Page 107 of Unapologetic Obsession

I quickly grabbed her wrist. “Do you know that guy?”

She gave me a befuddled look. “No. I’m guessing he’s a guest.”

Despite the queasy feeling in my stomach, I slowly released her hand. “Watch out for him.” I had no way of confirming whether Caden was referring to Rose, and Kai wanted to mess with Amelie’s finances. So, I kept my explanation nondescript. “He got into it with Caden earlier. I just have a bad feeling about him.”

“Okay. Hey, let’s meet up tomorrow. I’m excited to catch up now that you’re remembering things,” she said, her eyes brightening.

Before she could leave, I couldn’t help pressing her about one more thing. I didn’t think my curiosity could wait until tomorrow. “Actually, I have one more question.”

“Yeah?”

“How did Caden end up being my doctor? How did he even know I was at the hospital?”

Amelie gave me a bemused look. “Dr. Maxwell was with you when the accident happened. He was the one who rushed you to the university hospital.”

Chapter

Thirty-Five

ROSE

I wasn’t surprisedto turn around and find Caden at my side.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said, his voice soft, and the tone casual.

No, he hadn’t been, because he knew exactly where I was. Linda would have made sure of it. He deliberately gave Amelie and me space, knowing she was Team Caden and would push me toward him.

“I was catching up with Amelie.”

His apprehensive blue eyes traced my face, trying to decode my mood. Cornering someone into an engagement was morally gray at best, though there was no admission of guilt or remorse in his expression. I expected as much. Empathy didn’t seem to be a part of his personality. According to him, he was always on the right trajectory; others merely needed to accommodate. He was only concerned about how the path he chose for us affected our dynamic.

A part of me wanted to lash out at him for his manipulations. Another part of me felt guilty for rejecting him for his own brother. But the biggest part of me clung to Amelie’s words about how Caden had rushed me to the hospital, refusing toleave my side. Something twisted inside my heart at the thought of this unfeeling man pining for me at my bedside.

My heart told me to go with him.

My brain told me he was bad news and to run for the hills.

In the end, I went with my heart.

Extending my hand, I laced our fingers. The familiar sparks ran up and down my arm at the contact.

Suspicious eyes watched our adjoined hands. “I wasn’t expecting the warm reception.”

“What were you expecting?”

“Anger.” He seemed skeptical. A normal person would have scathed him.

I shrugged. “I’ll admit. Some heads-up would’ve been nice for my own engagement. But you know, lemons, lemonade. If you had asked, I probably would’ve saidyesanyway, and I like jewelry.” I glanced at the glittering blue diamond on my finger.

He remained guarded.

“Why did you spring an engagement on me in front of all those people?” I had an inkling about the answer, but I decided to ask anyway. “Why didn’t you just ask me to marry you?”

“It would’ve given you the opportunity to sayno.”

Direct and blunt as always.

It only confirmed my suspicions that I had rebuffed his advances so cruelly that he felt his only option was to trick me into a relationship. The fact that I had done it out of misplaced love for his twin made it worse. Though it no longer mattered, I wanted to ease the agony of the past.