The Billion Dollar Fiancé [#8]

Chapter 6

"Stephen and I kissed," Camilla said as she and Connor settled together on the couch in the living room to watch a movie.

Tristan and Olivia were away for the weekend, and Camilla had agreed to babysit the children while Connor worked on the case. They had all finally fallen asleep after a long night of counting each child.

"We're gossiping now?"

She slapped Connor's arm and reached for the popcorn bowl he had his arm curled around. "We kissed more than once, and we almost did things together. Joseph caught us. I promised Stephen I'd talk to you."

"So you cheated on me."

"Exactly," she said, taking a mouthful of popcorn. "And now Joseph probably thinks I'm a horrible person while Stephen isn't even guilty for getting caught."

"Bastard," he murmured to himself. "Can't blame him though."

"Do you think Joseph would tell the family?"

"I doubt it," Connor said, casually waving her off. "If you need me to be pissed just say so. If you want me to be the understanding fiancé who's too wrapped up in work, I can do that, too."

"You're so good to me," she sarcastically stated. "I've always had a crush on Stephen. Everyone had a crush on him. But he's always been my friend and now he wants to take me out of the friend zone."

"Just accept that the man loves you, Gracie. Stop complicating everything."

"He's probably lonely right now, Connor."

"Maybe you should go see him then."

"No," she said with the shake of her head. "He'll ask me about us, and it'll sound too easy if I tell him things are over between you and me."

"Smart girl," he murmured, scratching the top of her head. "Killeen says he ran into you at the showing tonight."

"He doesn't seem like that child who pushed me into the lake."

"He and I were forced to grow up," he told her, scratching at his stubble. "His step sister, Eloise, recently died in an accident. Stephen blames himself."

Camilla perked up to listen and raised a brow. "What's Stephen got to do with this?"

"I'm only telling you this because you care about him. He's the same brother we all grew up with, and we have you to thank." Connor grew quiet for a moment and turned the volume on the television down before turning to face her. "She's caused a lot of trouble for our family. We thought she'd finally left us alone when she dumped her kid on Killeen, but she came back into town and ran into Stephen. He wasn't an idiot like me. He knew she was dangerous, but he couldn't stay away. She was some broken doll he thought he could fix.

"He was going to be that friend he thought she needed. All she did was use him and take advantage of his kindness. He was slowly fading, and we all warned him, but he kept trying." Connor looked away from her almost in shame, but she lifted his face in her hand and urged him to continue. "I came home one day to visit. I wanted to visit Killeen to see Sammy. She wasn't my kid, but Eloise didn't know that. So she stole Stephen's car and tried to come see me. He caught up to her, but she just wouldn't leave it alone."

Camilla knew what was coming, and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the rest of it. "What happened next?"

"She was driving too fast and swerved into the wrong lane." Connor dropped his head and turned his body away from her. The story was painful to relive only because it killed his brother inside for so long. "Stephen thinks it's his fault. He thinks that if he hadn't been following her, she wouldn't have gotten into the other lane and the collision wouldn't have happened."