Page 65 of Beg for You

“You’re acting’s for shit. You can’t even play your part for more than a few damn minutes, can you? What you try to put across, that’s not you. I’ll bet that’s never been you, has it? It’s all an act.” He crossed his heavily tattooed arms. “I’ve seen it, and I know Cal has.”

“I don’t want to talk about him—”

“He loves you, you know.”

I jolted, like he’d dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. All the oxygen was sucked from my lungs and my skin prickled with goose bumps.

“Since you walked out, he’s been a mess.”

I backed up. “No. He was using me. It wasn’t real. None of it was real.”

“Not at first, no.” He shoved his fingers through his messy blue hair. “At first, he saw you as a way to get back at your father for what happened to us. But he gave that up almost immediately because he realized you were nothing like your old man.” Dane shrugged. “Yeah, he was wrong and it was a twisted fucking idea, but when it comes to Bull and me…and what happened, he…he can’t see past his pain, past our pain, the helplessness we felt back then, and he doesn’t think clearly.” His stare grew more intense. “But he loves you, Cassy. He’s in love with you. And if you love him, too, you can’t marry this guy.”

Could it be true? Did Cal have feelings for me? Real feelings? Emotion welled up inside me. God, I wanted to believe it. I wanted it to be true.

A sob burst past my lips. “I have to.”

“You don’t have to do a damned thing.”

“Oh God, it’s all a lie,” I rushed out.

“No, it’s not. Cal is a stubborn ass, but he—”

“No.” I shook my head and backed up several more steps until I hit the wall, needing the support. “Tonight, this…” I motioned to my dress and lifted my hand where the gaudy, over-the-top diamond Spencer had delivered to me this morning for tonight weighed down my finger. “The engagement, it’s a sham. It’s not real. I’m marrying Spencer to save my father’s ranch, his business, to protect my gran so she doesn’t lose her home.”

Dane’s brows lowered. “What?”

“It’s complicated. I…I owe my father—”

“Do you want to marry this guy?” Dane asked.

“No,” I whispered.

“You need to talk to Cal. He’s hurt, and angry. He has it in his head that you were after one last fling, a bit of rough with someone from the wrong side of the tracks before you settled down with Mr. Perfect. He’s refusing to see what’s right in front of his damn face. He’s going to do something, Cassy. I don’t know what, but you need to tell him this isn’t real before he does.”

“What’s he going to do?”

Dane shook his head. “I don’t know, but right now, the way he’s hurting, he’s capable of almost anything.”

If I didn’t go through with the wedding, my father would be ruined. It would break my grandmother. I felt like I was being torn in two.

“I’ll try and talk to him,” I said, my heart breaking into a million pieces all over again.

Dane left, and I stood there in shock.

What could I say to make Cal understand? And how could I go through with this if he loved me, too?

Chapter Sixteen

Cal

I tugged at the tie strangling me, losing it as soon as I got into the Deighton main house. I’d gotten in without too much trouble. In the end, I’d walked in behind another group, pretending that I belonged there.

Not sure anyone was buying it. When you were scarred and inked up it wasn’t exactly easy to blend in, especially with these people.

A waiter carrying a tray of champagne walked by and I took one as he passed. Might as well drink the fucker’s booze while I was there.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I ignored it. Dane had been calling and texting nonstop, and I was sure Bull had joined in at this point. But I wasn’t ready to talk to either of them yet.