomas, desperate to get away from him and his laughter, especially now that it felt like his world was crashing down around him. With each step he hoped that Rose would protest, that she’d tell him Thomas got it all wrong, but her silence told him something different.
“Rose, what’s going on?” he finally hissed at her. “Who is your stepfather? You talk about him all the time, but you’ve never mentioned his name.”
She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears, “I’m sorry, Malcolm, I didn’t know it would turn out like this, and even if Ihad, there really wasn’t anything else I could do,” she said. “I was getting ready to tell you, I was…then…well…”
“Who is he?” Malcolm asked, punctuating each word.
“Chet Carmichael,” she whispered. “But he’s not my father…he’s my stepfather and he…”
Betrayal, hot and bitter, filled his mouth. He spun around and walked away, afraid that he’d say or do something he’d regret, but Rose followed him. “Please, Malcolm, let me explain,” she said. “I didn’t want to do this, he threatened my sister, he was going to throw her out, he…”
“This is all about Diego and Sebastian, isn’t it?” he demanded, unable to look at her. “He sent you in here to try and find out what happened to them. I bet you were working with Thomas all along, I bet he was in on it.”
“I swear, I never met him until we came here, I don’t even know who he is,” Rose pleaded. “You have to believe me, I would never have done anything to hurt you. I was going to tell Chet that you and the other guys were innocent.”
He finally turned around and looked at her. “So, this whole thing was a setup from the very beginning?” he asked, bracing himself for the answer, but Rose didn’t answer. “I guess that’s my answer, I knew something was off. I’m such an idiot, I thought you cared about me.”
“I do care about you, and this has been eating me up inside,” she said. “Please, Malcolm, I know how angry you are, but just try to look at my side of things.”
“I can’t even look at you right now, let alone see your side,” he said, turning around again. “I think it might be better if you stayed somewhere else tonight. I’m not sure I want a spy under my roof.”
Rose let out a strangled sob. “I understand. I’ll call Vanessa, I’m sure she’ll come get me,” she said, then paused, but he didn’t budge, couldn’t bring himself to face her. “Okay, then. If youchange your mind and want to talk or something, you have my number.”
He listened to her footsteps going back the way they’d come, then turned and watched until she made it back into the bar. Heart feeling like it was going to break, he got into his truck, started it up and drove off, only realizing when he was halfway home that her stuff was still in the seat next to him. Resisting the urge to throw it out the window, he chucked it into the backseat, promising himself that he was done with women forever.
***Rose***
