“I’m so happy for you. Could you excuse me? I want to make sure I don’t miss the bidding window.”
“Of course! But the Pink Star is mine. Marcel already promised it to me.” It takes so much for me to not roll my eyes at her.
Picking up the hem of my black gown, I march over to the bar, the only destination that will keep me calm enough to get through this nightmare.
“Chardonnay, please.” Taking out a twenty, I put it inside the tip jar and accept the poured wine.
Making my way over to the doorway where the auction items are held, I pretend to be interested in things. I’m hoping no one will make an appearance and expect conversation. I just need to put my name on a few things and hope I win one.
The Pink Star stands out amongst the other trinkets. Almost sixty carats of beautiful pink diamond set in a simple platinum setting. It’s enough to make your mouth water.
“It’s beautiful,” a voice behind me says. My spine stiffens and the wine glass nearly slips from my grasp. This can’t be happening.
“What are you doing here?” I say, spinning around to face Carson, but it isn’t the Carson I know. This Carson has stepped out of a GQ magazine. It’s an expensive Carson. A Carson who’s wearing a $100,000 watch.
“I’m here for you.”
The whole world stands still. The air is sucked out of my lungs and the room gets really small.
“You aren’t supposed to be here. How did you even know I was going to be here?”
“Grant. He spoke to Royce. It wasn’t the way I wanted to leave things. I don’t want to things to be done between us.”
He takes a step toward me, and I take one back, almost knocking into the Pink Star case. All the fear I felt last night, the pain of letting him in, scoops me up and tries to get me to run away.
“Carson.” It’s a plea for him not to break me. I can’t handle losing someone else.
“It’s all right, Bliss. We’ll do it together, heal the rest of the way together. I don’t want to have this life without you.”
A breath rushes out of me, and all the fight leaves. All I needed was to see him again. He’s had my heart since tacos.
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
He takes the wine glass from my hand and places it on the top of the glass case of the Pink Star. Pulling me closer, he threads his hands through my hair and tilts my face to look up at him. All I see is love and caring and acceptance. Carson is accepting me for who I am.
“I love you,” he says, making my toes curl in my Louboutins.
His mouth slams onto mine. All the stress and everything I’ve been carrying around inside me evaporates. I open up to him, the connection setting my skin on fire. Everything in me lights up. If we don’t stop soon, I’m going to combust, burn until all that’s left of me is ash.
“Carson Stagg!” Marissa’s voice penetrates through our moment. I’ve never wanted to kill someone so much.
Carson seems confused. I see the recognition on his face, then the anger.
“It’s been forever. How are your parents? I heard about your brother, such a shame.” She continues on, word vomit flowing out of her mouth.
Carson stiffens beside me, and I can tell something deeper is going on. Looking between them, it connects in my mind. The reason she knows him. He’s a part of this world. The richest of the rich. Everything he claims to hate.
“You’re a Stagg?” I ask, dropping his hand and searching his face. Everything that we shared feels like a lie. He judged me and treated me like trash in the beginning, when all along he’s been part of this world.
“I was going to tell you. It’s why I left L.A. One of the reasons . . . Bliss, let me explain.”
Marissa’s face is tight as she realizes that there are things going on that she can’t understand. “I think I’m going to go.”
She twirls and heads over to a man waiting at the doorway. Carson and I are left alone with a few strangers and the gaping hole between us.
“Let’s go somewhere private and talk.” He tries to guide me toward a side room but I pull away. The beautiful moment we just shared has been shattered by the lie he held between us.
“Did you know who I was when we met?”
He hesitates and sucks in a breath. “Yes.”
The world tilts. It’s all too much. I feel like I’m suffocating.
“Don’t follow me,” I growl and march toward the door, pushing past Marissa and her husband.
“Bliss!”
I don’t stop. I can’t be here with him like this. He’s a liar. Just like everyone else. The night air whispers on my skin as I scan the parking lot for my driver. He’s sitting on the hood of the car, cigarette in hand.
When he sees me, he tosses the butt aside and opens my door. “Sorry, Ms. Meyer. I didn’t realize we were leaving so soon.”
“No worries, Sam. Just get me the fuck out of here.” I slide into the seat, taking the first breath since I’ve left Carson. How could I have been so stupid?
For once in my life, I believed being myself was okay—Carson let me believe that—and now I find out he isn’t who he was. He’s a spoiled rich heir, same as me, except he ran from his pain. I drowned mine in alcohol.
There’s no coming back from this. Regardless of what he says or does, I never knew the real Carson. The wounds rip open as I stare out into the night, watching my whole life crumble.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CARSON
I clutch the bracelet box inside my coat pocket. I hadn’t planned on Bliss finding out that way. The infectious barnacle that is Marissa has been a pain in my ass since we were kids.
Our parents are friends but only in
