Page 128 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

I grab her face and kiss the hell out of her.

She leans into me, and my whole body gets a good dose of tingles before she breaks away from me. I’ll need to concentrate on something other than her breasts pressed to my chest to get my body back to a normal temperature.

She grins, taking my hand again.

Outside, Lawrence stands by a police car. Kaiden is nowhere to be seen, but the older man looks over and smiles at me.

I shiver.

“Don’t worry about him,” Detective Masters says. “He’s been warned to stay out of Rose Hill, and I’d recommend both of you file a restraining order.”

I don’t bother telling him that there are plenty of people willing to do Lawrence’s handiwork.

“Is it okay if we go?” I ask.

He nods. “Stop by the station Monday to leave a statement. Both of you. We like things on the record around here.”

Maybe that’s a jab at me.

Riley and I go to our vehicles, but she surprises me by climbing into the passenger seat of the truck.

“Is this okay?” she asks. “I don’t trust myself to drive.”

I nod. We get on the road before she twists toward me.

“You said the notebook didn’t give Dad any new information?”

“Nothing he didn’t already know. Maybe it could’ve helped him if we had stuck with that strategy going into Courier’s trial, but we changed everything when we knew it might be compromised.” I scoff. “Dad told Lawrence it was nothing to be worried about, but he still blamed your family when his brother-in-law was found guilty. Clearly.”

She bites her lip.

“So…”

I sigh. “I won’t lie, it hurt that you did it. That’s what I was most pissed off about. You betrayed my confidence so easily, and you never even talked about why.”

“Because you were playing with me,” she whispers.

What?

I pull over to the side of the road so I can face her. “Run that by me again?”

“The whole time we were together. It was just you trying to feel something, wasn’t it? It wasn’t real. And then the funeral party, and the girl—”

I grab her hands. My blood is on fire, and I think my heart might gallop right out of my chest. “Stop. Just… stop.”

She blinks back tears.

“Riley Appleton, the only thing I was feeling last year was love.” I touch her chin when she drops her face and avoids my gaze.

Slowly, she looks back at me.

“I was in love with you. I didn’t say it because I was terrified of those emotions, and we were both using each other to stay happy. Whoever wanted us apart was probably a manipulative bitch, don’t you think?”

I can only imagine who fed her lies.

She sighs. “You loved me.”

Here’s the kicker: “I still do.”